And it Grinds to a Halt ......

Stoptober has ground to a halt for us in many ways.  Spending the weekend down in Berkshire with Lovely Hubby at his midweek digs we ate out, we drank out (coffees and booze) and generally relaxed completely.

Stoptober was the last thing on our minds!!

With two of the dogs in kennels and two of them travelling down with me, the first thing I have to do today is go and bale out the Jacks.  It feels like I'm paying a ransom when I walk into the kennels office and hand over our hard earned cash to get our pooches back.  But I don't mind too much, we like the kennels we use for the dogs and more importantly they like it too, so much so that when Rosy's collar slipped off as the guy was leading her round the corner she carried on walking beside him with her tail wagging rather than coming back to me.

But it starts this week off badly handing over cash.

I am still frugalling away in other more day to day ways, but only in the ways I normally do, nothing specially thought out or extra.  Cleaning my shoes the other day for instance.  The shoes are only two years old so I think I will easily get this Winter out of them if I keep them polished and cared for, I do hope so they are so comfortable.  The boots are ancient now, they have done so many rounds of Project 333 they are like a permanent Winter fixture.  I have just bought them some new inner soles to make them a bit more comfy and snug.  With age the soles are thin and the leather has stretched, no bad thing further into Winter when I will be able to wear two pairs of socks but they are a bit roomy with just one pair!!  I was trying to work out how old they are, I bought them off Ebay when our country lifestyle was just an idea ...... which means I have had them just over six years, they were used when I bought them but not excessively so.  They definitely deserve a little bit of care over this Winter.  I hope I can make them last.

I didn't take an 'After' picture unfortunately, I just put the boots on and went out with the dogs, which of course means that now they look just like the 'Before' picture again, oh well at least they have a coat of polish to protect them.  I must get in a weekly habit of keeping both pairs nice and looked after.

And speaking of Project 333 today I must finalise this Autumn's clothes.  I had a bit of a sort out last week and took some things to the charity shop and sorted through my shirts and jeans, now I need to pull out the jumpers I stored away at the end of last Winter and see what I have that will do for this next round.

Are there any of you who still do Project 333?

(If you want to read some of my old Project 333 posts, just type those words into the Search box at the top left of the Blog.)

Sue xx

Stoptober Update

 

I put ten pounds into my purse on the first day of Stoptober and managed to spend none of it, so come last Wednesday when I added another crisp ten pound note I had a total of twenty pounds.  However, I couldn't go another week without spending anything and I had to shop for the above, well I didn't have to have the Kiwis, but they were such good value I couldn't resist.

I went out armed with the first ten pound note and a 70p off voucher.  Which came in really handy as it meant all the above came to just eight pounds exactly.  (Don't you always think it's weird when that happens ... or is it just me?)

Well that left enough for a bottle of milk at just £1 the next day, so Lovely Hubby could have milk in his tea and on his cereal, and if the truth be known he's a bit of a swigger from the bottle.  Which is no problem really as I don't have milk in anything now,  I do stop him if we have guests coming!!

The eagle eyed amongst you will have spotted something unusual in my shopping and I hear you asking ..... why the eggs?   Surely Sue and Lovely Hubby have a flock of chickens .... yes we do but it would appear they have decided to be ornamental pets birds for a while, although they are the scruffiest ornamental pet birds you would ever have the misfortune of meeting.

It's moult time here on the hillside, and across the road as it happens, we bumped into our neighbours from the campsite while we were out the other day and yes, they too have had to go out and buy some eggs, their birds have decided to go on strike too.

You may have noticed that I've even changed the header picture of the Blog, as seeing that row of bl**dy eggs there was just infuriating when we've not had any of our own to eat for a couple of weeks now!!

Anyway at almost the end of the second week of Stoptober I now have £11 pounds in my purse and there will be another £10 added to it on Wednesday, not that I think I will need much, except maybe some more milk ... it would seem a lot of swigging went on this weekend ;-)

Sue xx

Throwing Food Away

Throwing food away is something I do not do lightly, especially during Stoptober, but the other morning while drinking my first cup of coffee of the day, the spice shelves caught my eye.  We've lived in this house for almost a year now and in that time I realised that some of the spices on the shelves had not been touched ... at all !!

Time for a sort though I thought to myself.

A couple of them smelt and looked fine, but were spices I had bought for specific recipes a long time ago, things I have never cooked since and doubt I will in the future so they were chucked, a couple smelt musty and as I had no dates written on the labels I decided to bin them too.  I always trust my nose more than I trust a date anyway :-)

It looks a lot sparser and neater for now, but with the re-organisations that we are about to make I think the whole shelf will be coming off the wall soon .... and staying off the wall.  The contents of the shelves will now fit in the cupboards, and that way stay dust free making the kitchen even easier to clean.  The things I have binned will only be replaced if it turns out they were useful, but somehow I doubt it.

