A Shopping Trip

It has been a cold and very wet day here in Peterborough today.  I did not realise it was raining, but had woken up a little stiff and then realised when I got out and about why.  A couple of pain kilIers were needed today though as a result.

It is a sad fact of life that the older we get the more we watch the pennies especially if you are retired and only have a set income coming in a month. It is a different way of living to when you are younger.  It means for me staggering things out a bit so that we get as full a coverage as we can within any one month.  Appreciating what we have but being "thrifty" in the process.  Now I am not a purist, but I do adjust plans to suit any one situation during the month.  That is for me where having the gas and electric cards gives me an idea of what is left and I can then prioritise items that need to be done rather than what I would like to do (especially with regard to preserving goodies i.e. the electric for the dehydrator; the Gas for the actual preserving or indeed adding in extra washing loads with the washing machine). Then being left in a position to then deal with items not achieved because of this on the next pay day. G is not always realistic on this front not appreciating that a lot goes on behind the scenes which is necessary for us to get through in any one month. He forgets things easily as well which have ended up with one or two extra pickles to deal with.  Someone has to be level headed even if I do not particularly want to be.  As part of this strategy we tend to use especially when it is cold use one room mainly and also do not leave lights on unnecessarily through the house.  We also have door curtains up and curtains apart from in the kitchen and the bathroom but that is about to be attended to.  I have curtains for the kitchen and curtains for the bathroom.  I need curtain rail up in each room and some more hooks and end stops for the track. That will happen though. 

Even though things are not easy and "difficult" at times, I believe that we are slowly making progress.  As I indicated at the beginning of the year my aim this year is to really build the Pantry up to what it has been and for the first time in a few Christmas's have a bit more choice when it comes to ingredients.  I am in the fortunate position where I have a lot more items than I thought I had available to me.  There are however a lot of items that I do not currently have in-house at the moment.  They will come in due course though.  I also intend to use the Wild Larder and any seasonal offers that happen in my area to help build up my Pantry Preserves to ensure that there will be good eating throughout the year.

Today therefore we have been and done a little shopping.  

For one particular item like loo rolls.  I tend to buy in a big pack of about 32 rolls for £8 (Nicky scented not the most expensive but I like them) and these usually last a good couple of months. Equally where I can, I do the same with soap powder.  These days I tend to buy in Persil non-biological as G seems to have developed a sensitivity to the Surf washing powder which has resulted in him constantly scratching so I have stopped buying that. Do not want him to be uncomfortable. I used to have a box of each and run the boxes alongside of one another preferring the Persil for boil washes, household linen that sort of thing or particularly good clothes.  However cheaper stuff used to do with the Surf.  We are therefore going through a box of Persil a 77 wash box in about six weeks (less if I have had more washing to do as I am having at the moment). Iceland sell both items or similar but their prices are dearer than Home Bargains definitely for these two items.

I also add Oxygen powder either the Oxy or Pink Stuff powder.  I rate both of these but am not so keen on the other brands as items do not come clean.  I normally get these from Home Bargains.

I also bought in a large bottle of Fairy washing up liquid as it was on offer at £2.75 for the larger bottle.  I have seen it at £3 or more locally and as I was in need of some I just nabbed it.  I do need to get a little bleach though and that should be it on the cleaning front.

Having done the Pantry clear out and knowing what I have on the Pantry shelf has been an absolute boon for me this month.  No need this month for me to buy in baked beans, soup or tomatoes as I have a healthy stock of each.  We only bought one stack of Tuna last month and as we have been using it and I am now down to a couple of tins, I decided that we needed to top up on the Tuna and have bought two stacks in for this month. This in a roundabout way makes sure that the money is going where it is needed on specific core items and items that we use on a regular basis.  It also affords for a few different items to be added if there was no need to buy in the baked beans or tomatoes in any one particular month.  It is really therefore building in.  I do regulate usage as well. We eat well considering, but just because stuff is on the shelf does not mean that you have to go at it all out.  I try to be generous in one sense in that we have more than enough to eat but not to run stores down unnecessarily.  Everything in moderation.

I have also bought in about six tins of fruit i.e. two tins of Fruit Salad, two tins of Pineapple and two tins of Peaches.  I was very low on the tinned fruit front and therefore I am hoping to in the coming months to really build the stock up on these items.  Another month I will look to adding in some tinned Salmon and also Corned Beef.  Each month though I will be moderating what I do and do not need or what item needs stocking up more depending on usage.  

When it comes to me storing my tinned goods.  I empty the shelf out each time I buy new and re-stock the shelf in date order so the newer items are on the bottom and the older stuff on top to use.  It is cumbersome and ideally I would like some of those racks where the tins are rolled into a case on their sides and you can easily stock and retried the canned goods out of the rack.  However, practically speaking I do not have the space in my small Pantry.  Not that any space has been left really empty.

This month we have also bought in a large bag of Yorkshire Tea tea bags.  I drink a lot of tea, and the prices we have been paying locally for we have been paying through the nose a bit.  These will go into one of my glass sweetie storage jars so that I can keep an eye on what is available.  It maybe two to three months before I will need to re-stock on this item.  Next month I will look at the Coffee situation.  This tends to last us longer; I love coffee but my system does not tolerate masses of it, so yet again everything in moderation.

In Iceland Food Warehouse they do have some very basic offers on, on all sorts of bread items as well as other items.  Three loaves of Warburtons bread for £3; Packs of Crumpets, Muffins and fruited Tea cakes three packs for £3 and you can mix them up a bit.  Quite a saving and a boon for a family who are trying to keep something in the stomach's of their children either as part of a tea or as a snack.  We sometimes have the crumpets for breakfast or just as a snack in themselves.  I like fruited tea cakes toasted with butter or as a sarnie with some nice Cheddar cheese.

They also had an offer on for three pots of Salsa for £5 and three packs of Doritos.  This is something we do not normally buy in (although have in the past).  To tell the truth I was eying up the pots the Salsa come in to recycle and save for some homemade Bruschetta later in the season.  I therefore nearly always have an ulterior motive going on in the background.  The same goes for the Starbucks coffee drinks at three for £3.  I had some of these the other week, and I was allowed another three today.  I like the coffee but the bottles are needed for preserving later on in the season.  So nearly always an ulterior motive on my part.  You have to be canny you know!

The fridge got stripped out this morning and washed out.  All in good time for our little shopping trip earlier today.  All nicely packed away now.

I do however need to go into the Pantry tomorrow and start to get it better organised, plus add in items bought today and also items into jars from the tubs of dried ingredients I have.

Tonight for tea we have Cod strips, Potato Dauphinoise, half a Cauliflower cheese and some mushy peas.  Not to everyone's taste, but we enjoy the combination and it makes for quite a tasty meal.  

There are still items to be added like the veggies.  I am currently low on Potatoes, no Onions and need eggs.  We will also need some meat going forwards although have bought a large tray of chicken fillets for meals during the week.   Have also bought in some curries and some Ribs as well.  We are reasonably covered for meals for the rest of the week.  However I do need to go to the veg shop.

I am still missing my freezers though.  Hopefully one day this will get sorted.  I have no place to store them here at the moment and the only way I can see forward is if we were to move somewhere else and then get the set-up I would like to expand on my food storage in the longer-term.  It is crazy but I am missing putting away leftovers to make extra meals and get the most out of what you are cooking for another day.  Preserving my own herbs in oil, preserving fruit for turning into preserves on a day where it is less busy.  Homemade ice creams, soups, pies, etc.  Hopefully will in due course be able to remedy this.

Right am off to put my feet up.

Have a lovely evening everyone.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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