Lazy Sunday cooking

Dear reader,

Hot weather is tiring me out. Am sleeping about 10 hours a night and still feeling weary during the day.
Today was a bit cooler here in Buckinghamshire so after my treadmill slog I had a cold shower and went to pick up the little dog that I walk and his owner.

We had a short mooch as it was humid and popped into a garden centre. Don't worry, I got the little dog out and we stood in the shade while his owner shopped.

It still totally amazes me that people leave their dogs in cars in this weather. Oh yes, they really do!

I don't like to see dogs in cars unless its winter. THEY HAVE FUR COATS. They boil from the inside out, they don't sweat like we do, they really suffer.
Aggghh, I know it's not you, my lovely blog friends but they are some real thickos out there.

Anyway, after a very short stroll in the shade we popped into a pub and sat under a canopy with a potable dog water container and had a lovely lunch with a white wine spritzer for owner and soda water and lime for me. A very pleasurable afternoon.

Dinner for big man and I was pork belly strips with a jacket potato and veg. I roasted the pork belly in a roasting bag with BBQ sauce mix (Approved Food) then after 20 mins I crisped them off under the grill. We had mange tout and sugar snap peas with a jacket spud. I had seen a box of 4 in Asda for £2 in the frozen section. You just microwave for 5 mins from frozen . Fresh are about 50p each anyway and these are easy. Will be buying them again.

I know it's Tuesday but I had half written it on Sunday.

Stay cool. X

My favourite blog this week.

Going Gently-John Gray has me in stitches most days. 

Love it. 

Burglars and swingers!

Dear reader,

I heard today of an elderly person who had been fleeced of several thousands of pounds. Do you know there are some hideous people out there who will even force people to sell their homes and sign wills over to them?

We have a rule in our house as do my parents. We never open the door to anyone, ever.
Does that sound weird?

I wouldn't open my car door if a stranger asked me to open it so why my home?

Lets face it, who comes to the house uninvited? They are never coming to give me money but the other way round. I know of a man who opened his front door and got smashed in the face with a garden spade, house burgled, thanks very much.

We are all so careful about what we spend, can we make our own bread cheaper? cut down on flushing the loo yet we open the door and allow people into our homes and make ourselves very vulnerable.

I know I have written the last couple of posts about crime prevention but it makes me so cross when I hear of people getting burgled and robbed.

Now I live in quite a nice place and we don't have any trouble but they are out there, watching and following old people from Bingo halls and cash points. Please don't let it be you or your relatives.

Elderly people have a habit of keeping large amounts of cash at home and these people know that. The lure of a Hydrangea bush and a hand rail lets them know older people live there.

I'm not sure why I picked out a Hydrangea, I think it's because my grandparents had them.

By the way, is it true swingers have Pampas Grass outside? Bet that'll keep the burglars out, maybe I will suggest that to the old dears down my road.

Ps. If you do have Pampas Grass and are not a swinger, then definitely don't open the door to strangers.

People after your money

Dear reader,
I had some well received comments on my post about front doors and burglars  so I wanted to share another  piece  of crime prevention.  This is a really clever scam. Do pass on.

Victim receives  a phone call and the caller knows their name. Easy to get that from phone book or post or the electoral roll at the library.
The caller says I'm from your bank and your cards have been cloned and used fraudulently.
Just to  build the confidence of the victim they ask them to put the phone down and ring their bank.
So far, so good.

The  victim  replaces the handset and calls their bank.
The scammer has never put the phone down and answers saying " fraud line" or similar. They then have a conversation and ask the victim to confirm their pin.

Part one is achieved.

The fake bank then says they will have to collect the victims cards and will send a courier round to collect them. Cheekily adding that the caller should seal them in an envelope.

They then send round a local mini cab and the rest is history.

Nice little spend up on  some poor old dears card.

Please make people aware, they are very convincing.

Stay safe and aware. X

Keep them out.

Dear reader,

This is a little off the mark for a frugal blog but I would love this to be passed on and it could ultimately save someone a lot of money and heartache.

Many people have UPVC front doors to their homes and you can lock these by lifting the handle which moves the bolts across and locks the door.

Thousands of burglaries are because burglars can easily insert a homemade tool through the letterbox and lift the handle thus releasing the bolts and allowing them to enter. We know this because burglars have said so.
 So many homeowners think their home is secure because they have lifted the handle.

This is not the case, the front door should always be locked with a key.

Please pass this on and tell elderly relatives they must not open the door to anyone regardless of having lost their dog, car broken down, they have a water leak, their roof is damaged or many other excuses.

Be safe, be savvy and be alert.

Much love. X

Sending love.

My thoughts are with Morgan at Growing in the Fens.

My favourite blog of the week.

Dear reader,

I've been really enjoying this blog My thrifty homemade challenge. Mandy writes about her cooking and has lots of thrifty recipes which she shows with some nice pictures. She always helps out with foodie ideas and recipes and I really like that she replies to each comment, something which I appreciate takes effort.

I am going to nominate a blog of the week, just one that I really like and this week it's Mandy and her homemade thrifty challenge. Do click the link and have a look, she's lovely. X

Is it free if usually I would have binned it?

Dear reader,

I actually got excited last night when I found a slice of quiche and a portion of green beans in the freezer last night and a tin of processed peas in the larder! When you're trying to only use what you have, they're big finds I can tell you.

Last night we had the chicken legs, tinned potatoes and the green beans and peas. There were some peas and beans left over and I stashed them in the fridge.
Breakfast was cereal with milk and porridge and for lunch I decided to make soup.

I chopped half the limp celery and softened it in a small pan with a bit of fry light, then I added a stock cube (only had beef) then added half a pint of water along with the beans and peas. I brought it to the boil and then turned off the hob. I do this a lot now with the hob and th oven, I reckon I can cook on half the cost as it stays hot for so long afterwards.

I used my blending stick and added half a teaspoon each of ginger purée and mint sauce. It was lovely and just to think I would have thrown all the veg away before!  That makes it feel like free food. I had the quiche slice too along with last scrape of pickle.

I got dinner ready for tonight and decided to make a chilli but serve it in tortilla wraps which I will make myself. So, so easy, flour, water, oil and pinch of salt. Roll flat and cook in a large frying pan no oil required.

I used the other half of the celery in the chilli with a tin of tomatoes and a handful of lentils to bulk it out and half left it on low in the slow cooker.

I will be making the sausage pasta for tommorows lunch and probably the Fishcakes for dinner.
I'm really enjoying this challenge, not sure how long I can go for as we will need milk at some stage and eggs.

It has made me very very careful with what I throw away and I hope this will continue.

How much have you got stashed away? I wonder how long people could survive with whats in their kitchens? Could you cancel food shopping for one week?