Freebies, Books and Special Places

  I called very briefly into Booths on my way to the hairdressers this Wednesday to pick up this weeks little freebie, the first one of the year.  It was only a little vegan energy bar thing, but I thought it would be perfect for me as we were heading to Mum's later in the day and I had previously bought two vanilla slices for her and Alan to share ... sadly I can't have these due to the dairy content.

I thought this can't be worth much perhaps 50p at most as it was tiny!!

As you can see from the receipt ... it was £1.75!!

Although it was quite tasty I doubt I would spend that much on something so small.

You might have noticed from the top photo that I picked up a book from the charity book table while I was there.  The table and shelves were in such a mess that I couldn't help but spend five minutes tidying them up and I spotted this.  It's actually one I've been wanting to read for a while, but this year I am trying to be good and mainly pick up second-hand books, and even then only if they are something that I really fancy or that I am actually waiting to read. 

I have so many books of my own that I want to spend this year reading as much from my own stash as possible and donating any that are not really worth reading for a second time.

Artwork by Marcella Cooper

Books they take you to a special place and sometimes leave you there fore a while, I think this piece of art perfectly sums that up.

Sue xx

Switching Bread, Reviving Bread

 

Alan has been buying this bread for a couple of months now, and after having a slice at his house over Christmas I found it really enjoyable.  So the next time we were in Booths and he was buying himself yet another one, I decided to get one for myself too.

It's got a shorter and better ingredient list than any of the other loaves that I've had recently, and although it's a bit pricey at £2.95 I do think that buying better but slightly less bread could be the way forward for me.

It's absolutely beautiful on the day that you buy it, slightly tougher but great for toasting on subsequent days, but unlike the Ancient Grains bread that I used to buy from Aldi, before it was discontinued, it does not last for a full week.

The downside I guess to the fewer ingredients that were no doubt unhealthy, but did aid the bread's keeping power.  I found this out when I picked my loaf up this morning and it was as hard as a brick.  So I decided to use the old 'refresh technique'.

I put the whole loaf under a running tap, shook off the excess water and then wrapped it loosely in tin foil and put it into a medium hot oven for 10 minutes.

It came out lovely and soft, soft enough to have for lunch with some tasty coleslaw that I had also bought from Booths.  The bread, coleslaw and a pack of round buns that we took for a packed lunch after the mammoth clearing session at Mum's last week, are the only new foods to have come into my home since before Christmas.  

I'm having a really good go at living of the contents of my food storage at home instead of spending any money ... and thinking about it I haven't actually spent any money on food as Alan paid for these along with his shopping.  

Two weeks into January and not a penny spent!!

And there's no need to worry about wasting that large sheet of tinfoil either, as with all tinfoil that is relatively clean after it's first use, I wiped it down and left it to dry on the worktop.  It will be used at least once more before going into the bin.

I have quite a large supply of clingfilm and tinfoil now, and so does my brother, as it seems Mum had a bit of penchant for buying the two, or asking my brother to buy them for her without checking her cupboards, and there was a lot to share out between us.  😀

Sue xx

Random Breakfasts, Little Charity Shop Purchases and Good People

 

I'm currently in the process of eating up the leftover Christmas foods, and twice this week I have had a cheeky little breakfast of mini mince pies with squirty cream.  Since before Christmas I've been waking up at the silly time of five thirty most mornings, and by seven o'clock find myself with a rumbling tummy, so something little and tasty before my shower is very necessary.

Sometime later, we went to Morecambe again ... just like last week ... for a doggy walk with Mavis and breakfast in the café on the seafront.  We must have made quite a habit of it now, as instead of heading back to the car Mavis now heads directly to the café after her walk along the prom, so we would hate to disappoint her. 😉

Then all three of us went into the charity shop, and while Mavis had a good sniff around at all the smells it must contain, I found a couple of treasures that I just couldn't leave behind.  Just one pound for the book and one pound fifty for the little jug.  I do love anything with it's own little feet. 😃

Alan's car got seriously scratched by a woman reversing her car out of a huge space in Booths carpark yesterday morning.  She drove off without leaving us a note or anything.  Unluckily for her, two workmen were sat in the car on the next row eating their lunches and watching her bad driving, they took a photo of her mid-manoeuvre.  Also another person left their contact details under our windscreen wiper as they had witnessed it all as well.  Then as luck would have it right outside the Police station Alan spotted her car, and jumped out in front of her so she had to stop.  She has now provided details and asked us to get quotations for the repair work as she doesn't want to go through her insurance company.  Once she agrees to the quote our car will be off the road for two days while it is repaired.

This is not what we need when we are so busy with everything else at the moment for sure.

Sue xx

LPA's, Peaches and Beans

 

I'm taking time today to catch up with all the little things that needed doing, and yes, that includes a quick blog post to let you know that I haven't actually vanished.  

We've been very busy this week, emptying Mum's bungalow and sorting through some of the paperwork ... there is a LOT!!  Getting one kitchen design and quote, organising an appointment for this coming week to have another design and quote done.  Getting three independent valuations on the bungalow in case we need to sell it in order to continue funding Mum's care home costs.  It's all go and involves lots of things that are new to me, Alan and my brother.  

Now that the LPA is in place we are notifying all the organisations that need notifying so that my brother can take  up the reins of all Mum's financial matters ... he works for the Inland Revenue so he's the finance guy.  While me and Alan concentrate on the physical side of getting the bungalow ready for sale ... we've moved home and bought and sold so many times, so we are the property people.

Somehow we are managing to muddle through and get things done.  We have been up and down the motorway so many times that we are sure that the car could actually take us there all by itself.  Mavis now knows what to expect when we tell her we are going to 'Grannies Old House' or 'Grannies New House' and as long as she gets a chew on arrival she is happy to go to either.

With my brain ticking over on so many fronts it's not surprising that I have made a few little mistakes over the course of the last week.  The funniest of which was when I was chatting to my son on the phone while I was making my breakfast the other day.  I reached into the cupboard to grab a tin of peaches to go on top of my yoghurt and accidently picked up and opened a tin of beans.

It was only when I dipped into the tin with my fingers to pull out a peach slice that I realised the mistake.  It gave my son a laugh as I said yuk and had to explain what I had done.  😄

Oh well, the beans were used for two lunches, so nothing was wasted. 

Sue xx

Garden Vegetable Pie Review

 

I bought this Garden Vegetable Pie ready meal well before Christmas, when I had the voucher for £20 off an £80 spend at Waitrose  and somehow managed to work spending that amount into my self imposed budget for the month.  I didn't manage to eat it before the best before date so it was popped into the freezer.  I fished it out one night last week when we returned tired and hungry from Mum's.

Now I didn't actually notice that it should have been thawed slowly in the fridge before being cooked after being frozen, so perhaps my review is slightly skewed as the mashed potato topping tasted very watery.  Oops!!

The ingredients are pretty good, but there are just such a lot of them, which I guess is the downside to virtually all ready meals.  Making this at home would mean using a lot fewer ingredients ... well it would if I made it.

Anyway it was quite tasty, a little bland, but definitely better than some of the ready meals that I used to eat 'back in the day'.  Would I buy it again, possibly if I needed a ready meal for a specific reason and there was nothing else available.  It was very edible and gets a 7/10.  😊 

I saved the foil tray to use again as it was nice and sturdy.

Homemade ready meals are so much better.  Vegetable curry with Basmati rice, cook once eat twice.

Sue xx