Absence

Sorry I havent been around much lately, been a bit poorly and theres not been much to post about really. Just have a few things to share:

When my milk gets like this, and I dont have a car to get out to get more, there is a trick I do to spread it further. I should mention, if you have young children who dont eat well you may not want to do this. Mine on the other hand get through 2-4 pints milk a day, 2 blocks butter week and around a block of cheese a week, along with other various vegetables, protein sources etc, so i'm confident that theyre getting enough nutrients.

Make up a pint of powdered milk and add to half a bottle of regular milk.

Shake well and chill.

The first time I did this, we finished the bottle of milk, then I told my husband. He couldnt believe it. Powdered milk does have a unique/odd taste, and he is very sensitive to taste. But no-body could tell the difference. 

I stocked up on powdered milk from this place last week:

www.approvedfood.co.uk

They sell foods past their best before date (NOT! past their use by!) and i've ordered for over a year now, apart from a few issues where they have got the orders wrong, which were immediatly refunded, ive had no problems. The food is certainly very good and ive never had anything go bad. 

They currently have powdered milk, 1kg for £1.20. I have 5kg in my store cupboard and this trick has cut my milk costs from about £5+ week (plus all the extras that fall into the basket when you go for a top-up shop) to just £2 week on my once week shop. 

Another trick some of my adult friends do, is buy 4 pints of whole milk and dilute it with 4 pints water to make 8 pints semi-skimmed. I havent tried this as I dilute with powdered milk which contains extra nutrients, but if you dont have children it could be worth a try.

This is what I bought from Lidl this weekend. Butter I got through a lot of! I use it for all my baking and spreading on bread, frying pancakes in etc. I usually get them for the 98p block. This was half price at 69p at Lidl this weekend, so I filled the freezer. The cheese was £1.30 300g block. They actually had some cheaper mild cheese 1kg for £3.79, but I got the mature as I need to use less of it for flavour, so it worked out cheaper for me. This will be grated, re-sealed in the packets and frozen.

As I'm poorly, I was looking for convenience food that I wouldnt normally use. The pizzas are a pack of 4 for £2.49. I can top them with extra cheese and vegetables. And the bockwurst sausages are 84% meat, so really decent and at 30% were about £1.50. They tasted like giant smoked hot dogs. I can throw a part baked baguette in the oven and serve giant hot dogs with some grilled onions. Very cheap and easy meal.

Thanks to a very good friend teaching me, I have started crocheting.

This is my first dish cloth, although my daughter has currently stolen it as a blanket for her Teddy. And i've also made a hairband for her to keep the hair out of her eyes while it grows out. My next project when I get some more wool will be to make her a little meeting bag.