Day 5: Autumnal comforts

It was a beautiful day today.  Bright, clear but cold and the 3C temperatures last night had me thinking about turning the heating on this morning, despite the house still being at a reasonable 14C at 8am. The outside temperature climbed during the day to 12C but it never really felt warm and I

found myself doing up my cardigan just to put the rubbish out.  It was the sort of day that called for thick soup and homemade bread.

So soup was the first culinary exercise of the day.  This was a good opportunity to utilise the left over veg from last week before it was too old to eat and had to be consigned to the recycling bin, especially the cabbage, of which I seem to have bought rather a lot. So I started with the big stock pan, a splash of oil and two of the three remaining shallots, finely chopped. Added to this went some old carrots, peeled and chunked; a couple of misshapen spuds from the garden (possibly 'International kidney") peeled and cubed; the finely chopped woody stems of yesterday's purple sprouting broccoli; a piece of red cabbage that I couldn't get in the bowl when I made the spicy red cabbage; about two thirds of a savoy cabbage that I found in the salad drawer; the bottom of a bag of red lentils and about the same amount of pearly barley.  I added to this a couple of kettles-full of boiling water, a tin of tomatoes, a squeeze of tomato puree and two stock cubes.  Brought to the boil, the lid went on and I left it to simmer for 40 minutes or so until the barley was soft.

I remember back in the 90s there was a fad diet which centred around eating almost nothing but cabbage soup.  I know, because I did it for seven days.  It was a fairly sulphurous week - and neither satisfying nor very successful.  I didn't want this to be THAT sort of soup!  When the barley was soft I went at it with a hand blender just to thicken up the broth a bit, while still leaving plenty of substance so I could see what I was eating.  I added a couple of handfuls of soup pasta (alphabetti as that's what I had) a spoonful of Italian herbs and seasoning.  Three minutes later lunch was ready.  Served with a chunk of my homemade wholemeal and a scraping of parmesan it was just what the day demanded.

After it cooled I portioned the remainder into plastic freezer containers, putting two in the 'fridge for Tuesday and Wednesday's lunch and the remaining six in the freezer.  These I will use to form the bases for other sorts of meals, with new flavours and ingredients added.

Tonight sunset was at 1815. The nights are fairly drawing in and it's only a fortnight until the clocks go back.  As if chunky soup didn't provide comfort enough, I felt the need for my version of cauliflower cheese for supper.  I didn't want to use all the cauliflower (I want some for a curry later in the week) but I did want it to be substantial enough to fill me up, so I steamed it with half a can of butter beans (this is such a nice combination) and served it with a cheese and mustard sauce.  I finished it off with a crispy topping using up the last shallot, a clove of garlic, half a dozen crushed almonds, chopped parsley and the breadcrumbs made from the crusts of last week's cheese toasty!  Yum.

There's enough topping left over to add to my soup for the next two days, and a couple of spoonfuls of sauce that when cooled and set will make a tasty accompaniment to a salad sandwich (it's a bit like savoury spread).  However all this cooking means that I'm almost out of milk and cheese and most of that ageing veg has been used up.   I shall need another recce through the cupboards before I go shopping.

If you'd like to sponsor me for this challenge and support  'Start-Up Stirling' you can do so here!

Day 4: Sunshine and showers

As I sat this morning reading about the devastation Storm Callum has made in Wales and the Midlands, with rivers bursting their banks, landslides and deaths, for the first time in several days the sun shone in Stirling. Moreover it was a comfortable 13C for much of the day and the visibility was excellent, the Trossachs bold and clear over the valley.

It made me think, this disparity of weather across the UK.  We are after all not a very big country.  The differences in the weather can no doubt be explained by the vagaries of geography, relative latitudes and the effects of the gulf stream.  If only it were so easy to explain the differences of fortune in the peoples of our Isles.

I am a mere four days into my £30 challenge, and still have plenty of that left along with various foodstuffs in the 'fridge, freezer and cupboards and yet as I poured the last of the coffee beans into the grinder today, and a little later the last of the Earl Grey tea into the caddy I found myself thinking about being without these middle-class treats later in the month.  And even as I type this I feel embarrassed to be concerned about coffee beans when there are those in Stirling district who have to worry about running out of basic foods.  It hardly seems possible in this day and age.  I hope this challenge will raise some dosh for Start up Stirling, but importantly I hope I'll learn a little about myself, and develop a sense of gratitude for the fair-weather in my life.

