A sewing sort of day

I've not managed a walk today, the weather has been awful. Raining mostly, very short bursts of sunshine but mostly raining, and the wind has come back. 

It's been a sewing sort of day. Made these pet beds, and added more stitching to the hoop embroidery that I am working on. 

 I bought two new pans last week from Dunelm. They have a large selection in there. My old ones were in a sorry state, had to be chucked. Today I made a vegetable stew in the stainless steal pan. Chuffed with these. 

Hoping the weather is better tomorrow. Toodle pip.  ilona

Out with the old, in with the new.

Hello. It's getting late and Oscar is on the desk beside me. He likes a cuddle in the evening. Mayze is having a drink from the tray under the table, and Mau Mau is in the summerhouse.

The scarecrow is taking shape, it has a head, and some padding on its wooden body. As yet there are no legs. Maybe it won't have any legs. I need a hat for it, maybe I will have to make one. Since this picture was taken it now has a face. Next it needs some hair. It won't be like a traditional scarecrow which is usually filled with straw. I will stuff it with some mesh onion sacks and fruit bags, and old socks. 

Lunch today was steamed vegetables, topped with half a tin of mushy peas. I made two portions of vegetables and have eaten the second portion tonight with pasta and mayo. 

I had a sort out of the wardrobes today, and this pile went to Scope Charity Shop. I needed to make room for the new togs I bought from Go Outdoors. It was good to move on stuff that I haven't worn for ages and would probably never wear again. 

I've been looking everywhere for Coffee Mate, it seems to have disappeared from the shelves. I've looked in all the usual places. Today I looked in Iceland for it. Not a shop I usually go in. Bingo, they had some. 1kg for £4.50, I bought two. That will keep me going for a while. I don't like black coffee. 

A reminder. There are three days left of this month, how is your walking challenge going? I am on target to reach the 750 mile mark. Check in day is on Saturday. 

Oscar is getting restless, I think he wants to go out. Thanks for popping in. We will catch up soon. Toodle pip.  ilona. 

Eat, drink, and crafting.

Hello, on this sunny Sunday afternoon. They said it was going to rain over the weekend, thunderstorms I think, but as yet, no sign of them. I have made another bowl from rope and wool, the last of the rope picked up from the beach at Orkney. That's the end of that, all used up, no more left. I started it last week at Crafty Club because someone wanted to know how to make them. I wonder if she will bring one tomorrow that she has finished, we'll see. This one is a bit deeper, I carried on going round and round until I had no more rope left.  

This is the full set, up to date. I may make some more if I come across some suitable rope. 

Someone likes to see what meals I make. This is what I had for lunch yesterday. Two largish brown mushrooms in the pan with a drop of oil, crack an egg over it when mushrooms have cooked. Put it on top of a microwaved spud, a bit of grated cheese, serve with rocket and mayo. Finish off the beer from the day before. Very nice it was. 

Dinner last night was steamed veg, oh how I love my steamed veg. Drizzled with Toasted Sesame Seed Oil. I made extra so that's what I will be eating tonight as well. 

Playing around with fabric this morning, making flowers, getting instructions from yoootooob vids. Not sure what I'm going to do with them, just wanted to try them out. Could be brooches, could be embellishments for bags or whatever. 

It's 3pm, think I'll squeeze a two hour walk in while the sun shines. Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.  ilona

Sorting fabric

Breakfast this morning, porridge with nuts and seeds, and FIVE fruits. As well as the ones you can see, I added frozen raspberries and cherries. I start off by microwaving the porridge for one minute, stir and add more water if needed. Then add any frozen fruit, microwave another minute, take out and stir, back in for a third minute. Then add whatever fresh fruit I have on the top. Yellow sticker strawberries and grapes. Bloomin lovely. 

Had a laugh at Crafty Club this morning. Not a full house so opportunity for me to join in the chat. I popped to a friends house after to put some bunting up on the front gate. He is due back today from the USA, with his new wife. They were married months ago but she had to wait for her visa. I am so pleased for them, she is a lovely lady.

This afternoon was sorting out day in the fabric store, aka the spare bedroom. I started off by looking for a specific kind of fabric for a new project, it has to be just right, and ended up going through the lot. I thought I might as well ditch some of it, the fabric I will never use. So now I have some bags to take to the 20 21 Arts Centre. I asked last time I was in there if they could use it on their activity table. They said they could. The kids will be able to cut it up and make collages.

