Cooking with my granddaughter
I had another lovely day with my granddaughter at Ashdown Manna doing a day's cookery course. This time we did An Italian Christmas. We made gnocchi, porchetta, Gorgonzola and Barolo risotto, polenta with wild mushrooms, all of which we had for lunch. Then in the afternoon, we did smoked salmon ravioli and tiramisu.
Oh my goodness, how I love these days - making beautiful food and talking with chefs.
Then on our way home, we always pop in to the farm shop at Groombridge for a lovely browse and to buy lots of overpriced stuff we don't really need.
A real treat.
Covid
People in the choir are going down like flies with all the various nasties that are going round at the moment. We went to entertain the WI last week and 6 people had to drop out on the morning of the event!
I didn't make the choir concert I was hoping to be well enough to go to. It took three weeks to go in the end.
All gone now thank goodness. Are you all alright, anybody got bugged?
I'm Sad This Week
I'm very sad this week and liable to get tearful at any moment.
On the 21st December last year, we lost my eldest daughter to cancer, at just 55, so she's been on my mind even more than usual recently. Everything is reminding me of her. Seize the day people, you never know when there might not be any more!
Christmas was her favourite time of year, she loved it so. On the 21st I shall be in Northampton seeing my Mum, who lives with my sister and husband, and lots of other people coming up to gather for a meal out. I'll raise a glass to Tracey and wish she was there.
Being the solstice, the 21st has always been a special day that I look forward to as it's the shortest day and I can feel Spring coming by then and days start to lengthen. It's now Tracey's special day as well.
This is a recent picture of my Mum and one of my brothers. She is doing really well and I can't wait to see her.
Seasons Greetings
Happy Christmas to you and yours. I hope you have the festive season that you want, enjoy the company or otherwise that you wish and are able to have some lovely food
This is a Jacquie Lawson greetings card that made me smile
https://jlcards.com/NE8sY8
Thrifty Lesley xxx
Two Christmas week meal plans
I am repeating the Christmas meal plans in case you haven't decided what you may be doing this year, so close now!
A Vegetarian Meal Plan for the whole of Christmas Week
If you are on a tight budget, Christmas food can be very difficult, causing stress, and maybe even debt too. No need to get into debt, when with a bit of extra planning, you can enjoy a delicious festive meal, without spending a fortune. If you don’t know where to start, or would like a few ideas, have a look at this detailed, 2 person, 7 day Christmas dinner menu for the entire Christmas week.
Lots of lovely seasonal flavours!
A Christmas Meal Plan for the whole of Christmas Week
I have tried to put in as many festive flavours as I could in this weeks plan for the entire Christmas week, using seasonal spices, cranberry sauce, stuffing, sage and mince pies.
If you use this plan near Christmas, many basic vegetables are savagely reduced, so you can save even more on the plan.
You can use either weekly meal plan all during December and January.
Muffins made with mincemeat
These muffins are something I make quite often. They include mincemeat from a jar, and oats, so they feel kind of healthy!
Whether they are or not, they're really easy to make, like all muffins, and very delicious!
Spiced Christmas Clementines
I've made these 3 times in the last couple of weeks! The peeling of all those tiny citrus is the hardest part. Other than that, its just simmering the fruits in a spiced syrup for 20 minutes - super good!
Pile them on pavlova, enjoy with cream or ice cream, or just as they are.
If you have people to feed with some kind of dietary restriction over Christmas, these will fit most options.
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've finally completed the e-book from the Stretch A Chicken To Last A Week series. Took me absolutely ages to finish it off!
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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