While I was washing the jars out ready for re-use in the future the kitchen window sill grabbed my attention.  The egg boxes piled up in the corner when we have been getting no eggs were an annoyance, and it just seemed cluttered and grubby.

An hour later the window had been cleaned inside and out, the egg boxes had been added to the others on top of the kitchen wall cupboards where they will gather less dust, and everything had been washed and put back.  Even though a poor neglected plant has been added, brought in from the conservatory to keep Basil company, the window sill still looks less cluttered.  Basil's about to bite the dust as Pesto making is calling to me .... but shhh don't tell him ;-)

Do you spring into action noticing things that have been around you for ages that suddenly annoy, or is it just another of my foibles?

Sue xx

Sharing, Destruction and Pizzas

So what do you think these two are up to then?

Suky is sleeping through it all.

To-ing and fro-ing, tugging and sucking ..... yes, they're sharing one doggy chew.  

They each chewed an end until they met in the middle, I didn't see who got the last bit, unless of course it simply snapped in the middle and they each got to eat their own end.

Mavis and Charley are turning into partners in crime.  

Yesterdays naughties included upending the kindling basket and have a good chewing and scattering session all over the living room floor, and demolishing the old dog bed, there was foam and wadding everywhere, and as both dogs were discovered with Father Christmas-like beards the culprits were easy to spot.  But whereas a telling off will send Mavis into her bed a serious look of contrition on her face, Charley with all the confidence of always being with people that love her and treat her fairly and squarely looks at you with those big, dark puppy eyes and defies you to be cross with her for long. 

Mavis has seen too much bad treatment in her poor little life, I can never be cross with her for more than a few minutes.  She's always being cuddled and reminded that now she's home there will be no one to hurt her ...... and only people and animals that will love her.

Suky and Rosy keep themselves to themselves when the madness and mayhem kick off, but looking at Suky's tongue peeking out I think she is dreaming of a tasty snack.

Something I had last night.

After finding two homemade pizza bases in the freezer I decided that the remaining roasted vegetables would make a perfect pizza topping.  Sprinkled with the last of the grated cheese and popped in the Aga for 15 minutes.

One for my tea, and one taken out just over half cooked to go back into the freezer.

It all goes towards helping with Stoptober.

How are you doing now that we're one week in?

Sue xx

Not Shopping

 

Stoptober for me means not shopping, not spending, using up what I have and making the most of everything I own.  Whether it be food, toiletries, clothes or anything else that I already own.

 

It's making me think long and hard about what I have and what I actually need.  I know for a fact I don't need a lot of what I have, but some of it I've worked long and hard for, some of it I love and there are some things that will never leave me.

 

I find it easy to let most things go, but I hold on to others more tightly.

 

I could sweep the surfaces of the ornaments and knick knacks we have if I had to, but most of what we have left are things we have bought together or are things bought with love by family members for us.  For now these stay, although I have a sneaky plan that will move them away from our shelves and surfaces but keep them within our ownership.

 

 

The easy part of Stoptober for me is the food. 

 

I have no urge to rush out and buy anything, the ten pounds that I placed in my purse last Wednesday is still there, not burning a hole just sitting patiently waiting.  There will be a couple of things that we will need for next weekend but I intend to see how long I can leave it there for now. 

 

In the spirit of using things up before they went off I decided to roast the oldest of the peppers that were sat in the fridge salad drawer, they were joined by a large onion, the last of the fresh Garlic, a carton of chopped tomatoes, a good pinch of dried chilli flakes, a couple of sprigs of Rosemary from the tin bath Herb Garden and a good glug of olive oil.

 

An hour of roasting gave me the dish of veggies that is the top picture.  Served straight away with a fish portion that came from the freezer and a couple of tablespoons of Cous Cous from my Approved Food giant jar it made a lovely flavoursome meal. 

 

The next night I cooked up some of the pasta I bought last week, cooking enough for me and a tub full to go in the fridge for the dogs to have with their dinners for a couple of nights.  My share was stirred into a portion of the roasted veggies, sprinkled with some cheese and popped into the oven for twenty minutes.  Simple and very tasty.

 

The next night another couple of spoonfuls of the roasted veggies were stirred into two beaten eggs, a dash of Parmesan style cheese and half a salmon portion, and then tipped into a ready made quiche base, sprinkled with some more grated cheese from the freezer this cooked in just over half an hour.  It gave us a large portion each of quiche to have with some salad and then a further portion for me last night to have with Caesar Salad, while Lovely Hubby had his salad with a big juicy steak.