I've got four possibilities for the new artwork, I need to make my mind up and decide which one will be best suited. Some kind of floral which I am going to add embroidery, beads, and sequins.
Toodle pip. ilona.

New food to try.

Good morning. Did you notice how I had a day off yesterday, no blog post.  Start of a new week and I'm raring to go. Just time to blast this out before I go off to Crafty Club. I'm making Christmas tree decorations now, more about that later. 

I was in Aldi a week or so ago, and came across packs of Good Grains, they seem to be introducing new healthy foods which are easy to cook. I thought I would give it a go. Anything which cuts down my time in the kitchen is good for me. 

I chucked a few frozen mushrooms, a chopped up onion, a few frozen broad beans, and a Quorn fillet cut into pieces, into a pan. A splash of oil, some Danish Blue cheese, and some of this lentils, spelt, and quinoa mix, and cooked it up. served on a bed of iceberg lettuce. It was lovely. 

I also bought a packet of green lentils, they only take one minute to cook. Worth a try, have you seen them? Have you tried them?

Oooh, look at the time, got to go. Toodle pip

A pan of stew goes a long way.

I was planning on doing a yellow sticker shop last night, not much left in the fridge. Then I made a delicious curry-ish stew out of bits of this and bits of that, whatever I had left. 

I found a large courgette on my doorstep, don't know who left that for me but it came in very useful. Also I was given some apples, they went in this hotpot as well. I had one carrot left, five mushrooms, and a few spinach leaves. Some sliced potatoes, a bit of broccoli, and a handful of frozen broad beans, and some Quorn mince. It was bloomin lovely.

So I didn't bother to go to Tesco last night, this will keep me going another couple of days.

I wondered if I should maybe go tonight. I've eaten two portions of this today, and there's still some left for lunch tomorrow.

I took Heidi to the vet this afternoon for her medication review. She is fine and I came away with another 60 tablets, some flea treatment, (she hasn't got fleas), and £44 lighter.

As I was passing Aldi I thought she wouldn't mind if I popped in on the way home. She is very good in her cat carrier, doesn't mind at all. I spent £9.63 on a few essentials because I had run out of bananas, eggs, cheese, Mayze's chicken, and yogurt. They have an offer on at the moment, a bag of five bananas for 45p. I rooted through them and picked the bag with the biggest bananas in it. I normally buy them singly for 13p each as this is cheaper than the normal price of a bag.

So I didn't go to Tesco tonight either, because my few essentials will keep me going over the weekend. I'm running low on cat food though so I'll have to go to town tomorrow and trawl the discount stores.
Toodle pip.  ilona

Lets have a little chat.

I made a video this morning, it's a bit waffley but no matter, I do witter on a bit sometimes.

This is the start of a new art project. It's similar to something I did before, stitching onto a piece of hessian. This is a much tighter weave so the stitches will be smaller. It will take a while.

I did a litter pick yesterday, and today. I wasn't able to pick it all up, will have to go back with more bags. I often wonder if it is worth the bother, as there will be more to pick up in a few weeks time. It gets me out, and I did three miles.

This is my dinner for three days. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I'm using up the cupboard and freezer food, and trying not to buy any more until I have eaten a few more packets and tins. I don't like full to bursting cupboards, things get lost at the back. Onions, red kidney beans, Quorn pieces, and sweetcorn, in a mild curry sauce, on a bed of cous cous.

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.  ilona

Dinner in a pan, 15 minutes.

Jumping for joy, my lovely Ford Focus passed the MOT test, no advisories, all is good. This is the fifth Ford car I have had now, two Cortina's, one Escort, and two Focus, and they have all been good, I'm definitely a Ford girl. 

It was a thrown together sort of meal tonight. A chopped up Quorn fillet, an onion, in a pan with a splash of olive oil. Whole grain mustard, vegetable granules, and half a packet of frozen cooked rice with vegetables. When nearly done, add an egg, mix it in. Serve on a bed of watercress with cucumber. It was bloomin lovely. 

It's been a miserable day outside, dull, cold, drizzly, damp, cloudy, and horrible. Only did my two mile walk. Helping my friend deliver some newsletters tomorrow, let's hope it's a bit better.  ilona

Being polite has it's downsides.

