So Close ..... and .... My Favourite Top Tip

 

 

We are so close to having our forever home, it hurts.

 

Everything is going as smoothly as house buying goes, those of you who have bought in recent times will know exactly how sarcastic I am being here!!

 

There is a frantic push today by our solicitor to get the Building Society's solicitor to actually talk to her, who even knew they were so shy!

 

We will know by tea time tonight whether we will be completing as planned tomorrow, considering we haven't even officially exchanged yet this is worrying to say the least.

 

I have a day of packing boxes to take to the new house tomorrow, of things that we will need to 'set up camp' there ready for the decorating weekends ahead.

 

A box of cleaning supplies, a box of kitchen essentials, a box of food, a bathroom box, towels, toiletries etc and a box of bedding.  We are taking the mattress off our spare bed as this will be able to be stood against the wall during decorating and carpet cleaning and is so much easier than moving a full bed around.

 

I have a busy day ahead, I would say 'wish me luck' but I am wrapped in the warmth of knowing that you do, thank you.

 

If on Monday you see the rest of this picture you will know we are home owners, our very own first home that we will be purchasing together, our Forever Home.

 

I will leave you with my favourite of all Top Tips.

 

Sue xx

 

 

 

Simple September - Top Tip #9

 

A Starter Recipe

 

(or in Jamie Oliver speak  ... the 'Mothership'.... only a much cheaper one than he uses)

 

 

If you start the week with a great big tray of roasted veggies you can eat happily and healthily everyday of the week with the leftovers.

 

Start with a great big tray of veggies, pop some fresh herbs, chilli flakes, garlic flakes, whatever flavourings you like really in the bottom of the dish and drizzle with a good amount of olive oil, or your favourite oil.

 

Throw the chopped veggies on top and then give it all a good mix so that everything is coated in the oil, make sure if you're using fresh herbs that they are buried deep amongst the veggies so that they impart all their lovely flavour to them, (if you have no fresh herbs use dried herbs, it's just as good), the vegetables we tend to use are peppers, onion wedges, courgettes tomatoes and anything else that is looking a bit sad from the bottom of the fridge, this is an excellent way of rejuvenating tired veggies and using every scrap up.  Whatever veggies you roast will develop in flavour so much you will be amazed at the taste.

 

Pop them in a moderate oven for about 40 minutes, taking them out a couple of times to stir around so they cook evenly.  It's a good chance to fill your oven with homemade bread or a nice crumble for dessert, do not waste the heat!!

 

 

If you fancy salmon or chicken with your first meal add them to the top of the dish after the first 10 minutes for chicken or after the first 20 minutes for salmon, use your commonsense, you'll know how big your chicken/fish is and how long it will need to cook.

 

For your first meal serve your chicken, salmon or whatever you laid on top with a couple of tables spoons of the veggies and some brown rice or cous cous.  As soon as the leftover veggies have cooled sufficiently pop them in a lidded container in the fridge.

 

Now you can use your imagination and make meals each night of the week.

 

 

You could have some with freshly cooked pasta, sprinkled with cheese.

 

Or add a spoonful to the top of a homemade or shop bought value pizza and again sprinkle with cheese.

 



 

Or beat a couple of eggs in a bowl add a couple of spoonfuls of veggies to the mix and pour into home made or ready made quiche bases and cook for 20 - 30 minutes in the oven. (Here I did one for use to eat and one for the freezer.)

 

 

You could also take it to work mixed with cooked cous cous or rice to have for your lunch, it's tasty hot or cold!!

 

Of course you can just use them as a side vegetable and serve with a simply cooked steak or pork chop.  It also makes a beautiful base for a sausage casserole, in that case I would chop and fry off half an onion, add a tin of tomatoes and then a few sausages browned and cut into thirds, add a few spoonfuls of the roasted veggies and cook for 20-30 minutes either on the hob or in the oven.

 

 

If you get fed up with eating the same thing night after night, pop what's left into the freezer in a plastic tub, it freezes beautifully. 

 

But we never seem to get fed up with it at all, it's our favourite food. 

 

And now that Autumn is drawing in we start to ring the changes and roast the onions with chunky sliced carrots and cubed beetroot, alongside the courgettes, everything tends to get a little bit pink when you cook it with beetroot but the flavours are amazing.

 

As I said in THIS post way back in September 2011 .... Play with your Food!!