 

There is still half a tub of roasted veggies left so I am trying to think of something different to have using it for tonight and tomorrow.  By adding it to different things it completely changes the taste of the meals I can have, but having that flavoursome base in the fridge ready to use is a wonderful way of getting me thinking about what to use it for next.

 

I also have half a slice of steak, some mushrooms and some onions over from Lovely Hubby's tea last night but that is a no brainer, my man likes a good pie ...... so that is what I will make for him with them .... maybe turning some of the roasted veggies into a pie filling for me too.

 

What would you do with half a tub of lovely tomatoey roasted vegetables?

 

Sue xx

Toasters, Cushions and Lemons

 

 

Remember way back in July when I did THIS post about our toaster dying a death with an almighty bang.  Well after emails to the company that made it they asked us to send off the label from the old toaster ...... and then I heard nothing more.  Until the other day, when there was a knock on the door and a delivery guy handed me a package that contained a replacement.

 

What is it these days, no letters, no communication,  I mean I don't want to sound ungrateful but a note would have been nice, even just one explaining that this was my replacement and  apologising for my last one dying it's premature death.

 

I had all but given up hope after all this time and was happy to stay using our Aga toaster bat thingy and keep my nice clear bit of worktop as it was, so I'm thinking that maybe the new toaster can lurk in the back of the cupboard, ready to spring into action if and when the Aga is ever switched off.

 

I like my crunchy Aga toast so much better.

 

Our younger son Jason came for a bit of recuperation and looking after last weekend, after seriously hurting his foot and ankle ..... the dogs decided a prone human on the sofa made a great new cushion and kept him company for most of the weekend, it's a good job he loves them all   :-)

 

 

And in the spirit of Stoptober I took the two lemons that were rolling round in the fridge drawers and open froze them, then they were stacked in a tub and put back into the freezer ready to flavour glasses of water whenever we need them.

 

Every little helps.

 

Sue xx

 

 

 



Feeding Time at the Zoo

 

We have managed to get the dogs into a bit of a routine, well you have to when it feels like feeding time at the zoo!!

 

Ginger the cat stays politely out of the way, waiting for his breakfast or tea to be delivered to the top of the chest freezer where he eats it in peace.  No dog, well our dogs anyway, can jump that high so we know his food is safely all his.  The dogs line up watching the food prep as if monitoring what goes in which bowl, but they all get their fair share.

 

We weigh the food into four containers labelled for each dog every evening while they are eating their tea ..... all ready for the next days feeding frenzy.  This way they all get the right proportion of food, and we can decide whether they need a bigger breakfast or evening meal depending on what is happening each day.

 

They eat in exactly the same positions each meal time, two dishes go down at a time, first Suky's, then Charley's, then Mavis' and finally Rosy's,  one of us always stays to supervise, otherwise greedy Suky may go and filch someone else's food while they move away from their dish for a moment.

 

Weighing the food is what has helped Suky start really losing weight, already just half a kilo lighter and with the slightly cooler weather she is running around the field so much better.

 

 

Thank goodness our mealtimes are so much easier.

 

During this first part of Stoptober we are eating easily, there's not much thinking to do when we have so much.  As food supplies go down a bit I will start to menu plan, but for the moment it's a case of opening the fridge, freezer or cupboard and grabbing what we fancy.

 

This was our 'stay at home takeaway', fish chips and peas .... nice and simple and very tasty.

 

Sue xx

 

 

 

 

 

Stoptober - Off and Running

 

Well here we are the first of the month, how the hell did that happen so quickly!!

 

The first day of Stoptober got off to a good start anyway.

 

 

Broccoli taken out of the fridge to have for tea, with all the unused trimmings being popped into an old ice-cream tub and popped straight into the freezer.

 

I didn't bother to open freeze it flat on a tray, I just gave the tub a good shake after an hour or so in the freezer to keep the bits relatively free-flowing.  Once this tub is full of veggie bits and pieces it will be the basis of a good pan of vegetable soup. 

 

A free meal.

 

And what is the reason for the Pug card being the top photo on the post today .... well there isn't one really it's just a lovely card that my Mum sent me.  We both keep our eyes peeled for cards with Pugs on them just because we love them so much.  It used to be a lot easier to find them as Pugs were the fashionable dog to have last year, this year they aren't so much ...... I wonder what is more in fashion in the doggy world now?

 

Whatever it is, it can't compete with my gorgeous girl.

Her diet is going very well by the way, she has now lost half a kilo    :-)

 

Sue xx



Stoptober - Enough Food to Last?

 

Enough Food to Last?

 

That title was a bit tongue in cheek because, as you can see from the photos, there is more than enough food to last the two of us and the two house guests we are expecting during October, for the month ..... and eating well at that.

