French Soap
We are clearing out a flat and the inhabitant (a French woman) seemed to have a thing about soap as there were 3 carrier bags of it! Beautifully wrapped, wonderfully perfumed. I've been having great fun taking some with me wherever I go and giving a bar or three to anyone that stands still long enough. It gives me a lovely feeling passing things on to people that will use whatever it is.
Most people use shower gel or liquid soap these days rather than bars, but my friends tend to be a similar age to myself, and more inclined to still use the bars.
Got another cold
Some generous person has shared their germs with me and I've started a cold. I was out with a group of friends on Friday morning enjoying coffee and a chat at a local garden centre. Then straight on from there to another friends house where I enjoyed lunch with 4 women.
At about 5:30, I started having a tickly throat, and then by bedtime was starting to feel rough and the throat was full on sore.
I hope I haven't infected anyone from all the people I was with on Friday.
I've had to cancel 3 upcoming things for this week already! I only had my last cold in the first couple of weeks of November, I'm not due another one yet!
Shrove Tuesday
It's Shrove Tuesday on the 21st of February. Do you make pancakes that day? Regardless of if you do or not, pancakes are a great way to stretch bits of this and that to create a meal from nothing much.
It was interesting that when I was looking things up, every image and recipe seemed to be for sweet things. It's more important I think to have ideas for a main meal to fill yourself up and get some vegetables down you. Sweet things are best kept as a treat now and again. Personally, I find sugar very addictive. The more I have, the more I want. I'm best staying away from it if I can.
I like to stuff pancakes with things like - the last roasted red pepper from a jar, a thumb of leftover roasted meat, half an onion fried up and a couple of lonely olives from a pot. And maybe a little bechamel sauce if I think it all needs a bit of moisture.
If you'd like some inspiration, have a look at the post for lots of ideas
Valentines Day on a Budget
And even before Shrove Tuesday, we have Valentines Day fast approaching.
It might seem a hopeless proposition to treat your best beloved to a romantic day if you're skint. But believe me when I say that isn't the case.
One of my most treasured possessions comes from a time when we didn't have much money. It was Christmas, but the principle is the same. As a gift, my husband wrote me a love letter. He is rather dour, so for him to do something like that was very special.
Do something together - go for a walk, just you two; watch your favourite film together. Sort of like a date night.
Please don't spend just for the sake of it - Valentines day is the day florists make most of their money, closely followed by Mothers Day. The hype is all marketing.
What I've been making in previous Februarys
Crispy Topped Miso Vegetables
This super tasty dinner came out of a need to use up a few things in the fridge. One of those things that I made up on the spur of the moment - I've learned to note down what I do now after making numerous unrepeatable meals!
It's made up of salted veg with a big dollop of white miso, topped with sliced potatoes and sprinkled with a little cheese.
Bacon & Leek Pie
I do love a pie now and again. This one is bacon and leek - leeks being at their best right now.
It uses pastry made with oil, which I tend to use for everything pastry based these days.
You could use exactly the same mix and top it with mashed potato, maybe with half mashed swede, or peas; or top it with a crumble mix, in which case make sure the mix is quite moist or the cooked crumble will be too dry.
French Onion Soup
This delicious soup is from the other site I look after - Cheap Family Recipes. Not my invention, although I was involved in the creation of it. Lots of lovely ideas.
I published an ebook for meal plan 1 in August 2021 and am delighted that many people have thought it was worth getting. I repriced it again in June 2022 and it was still holding on, even in these scary times. Now we are in September and prices have shifted again and
I've managed to get my head around WooCommerce so I can feature it on the blog and you can find it here.
I was busy recooking, photographing and updating the recipes for Meal Plan 2 and putting them into an ebook as well. The meal plan was first written in 2013 and still prices up, which is fabulous and that is finally complete. The book is done now too, prices seem to be stable enough to do it.
I'm well into creating an e-book from the Stretch A Chicken To Last A Week series, hope it won't be long before it's finished. Got a couple of images to take, which means cooking the recipe, and 1 more recipe to write up.
Do come and say hello on the Fantastically Frugal Food Facebook group, or the Sensational Slimming Sustenance group. I'd love to see you. Lots of useful tips, recipes and ideas. The over 17,000 membership are brilliant, brimming with talent.
And don't forget Thrifty Lesley, where there are 800+ recipes of fantastically frugal food and many weekly meal plans. And Cheap Family Recipes where you can find all kinds of delicious things that don't cost much, with two family monthly meal plans.
I've also got a few YouTube videos up, not many yet, but I'm planning to do more. I've done a couple more, need to edit them now. So much to do, so little time!
With all best wishes, until next time
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