Today's cooking experiment was to use up some more of the veg I have had sitting around since my house-guest's visit and to make the most of the 'stretched' egg!  So today's lunch (and indeed supper) was a mushroom clafoutis - whole mushrooms set in a batter made with 4ozs flour, 1/2 pint of milk and what was left of that wickedly beaten egg left over from yesterday's fish cakes.  I seasoned it with fresh thyme, lots of black pepper and a goodly grating of nutmeg - which always brings out the flavour of mushrooms. Served with the tops of the sprouting broccoli (the stems are really woody.....) some peas and yet more spiced red cabbage (I am getting a bit bored with this), the clafoutis provided two good meals.  I also had enough batter left to make some pancakes for pudding (this being Sunday). So the stretched egg made four main dishes and a pudding.  My old Mum would be satisfied with that I think.

Tomorrow I shall be waiting in for the gas man to call. It seems I am to have a smart metre.  Perhaps this will prompt further economies - with the utilities as well as with food.  I believe we are to get more rain from tomorrow.  It may be some time before Scotland moves to water metres......

If you'd like to sponsor me for this challenge and support  'Start-Up Stirling' you can do so here!

Day 3: waste not want not, and gift-horses

My mother died in 1999 but there are days when I hear her voice in my head as clearly as if she were standing next to me. Today was one of those days.  "If you want to make one egg do the work of two, add two tablespoons of water and beat like mad".  With only four eggs in the house I certainly want

to make each one 'do the work of two', so when making my fishcakes tonight I followed her instructions.  To the peeled, smashed-up jacket potatoes that I made on Thursday I added three finely chopped spring onions, a handful of chopped parsley and the tin of sardines that I bought yesterday plus a couple of tablespoons of beaten egg (á la Ma Willis). The result was four fish cakes, two for tonight (served with some leftover spiced red cabbage and some steamed peas and carrots) and two in the freezer for another night.  I also have enough beaten egg left for the batter I want to make tomorrow.

I think the fishcakes could have been improved with some tartar sauce, or even some ketchup, but these are not in my store cupboard and I don't want to buy them and be eating them for dinner at the end of the month.

I'm a vegetarian who eats a bit of fish, and tonight's dish was tasty and satisfying (if not exactly elegant).  Last night my 'chuck-it-in-a-pan-pasta' also contained a little fish - literally - anchovies.

I nearly always have a jar in the 'fridge to add a little savoury saltiness to dishes without other protein.  Added to a frying pan with a little oil the anchovies melt down to almost nothing, but flavour everything else that goes in.  What went in last night was three squishy tomatoes, a handful of black olives, some capers and a couple of rather soft shallots.  Put on the heat to fry at the same time as the pasta goes on to boil and it's all ready together.  The pasta is turned in the hot sauce and then a few fresh herbs added.  I suspect that there will be a few more versions of this over the following weeks.

Today was a very wet and very grey day and not even Archie (who loves the garden) wanted to go out. Still the weather did mean that I had every excuse to sit and knit in between the usual weekend chores.  Shirley's scrap scarf is growing quickly and her chosen colour scheme seems entirely right for the time of year.  The start contains red and orange autumn colours, morphing to misty purples and and browns and finishing with evergreen shades.   A bit like this photo really, without the grey drizzle!

The highlight of today was going along to a Cambusbarron Community Event.  Organised by members of the Cambusbarron Community Development Group, some neighbours and local adventure Scouts, the afternoon tea  was to raise money to buy Gillies Hill. As I had bought my ticket in advance of 'falling on hard times' and the start of the challenge, it seemed right to go and not waste the entry fee.  This did mean I had a late 'free' lunch of cucumber sandwiches, sweet mincemeat slice, scone and jam and lashings of tea, plus some good company and a few laughs.  One neighbour appeared later at my door with a bottle of wine which I had apparently won in the raffle and a bag of scones (made by my neighbour) that were left over from the tea - I think everyone in our terrace had some.