Oh dear, I have eaten too much. I was presented with a massive cooked dinner on Sunday, someone had gone to a lot of trouble to lay on the feast, five of us sat round a table and scoffed. I am very appreciative of the kindness of others, so I had to be kind back and eat almost the whole plateful. It's rude not to eat what is put in front of you, and I hate wasting food, so I soldiered on. I did my best, didn't want to leave half of it, even though I was bursting at the seams. I had to stop short of clearing the whole lot, some cabbage and peas were left on the edge of the plate.

I do have big platefuls of food sometimes at home, but it is always vegetables or salad. If I can't manage all of it I put it in the fridge to be added to lunch the next day. The feeling of fullness never lasts long, because salad and veg passes through the body quite quickly. It's not a good idea to eat tons of heavy food which will linger a while longer. The stomach stretches to compensate for over indulgence, then you get the feeling that there is a blockage as some of it gets stuck half way down. Not good.

I was still full when I got to the hotel, the Holiday Inn, by the way, very nice hotel, so I was able to collapse on the bed and watch tele. I was still full the next morning when I went down for breakfast. I rationed myself to a bowl of cornflakes, and beans and scrambled egg on a slice of bread. I could have gone the whole hog and ordered a full veggie breakfast, but the though of it made me feel sick. I had to eat something though, not good to binge eat and later starve yourself.

I rang my Auntie to see if she was in for a visit. The first thing she said was, I haven't got anything vegetarian in. People always thing vegetarians have a completely different diet than everyone else. I never expect people to prepare special food for me, I will eat what they eat, except for the meat, fish, and gravy. I said, Auntie, I don't need to eat, I am still stuffed from last night, and I have just had breakfast. She is so kind. So I had a cup of coffee with her and a catch up natter.

Next onto sisters in the afternoon. Starting to feel like I ought to eat something so she made me a cheese sandwich, that was just right, will keep me going till I get home. I drove past Tesco, couldn't be bothered to call in, the thought of buying more food, yuk, can't face it. At 7pm I had a small bowl of soup.

This morning I had porridge with a few frozen fruits. I hope to get my stomach back to normal today, smaller portions to give it chance to shrink back to it's normal size. So sorry stomach, I have abused you, because I was too polite to leave food that someone had prepared specially for me.

Eating is seen as a social activity, go out for a meal with friends, getting a take away with friends, going to someone's house for a party. There's going to be a lot of this going on between now and Christmas. There's going to be a lot of stretched stomachs, over indulgence, and eating too much. I might get an invite to one more family do, it will be nice to see them, but I'm going to have to limit myself about what goes into my mouth. Feeling bloated and sick isn't my idea of enjoyment.

How will you cope, will you be partying, will you be stuffing your face, just because it's all laid out on a table?   ilona

Food shopping - questions and answers

Hello. A couple of questions have come up on the Yellow Sticker shopping post. I have answered them, but I will also copy and paste them into this new post. From time to time the same questions are asked, how do you eat all the food before it goes off, and when is the best time to go to the supermarket. 

This is the breakfast I ate yesterday. Usual bran flakes and seeds and nuts mix in the mini chopper. Topped with strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, soya milk, and a spoon of Greek style yogurt. 

Breakfast this morning. Same in the bottom of the bowl, with strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, kiwi fruit, and melon.  Some of my fresh fruit will be frozen, I will check it today.

Right, the questions......

Margaret asks....
Hello, Ilona. Wonderful bargains there. However, a lot of those items have a short shelf-life, such as strawberries, houmous, etc, and yet you say that means no more shopping for a week or two. Do you freeze things such as houmous? (I've not tried that, by the way.) I know we can extend Use By dates a little, using common sense, and Best Before dates are often a nonsense, but I do wonder how you can eat all this before it's gorn orf, as they say. 
Margaret P

My reply......
Hi. I check the food in the fridge two or three times a day, and eat things in the order they are going to go off. Soft fruits first, prepared vegetables before whole vegetables. I usually manage to get through it without freezing, but if I find I can't I will freeze, or cook into stews then freeze. 

Bread goes in the freezer. I don't freeze houmous because it is ok up to a week later, maybe even longer.

My meals from now on will be only from the yellow stickers in the fridge. I won't be using tins, packets, or frozen. Priority is to eat what needs eating first, that will be salads, fruit, steamed prepared vegetables. I am strict with that, there is no, what do I fancy today. Looking at my list, I will eat mushrooms every day, either raw in salads, or cooked with egg on toast. I will eat houmous with every meal, salads and steamed veg, and on sandwiches. Hard root vegetables will be eaten last because they last longer. 

