Chilly fairy

Brrrr tis chilly...that says 14.7 degrees in our living room!
If in doubt put another jumper on! But it is definitely time to light the fire when it gets that low!
 The trouble with buying coal in great big bags in the summer is the dust. You get alot of coal dust. Now my dad told me that when he was little they didn't waste a thing, and they'd use sugar bags and fill them and burn them. Alot of WW2 information leaflets suggest mixing the dust with cement to form brickettes!
And as a lass who hates waste here is what I do...

Offending dust is placed in little heap in the middle of half a sheet of newspaper...

And twist!!! Perfect little parcel!...Then place carefully...

No more dust in the bottom of the coal bucket! Ready to be filled again:) And as long as you don't poke them about too much they burn just as well as a lump of coal :)
Waste not want not!!!
And finally here is the prayer that sits by the door, a little spell for family and home.....

May peace reside within,

No spite no malice pass these doors,

Health and joy

Shine through the windows

Food to the table

Coal to the hearth

And love in time of trouble.

I reckon that just about sums up all we need :)

BBS x

Stodgy fairy will never be able to fly

Ah potatoes! Stodgy and for me...free!! Which means potato meals are my favourites! So tonight was lots of them...sliced thinly...then add half a pack of streaky bacon (75p worth from Aldi!) and a couple of leeks(and yes, another thing we grow so free again!)

Cheese sauce..more sauce than cheese to be honest...used dried skimmed milk powder thats been sitting on a shelf (no one noticed the difference!) a tbsp of flour and marg. Less than 25p for that then! Layer it all up with a smidge of grated cheese on top....

Then wang it in the oven for an hour or so (or in my case till DS came home from work..hence the nice brown top..and very brown bottom that is in the sink trying to un-weld itself from my casserole dish!) Voila!!

AND there's enough left for me to have it heated up tomorrow lunch time..so in a little soup dish it went and now its hiding from DS in the fridge! (he would eat it..if he knew it was there...that boy has hollow legs!!)

Ah teeny little beauty! Perfect for a chilly day...I even get some of the brown bits too!! Yum:)

We will NOT waste anything!!!
BBS x

Whats round and sugary? Wheelbarrow fairy!

Ah would you look at those funny little things...barely fill a plate! Bisquik dough again...and I though mini proper doughnuts...why not? Bit fiddly...but tea was cooking anyway...so...deep fry..couple of minutes...

Fifteen sugary moments!!! Three went home with my friend...OH ate one...said they were well done..and promptly ate another one...DS had one...and well..so did I!!

Would you look at the sugar-y sparkle on that??!!
And you can even see through the hole!
Ok so I'm easily amused! And although I don't eat alot of choccy I do like deserts! Which is why i also made another lemon pie (well the lemons will go off eventually! and I wouldn't wanna waste them!)
I just aint good at low fat and healthy!
BBS x probably covered in sugar again!

The great grand fairy

The cheese and potato pie!! Thought I'd show you...ooh look ...crumpy bits on top :) And yes, I have now cleaned the worksurface...I know I'm a messy cook!!
So, great grandmother...well..I found this the other day...and i thought I'd show you. I love it and I think my mommy would agree it sums the old lady up! It now has pride of place in my newly cleaned kitchen as a reminder...

Say it with me ladies....
Waste not.....

Want not!!!
I mean, who puts that on a fancy dish apart from Victorians! Whats not to love! And I'm hoping it will remind me that frugal isn't all bad and sometimes can be fun...my fondest memories of grandmother are walking and collecting sticks, then going back to her bedroom, lighting the fire, and her wrappng me in her handmade from scraps, quilt and telling me i was 'as snug as a bug in a rug'. Soft aint I??
Anyway...talking about tight...i mean careful...look at this....

Ah 11p an hour:) I like it better when it says 0.
And our living room was 17.3 degrees. Not cold enough to light the fire! I have a feeling I may turn into grandmother after all!! BUT fairy lights are prettier than the main living room lights ;-) and they use alot less leccy!! And candles are romantic:-D and its not too hard to put a jumper on now is it??!!
I shall be on the purple sprouting broccoli trail again tomorrow...what shall we do with it this week?? We shall see!!
BBS x

 

The Wheelbarrow fairy and the Christmas trees

Look what they did to the christmas trees!!!...'We're just gonna take a bit off the top' he said...

A bit off the top my arse!!

What he should have said was..I'll leave you a lovely stump! And then compare it to the height of the rest of the trees in the hedge...

6 inch stump compared to 20 foot tree! And this was the 'proffessional' tree cutter for Eon! wanna see the conifer hedge?

It is now about a third of its height!! Pretty eh? Maybe I should send a link of this to the nice Eon men!! They turned up again to 'just take the tops out of them there'. I caught them just as they turned up and happily told them that if they made as much mess of 'trimming' my greengage trees as they did of these that I'd have new ear-rings and a necklace courtesy of their privates. They laughed and were VERY careful with my trees!!
Never mind...another broccoli meal....

I think I turned the brightness up too much either that or we had nuclear tomatoes on the side! (aldi super six!)
then there was lemon pie...

Which I have costed, right down to the tsp at 85.92p for a whole pie! (pastry case costs 19 1/2p!) Less than 11p per portion:D
Now we've had broccoli three nights this week...I picked what was ready on monday..now its friday and I'll be blowed if there isn't more...

