Using it up

Avoiding food waste is something most of us are going to have on take on board. Food has been very cheap for a long time and now very quickly all that is changing. I am lucky enough to be able to remember some of my Mothers thrifty ways but I still need reminding every now and then. A timely reminder came with the organic fruit and veg box delivery last week. I love receiving my deliveries from Abel and Cole, not just for the food but also the wonderful newsletter which always has a couple of yummy recipes on it. This time Rachel de Thample has written a brilliant piece called "The Food Waste Manifesto" something to pin on the fridge and I hope she doesn't mind me putting the gist of it on here.

1) Identify items you are always left with at the end of the week and either add them to your dislike list or use them as soon as they are delivered.

2) Keep a list of things to be used up such as leftovers, jars of preserves that have been hanging around, stick this on your fridge as a constant reminder.

3) Choose some items to freeze each week for a supply to fall back on.

4) Make a soup of the week or a salad of the day to get your 5 a day.

5) Add pureed veggies to everything: pancakes, pasta, into a pate, simmered with stock for a soup, On Monday I cooked and pureed aubergines, courgettes, runner beans, tomatoes and peppers in a jar of passata with herbs and a good slug of red wine, we had this with some pasta and it was lovely and have 2 more containers of this still to use, the photo above shows the result of this in the slow cooker.

6) Make stock every week; the author has a paper bag in her fridge which she fills with veggie off cuts - bits of carrots, leek trimmings and the night before the next box is delivered makes a stock by pouring water over and simmering for half an hour.

7) Have a pasta or rice dish every week. Easy to sneak fading veg into these dishes. We tend to eat rice and pasta a fair bit.

8) Have a financial fast day or as we call them no spend days, where you don't buy any food (no top ups) Try the Ready Steady Cook approach.

9) Have a freezer day - taking out food already stored.

10) Have a tapas night. Making lots of little dishes is a great fridge clearer. Another idea from the Tightwad Gazette I think is to have a "party tray" night using up all the little bits as treats rather than boring leftovers.

Bottom of the freezer smoothies!

I am still trying to get to the bottom of our chest freezer, then I can defrost it and start to store the summer produce. amongst my freezer bounty are many frozen bananas (in their skins-works very well for making banana bread) and lots of assorted frozen berries. Put both together into a blender with some orange juice and it produced a big jug of ice cold dark cerise coloured yummy smoothies all round. there was a bit leftover so I made a couple of ice lollies, a bit Heath Robinson - using a washed out empty push up lolly container and an empty cod liver oil capsule tub and a swizzle stick! I wonder how much money that saved?

A lovely surprise which has made my day! Sharon J from Finding simplicity has passed this onto me among others, I really don't think I deserve it as I haven't been blogging for long but I'm very grateful. I should pass this straight back to you Sharon as your blog has inspired me the most but I know that is not the point of the exercise so anyway I now have to pass it along to 7 other bloggers who have inspired me so here we go:-

1) Making Good Use is where Elizabeth has inspired and encouraged me to not only make more of what I have about the house but also what I find at the charity shops and car boot sales. I love the way Elizabeth writes and she is a very talented sewer and knitter (I won one of her lovely dishcloths) she also encouraged me to start blogging.

2) Home Matters Most - Jennifer's blog is about how she and her husband and daughter are livng a greener and more organic life and also about their superb square foot gardening. Jennifer inspires me to become more organised.

3) Down to Earth - where Rhonda Jean and Hanno share their simple living knowledge with so many of us who are now totally addicted to seeing how their garden is getting on and to check in on those lovely airedales and chooks.

4) Move to Portugal - a very organised look at paying down the mortgage in order to, as the blog says, move to portugal and a new life. I love the way she sets out the finances - puts me to shame! I will do better though one day!

5) Urbania to Stoneheads - Kethry from mse old style shares her life and some very good recipes

6) Nostalgia at the Stone House - this is just such a lovely blog to look at, with lots of pretty things!

7) Vintage Pleasure - This lovely blog has inspired me to become a bit of a collector or at least to see that I can furnish the house on a budget from charity shops and car boot sales in an eclectic way and still be stylish. I now love to collect the old johnson bros dawn dinner service in all 4 colours.

To be honest there are so many more blogs out there that I love it was hard to stop at 7 :)

Staying cool in the summer

It is so very hot today and it would be so very tempting to go out to B & Q and purchase an air conditioning unit but I can't really afford to buy or run it and they are not really environmentally friendly. I need to try some alternatives!

The idea is to cut down on the sources of heat and to get rid of the heat that has already built up inside the home.

Fans: a ceiling fan can make a room feel a few degrees cooler and they are cheaper to run than an air conditioning unit. We have one of these in the conservatory other than that we have portable fans which are also very good as even air movement of 1 mph can help you to feel a few degrees cooler. Open windows on opposite sides of the house and use the fan to pull the air through. Failing that I can always dig out that souvenir fan from our last Spanish holiday!

Curtains and blinds: white curtains or blinds to reflect heat away from the house would be best, we have cream so almost as good. As the sun moves around the house covering those windows facing the sun will help to keep the suns heat out and enable the fans to work more efficiently. You could place wet sheets over the windows and let the breeze blowing through evaporating the water cool you down.