A lot of my cooked meals are just steamed veg, I will have six different ones on my plate. 

When all the yellow stickers have gone I eat from the cupboards and freezer for a week or so, until I feel like shopping in Tesco. Then the whole cycle begins again.

And Margaret's reply to me.....
Thank you, Ilona, for such a detailed account of how you eat, and I agree with you - eat what you have that will go off first, not what you fancy today. It's good and if its nourishing and well cooked, it will be tasty regardless of what it is. Yes, we will eat the same things a couple of days running to finish something rather than wasting it. 
All good wishes,
Margaret P


Jane asks........
Hi Ilona
I never know what time to go to get the best bargains. I’m either too early with just 20 p off or too late and there’s nothing left! How do you judge it?
Thanks
Jane

My reply......
Hi Jane. It's always the luck of the draw. One day they might have over stocked and have loads of reductions, other days they might have nothing because it has all sold at normal price. I always get to the store for 7pm because I know that is the time the third ticket is due to go on. They might have done it early if they had a staff member to do it, so I find there is not much left. Or the staff might be too busy to deal with it and are late with the stickering, in that case I have to wait. 

I like the 75% off (3rd sticker) but others may be happy with 50% off so that might not leave much left. I might not get exactly what I want, so I am flexible with my eating and will try most things except meat and fish, as an alternative. It pays not to be too fussy. 

I use Tesco because it is the nearest store to me. Asda always has plenty of reductions in the evening but the store is too far out to take a chance on there being anything I want. 

I suggest you ask the staff at your store what times do they mark down, on the departments where you want to buy, fruit and veg, or meat, or chiller/dairy cabinet, or bakery. Get to know the exact locations so you can go there first when you enter the store. Most stores have dedicated shelves or trollies where the reductions are all together. 

It's a case of getting to know your store, making yourself known to the staff, chatting to them, and it's a good idea to dress down, casual or even scruffy clothes are best. Other shoppers get a bit huffy if a well dressed person scoops up the reductions ahead of them. Look as though you need to buy cheap food. 

Yellow sticker shopping is a habit, I used to go once every ten days, now I leave it 2 - 3 weeks. I get some things in Aldi which are cheaper there. Also shop in discount stores, but then I have to time to do that. It's a trade off between time and money. Invest time in seeking out the bargains and you will save money. Or go to work to earn more money to pay for the food at normal prices because you haven't got time to check different shops. 

Copy and pasting will save me time, and as this is not a forum other people might be asking the same two questions but won't go back to the previous post. Feel free to reply with any of your fantastic food reductions you have found. What time did you go shopping, where can you find your best bargains? How do you use up all the food you buy before it goes off? Time to share your foodie tips. 

It's a Bank Holiday weekend, enjoy yourself whatever you are doing. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.

Toodle pip 

Simply spirals.

Hello. It's been a bit warmer today, I went outside for a while to clean up some driftwood. Not needed any heating on, the house has been warm enough without it. 

Do you remember that spiralizer thingy  I bought, which was pretty hopeless. I took it back to the store and got my money back. Well I've now got this gadget which is a lot simpler and actually works fine. Put your vegetable in it and twist. Dead easy, and simple to wash after. 

 Dinner tonight. Chopped onion, soften in oil. I defrosted a couple of Quorn fillets in the microwave, cut them into small pieces and added them to the onions. Throw in a handful of frozen mushrooms. Then add carrot and parsnip, and chopped Brussels Sprouts, and a tin of chick peas, and chopped spinach. Add water and orange juice, season with vegetable granules and half a packet of Korma curry sauce mix. Simmer on a low heat for 15 minutes.

It tastes bloomin lovely. Plenty left for tomorrow. Can be eaten with rice, pasta, couscous, bread, or a jacket potato. I ate it on it's own. A filling meal cooked in one pan.

One email with three rejections came through today from Ferens Art Gallery. It seems they didn't think my pictures were good enough to hang in their Open Exhibition.

Thank you for your submission to this year’s Open Exhibition.

Unfortunately on this occasion your submission has not been selected for this year's exhibition - Octopuses Garden

Unfortunately on this occasion your submission has not been selected for this year's exhibition - Shapes

Unfortunately on this occasion your submission has not been selected for this year's exhibition - Beach Huts

Oh well, bit disappointed, never mind. They obviously have no idea what a work of art looks like, and wouldn't recognize a talented artist even if they fell over one in the street. My work is too good for that place anyway. They needn't come begging me to apply next year  :o)

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Saving money on my food.