Now I just need more interesting ways of eating broccoli!!! As it's not just one plant....

Broccoli anyone??? And yes, sprouts too..and a few cabbages! If I can't sell them we have to eat them!! I detest waste!
BBS x

Leftover fairies and things that we grew

Purple sprouting broccoli...things that we grew..this time of year its doing its thing and indeed sprouting! Alot. We had it with pasties last night...had it with pot roast on monday..hmmm thats two days running! Guess what..there's more of it...so tonight it will be...rummage in the pasta box...

Find the pasta I fancy..no-one else gets a choice..i cook it..I choose it!

Aha! The pasta that was knocked down in Aldi..49p worth of joy:) 300g of that will do...and I bought today...

Oh how I love this stuff! 89p!

Thats this weeks midweek spend! And yes, creme eggs, I like them. The apple pies are for OH! And as I've started cookin I needed eggs and marg!
And it was while we were deliverin so it was fuel saved not going seperate!
So, where was I..oh yes, tea will be broccoli and cheese pasta with tomaoes.
And then theres this...

I love mashed potatoes. And I always cook too much..not exactly on purpose..but..with whats left of the creme fraiche, some cheese and seasoning it will become tomorrows lunch..Cheese and potato pie! Never understood why mommy called it pie...where's the pastry?? But It's one of my favourite lunches as its super cheap and filling! Here are the ingredients..Mrs dash seasoning came from mommy!!

I really need to clean the worksurface!! I am so messy! But...leftovers and bits becomes...

Two little cheese and potato pies:) Yum!
And now I'll try again on that picture...
You know sometimes when you're on the phone you doodle?? I do doodle! We can't figure out if its a catty pillar or a worm..DS says its a worm as it has no legs!! But it made me smile:D

Smile shared! And yes mommy...I was talking to you! You should see the flower garden I drew ;-)
BBS x

The fairy wants to fly again

Looks like the fairy has been doing things...just little things..a litle at a time...Bisquik doughnut mix with chopped apple from the store in the shed....

What mommy calls apple fritters...we have dubbed apple doughnuts :)

Awww look at the little doughnut....



MMmm leftovers..mash..veg from pot roast..gravy..leftover shepherds pie..

All the lovely leftovers got mushed up and became 8 lovely pasties!! 4 of which are left for another day:)

I bought myself a pastry cutter! Can't afford a food processor:) And I don't use any electricity!!
And we still get lovely pastry!

And talking of electricity...this is what they are doing to our conifers that are near the lines...

They aint gonna survive that haircut!!
And finally...
Nope...it won't download it!
I'll show you another day!!!
As for me...tummy is swelly if I do too much...I've read alot of books..and started baking a little...I'm getting there!!! BBs x






Funny..money..fairy

Absent again...I have no excuse...apart from some good books and the fact that I can do a little more now..a little...not alot!
So we start with the opening of the sealed pots..like guess the weight...£10?? More? Well..there were 2 pots full of dross..thats what this looks like..

And it seems that 2 little pots, full to the brim held....£60!!

Yay!!! So I have sealed up the pots again ready for another years savings:)

And as if the happy joy of £60 wasn't enough...then there was the £2 coin pot...that help £144!! I was overwhelmed! So..all these pennies go in the saving terrarium..green glass thing meant for growing plants...so I added it all up.....

There was exactly £500!! To say I was surprised would be an understatement! As it has no use I'll just keep adding to it...it has in its time paid for a new mattress, and paid to have all the cats 'fixed'!

As an emergency fund its great, as no one wants to spend annoying bags of pennies or 50p's! So you really have to need it:)

On another note DD bought me a marvellous game for xmas...

It has enough rules to keep me busy for days:D
But it needed a flat surface to play on..so I asked OH if he could make me a gameboard..half jokingly adding that it could do with little boxes to keep the counters in...well blow me down if he didn't make me this...

The board fits perfectly:) He is a special man my OH. Awful at housework..hopeless at remembering things..won't admit he's going deaf (or is that just male pattern deafness where women are concerned??!) but ask him to make something and he's brilliant!!
And now on to the Bisquik... I can remember this being around when I was little...and my lovely mommy lady sends me recipes using it regularly..so I found some in the UK and had a go...

Cup of chicken, nearly 2 cups of broccolli and a can of chicken soup....

Mix up bisquik slop..now that looks appealing..and bake..

Tahdah!! Impossible pie..or as we called it..Magic pie! This is some good winter stodge..and we all know how much I love stodge! I shall try bacon impossible pie next...looks kinda like crustless quiche:) And as the bisquik was on the side...and the deep fat fryer was out too...I thought I'd attempt doughnut holes....
2 C Bisquik
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 C milk
1 tsp vanilla ess
1 egg beaten..
Deep fryer to 190 degrees, mix it all together till its doughy. Shape into 1 inch balls. Drop a few balls into oil for 1-2 mins till golden, then shake in a bag of sugar for that I've been to the seaside feel!

Oh dear lord they are GOOD! DS put 3 in his lunchbox for school..'That sugar rush will keep me going' he told me! This is not healthy..but its sooooo yummy! I think there are 3 left:)
Off to see what else I can make...http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes