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Wednesday 3 February 2016

Austerity, not in this home.

I make no secret of the fact that I am as tight as a ducks bum when it comes to parting with my cash. Most of the people that I come in contact with understand, and many of them ask for tips and recipes.
However (there is always one) someone said to me yesterday "Oh I could not live in austerity, I will not go cold or hungry" I asked them to dinner, any day they wanted.

Yes I look for RTC bargains, it whiles away an hour on Friday evenings and saves me quite a lot of money. My slow cooker is on now with a sausage casserole, the best Cumberland Sausages from Tesco, 2 packs of bean and veg casserole mix Tesco, 2 tins of tomatoes Poundstretcher, half an onion, a small green pepper and some smoked paprika, stock from the freezer. I will be feeding 4 greedy guts adults for £3.20, not shabby and certainly not austere. 

No one will leave the table hungry, unless of course they wish to.
I had some bread flour that needed using so made 2 spiced fruit loaves a few days ago. Half of one will be made into bread and butter pudding, I have 3 eggs and some milk that needs using. If that lot is eaten and there are no left overs I will be very surprised.

I think that the secret of frugal cooking is in the seasoning, I use herbs, both fresh and dried and spices liberally. I can often pick lemons up for 2p each, the zest goes into the freezer, as does the juice, a little of each lifts a fish pie or a pork dish.

I am  not scared to experiment, if it does not work as well as I wanted then my home made chilli or curry sauce will help it down.

Yesterdays dinner, cheap, cheerful and very very tasty.


My soup, with some shredded black kale and savoy cabbage.
The chilli and a dash of lemon juice made this zingy.




Sponge pudding with Blackberry and Apple, from the garden and hedgerows, topping and custard. Deeply delicious, comforting nursery food. A little taste from my childhood that I enjoy on a regular basis. I make it in a ceramic dish with a 3 egg mix and share with my friends. I vary the fruit to what I have, Blueberry and Raspberry is lovely, specially when I get the fruit for 20p.

On a completely different subject, do you remember the post about tights? the difficulty in finding some that really fit.
Well at the beginning of winter I bought some from Magic and Sparkle, not cheap but not finger burning pricey either.
I bought 40 and 60 denier in red, blue, brown and black, they are purrfect. And the very best thing about them is the little label in the back.
I could not begin to count the times that I have put tights on, finished dressing and put my shoes on only to see 2 little "heel bumps" on the front. GRRRRR Never No More now.

All I need to find now are shoes that fit well that can go to be soled and heeled. My size 9 platters are the bane of my life.

                    TTFN                                                    Pam


32 comments:

  1. I don't wear tights any more but I well remember the struggle to find well fitting ones.....and don't get me started on shoes. I have spent eyewatering amounts of money trying to find any that don't have my feet screaming within half an hour of putting them on.
    I'd come to your house any day for tea. Your food always looks scrumptious-x-

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    1. I can get shoes from Hotter, I only buy in the sales though, but they do not have the type of soles that can be repaired or replaced.

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  2. I really liked your response to the naysayer. While I like to be warm and fed, it doesn't mean the heat has to be up high when a sweater and a pair of slippers does the job. I don't need steak on a regular basis when a huge portion of a vegetarian hot dish with plenty of flavor is just as satisfying.It is about little things, and the attitude of enjoyment that makes the difference between being budget aware but not feeling poor.

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    1. I do not have my home too warm, it plays hell with my sinuses, I just dress according to the weather. I love all the food that I eat and do not eat huge quantities of meat or fish.

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  3. Your meals always sound delicious and anyone who thinks because it's homemade that it isn't any good is nuts.

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    1. I will not eat rubbish, not if I was paid to do so. I have had some delicious meals with frugal minded friends and some truly awful ones where money was no object.

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  4. Loved the look of the soup and the mouth watering pudding, I would be happy to come around for dinner any time you want me.

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    1. I always have enough for another mouth.

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  5. I love M&S winter tights, your not tight just careful, why waste money, we to like expensive sausages rather than a more expensive piece of meat, hubby is getting good at hunting down bargains

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    1. I like good quality sausages with a low fat content, those smooth mushy ones are not for me, I do make sausage meat myself but have not got around to finding a machine to make sausages yet.

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  6. All your dishes look very tasty and delicious. The slow cooker can turn cheap cuts into the most tender, fall off the bone , meat. To me, being frugal is all about getting the best quality for the cheapest price, including RTC items. Your pudding looks delicious too.