Hello. I'm having to use the small computer because for some reason I can't access my Blogger Dashboard on the big one. Everything else is fine, but the Dashboard won't load. It could be something to do with the fact I am still on the old XP. I'm not panicking, I can use the little netbook. 

It's been a lovely day, like summer, and I have been pottering about getting a few jobs done. I had some tagliatelle left so I added some borlotti beans, peas, lettuce, and a few pieces of cheese, with a couple of dollops of mayo. It was bloomin lovely, made a filling lunch yesterday. 

Veg is a good price at the moment. I couldn't resist this cauliflower for 45p and carrots 43p from Aldi. A good buy to make cheap meals.

Mind you, Aldi has let me down on the bananas. Look at these two bags, can you spot the difference? The first one I bought yesterday, the next one is from a month or two ago. This one does not have the weight on it.

This one is a 1kg bag. I have been buying these bagged bananas for a long time, they are 72p. I count the bananas because I would rather have 8 or 9 small ones than 6 or 7 large ones. Now they are not selling them by weight, you get 5 bananas in a bag for the same price 72p. What a sneaky way to put the price up. I will have to go to Tesco for them and buy 1kg of small loose ones for 72p.

I got my mower out today for the first cut of the year. I am amazed that this cheap B & Q mower is still going after about ten years or more. I never do anything to it except scrape off the dry grass from underneath it. This cheapo was well worth the money.  

The leaves from the cauliflower came in useful, I made some soup with them.

I added some borlotti beans and spices, and blue cheese and zapped it with the stick blender. It tasted deeeelishus. 

Remember the mayo I bought from the Cash and Carry? Well it is a lovely creamy taste so I bought some more yesterday on my way to town. At 20p a jar it's bargain, even though it is six weeks out of date.

Found some nuts and fruit as well, at 50p a bag. This will be added to my breakfast cereal.

I've had a letter from the TV Licensing people, it's two years since they last wrote. They ask if anything has changed, do I need a licence. The answer is still the same, no I don't. I haven't been onto the BBC iplayer site since they brought in the new rule in September. I get most of my entertainment from Yooootoooob, forums, blogs, and online newspapers.

That's me done for tonight. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip.

Jade, a lovely lady

Hello. And life goes on. I'm holding off going to the shops, though now is probably the best time to go, there will be stuff marked down. I don't need anything at the mo, cat food stocked up, freezer stocked up, and I've enough Brussels Sprouts, potatoes, and carrots to last another week. I had a plate of veg this afternoon, never get bored with that. Sprouts and broccoli drizzled with toasted sesame seed oil, deeeelishhhh. 

Caught a glimpse of a fantastic sunset the other night, view from my bedroom window. A few minutes and it was gone. Twas a beautiful deep red, the colours never fail to amaze me. 

This was my lunch yesterday. The last of the yellow sticker mushrooms and chopped onions, half a tin of chick peas, and an egg scrambled into it. Spices, Danish blue cheese, and cream cheese with garlic. I had it on a microwaved spud. There was enough for two portions. Cheap and bloomin lovely.

Doggy walk this morning, this is Jade. She is a sweetie though you wouldn't have said that if you knew her when she first arrived from a rescue. She had a rough start in life and was very wary of people, leading to bouts of aggression. Both the gardener and the handyman were bitten, but her new owner persevered and she calmed down when she realized that she was safe in her new home.

I am walking her on alternate days for the next three weeks while her regular dog walker is away on holiday. He takes her all over the place, down tracks, across fields, she is allowed to run free with him. I won't be letting her off the lead, although she knows me I don't want to take the chance of her running off. We have a very fast march around the village, stopping to talk to any other dog owners we meet on the way. She is fine with people and other dogs, no sign of aggression now.

Bugsy is still eating, but getting a bit picky. It's good that he chunters and moans about not having the right food, at least he is interested in it.

Thank you all for commenting on the previous post, a lot of  opinions, and stories on how you spent your Christmas, and what it means to you. I think it's a topic which will emerge year after year. As people grow older and families grow up, ideas of what Christmas is about are bound to change. I liked it when I was young, but stopped liking it when I was in my late twenties/early thirties.

