Wednesday 6 November 2013

Pushing The Boat Out ... A Tin Of Corned Beef ..!


Hello there ...
hope you've had a good day.

We've had a day at home today ... we earmarked today as a 'sorting out' and 'tidying up' sort of day.



 Firstly ... a nice cleansing bonfire ...

The place was beginning to look like a junkyard .. a gypsy camp ... old boxes and rubbish piled around the woodshed ..
we needed a good sort out and clean up.
Its what happens when we are too busy to sort as we go along ... stuff gets put aside for chopping up for the fire etc.

Anyway .. Hubby P sorted ... and chopped .. and filled recycling bins ... and I ... 
well ... I was in charge of the bonfire.

I burned all the old boxes that were hanging around ... and all the documents with information etc on them ... you just can't be too careful these days .. so anything unwanted .. not needed to be kept ... goes up in smoke.



 It must be said ... it gets a bit boring watching a fire .. no treacle toffee or toffee apples ..
so I had a mooch around the garden .. still lots of colour.

Kale is doing well ... almost too pretty to pick.



 And roses ... trying their best to give a good show.


 The roses looked so pretty next to their .. so red... Christmas-y red ... rose hips ..all on the same bush.



 We've had no real frost yet ... all the seed heads are still standing ... giving shape and form amongst the slowly fading leaves.


 How pretty is this jewel red of the Sedum..


 Leeks are doing well considering they were put in very late ... and very much left to get on with it.
They will be much valued in the coming weeks .. isn't veg such a price ?

Speaking of prices and food ... I bagged myself a couple of tins of corned beef this week.
I haven't bought any for months ... what happened ?
It use to be a good cheap standby .. a Girl could make a good few cheap nutritious meals from a tin of corned beef ..
then the price rocketed!


 Tesco had it on offer for £1.53p ... cheapest I could find it for a while .. so I pushed the boat out and bought two.
Mind you .. I only used it sparingly ... chopped in two and put one half in the freezer .. who'd have thought .. cheap bully beef being so expensive.
At one time we would open a tin just to put on a sandwich .... now it has to be stretched ...

You know how Hubby P likes a pie ... so we had a meat and potato pie for tea .. lots of potatoes, an onion, bit of swede and half a tin of corned beef ... it made a large pie for us .. and a smaller one for a friend up the road.

No pic's of the pie .. Hubby P came in complaining his 'belly was touching his backbone' ..
 he was so very hungry (very dramatic)
 ...you would think he was never fed!
 ... so I forgot the 'after pic' .. mind you .. you have seen a pie before ... pretty hum drum..


Whilst the oven was on I scrabbled around in the fridge and found all the odd bits of cheese that needed eating up ... grated them up and turned them into cheese scones. 
They will do for lunch tomorrow at work ... and I made a loaf of soda bread ..  quick and easy.

I was just thinking as I stood peeling potatoes ... its a bit worrying that the basics.. the staples that we took for granted .. basic veg, potatoes ... bread even .... has become so expensive. 
It use to be a case of fill up on the cheaper foods .. basic wholesome foods ... but no more.

Its come to a pretty pass when a girl has to weigh up the pros and cons of switching the oven on ! 

Anyone found any bargains this week ... anything on offer that we can make filling meals with?

xx