Feeding the Family Friday...

Hi everyone,

Fridays are all about what we've been eating in the last week. This is when I will post up meal recipes I think you'll enjoy or recipes that have been requested.

I forgot to photograph this before dishing up! It's not a very good photo but it was delicious! 

This is the baked bean lasagne.

My favourite meal from this week...roast chicken :)

Now for this weeks recipe...

Cheese and Onion Pie

1). Grate some cheese. This is how much I did to fit the size dish I needed to feed my family...adjust to suit your family.

2). Brown an onion and add to the cheese.

3). Add black pepper and a shake of parsley.

4). Combine with a beaten egg and a pot of single cream...you could use milk here if you want to (284ml was what I used) until you have a sloppy mixture.

5). Roll out some short crust pastry... I used ready rolled simply because it was on offer when I shopped. You could make your own or just roll out shop bought quite thinly. 

6). Cover the pie dish and cut around. I always prick pastry with a fork then brush with beaten egg or milk.

7). Bake in the oven for 20-30 mins at 180oC. Keep an eye on it incase it starts to brown too much. 

Be careful when you eat it...that cheese gets very hot!

Thanks for reading...

Mandy x

Ps. Don't forget to check out my second blog...you can find it on my profile page or...

bakinghomemadehappiness.blogspot.co.uk

Thrifty Thursday...

Hi everyone

Thursdays are going to be all about what I've done to be thrifty that week.

Some things I do each and every day without thinking about it and these will be shared in my Tuesday Top Tips. Thrifty Thursday is for out of the ordinary stuff. This is what I've been up to this week...

Fresh, homegrown strawberries from my garden...delicious and cost very little...Daisy's favourite!

A maclaren Cath Kidston stroller purchased for £10. It was filthy!! Daisy and I scrubbed it and left it outside to dry. I washed everything else in the machine...

It came up a lot better but sadly still some black mildew spots (thank you lovely Sara ...aka...a frugal wife for all your help and advice xx) remaining. 

The other view of the stroller ended up at the top and I couldn't seem to move it here or delete it! Bella Tweenie is quite comfy there!

This is going to be kept in Charlotte's car for when we go out with her. 

Another thrifty thing I've done this week...I bought some living lettuce.,.

We get through a lot of salad bits, especially lettuce. These are lovely salad leaves and last a lot longer than a single lettuce. I will definitely be doing this again. I did plant some lettuces (kindly given to me) but nothing happened :(

Not sure what I did wrong, but they didn't grow. 

I really want to get better at growing my own veg, especially salad things. I need to dedicate more time to the garden! 

What have you done this week to be thrifty?

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x

What I've baked Wednesday...

Hi everyone

Not much baking been going on here lately but I did make fruity fairy cakes with Daisy today...or if I'm honest...Daisy did most of it and I just supervised, took care of the oven side of things and tidied up the floury mess!

A really simple recipe of...

100g butter

100g caster sugar

2 eggs

100g self-raising flour 

A good sprinkling of raisins

Daisy even cracked the eggs with me! So proud she did that for the first time today and only a tiny bit of shell went in the bowl.

Fresh out of the oven she had to test one    And so did grampy (as you can see in the photo)...

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x

Top Tips Tuesday...

Hi again,

Today I'm beginning my Tuesday blog posts of sharing thrifty tips with you. Some you will already do, some you will have heard of somewhere else, some will be new to you, some won't be relevant to your lifestyle, but I hope you will find something worth repeating to hang on to those precious pennies.

Not all of them are my own original ideas, but we all learn from each other in books, face-to-face and from the tv and internet. By sharing those ideas, we are helping each other out, especially when money is tight. 

I have a book full of tips that I have jotted down...some I use now and some that didn't work for us as a family. There are some that I haven't put into practice yet too.

I will post five tips each Tuesday on various topics around the home...

Top Tips Tuesday

(Kitchen)

* use the cooker top (stove) where you can. The oven uses a lot of electricity and I do this where ever I can. Yesterday I cooked my cottage pie mince on the top, added the mash and simply browned under the grill. I used to brown the mince and cook it in the oven...not any more!

* if you are using the oven to cook meals (like a roast), make sure the oven is full. This could be by cooking a pudding or baking some cakes. Just check you need the same oven temperature! 

* cook cheaper cuts of meat...the slow cooker comes in really handy here. I'm not a fan of offal, but I will cook the tougher cuts of beef. You just need to cook slowly on a lower temperature which is ideal for slow cooker recipes. I tend to do this more in the colder months, but will post the recipes as and when.

* eat less meat... We have been doing this for a while now. You'll see that from this weeks meal plan. I substitute for another protein like eggs or cheese. As a family, we don't like pulses and lentils or quorn/tofu. It's all about making a cheaper meal but being aware of the nutritional value too. Another thing I do to eat less meat is to bulk out and stretch a meal further with extra vegetables. Yesterday I added chopped carrots and frozen peas to the mince. Sometimes I add baked beans too or sweet corn. 

