Cheapest dinner and diet update.

Dear reader,

After a long day at work I wanted something warm and no fuss to make. Trying to eat a bit less meat for health and cost reasons.

I reckon this is one of the cheapest meals ever.

Lentils

Garlic

Turmeric

Chop garlic, gently sauté (I use 4 bulbs, we love it! )

Add  lentils

Add water

Bring to boil and simmer

Add a pich of turmeric for yellow colour

Simmer until,thick and creamy.

Lentil dhal. Perfect with plain boiled rice. You can add chopped coriander or crispy friend onions if you want to make it special. 

It's not bad for dieters either as long as you don't fry the garlic in a load of oil. 

A few of us started out some months ago with a weight loss challenge. We kind of lost touch and I often wonder about you all. I am happy to report that I have lost 3 stones. I am very pleased but don't feel that I go without. I would be interested to hear your stories and challenges along the way.

I am going for another half a stone before Christmas. Any takers up for a challenge? 

Slow cooker food.

Dear reader,

One of the blogs I follow mentioned a lady who prepared loads of meals for her slow cooker and bagged them ready to put in before she went to work.

The colder weather has made me get ours out and get using. I am trying to get all our dinners this week cooked in the slow cooker. Yesterday we had a kind of hunters chicken with onions and red peppers in a chipotle sauce. (75p for a jar in Asda and it is gorgeous). Tonight we had beef stew, dumplings, Yorkshire puddings and vegetables.

Tomorrow I will be putting a pork joint in with half a jar of the BBQ and lime sauce also Asda and letting it slow cook all day for 9-10 hours. It's so soft it falls apart and I shred it up and may hbe it with some spicy rice and flatbreads.

It really does make such a difference. We get the lovely smell when we come home and I only have to do some veg or rice. I have been reading up on slow cooker recipes. I will try some out and post with some pictures.

I e also been trying to get the breadmaker going again and I do have success with some of the packet loaf mixes but not my own. It doesn't help that I have lost the instruction book! I will download online.

I have been making extra at dinner and we take this to work with us along with some fruit and yogurts.

If you don't have a slow cooker, I really recommend them!

Help

Hi reader,

Can anybody help me get rid of blogs I am following. I am getting totally swamped with some people that seem to have taken over old blogs that are no longer written by the original authors.

I have gone to "manage blogs I follow" but they don't seem to go?



Aaaaaggggghhhhhhhhh

Booty buys

Dear reader,

Nice day so went to the local boot sale. We wanted a bookcase for the study and saw a big, dark brown freestanding one at one of those house clearance sales. I often wonder where the things came from.

He wanted  a merge £8 and I gave him £5. Well chuffed. Big man is just painting it white in Annie Sloan chalk paint. No need for rubbing down, just slap it on.

I also bought bovril as I love it on toast and a regular stall always has some in jars. 2 for £3.50 and they are the big squeezy ones. I often splurge some into a stew for flavour or drink it.

Tonight we had chicken in honey and mustard sauce with new potatoes, cauliflower, cabbage and green beans. Enough for tomorrow's lunch for big man. I am trying to cook a bigger dinner to have leftovers the next day. I have a selection of curries and stews in the freezer.

I am looking forward to the "Cilla" episode tomorrow night. I love Sheridan Smith but hope it gets a bit better this time.

I don't watch a lot of tv but I am a Sex and the city fan.

X

Lady killers.

Dear reader,

Right off the frugal path, I am going to write a few posts about the two women who are killed each week by their male partner or former male partner.


That's terrible isn't it? Killed.

I have been wondering what is acceptable in a relationship. What is acceptable to one may not be to another.
Shouting and swearing?
Name calling?
Saying you are fat and ugly?
Face to face aggression
A prod or poke?
Pushing onto the sofa?
A slap round the face?
Spitting?


What is domestic violence?   In fact, it's not called that anymore, it's called domestic abuse and it's a subject that I feel incredibly strongly about. It's going on every day in many more homes than we could imagine. Perhaps you or someone you know has this happening to them?

Here is the definition;

Domestic violence is the abuse of one partner within an intimate or family relationship. It is the repeated, random and habitual use of intimidation to control a partner.

The abuse can be physical, emotional, psychological, financial or sexual. Anyone forced to alter their behaviour because they are frightened of their partner’s reaction is being 

.View more about recognising abuse.


I would be very interested to hear your views and if you would like to comment but not to be published please say so and I won't publish.

Woman.

Dear reader,

I noticed my last post " Hot sex tips" has had a huge reader count. Well who knew?

Sometimes amongst the cakes, the beautiful pictures of wholesome food, the knitting, patch working and crafting I just want to write something saucy!

Oh I like the cooking, the saving money, the wood fire but sometimes, just sometimes......................
I want to get acquainted with a bottle of vodka, diet coke and some ice.


I read something, I can't recall where and it was this;

A class of students were asked to punctuate the following.

A woman without her man is nothing

The boys wrote: "A woman, without her man, is nothing." 

But the girls wrote:  "A woman: without her, man is nothing."

I kinda liked that.

X

Hot sex tips here!

No Palm Oil please

Now I got you attention readers, I would be delighted if you could click the link to see why we shouldn't buy stuff with Palm Oil in it. It's ok, no nasty pictures.



X