Hmmm - I'm not sure I can manage five. I might have to call this week Free Frugal Fings, not five!!!
1. Now the weather is better, I'm able to hang just about all the washing out on the line to dry. It rejoices my heart to see it billowing out in the breeze.
2. I was out of kidney beans in the freezer so yesterday I soaked a whole bagful of dried beans and then boiled them until they were soft. The whole bag cost £1.12 (I'd written the price on the packet) and it makes loads. So much better value than buying even value/savers tinned beans and, as I open freezer and then bag them, I can take out just as many as I need each time.
I also seem to have a bag of pinto beans (no idea how that happened as it's not one I remember buying) so I will do the same with that in a few days. Now I just have to remember to plan in more pulse based meals as I will have a nice mixture in the freezer - butter beans, chickpeas, kidney beans and pinto beans.
3. I'm one step further on in growing the summer produce. Beth and I took a trip to the allotment on Monday and now we have a plan of action for this year. It's lovely to pick and then eat - so fresh and tasty. Hopefully, by then, I will be able to eat more veg again. Already the rhubarb is coming up strongly and the chard too.
4. I've really got into tinned fish recently, especially tuna, mackerel and sardines. Not only is it tasty, it's not shockingly expensive and it's good for you. Also, the tins tend to be one or two portion sizes so I'm OK about opening them, knowing I won't have leftovers to deal with. Not that there's anything wrong with leftovers, they're useful, but I don't usually want fish leftovers.
I need to dig out some easy recipes I can use with it.
5. I think I need to reorganise my freezers. The front opening one now has quite a lot of spaces so I could rootle out all the ready mades (home made ready mades) from the chest freezer and pop them into the other one so they are all together. Then I need to list them all and see how they will work with my diet regime. I guess this is really future frugality rather than now though.
What are your Frugal Fings this week?
Organisation is the key to saving money. I might look for dried kidney beans to cook and freeze. I already do it with green lentils ascinusd them in cooking/baking a fair bit.
ReplyDeleteI think it's well worth the effort - although really it isn't an effort, it just takes time. Like bread making really.
DeleteJ x
I think I've had the benefit this week of being a bit disorganised at the start of the year. I tidied up the sideboard in the dining area and found some packets of flower seeds, they can be sown now so that's something for the weekend. I also used up a few things from the pantry - some things were more successful than others, but it's eaten now and that's the main thing!
ReplyDeleteTHat's great - every little bit saved adds to the big end result. Pennies and pounds!
DeleteJ x
Aren't fish leftovers just called fishcakes ;-)
ReplyDeleteAny fishy leftovers in our house just get mixed in with leftover mash (or a purposely microwaved jacket potato), a few chilli flakes and half a chopped onion and made into fishcakes which freeze beautifully ... and of course doing this helps stop the fridge from smelling like a fish market.
They can be. :-) It's the smell really . . . not wonderful. I do love fishcakes though!
DeleteJ x