Saturday 15 February 2020

On Disasters Domestic & Dennis

I had some lovely comments left on my last post.  Thank you so much!  I'm sorry I can't always find the time to reply individually but I really do appreciate your input x

Now you all know that yesterday was St Valentine's Day, right?  My vase was ready for the red roses which most supermarkets were selling for just £5.  It stayed empty all day, as usual.  After more than 52 years together, 49 of them married, I ought to know better.  But a girl can live in hope can't she?...



So this morning I bought myself some tulips, bright yellow and sunny, a bargain at £1.79 from Lidl ;)


The rest of this morning has been an absolute disaster.  I wasn't sure whether or not the family were coming at teatime so I made a lemon drizzle cake from the Hairy Bikers cookbook  I've made it numerous times before but never in my new oven.  It's just as well that the family are NOT coming.  It's not even worth putting on the lemon drizzle sugar topping :(  It didn't help that I took a phone call just as the timer went off either...... wail, sob.....



A couple of weeks ago I treated myself to this new cookery book (half price) with a view to trying some new budget recipes and keeping the food bills down.  It has had some encouraging reviews so I thought it worthwhile.


I tried the mini crustless quiches this morning, which were easy to make but a total disaster trying to get them out of the muffin tin.  I don't have a silicone muffin tray so did as advised and greased & floured the tin.  USELESS!!  They all stuck and broke up while trying to prise them out and I have resorted to throwing my metal tin into the bin.  Hardly budget friendly nor environmentally sound either.



Lots of the recipes in the book are meaty ones ( no good for me) and there are lots of soup recipes (nice) but the biggest stumbling block for me is that the book features an 8 week meal plan.  In order to get the budget on target at £20 per week I would have to spend £160 in one go.  Buying ingredients weekly puts up the cost by a fair bit.  

Has anyone else got this book? Anyone actually achieved £20 per week from following the plans?  Any recommended recipes from it? Please, I would be really happy for some help here :)

At the moment, the wind is getting up and icy rain is lashing against the panes.  Dennis is on his way!

Do stay safe wherever in the world you happen to be.  Thanks everso for popping in too x

21 comments:

  1. Oh dear. But I think I would much prefer those gorgeous tulips to red roses any day.
    Such a shame about your cake. Can it be rescued? Perhaps served with custard.
    I've been lured in to buying books like that before now. I get drawn in by a couple of great recipes before realising I'm unlikely to make anything else from it.
    Stay safe in this storm. X

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    1. Thanks, Jules, I have just cut off the best slices and I think I WILL serve them with custard. I hate waste. I must just chalk it up to experience ;) x

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  2. Cook books are so enticing. I sometimes take a recipe from online now. It is so quick to look up and compare a few. I also lug home a stack regularly from the library. There are so many ways to live and eat and not all of them suit everybody that's for sure. Meal plans wouldn't work comfortably for me although I love the idea of it. I prefer to shop for specials and plan my meals around them. Sometimes taking a favourite dish and making variations is a fun idea. Endless soup and bun ideas, frittatas, etc. I've been married over forty years and my husband has only brought me flowers once and it was because the rain and wind had knocked the daffodils down where he worked. Good for you that you got the tulips. I'm sorry about your cake too. A new stove is a challenge to any woman's mental health!! As I would say to my grandchildren, "You've had a bit TOO much adventure." Lovely days ahead.

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  3. Oh Glenda, you made me smile with the daffodil story and your quote is brilliant! It's certainly true of today! X

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  4. I got the book from the library and found a lot of the recipes are repeated for some meals. I also could not get the quiches out of my tin. Not a book I would recommend.

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  5. Not commented before, I hope that you don't mind me offering a crustless quiche recipe which has never failed me no matter what adaptations I make to it. Slimming World BACON AND MUSHROOM CRUSTLESS QUICHE available on line. I am not slimming so use full fat strong cheddar, always keep the cottage cheese, eggs, mushrooms but often sub some cooked ham, salmon (fresh but think tinned would be fine) tuna, the dregs of the cream cheese carton, splash of cream. I am GF so like that it does not need flour, I cook some in small muffin/cupcake tins, some in large muffin tins, freezes and defrosts a treat, but like to serve it just warm. Ali.

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  6. Oh dear your little crustless quiches, we just make the bigger version and cut it up, a slimming world recipe with spray light to stop it sticking.. and your cake wasn't a failure just different and with some jam and custard a lovely pud and the tulips are much prettier than those false looking red roses. I had 6 polyanthas which were just what I wanted! Lovely to hear you're settling in your new home, we've been here 2 1/2 years and it took me a while to feel settled.

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    1. Sorry miss typed
      www.perhapslivingthegoodlife.blogspot.com

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    2. Thank you Christine, we are beginning to settle now although everything feels strange outside. We're not really into a shopping routine yet, for example, with unfamiliar shop layouts and products.

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  7. I think we all have those kind of days from time to time. It is aggravating to spend time preparing food and spending money on ingredients only for it all to go wrong. Cake and custard is the way to go I think. I never liked the crust less quiches anyway. I was searching for a 18cm cake tin yesterday in the cupboard where I keep all the tins balanced. Disturb one and the lot fall out, including the silicone bun tin I have never used since I found out I didn’t like the SW quiches. I made a baked cheesecake with bits and pieces of cream, ricotta and marscapone I found at the bottom of the fridge on a chocolate biscuit base. Should have been ginger biscuits but I was getting rid of leftovers from Christmas! Turned out remarkably well but probably the most fattening thingI have cooked in ages!

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    1. Ooh Catherine, the baked cheesecake sounds lush ;) Once I get my cholesterol under control.... ;)

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  8. I got a small bunch of roses but would have much preferred the tulips.

    These cook books are so over hyped I think so I just never buy them any more. It's the internet every time for me if I need a new recipe.
    Like everyone else I am thinking cake and custard.....what a treat.

    Dennis has raged here all night. He's been very noisy.
    Hugs-x-

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    1. I wish I hadn't bothered now, Sheila, I'm not going to get much out of it xx

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  9. So sorry to read about the disaster with the cookbook. I must admit I fell into the same trap and now use the internet or my favourite recipes. Could the sponge be used to make a trifle perhaps? Stay safe.

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    1. That's another great idea MM but at the moment I mustn't eat cream (cholesterol levels) although I could try Elmlea perhaps (thinking mode....) ;)

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  10. So sorry to see the cake failure.

    I had the same problem with those crustless quiches as well.

    God bless.

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    1. Glad it's not just me! I'm a really rubbish cook though Jackie, I don't get enough practice these days with just the two of us to cater for xx

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  11. No flowers for me, but I did have a 3 course meal cooked for me, all from scratch, including a rather scrummy homemade tiramisu.

    I bet your cake will be lovely with custard :)

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It's OK.....

  Angie 💓 xx