Cut down internal heat: Remember the common sources of internal heat are from appliances
such as the computer, television and other electrical appliances. Also lighting, replacing bulbs with compact fluorescents can cut the energy and heat used dramatically. Try to avoid ironing and cooking during the warmest part of the day (I don't need to be told that one twice!)

Re-hydrate: a lovely cool shower is very refreshing, keep some cold water in a spritz bottle and use that every now and then. Drink plenty of water, I keep a thermos of chilled water with me most of the time and plenty more in the fridge, try not to keep sticking your head into the fridge though as nice though this is it will make the fridge overwork and of course send out more heat into your home. Eat foods with a higher moisture content like salads, fruits, vegetables and of course ice cream! Wring out a clean flannel in cold water and keep it near by to cool off your face.

Cook outside - any excuse for a barbie! this will stop your kitchen getting even hotter and maybe someone else will volunteer to do the cooking (well you can live in hope)

Open Windows: Opening your windows in the coolness of the morning and evening can help keep your house at a more reasonable temperature. Night-time temperatures tend to drop considerably from those in the daytime, so take advantage of it, and let nature keep your house cool.

Now to put it all into action! Our puppy loves eating ice cubes to cool off, might give that a try myself!

Keeping warm this winter!

Seems an unusual thing to be worrying about in the middle of a summer heatwave but with the recent hike in fuel prices, heating the home and eating reasonably well are not going to be so easy anymore.

We have Gas central heating, a gas fire in the lounge, under floor electric heating in the conservatory and a small ceramic portable heater so no cheap heating options there. We could get a quote on moving the gas fire and putting in a wood burner but I think it could cost quite a bit with re lining etc.,

In the meantime I am investing in hot water bottles, beanbag warmers (easy to make with dry rice in an old "clean" sock tied at the end, and hand warmers, some warmer clothes while they are cheap, cardigans, jumpers, warm socks, hats, gloves etc., also blankets and lap quilts. Now won't we look chic sitting in the lounge wrapped in a blanket or shawl with fluffy socks on our feet and wooly hats on our heads. Of course we could just go to bed early! :) This could explain the grandparents large families!

Try a little kindness

I don't want to sound like I am preaching here, far from it, I have so much to learn myself, but feel the need to pass on a lesson I have learned this week. Angels come in all guises and this week I have seen a few. First after the funeral of 2 little girls who didn't quite make it into this world, a tragedy where no words will suffice, where everyone was hurting along with the parents and where we all wanted to wave a magic wand and make things better but couldn't, the angels here were the many people who came along, not to say anything in particular or to do anything but just to be there and by doing so told the couple just how much they cared.

The second was at our MS centre, the angels there are the volunteers who freely give of their time and skills to help so many with various therapies or just to be a friend and make a cuppa and sit for a chat, also the patients themselves all with problems of their own but all supportive of each other and lifting each others spirits. People go home from this wonderful place with such a positive vibe despite all the depressing news around us at the moment.

Last but not least our "local" which is more of a community centre than just a pub! Here they really do know your name and the rest of your family too and they really do care about you, listen to your woes, shed tears with you and hug you when you have sad news and celebrate with you when you have good news. Of course a lot of this is down to the incredibly lovely couple who run the pub with hearts as big as could be.

Kindness is in us all and you never know how one little kind act could make all the difference to someone who is struggling.

A fridge too far?

I am going to be brave here and show you what I hope is beginning to look more like a pennypinchers fridge!

Top shelf is soya marge, pro active spread (my bp has been a tad high so I am being careful) butter in the pyrex dish and cheese in the arcopal dishes.

Middle shelf - yellow stickered reduced price wheat free bread, home made yogurt in the mason cash bowl (sorry about the cling film - have another roll to use up yet) the small jar of mint sauce and the leftover cucumber (plus more cucumber in the other fridge) mean I can make tzatziki salad, various part used jars of preserves,

Bottom shelf - blue and white container with hm choc crispy cakes (using up cheap cornflakes, cooking choc and nearly past it dry fruits), floral dish with lid has 2 huge Costco mince pies in defrosting, found when sorting out the larder freezer, I am quite mean with these and cut them into 4 so we aren't too greedy! They are yummy though! The tin foil is covering some corned beef left over from Mr C's sandwiches and will make a lunch for me, the stainless steel thermos has chilled water in and goes out with me every trip - I can only guess at how much money that has saved me on buying bottled water when out and about but I am sure it has paid for itself. A part used box of soya milk because at my age it is meant to be good for me :) Has anybody tried freezing soya milk? I have failed with freezing soya yogurt - it separates! :( behind are yet more part used sauces and preserves including last years blackberry preserve (really easy recipe).

Painful joints mean I find the bottom draws are hard to reach, I cannot bend too easily and if I get down on the floor I have problems getting up again! So only infrequently used preserves and sauces go in there.

Plenty of room for improvement, I could do with controlling the amount of preserves that are open at any one time, but I am getting there, I am lucky enough to have a 2nd fridge in the utility room which is handy when I have all the family down, this is used for storing meat (bottomshelf), fruit and vegetables (middle shelf), and any taller stuff on the roomier top shelf, I need to work on this one. Instead of 2 individual fridges I would have loved to have had one of those super american huge fridges but our kitchen is too tiny!

I dislike the rigidity of menu planning but can see that it would save us a lot of pennies so I am off to make another of my lists!

Tonight will be a spending night as we are eating out with friends - Mr C's treat (from his entertainment budget) so I only have to worry about lunch!