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    1. I see people scooping up ready meals by the armful sometimes. They are welcome to them. The pudding was delicious and the custard just made it better.

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  7. Off topic sort of..... never heard M & S referred to as Magic & Sparkle. Good laugh over that one. M & S did not survive here in Canada, pulled out about 10 yrs ago.

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    1. They use that version of their name in the Christmas adverts. If they do not pull their socks up with the clothing range they could well go here. They had another bad quarter at the end of last year.

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  8. It takes more time in some ways to be frugal, but time doesn't have to cost anything. Also a lot of people forget that frugal isn't mean or cheap, it is thinking about what you spend and where. Gosh, size 9's, that must be a challenge! xx

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    1. I was raised to know the value of money, and just how much work it took to get it. My feet are a constant challenge, walking boots and trainers are no problem, I just shop in the mens section. Trouble is men do not seem to want bright red mary janes or orange sandals.

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  9. Your meals always look appetising and I want to try some of the recipes you have on your blog. The only trouble is that my husband will be doing the lions share of the cooking so I will have to tempt him with them too. We like different things which is awkward at times.
    As I'm quite tall, 5'9", I've always had a problem with tights, but have no need for them now. It's trousers for me all the time apart from in the heat of the summer when I wear skirts without tights. I'm size 8 in shoes and have always had problems getting decent fashionable ones. My daughter who is 6' has always had problems with tights and shoes as she is your size (9). She tends to wear leggings in winter with boots and jeans with trainers.

    Joan (Wales)

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    1. I wore jeans and trousers for years at work and now wear skirts or dresses as much as possible. I was a size 7 at 14 and crept up to an 8 by 16 and then woosh I was a 9. Thank goodness I stopped growing then. Evans sell bigger sizes but they are always far too wide for me.

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  10. love your comment about tights & you're right about the M&S ones being a good fit. A tip I got from a friend when I was pregnant and still working was to put the tights on back to front as my tummy grew, because tights were made with more room in the back for big bottoms. It still holds true today because although I'm not pregnant, I do still have a "bit of a tummy".
    Your food always looks so good Pam. It's not how much we pay for our food that matters, but how we prepare it.

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    1. I wore tights last year all through the "summer" but like to go bare legged as much as possible.I like my food and want to eat as well as I can, I manage that with no problem.

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  11. I always like what you cook, it always looks delicious. Haven't worn pantyhose or tights for years, could be because I always wear pants! I miss M&S. But, I have to say, every time I went in it was always mainly English people in there! After the war my mum was a seamstress for M&S and she said their standards were much higher than anywhere else.

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    1. In the days when I wore stockings, long before tights were readily available, I used a little shop in Norwich that sold loose ones, when you laddered one you could just replace it with a single stocking rather than a pair. My Mum and I used to buy a box every now and then. It was very economical.

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  12. Commiserations on the size 9 platters... I walk the same path! My podiatrist once told me to give up on trying to find the perfect fitted shoes and instead buy any shoes that take my fancy......then throw away the shoes and wear the boxes!

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    1. I have been told that more than once, I can get shoes with no problem, just not the sort that I would love at a price that is acceptable.

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  13. Your meals look and sound delicious I see no point in spending more money than you have to its about being adventures and clever with your thinking when it comes to cooking I feel.

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    1. You have hit the nail right on the head Delia, even bangers and mash can be livened up. garlic or mustard mash, a gravy with a good dollop of chutney and a spoonful of redcurrant/plum/apple jelly for a sticky shine and you have a feast. Add some crispy fried onion slices that have been soaked in a splash of milk, dusted with flour and then fried in a little oil and it is pure yummyness.

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  14. Why do some people mistake frugality for mean-ness and going without? Your food always looks delicious. Regarding tights...I always struggled to find well fitting ones which didn't slide down my legs so that the crotch ended up mid thigh! Now I'm retired I wear comfy trousers with no need for tights, yippee!

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    1. I am the opposite, after years of wearing trousers for work I now want to wear skirts.

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  15. Tights! The bane of my life ESPECIALLY here in France. Finding tights in the supermarket for anything bigger than a size 14 is hard. Finding them for a 6 foot size 16 is impossible. I am existing with some very ancient M&S ones & wondering about whether to splash out on an order from Long Tall Sally.

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    1. I can not understand why after clothing manufacturers increased the measurements of their sizes, because we are getting taller and bigger through better health care and nutrition, the tights people did not follow suit

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  16. Vegetable soup looks so delicious and healthy. Perfect for dinner!

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    1. I love veg soup and make a variety of it every week using what ever is available.

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