I had a very late lunch today, so I'm just about ready for a small meal. Don't need a full dinner, so spaghetti hoops on toast will be enough.

The computer is playing up a bit, I uninstalled Skype because it was slowing things up and I don't use it, but I must have done something wrong because now I can't access my favourite sites from the top bar. Will have to look into it, or get the little computer out. Bloomin pain.

Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip.

Happy with my bills

Hello me hearties. I haven't got any fresh veg left because I want to eat out of the cupboard and freezer for a few more days. I have plenty in the freezer to keep me going, seems daft to leave it in there forever and a day, it's got to be eaten sometime, might as well be now. 

Frozen chips indeed. Yes I bought a bag of these as something different, can't remember when I last bought them, that long ago I have forgotten. Yes, a bag of potatoes would have been cheaper, but I don't make real chips in a pan at home, I don't have a chip pan, and I'm certainly not doing them in a frying pan on the hob with all that oil spitting all over the place. These oven chips are cooked under the grill, turn once. Half a tin of spag hoops, and two scrambled eggs, my dinner tonight. I just fancied this and it was very nice. 

I am sorting out my spare room, aka the fabric store, plus all manner of stuff I collect because it might come in useful. It's going really well. The ladies at crafty club took some of my excess off me this morning, things I knew I was unlikely to get round to using. I've found some bits for the charity shop as well.

Three bills dropped through my door last week which will be paid tomorrow. I'm not too bothered by regular bills because I know more or less how much money they want from me. I email my gas and electricity readings in monthly, and they use these to calculate an amount. I last emailed on 25th September and the bills were dated 5th October, so there is a bit of a gap there. I see they have estimated what I have used during that gap, and they are pretty close so I am happy to pay them.

I get both gas and electricity from SSE, they are the suppliers, but my account is with Ebico, a not for profit organisation. I have no penalties for paying quarterly, and I have no standing charges. Everyone pays the same price per kwh. So, my gas bill is for £4.04, and my electricity bill is for £36.75. My electricity bill is always more than gas, probably because I have this computer on a lot. It rises slightly in the winter due to lights going on earlier.

My gas bill is obviously low in the summer months because I don't have any heating on. It will go up a bit in the winter. I think it is so low because I have been having a lot of meals which require little or no cooking. A lot of salads, and one pan meals, the shorter the cooking time the cheaper the meals are. Even a pan of veg stew made with fresh veg only takes about ten minutes on the hob, and if I use a big pan to make four portions, three of those will get heated in the microwave.

I only heat a tank of water if I am going to have a bath, why do I need to have a tank permanently full of hot water? I can boil a kettle to wash a few pots in the sink or wash my hair.

The other bill I have received is for £28.10 payable to Severn Trent Water. This covers the period from April to October, and is for surface water drainage. I will get another bill shortly from Anglia Water, it will be around £37, that's for clean water into the house, and a small amount of that will be sent on to Severn Trent for removal of dirty water through the sewers. Being on a water meter works best for me because I am in control of how much I use.

All cats are in for the night, they don't seem to want to go out much these days. Mayze spends a lot of time on my bed, she loves snuggling under the top cover, I often find a bump in the bed when I get in. Heidi is due for a vet visit later this week, we are getting to the end of her tablets. Best let the vet check her over and get some more. Bugsy is still camped out on the living room table right next to me. Boy does he yowl when I don't serve up the right food. Today they got a treat, I buy bags of cheap frozen white fish and microwave it for them. They love it.

Right, I'm off now. It's not yet 7pm and dark already. I still have to go and do my walk. I could have a day or two off but I don't want to drop behind. The extra I did last week has boosted my total, I will finish October over the target. Hope you are all keeping it up, no slacking now the weather is getting cooler. A good fast walk will keep you warm.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Toni My Story, by Toni Mascolo. Book review.

Hello. A book is a good place to get lost in, and I'm afraid that I don't always make time to read. I pick books from the library and often they only get a skim read, picking out a few pages. The last couple of weeks though I have needed to fill my brain with distractions and a book is a good way to do that. 

I like rags to riches stories, and I had heard of Toni & Guy the famous hairdressing conglomerate, but knew nothing about it's origins, so I chose this book. 