The neighbour from the other side appeared an hour later with half a dozen eggs.  It seems that their hens have been in a laying frenzy and they have far more eggs than they can use.  I am certainly not going to look this gift horse in the mouth!

If I follow my mother's war-time rationing wisdom, these might last me the month.

If you'd like to sponsor me for this challenge and support  'Start-Up Stirling' you can do so here!

Day 2: changing habits

One of the most regular complaints my sister makes when she comes for a visit is that 'there is no food in your house, only ingredients'.  I now know what she means, although I can't say I actually thought about it before.

My rake through the 'fridge yesterday unearthed not really 'leftovers' (apart from a bowl of spiced red cabbage) but unused ingredients.  There are some ends of cheeses, four eggs, non-dairy spread, a heel of bread, salad stuff (toms, cucumber, lettuce, radishes, two red peppers, spring onions), a couple of rather ancient courgettes, half a family-size pack of mushrooms, raw beetroots, carrots and cabbage.  Lots of cabbage (red cabbage, pointed cabbage, cavalo nero, cauliflower, sprouting broccoli).  Pretty much all of which needs using up quite quickly if it isn't going to be confined to the compost.  So these are the first habits I need to break - buying too much at once and buying more of things I already have.  All the books I have been reading recommend only shopping when you really need to, and of course to take a list.

So yesterday's lunch consisted of a toasted cheese sandwich (with salad) and last night's dinner a jacket potato with spiced red cabbage, a sprinkle of goats cheese (and salad).  And each of these meals prompted another thought about habits.  I put my toasties in a silicon bag in the toaster to cook as it's a more economic option than putting on the grill which is in the big oven. However to get the sandwich in, I have to cut the crusts off.  I was halfway to the door to take these to the birds when I paused, returned to the kitchen and made breadcrumbs out of them.  Sorry birds.  For the next month I shall be attempting to waste nothing.  And I baked three potatoes (grown in my own garden this summer) instead of just one to make the most of putting the oven on.  These will be turned into mash for some savoury cakes over the weekend.

The weather has turned wet and windy, and I really don't want another plate of cold food, so today's lunch was mushrooms on toast using the penultimate piece of bread left over from the loaf I made for Shirley's visit.  And tonight I'll use up the squishiest tomatoes in a pasta dish, at the same time using up some of the ingredients that lurk in half-used jars at the top of the 'fridge (olives, capers, anchovies?).

I had a peek in the freezer.  Now I knew it wasn't full of out-of-date stuff as I defrosted it in the summer, and this week I put two portions of dinner left-overs in there (I'd normally have consigned these to the food recycling bin) but I was thinking about my challenge.  So I have fish pie and savoury bread-n-butter pudding to look forward to.  In addition I have half a bag of peas, a bag of cranberries, curry leaves, and a packet of soya sausages.  Life doesn't get much more exciting than this.


Getting to the end of a loaf means making a new one, so the bread machine is on and a loaf of wholemeal will be the outcome.  But I am down to the last few ounces of flour and I'm out of milk so despite my wish not to go shopping for three or four days into the challenge, off to Lidl I went this afternoon.

I added sardines to my basket for fish cakes with the left over potato, so the first £2.20 of the £30 has gone, 20p over budget!  As Dickens' character, Mr Micawber said:

 "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen [pounds] nineteen [shillings] and six [pence], result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."

Fortunately the challenge is only for a month, but overspending this early could lead to a miserable first week of November.

This wet weather has meant that I've felt entirely guilt-free sitting around knitting, so Shirley's socks are done and I've started a scarf for her made out of the scraps she chose while she was here.  I understand the weather is not quite so dreich in Reading, so it may be a while before she needs to done these winter woollies.  It's very cheering to knit with bright colours when the day is grey.

If you'd like to sponsor me for this challenge and support  'Start-Up Stirling' you can do so here!

