Spending to Save.

Welcome aboard Angela, I hope you enjoy the voyage.
Angela blogs at Smallholding, Pleasure or Profit, why don't you pop over for a visit, you never know you may like it and decide to stay a while.

Good afternoon, it is a very good one for me. I went to Sutton today to post off my mugrug swap, the Post Office Counter is within the Co op so I thought that I may as well wander round, well I would hate to miss something good. My meal plan is in place but I am always prepared to snap up a bargain and juggle things round.

Look what Pam found.

This was derinded, rind sprinkled with salt and pepper and into a hot oven for a crackling treat, cubed and into the slow cooker to become a succulent feast with onions, peppers, carrots, smoked and sweet paprika, garlic, tomato puree, a pinch or 3 of dried herbs and a tin of tomatoes all mixed up with enough chicken stock to cover. Oh and I added a splash of sherry vinegar, the smell is fantastic.

I bought 8 of these packs and 6 went into the freezer, at Christmas they will become sausage rolls to share with my neighbours, a few may well find their way to work.

I also bought 6 packs of the "best" 100% beef burgers , 2 in a pack for 50p. These are in the freezer, they may well be broken down and turned into pasta sauce or chilli or even an old fashioned  minced beef and onion pie.

As the weather is so, well, wet I decided to play in the kitchen. Out came all the baking gear and RATS! the fancy electronic scales won't work, low battery. So head and shoulders into a cupboard to retrieve these old faithfuls. I have had them for more years than I care to remember, I did buy a set of metric weights many years ago but hung on to the Imperial set, I do have some very old cookbooks.

I made 8 jumbo sausage rolls, some of them have gone next door, Nev did not refuse!

I had a biggish bit of pastry left so quickly made some crumble mix.

I lined a foil tray and a round loose bottomed pie dish with the pastry tipped in a generous amount of Hedgerow puree and topped with crumble mix. The one above went next door to keep the sausage rolls company. I always drape the pastry over the edge, it stops any shrinkage allowing the filling to escape. Ben likes the little bits as a treat (and so do I). I left them on Nev's pie for either him or his Collie,Greg, to enjoy.

The oven now holds a light fruit cake and some potatoes in their skins for dinner tonight. We will have them with some of the Chicken Madras that I made yesterday.

Francesca is working from home until Thursday this week, the Swing Bridge at Sutton Bridge is closed for repairs at night and she would have to drive to Wisbech to get to the train in the morning and again to get home. Her day is too long without the extra hour that would mean.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. A lovely day at play.

2. Fran in and out seeing what I am making.

3. An episode of Haven to watch together this evening.

4. Managing to walk Ben in between the downpours.

5. Having the house stocked up for the winter.

I have lived in quite isolated places over the years, we were snowed in for a week at one point and I kept several homes supplied with food and drinks, they all did their shopping on Fridays and the snow fell on Thursday! I am that Girl Guide.

No sewing today, a stack of scraps to press and sort ready for when I need them.

                                      TTFN                     Pam.

PS I was right, tomorrow was another day, and a jolly good one too.