 

 

As you saw yesterday the freezer is almost full to the top, and the cupboards are also pretty full, although not groaning under the weight of food as they used to be before my Challenge of the first part of this year. 

 

The '365 Days - £365'  challenge (see HERE for the blog) really kept me accountable and stopped me buying a lot of unnecessary things.  Unfortunately, once I stopped the challenge I found the habit of buying creeping in a little bit once again.  So my main aims for 'Stoptober' are to free up cupboard space and nip this excess shopping in the bud. 

 

 

It shows the space that is now available in the cupboards as I was able to neatly fit in the bargain packs of pasta that I bought last week.  Last year they would have had to live on the worktop awaiting a space, or be used before they even saw the inside of a cupboard.

 

The only food items in a non-foody cupboard are these two jars of coffee, one of which has just been tipped into the coffee canister on the worktop ready for use.  I'm so much better than I used to be ....  Lovely Hubby used to have to be ready to catch any falling foodstuff each and every time he opened a cupboard door, poor man   :-)

 

 So apart from a couple of one pint cartons of milk for emergency use I will be buying nothing now in readiness for my start tomorrow. I do have an Approved Food order that was placed and paid for last week arriving any day.  I was tempted by the catering sized bags of Crumble Mix that were well within date so I placed an order using some of my PayPal balance that I accrued selling some clothes last month, but these will be my last foody purchases. Each time I feel the urge to shop I will take a couple of the dogs out for a walk instead ....... leaving my purse firmly at home!!

 

If you're joining in with Stoptober, and I know a lot of Bloggers are, please leave a short comment and then we can all link to your blog posts by just clicking on your name and finding your Blog.  I should have some spare time in the next couple of weeks to read all about your exploits as the work will be starting on the conservatory, and as I can do nothing to help with this apart from supplying teas and coffees to the builders I should have a bit of time to spend on things that I want to do ..... that should be good!

 

Good luck to everyone that is taking part, and remember it should be fun, not a hardship.

 

Sue xx

Making the Most of What You Have

 

After the last post I had so many comments and emails saying that you were doing exactly the same as me,  spending money to save money.  I'm pleased that I'm not the only one, but occasionally I feel we fall into the trap of spending vouchers because we have them!!  The questions we should ask ourselves are:  "Would I have spent the money I did, if I had not been lured into the supermarkets by the vouchers that they sent me?", or "Am I going shopping today just because I have a voucher?".

 

 I don't know about you, but in my case some of the time I think I am playing right into their hands, spending my hard earned cash on what they want me to buy!!

 

But I'm not going to lose any sleep over it, what I am going to do is to make the most of the food I have bought so it last me the longest time possible and makes us as many tasty meals as possible, so I can keep away from the shops for as long as possible.  I need to keep myself accountable which is something I do most of the time of course, but it's easy to stray if you don't keep yourself in check.  So I am going to use the Blog for the whole of 'Stoptober' to keep myself accountable, plan my meals from what I have and give myself a strict budget for any food I have to buy.

 

 I intend to give myself a budget of just £10 a week for any fresh food shopping we need to keep us eating healthily.  I will put £10 into my purse on Wednesday 1st and then another one on each Wednesday throughout October.  At the end of the month whatever cash is left over will be added to the Sealed Pot, which this year is being used for our Christmas Fund.

 

So what did I do with the foods destined for the freezer from the last shop (with vouchers) I did?

 

 

I worked out how much they had cost me each just in case I want to price out meals, and then wrapped them individually and placed them in a big freezerproof box.

 

I did similar with the Garlic Breads, so that we can get one slice out as a time if we want to.  It's always good to open these packs before you freeze them as the breads tend to be stuck together with all the handling they have had from warehouse to supermarket to home etc.

 

The Southern Fried Chicken portions were also individually wrapped, priced and put into a tub.  I'm glad I bought two packs of these as one pack had one thigh and six drumsticks .... and the other had one drumstick and six thighs!!

 

All neatly poortioned and wrapped and ready for the freezer.

 

And because I have most of my foods like this in big boxes the freezer is looking pretty full.  Now if I can't make this lot last for at least month there is something very wrong with me!!

 

We only have guests twice this month so I should be able to cater for us (and them) very successfully.  I will put a couple of cartons of milk in there after I have been into Llandudno later today ... but that is all the shopping I am getting.

 

Stopober cannot come soon enough for me  :-)

 

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I apologise for any mistakes on my Blog, or on comments I may leave on any of your blogs over the next few days, but I am having to do all my computer work on my little laptop as our main computer has been taken very poorly and is at the computer doctors (hopefully) being made better!!

 

To add to my technology woes, this morning for the first time since we lived here I have no phone signal, so I can't phone anyone either.  Ohh woe is me ;-)

 

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Sue xx