Toni Mascolo was born in a small town near Pompeii in 1942. His father was a barber. The whole family moved lock stock and barrel to London when Toni was 14 years old. They rented rooms in a large house which was occupied by several other Italian families. Toni's first recollections of an English school was to find no order or discipline, noise and wild behaviour was normal. He was shocked at the difference to his previous school in Italy. 

When he left school he worked with his father in a hairdressing salon. At the age of twenty he was devastated by the early death of his mother, and being the eldest son, he took over the role of keeping the family together. 

Jumping ahead a few years, Toni and his brother Guy opened their first salon in 1963, in Clapham Park Road. In ten years they bought two more salons, at Streatham and Mitcham, and realized that to establish themselves as leading London hairdressers, they had to move to the city. It's interesting to note that he said no one wanted to publicise a suburban salon, and the area around their salons was changing with a huge influx of immigrants moving into that part of South London. He said it was like introducing a nation into a nation when they all arrived at the same time. Funny how this is a talking point at the moment, history moves in circles.  Now, after half a century of amazing expansion, there are more than 500 salons across the world. 

On the whole I enjoyed the book. I enjoyed reading about the early years, the last few chapters focus mainly on the expansion of the company, which would be of particular interest to anyone looking for lessons on how to grow a business. Give it a go.

Yesterdays dinner. Onions, chick peas, mushrooms, half a tin of tomatoes, and Quorn sausages, on two microwaved potatoes. I made two portions and about to have the second for lunch today. 

The sun is shining and I'm off to road test the boots shortly, so I'll say tatty byes for now.
Toodle pip

Get it down you, it will do you good

Hello. I wish the kids were as easy going about food as I am. I've got the oldies, Bugsy and Rocky hanging around my feet because they are not happy with the food I have just served up. They think if they whinge enough I am going to cave in and come up with a fresh bowl with something different in it. Sometimes I do,  to get a bit of peace from them. Tonight they are just going to have to eat what is there, I am fed up of throwing food away. 

When we were little we had to eat whatever mum dished up, and some of it was pretty awful. Some of the meat dishes were unrecognizable as meat, gawd knows which bits of the animal she was giving us. I often felt sick moving it around on my plate and was almost in tears. We moaned a bit but it was eat it, there is nothing else. I remember tripe, I definitely had to go without that day. Later on when I went to big school I looked forward to school dinners, especially puddings which my mum was not very good at making. 

This portion of frozen stew does not look very appetizing, but I know what's in it so it will be tasty. 

This is something I had the other day, simple veggie burgers in buns with potato salad and houmous. It was ok for a change because I couldn't be bothered to cook, but I could have managed on just one, I was too full afterwards.

As you know I often chuck a few things in a pan and scramble two eggs into the mix. I like these simple one pan meals. Here is left over steamed veg from the previous day, I made too much, with a handful of frozen broad beans and some chick peas.

Underneath the beans and chick peas is a portion of cheap noodles, with Danish Blue cheese on the top. It looks more like a side dish you would get at a restaurant because I put it into a bowl instead of a plate. This was my dinner one night last week.

I like to mix and match my food, I don't need recipes to follow, I make it up as I go along. It makes life more interesting to invent new concoctions. Anyone else have a slap dash approach to food as I do, or do you need to have all ingredients close by to create a masterpiece?

Thanks for popping in, We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Anything goes with pasta.

Hello. It's been another hot 'un today. Some time spent indoors, housework and sewing. Yesterday I made a veg stir fry, I started it off with an onion and a potato, chopped small in a pan in some oil. Then I added some of this out of a bag. I don't very often buy it, not that bothered about stir fries, but I got it for a change. It turned out quite nice. I added some veg granules and garlic powder for flavour. 

I fancied some pasta and made enough for three meals. Two portions with the stir fry, and one portion with scrambled eggs and grated cheese.

When the sun wasn't quite so hot I went outside to clean the roof on the summer house. It's quite a balancing act to reach up there. One foot on the step ladder and the other on the pallets while hanging on with one hand and scrubbing with the other. Those darned pigeons don't half make a mess. The perfume wafting past my nostrils from the lilac bush was just divine. It's a shame it's hidden away in the corner of the garden. I have a white one as well closer to the house, but it doesn't smell as nice as this.

I got up at 5am this morning, so I'm starting to fall asleep now. I'll say Goodnight. Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Ten good reasons why I don't use the oven.

