Another No Spend Day - & some Fresh Bread

Well today has been another No Spend Day so im pleased with that although I have realised I have only got 13 tea bags left till Sunday so I will have to use them wisely and have a few extra cups of coffee instead.

 

I used up the last of the bread for tonight's tea, it was an easy one Savers Beans and Mushrooms on Toast with a sprinkle of the Christmas Cheese .. simple cheap and tasty :) we had another piece of the Flapjack to finish off for afters .. Yum

 

 

 Sorry about the picture quality im having to use my phone at the moment as I cant find the camera charger lol I guess it will turn up somewhere odd haha

 

 

Fresh bread straight out of the bread machine smells lovely :) I use a basic recipe that works for me, I have tried a few suggested recipes but have failed each time so I stick to my own now.. it goes against the grain really but its how I do it and it works great every time

 

For a 1.5lb Loaf I use -

 

3 cups strong bread flour 

2 tablespoons of sugar

1 sachet of dried yeast

1 cup warm water

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup olive oil

 

I add the yeast, warm water and 2 tablespoons of sugar to the dough pan and leave for 10 minutes or so to bubble and rise, then I will add my flour, sometimes its all Strong White and other times its 1 of Strong Wholemeal to 2 Strong White, then add the salt to one corner and then the olive oil to the other, switch it on, choose 1.5lb loaf, medium crust, basic programme press the button ..hey presto 3 hours later its ready :) When I first got my machine I found it all very daunting but when I found this recipe to work for me it literally takes minutes to prepare..happy days..

 

Fingers crossed its a little dryer out tomorrow I don't fancy getting soaked while out with Deeds..

Just encase you are wondering our Jack Russell (son no2) is called Diesel, but answers to DeeDee Deeds, PunPun and Puppy Boy ..!! haha

AFM xx

Happy New Year *cough cough*

Happy New Year Cyber Space :) after all i do like to talk to myself haha .. So as usual ive been very busy since i last posted, no i don't really do new year resolutions but i am going to try and be more organised, more timely etc..

I wanted to spend as little as possible in January , all good intentions eh? but i had a look an Approved Foods last night and they has quiet a bit of vegetarian foods stuff that i could stock up on, so i spent £30 including delivery on plenty of cupboardy bit's that will last us a good while, ive also spend another £30 ish pounds on this months UHT Milk and other grocery bits, i want to run the freezer down so am planning to really try and do that without buying much else for a long while, the odd veg from Aldis 39p range and i will look out for yellow sticker reduced fruit and veggies still.

So i started a 50p pot last year, late starter so only had £7.50 in it, but still went towards food.

-Ive started again and decided to do an 'Any Change Tin', already have £3 in that so a good start :)

-My Ebay pot is empty so i need to start selling again and i will do my best to keep that money online and i will transfer it into the end of year savings in December.

-We are into week 2 of the year and i have put aside £10 per week so there is £20 in that saved so far.

Not a bad start to the year..its been cold up North i must say, blooming freezing at work too, silly little wall heater doesn't blast out much heat at all.. ive had two scarves on its been that chilly!!..got to charge my mobile up though so that saved me a penny or two..hehe

Made a chuck it all together and use it up soup in the slow cooker yesterday, bit of double cream, pumpkin, 2 bendy carrots, a sprouting onion, 2 large reduced leeks, 2 potatoes from the sack, pint of vegetable value stock, s+p wizzed it together this morning..OH loves it..im not so keen ..prefer just a plain tomato soup me ..

Anyway easy tea tonight, beans and or egg on toast and home-made pancakes for afters, pot of tea, hot bath and off to bed for me tonight, i need to warm up..and it saves putting the heating on lol

Bye for now AFM xx