Friday 28 December 2012

Organised food.

Now I have eight pots of home made vegetable curry, which cost very little due to the veg being reduced. All this lot for under £1. I have divided it up into different size pots, the bigger ones can be eaten as a snack type lunch on their own, and the smaller ones can be added to something else to make a bigger meal. They have to be taken out of these pots and put into a microwaveable bowl for cooking, or they can be heated on the plate they are to be eaten off.
I've put together a few items which can be added to the curry to make a decent meal. I keep my portions quite small when I am eating something like this, it isn't necessary to pile your plate up with mounds of rice or pasta. Sometimes I do a potato in the microwave, cut it up on a plate and put the curry on the top. For a lunch I might make a cuppa soup, and pour it over the warmed up curry just before eating it. To bulk out curry or any kind of stew I use porridge oats and sultanas. There is wholemeal pasta and brown rice, cous cous, sweetcorn, baked beans, or any beans you have. 
I always buy Nescafe instant coffee because I like it, but sometimes I can't find any on special offer. So what I have done is to buy a cheaper alternative and now I am going to mix it 50/50, and keep my eyes open for when Nescafe comes on offer again. Actually the Maxwell House isn't too bad, there is only a slight difference, and it's quite a bit cheaper. I wouldn't buy any other make to do this though, because some of the very cheap coffee is absolutely awful.
Here is my lunch for today. I have some eggs which need using up, so what I've done is to fry some mushrooms in a little toasted sesame seed oil, added some garlic puree, then when it is cooked break two eggs into it and keep stirring till they are scrambled. It doesn't look too appetising because the eggs go a mucky colour, but it tastes delicious. Serve on a bed of watercress and salad.  
Just before I go, you might like to take a look at a great programme on the BBC iplayer, I've just watched it and it's very interesting, all about the little areoplanes that fly around the Scottish Islands, and the people who work on them. The landing on the beach at Barra is awsome, it's the only airport in the world where planes land on the beach. I want to go there. Girls, take a look at the dishy pilot with Logan Air on the back of his yellow vest. Wow, even better than George Clooney. And there's a lovely lady pilot as well, one for the fellas. I can't find this on Yootoob, so I'm sorry if you can't access this link. There are English sub titles.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01pkm8g/Seo_am_Pleana_Island_Flying/

I've found a short video of the beach landing if you are interested.


Toodle pip.

20 comments:

  1. On my wish list is the overnight sleeper from London to Fort William. If I book in advance, using my senior Railcard, I could get the fare down to £7.50. Will let you know when I have done it. Getting back, well I'll sort that out when I get there.

    Happy New Year.

    Dianne - Hereford

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    1. Yes Dianne, let me know. I would be interested to read about that.

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  2. Ilona, talk to Sharonk (my daughter)who went to the Isle of Barra for a holiday, with her family. They loved it, had excellent weather, but they did travel by ferry, I think from Oban. They watched the planes land on the beach. They all want to go back someday.
    Patricia Brambley.

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  3. Found your blog while searching for frugal tips. Just love it! I especially like your crafty ideas as well as veggie meals. We aren't vegetarian, but eat little meat because of cost and conviction.

    I'm having a bit of a hard time loading your pages, though, because of the quantity of posts per page. I am wondering if those who are like me that have slower computers/internet providers (because of cost constraints!) have the same problem. Have you ever considered setting you preferences to just a few entries per page? It sure would help us frugalists who are limping along with toddling technical systems ;o)

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  4. I like the idea of bulking out meals with rice, cous-cous, beans and bulgur wheat. I often take meals to work in this fashion. Unfortunately I`m the only one eating those meals, so I have to keep it to working lunches. I could easily live this way if I were on my own. Having to cater for fussy eaters does often mean I spend a bit more than necessary. Your curry idea is great.
    That`s fab footage of that plane landing at Barra. I think you would be best to think of a visit when the weather gets better, i.e. early summer.

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  5. Hello Josephine. No one has ever mentioned that before. I get some people who start at the beginning and read big chunks of the whole blog. Having ten posts per page means they don't have to click on, 'older posts' so often. I have knocked it down to seven per page which might help you, I don't want to go lower than that. Thank you for reading, and sticking with the slow loading.

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  6. Thanks! Reducing your posts to seven actually does help. I want to also thank you for not having advertising. It is so frustrating to find a good blog & have to deal with "ad lag"! I usually get frustrated and just give up on those.

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    1. Thank you Roberto, you seem pretty clued up on the technical side of things. I am like Josephine, first I ignore ads, one or two are ok, but over the top with ads and I give up and don't visit again.

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  7. I love those Alba programmes. I'll watch this one maybe tomorrow, just seen a few minutes. Husband is away home in Isle of Man at the moment so I've a little time to myself.

    I just had bubble and squeak, freshly made with one for tomorrow, with grated cheese on the top, for my meal tonight. Very tasty.

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  8. Hi from Jan,love veg curry,always economical but your cost is brilliant.Had a few camping hols to Scotland,with our canine friends (only one of them still with us,but beautiful memories).Didn't fly but used local ferries.Went to Mull from Oban,magnificant site,very economical and basic, memories to last a lifetime.Need to choose the time carefully to avoid the pesky midges but there is an online midge report!Haven't been for a few years as travel got a bit too much as the dogs got older.Lucky to still have our old girl with us.Bit of a worrying time with her at moment but fingers and paws crossed for next vet visit.Your ability to find interesting stuff on Yooutube is impressive.

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    1. Yes, I have done the Oban - Mull ferry, and the little one to Iona. It was lovely.

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  9. I live up in the hebrides and would say use the ferries wherever you can...the cost of the flights is horrendous, it cost 2 of my friends just under a thousand pounds to fly here for my husbands funeral! there is many a battle to get the flight costs reduced...you can actually have a whole weeks holiday abroad for less than it costs to fly up here! xxx

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    1. Thank you for that linzi, I did suspect that the cost of flying might be prohibitive. I might look into using the ferries, and treating myself to one flight, for the experience.

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    2. You can fly from Barra to Benbecula or vice-versa quite economically - and the inter-island bus services all link with the ferries and are pretty affordable. B&B's are also far cheaper there than in most places - it's certainly possible to do a short holiday "on the cheap"

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  10. Love having food already prepared in the freezer, so convenient! With so many leftovers from Christmas popped into the freezer, I have just done an inventory of the freezer and found that really helpful.
    Judy xx

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  11. I fell in love with Barra and the other Outer Hebrides islands watching one of Monty Halls Escapes series and also a couple of series of Island Parish - beautiful and unspoilt. One day we would really love to visit them, it'll be on a ferry though and hopefully with our 2 lovely dogs :0)

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  12. Hi Ilona,

    Loving your blog. Where can I get hold of your recipes? I would like to try your veg curry.

    Jonothan

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  13. Barra is a great place to visit if you can get up there. I also went to the island below it called Vatersay. It's stunning.

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  14. Thanks for that link - I will bookmark it to look at when I get home. My usename gives the game away - we love the Hebrides generally, Barra is beautiful, as is Vatersay as Matthew says above. For the travel, the ferries are definitely cheaper though!

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