Hello hello hello. Continuing with my Ten Good Reasons Why....series. This one saves me money, which is a good enough reason for me to adopt this little foible, and make it part of my life. A lot of the things we do on a daily basis become habits. Some of them bad habits like eating the wrong crappy food, or good habits eating healthy food.  I like to think that this little habit puts me on the right road to saving money, and giving me a healthy diet, therefore I see it as a good habit.  

Picture source 

Ten good reasons why I do not use my oven.

1. I don't like cleaning it. Anything that cuts down on housework is a plus for me, I don't want to spend time and effort in cleaning my oven, so I don't use it.

2. I don't want to bake cakes, bread, or biscuits. Why? Because I am weak willed and would scoff the lot as soon as it came out of the oven. I regard these as treats, so it's better for me to not have piles of sweet stodgy food in the house, and to buy the occasional treat from a shop.

3. I don't want to roast meat, or make pies and pasties, or lasagna, or anything else that needs to be bubbling away in a pot in the oven.

4. An oven uses too much gas for one person's food, and adds to the cost of the meal. To use it efficiently it needs to be full, and I am never going to fill mine.

5. I don't need to use the oven. I have a four ring gas hob, a grill, and a microwave. I can make everything I want to eat on those appliances.

6. I don't want to cook my food to death, the least amount of time it is on the heat the better. I don't want to be opening the oven door several times to check if it is done, too much of a hit and miss affair for me. Over cooking ruins it and costs money. Under cooking and it needs to go back in for a bit longer. I have no patience when it comes to waiting for food to cook. I want to look in the pan on the top, prick the food with a fork, turn the veggie burger over under the grill, or watch my food through the microwave door.

7. I want quick to prepare meals, the kitchen is not my favourite place to be. I like eating simple food which is not mucked about. I have no recipe books, have no need for them. No cooking meals are even better., put things on a plate straight out of the fridge. Take the oven out of the equation and it frees up preparation time to do other things.

8. Most dishes which are baked, roasted or casseroled in the oven need some kind of oil, fat, lard, sugar, salt, or sauce added, all things I want to cut down on. I try to avoid those in my diet.

9. I don't prepare huge amounts of food in one go, I only cook for one person, me. I will make a pan of veg stew on the hob, using one gas ring, but this can be done quickly. Chuck everything in, stir, ten minutes and it's done. Test with a fork, remove from heat asap.

10. I don't want to spend time scrubbing food off baking trays, roasting pans, and burnt food stuck on casserole dishes. Waste of time and money. Heat some water, use pan scrubber and wash up liquid. I don't do that.

So there it is. Ten good reasons why I don't use the oven. Why don't you try not using your oven for a month? Use your imagination to think of other ways to cook food. Reduce your time in the kitchen and spend it doing something you like doing. Of course, if cooking is your hobby and you enjoy it, then carry on.

Thank you for popping in. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Home made cheap ready meals.

Hello. I spent Monday morning at Crafty Club, almost a full house this week. I took this picture with me to work on. Still a long way to go but I thought I would give you an update.

I had to leave promptly at 12 noon to get back for a phone call from Newstalk, an Irish national radio station. That came at 12.30pm. Not sure if the interview was live or if it was recorded for later. I'll have look to see if I can find it. 

This is an M & S yellow sticker, apparently they mark down at about 5pm, there wasn't much when I was there last week, so I don't think I will be making regular visits. I made a very nice pan of soup with this, plus I added a large handful of spinach. There were two portions and it was lovely. 

Tonight I couldn't be bothered to cook so I took a veggie stew out of the freezer. This was made with yellow stickers and cost very little. Even if you made something like this with full price vegetables it would still be cheaper than buying ready meals, and it doesn't take much effort to make it.

Perfect. Still tasty after reheating in the microwave. .

It's that time again guys and gals, the end of the month where the walking group send in their total mileage to date. I have finished Jan and Feb on 176 miles. Thank you to those who have sent your miles, you are doing just great. I am updating the page as the new figures come in. I'm pleased that you are still keen to carry on. If you haven't yet got off the starting block, or have got a bit behind, don't worry, there is still ten months left. Still time to catch up. Looking after your health and fitness levels is the best thing you can do for yourself. 

Let sleeping dogs lie. Shhh, don't disturb him. 

There is a new follower working her way through the whole blog. Mila is getting lost in 2012 at the moment. She has a mammoth task ahead of her, only four more years to catch us up. Everyone cheer her on.

It's bed time, thanks for popping in. Sees you soon. Toodle pip.