* roast a chicken and use it up! I must confess that I am not the best at this because I prefer the white breast meat and not the darker meat. However, my husband is not fussy and will eat the legs and wings. After carving the main of it, allow the chicken to cool while you eat and then pick off the remaining meat. You'll be surprised just how much meat is left on there. This meat is lovely for making pies or other chicken dishes requiring cooked meat (I have recipes if anyone is interested). Next put the carcass in a large pan and boil up the bones. This makes excellent stock and you can freeze it until needed (make sure it has cooled down first though). You can add veg to your pan like a whole onion, carrot and celery, but I have done it without and it's fine. I will show you how I do this when we have roast chicken this week.

Thanks for your comments on here and my second blog. I do try to reply to all (unless I manage to miss one from an older post) and note your requests.

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x

Meal plan Monday...

Hi everyone

I have made some changes to my blog to motivate me to write more.

I have started to meal plan again...

Meal plan Monday 

Monday cottage pie, broccoli and carrots

Tuesday cheese and onion pie, new potatoes and peas

Wednesday roast chicken, roasties, stuffing, Savoy cabbage and carrots 

Thursday baked bean lasagne and salad

Friday toad-in-the-hole, mash and green beans

Saturday sweet and sour turkey and rice

Sunday boiled eggs and toast

There's a mix of meat and veg dishes here and Sunday is only dippy eggs because we shop that day so eat a large late lunch (sandwiches etc) and only want something light for tea. 

Recipes on request!!

I hope you'll like the new style coming this week...more on that tomorrow.

Please hop over to my second blog...homemade happiness...cakes, bakes and other makes.

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x

Thank you!

Thank you for the feedback! I have noted your comments and I now feel I can move forward with this blog and not feel so uninspired by it!

A bit if news for you...

I have written my first post on my second blog...

http://bakinghomemadehappiness.blogspot.co.uk 

The blog title is...

Homemade Happiness...cakes, bakes and other makes

You can find it by clicking on my profile page too. 

I want to keep this blog thrifty and my new blog for everything else. If you search for blogs with thrifty or frugal ideas, you don't expect to see purchases from Cath Kidston or Emma Bridgewater!

I also want my new blog to document what I have made...hopefully seeing progress and improvement in my creativity.

I suppose I want to stay true to this blog. I find a balance in my life between thrifty and extravagant because I am lucky to be able to. It does you good to have treats every now and then. 

The recipe for this cake is over on my new blog...

It wasn't a cheap and thrifty cake so that's why it's on the other blog...am I making sense? Everything will be clear next week when I begin regular posts here again.

Thank you for reading,

Mandy x

Carboot goodies...

Hi everyone,

Sadly I've lost a bit of interest in my blog lately. I suppose that I sometimes feel I'm talking to myself and I really don't have the time for that! This used to be my online diary, but I had to make changes and as a result my blog became somewhere to share my ideas with like minded people. 

I'm not begging for loads of comments because I also read blogs and don't find time to comment, but I do ask if you find something I write useful or you try one of my recipes, that you send a short note to let me know please.

Like many people, my time is precious and blogging is a hobby, so I am keen to post up what is relevant to you. I love to cook from scratch and bake, so these are obvious choices to share with you. I have said before that I am not always thrifty and love pretty things...I suppose my title doesn't fit so well now. I sometimes make meals that have loads of ingredients too and this is not counting the pennies! 

Forgive me if you don't enjoy my Carboot/charity shop finds, but this is the thrifty person inside me so I think that kind of shopping fits my title. 

If I'm going to spend time doing recipes or tutorials, I need to know that it's what you want to read (I know I have a few loyal readers who 'chat with me' no matter what I post) so a little feedback would be very much appreciated. I have done things in the past that have been requested and then no response, leading me to think that either they haven't had time to read, or that it's not really what they were expecting. Am I making sense?

Don't get me wrong...I love writing and I love my blog, but it is a hobby that I want to enjoy and I want you to enjoy too.

Ok...

Now it's over to you...

If anyone has the time, please could you let me know what you would like me to write about? Do you want food related posts, household tips, money saving ideas, shopping, meal planning, or simply what I've been up to? 

I really don't want to be boring!!

I will look at your suggestions and come up with a plan!

In the meantime, I have been carbooting and this is what I bought...

It came to £9.95 and I also picked up a fisher price farm for £2, but Daisy is playing with it now! This totals £11.95. All useful and what I've been looking out for...no more impulse buying! 

I have also sorted out a huge amount of stuff for the charity shop...decluttering is a constant task to keep things under control. I have changed...I can be ruthless and I love the space I can uncover!

I hope you enjoyed reading and will be able to provide me with a little feedback.

Thank you so much to my loyal readers who already do this xxx

Mandy x