Day One: On the Breadline

This day seems to have arrived very quickly.  With all the excitement of having a friend to stay whom I've not seen in over twenty years, my planned 'prep' for this little challenge hasn't actually taken place.  Perhaps that's a good thing.  Many people are plunged into desperate situations without any warning and have to cope; other people get there slowly, their situation worsening day by day and week by week.  With this breadline challenge of mine I only have £30 to spend on food and drink for the month, but can use whatever is already in the cupboards and 'fridge.

As I have had a houseguest there is perhaps a bit more in the 'fridge than would normally be there at this time of the month/week.  Am I the only person who plans a menu for visitors with two or three extra dishes in case they don't like my choices?  I shall shortly take an inventory of what is there so I can plan a menu for this week.  I know there are some good leftovers (yes, I always cook too much too) and some veg - although I fear it is getting a little old.  Still good enough for soup though, I am sure.    In the meantime  I've had a rake through the cookery books to see what I have that might help with my endeavours.

I clearly wasn't being very frugal when I bought two copies of 'Save with Jamie'! How does that happen? I also have a book called 'Macaroni - mac and cheese, but not as you know it' by Marshalls the pasta people.  However one quick flick through made me place it straight back on the shelf.  Their  'classic' macaroni and cheese has an almost equal weight of cheese to pasta - 500 grams for four portions.  I could feel my arteries harden as I read the recipe.  No wonder the Scots have such a bad health record.  So perhaps a month of bread-line cooking will also provide me with a slightly healthier diet (for a while anyway). Nonetheless, nothing I've already bought can go to waste, so these few treats that are left over from Shirley's visit will be eaten with relish.

These will have to last the month though, I can't be spending any of the £30 on this sort of thing (although as I don't really have a sweet tooth, I don't think I'll miss them much). A glass of wine will be missed however, and that top book of the pile will be studied closely.  I'm hoping I can find something nice to drink from a wine glass in the evening instead of my usual sauvignon blanc or merlot.

There will of course be no evenings-out for food with friends, or indeed meeting up for a quick coffee at the garden centre or local cafe.  So I also need to keep myself occupied and not fretting about the food budget.  It seems appropriate to focus craft activities this month on making the most of scraps.

I have bags of left-over sock wool, and have discovered that it makes a rather nice scarf if knitted 'in the round' on sock needles and finished with a nice pom-pom.  My project to learn to crochet is also providing opportunities to use up bits and pieces.  My main hobby of patchwork and quilting is of course the best example of "Use it up, wear it out, make do -- or do without", so perhaps it is also time to finish some of my 'WIPs' to a useable stage.

It's lunchtime, so best go and raid the 'fridge and see what can be conjured up.

If you'd like to sponsor me for this challenge and support  'Start-Up Stirling' you can do so here!

Preparing for penury

Every weekend for at least a dozen years I've been meeting Sally for breakfast at one of the many cafes in the area, and I realised this morning that while I am 'on the bread-line' in October/November, it will have to stop.  I was talking about my planned challenge to her this morning and she gamely volunteered to buy me breakfast for four weeks, a lovely and typically 'Sally' gesture.  But it would be cheating.  This morning my breakfast of two poached eggs on brown toast and two lattes came to £8.75 - 29% of my food budget for my challenge, so I obviously couldn't afford this if I wanted to eat for the rest of each week.  And if I were in the situation of having no salary, savings or pension, would I take advantage of my well-off and well-meaning friends? No.  If I couldn't afford to pay my way (or know that I would be able to return the favour in a reasonable timescale) then I wouldn't go.

This has made me realise that I need to make some 'rules' for myself for the duration of this challenge, as it would be too easy to find ways around the £30 budget.  So here they are:

1. Food in the store cupboard, fridge and freezer can be used as part of the challenge (if I was suddenly thrust into penury it probably wouldn't be with an entirely empty house - unless I was in a war zone, which, thankfully, I'm not).  BUT there must be no artificial stocking-up of the cupboard, fridge or freezer in advance of the 11th October.  I would normally do a shop after the pension arrives on the 1st of the month, so that is what I shall do, although this month I'll also be shopping in order to cater for my house guest who arrives on the 4th for a week.
2. Any items that need to be replaced from the cupboards must be purchased from the £30 and all additional food too.
3. Invitations from well-meaning friends to supply me with food, meals or money during the month will be refused on the basis that I can't reciprocate or 'go Dutch' (and it would go against the spirit of the challenge).
4. Offers of free food from people's gardens - apples, spuds etc will be accepted if these are 'glut' items.
5. Activities which I currently engage in that normally involve me making a contribution for coffee/cake etc will only take place IF I can fund it from the £30.  So the SWI meetings on the 17th and 23rd of October will be in, as I've already paid my subs for the year, but the Needle and Natter meetings on Tuesday of each week are out, as I pay £1 for coffee when I attend.
6. The whole £30 will be available to me to spend from day 1, but when it's gone, it's gone!
7. I can ask a friend for advice and ideas - and seek recipes for frugal food from the raft of books I have available.
8. I'm going to give myself three 'lives' - opportunities to borrow items of food from neighbours - within reason!  So not the entire ingredients for a day's meals, but an egg, an onion or a cup of milk.
9. This challenge applies only to food and drink.  I can't adequately stage all of the issues that would affect me if I were in a state of penury - or adjust all of the things I normally pay for, like utilities, council tax, insurances and car maintenance and petrol.  But a £30 budget for food and drink will give me an understanding of what it is like to live on the breadline, if not totally realistic to living in poverty.
10. I will donate the difference between £30 and my normal food and alcohol expenditure based on an average month, and be grateful that living on the breadline is a choice that I make and not a necessity.

I think a bit planning is going to be needed.

If you'd like to sponsor me for this challenge and support  'Start-Up Stirling' you can do so here!

A change of perspective.....

Here I am on the edge of Autumn with a busy summer behind me. No time for blogging, bullet-journaling or other writing activities as I've been much engrossed in thinning, sorting, tidying, decorating, and otherwise reinventing the house to a configuration better suited to my retirement status. This week the final piece of furniture was moved into place in the reading room which only requires a perfect rug to finish it off; the sewing room (my "room of requirement") is complete and only needs the sorting and ordering of books to make it the most perfect space, and huge amounts of 'stuff' has been donated to charity shops all around the district. It was during one of these donation visits that I experienced one of those moments that change one's perspective for ever.

I was dropping off some paper-board at 'Remake Scotland' in Crief - a great charity that specialises in craft materials, recyclable furniture, commercial waste (like fabric off-cuts and paper products) that works with youth groups and others to teach 'up-cycling', 're-purposing' and 're-using' of things that would otherwise go to landfill.  While I was there one of the volunteers told me that they were sharing cash donations with the local food bank because they were so desperate.

One charity sharing precious and limited resources with another. A food bank in CRIEF.

I was stunned. There are food banks all over Scotkand and the U.K., but I wouldn't have thought that there were many places in the central belt that were deprived, or that food banks were under such pressure that they needed to beg funds from other charities. And yet, (I have since discovered) there are 12,000 people in the district of Stirling alone that are living on the poverty line.

I have always worked hard and there has always been paid employment when I've wanted and because I've had a good education that employment has usually been lucrative. But I know I've also been lucky. No major illnesses or catastrophes or disasters. No redundancies or dismissals. I've never worked for an organisation that has gone bust, and I've never had to live on the minimum wage. I've also not had to support children or elderly parents, I've not been cursed with addictions and I've not been the victim of crime. I have been a comfortably-off, middle class, white-collar worker that has managed to save a bit, contribute to a pension and live (mostly) within my means. I expect my retirement to be equally comfortable (but not affluent - I didn't contribute THAT much to a pension). I certainly don't expect to be worrying whether I can pay the heating bill or where my next meal is coming from. And yet there are pensioners,  single parents and others who, through no fault of their own are worrying about just these things. Which is why I've decided that for four weeks from the 11th October I am going to join the breadline. I'm going to restrict my food budget to £30 (just over £1 per day) and the difference between this amount and what I would normally spend in a month on food (and alcohol) will be donated to 'Start-up Stirling' a charity that runs a food bank and a service providing essentials for those living on the poverty line moving into  new accommodation (perhaps for the first time). I'm setting up an on-line donation page and will be transferring the month's savings to the charity via this means. I hope some of my pals and family will sponsor me too! I'll record my experiences on this page.