Going Shopping, Food and doing something with it and equipment

 We needed to pop to the shop (Iceland Warehouse) for some fresh bread and milk today and I wanted to have a look at what else was available.  I did not get my tinned goods today but that could be tomorrow that I get topped up with them; no room in the Pantry today. I did however buy a Fray Bentos Steak pie for mois and a Suet Steak pudding for G.  Comfort food of a different sort for a meal in the next few days with the addition of some mashed potatoes, carrots and broccoli. However will have to wait and see how things pan out.  I also need to go to Home Bargains to get a few bits and see what they have available on the food front.  I also want to have a look generally around the store.

Nothing really Christmas orientated bought today, I am fast running out of room in the freezer.  What I have managed to acquire though are good solid items that are needed.  I even managed to find a couple of packs of Chicken Noodle soup and Oxtail soup.  Traditionally my family have every so often chucked a packet of this mix into stew or indeed soups. I jumped at the chance of getting hold of these as I do not see them very often and I find them quite useful, especially if making a homemade soup as it helps pad the soup out and make it a bit more substantial.  The same goes for tinned soups, Oxtail is a good one for a stew as is the remains of a can of Stout(Guinness).  You can then make a pie out of any leftover stew if necessary.  Depends what is available to you at any one time and of course as to what you can find.

One thing I am thinking of doing, is buying in a bottle of red wine and decanting so much liquid into an ice cube tray and freezing.  Then once frozen, they can be decanted into a bag, and used in stews, casseroles or Beef Bourguignon to make cooking a little bit more interesting. In the past I have decanted any part left-over bottles in this way to the freezer.  Waste not, want not!

I also managed to find a double large pack of Jacobs Cream Crackers for £1.70; I therefore nabbed them as well as a couple of packs of Hovis Digestive biscuits which we use with cheese as they have a lovely malty flavour.  They are a great favourite here.  

In the past I have always bought in ordinary Digestive biscuits (usually McVities) and Rich tea biscuits as they are also good with butter and a bit of cheese. Especially if topped off with a very tasty relish or chutney!  Something my Nan always used to do.

I also came away with some gravy making stuff (I use various different bits and bobs as well as Lea & Perrins (Worcester Sauce), some Brown sauce (Daddies - not seen this for a while either), Cornflour (I use this in baking as well  - Shortbread) not just for gravy making.  I need to get some Arrowroot though.

When I go shopping again will have a proper look around to see what I can put away for future days.  This is just not for Christmas but for the months moving forward as well.  This is the whole purpose of this re-organisation and stock up.  If anything happens financially at least then we are covered for the best part on the food situation.

I am also trying to get myself geared up on dealing with a lot of items at home myself.  To all intents and purposes I am retired. Official date is next year, therefore need to save the pennies and do what I can myself. In-between everything else and in order that I can achieve as much as I can at home there are key pieces of equipment which are required and I am adding these in where I can and once saved for. The next piece of equipment I am after is expensive, and something that I have had in the past a Magimix Food processor. If you get the right equipment, it can overall make your life a lot easier in the long-run. With this I will be able to make my Souper Mix, Peanut Butter, Tahini, bread, cakes, pates, puddings, Coleslaw etc. etc.  The list is endless.  On the list as well is an immersion blender. Hopefully will acquire that soon.  I also need a goblet blender as well will have to wait for that for a while though. I used to have a couple, but they have hit the appliance graveyard sometime ago. I am lucky in that G recently bought me my Kitchen Aid stand mixer which I am also grateful for.  Three years again without certain equipment has had its toll. I had a whole host of equipment that failed at around the same time including my Kenwood stand mixer. It has been a long time coming in being able to replace said items and I am grateful to replace what I can.  My hands are not good with the arthritis (both RA and Osteo) and Raynaud's Syndrome where I lose the circulation in my hands which limits what I can do manually.  It is what it is.

Later on when I went to the local shop I bought garlic, onions, 4 packs of tomatoes and 3 packs of sweet peppers.  I will also buy 4 packs of tomatoes tomorrow and on Saturday.  Saturday evening I will then start the process of turning these tomatoes into some tomato/pasta sauce for the Pantry shelf by roasting them in the oven.  The sweet peppers are going to be turned (or some of them) into sweet pepper jelly for use with cheese items, and for basting chicken etc.  I am constantly on the look out for items for our food storage whether that be something for the store-cupboards, the Pantry shelf, the Fireside cupboard or under-stair cupboard, the Fridge or the Freezer.

I also came across a couple of bags of reduced Brussel Sprouts.  They were monsters and originally on sale for £1 a 450g bag. That is an 80p saving overall.  I therefore set too this evening and managed to get them processed and blanched for open freezing in the freezer.  They will be decanted into a bag tomorrow.  There has been quite a bit of stuff going on with preparation of food for the freezer but there will be more on that under a separate post which will be coming up in the next few days or so. The Brussel Sprouts are primarily for Christmas eating.  I tend to keep fresh veg in the fridge in any event, but it will be good to have a safety net with a variety of veg available in the freezer as well for the wrong side of the month.  I also intend to get hold of Cauliflower and Broccoli to add to the stash.  A lot has been accomplished on the food front, and a lot more is in the offing to prepare.  It is paying it forward really; I am happy to be back in the swing of things in this regard though. 

I still need to buy in some red sweet onions for turning into relish. I will also see what I can come across over the weekend as we are going to the fish man on Saturday and then on to a Farm shop that we have not been to for over a year.  We were regulars at the shop so it will be nice to have a look to see what they have available.  Will have to get wrapped up well though.

Therefore all go on the kitchen front.  I really must address the house though.  Back to that in the next few days.

Busy times, not just for me but for everyone else too.

Take care.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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