Rubber Chicken

I'm sure most of you will know what rubber chicken is but if you don't it means to s-t-r-e-t-c-h  a chicken to make as many meals as possible and use every bit of the chicken.


Tuesday four people had roast chicken with salad. This is how I used the chicken over the week.

I then stripped every last bit of meat off the carcass and I stored this in an old margarine tub which was then put in the freezer for later in the week.

Today we had the tub of chicken, thawed then added to a casserole of carrot, marrow, onion and chicken stock. This was our meal tonight and there was plenty for three.

                                                                                                                                                              Sometimes I make this http://frugalinyorkshire.blogspot.com/2011/02/cheap-meal.html with the leftover chicken or make a chicken pie. Another thing I use leftover chicken in is a stir-fry or in fajitas.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                                                  The carcass along with another I had in the freezer was put in my slowcooker with an onion, carrot, bay leaf, black peppercorns and some water and left to cook for six hours.

 
This was then strained and stored in containers to freeze. I got three lots of stock for later use. All I had left was some skin and bones. The carrot from the stock went to the dog.

What do you make with your chicken leftovers? I could do with some new ideas to try.

Menu Week 11/07/11

Went to Morrisons today to try them out . I tend not to shop there because you cannot check their prices on their website so I can not compare them to my regular shopping haunts. I did find them very good on price in the fruit and veg department. They were way better than Tesco. I had £60 to spend on groceries this week and I came in budget. In Morrisons I spent £40.67 and bought...

My Morrisons shop

I then went to my usual Aldi to buy things I knew were cheaper there. I spent £17.20 in Aldi on....

My Aldi shop

So I was in budget today with a spend of £57.87. I still need some eggs from the farm but they are only £1.00 and I may need some potatoes but I shall wait and see how far the remainder in the sack I bought two weeks go lasts. So with this shop today I have decided on my menu plan for the week.

MONDAY - Coley & pesto fish cakes, sauteed potatoes, peas and roasted tomatoes

TUESDAY - Roast chicken, jacket potatoes, salad, coleslaw and homemade bread

WEDNESDAY -   Casseroled chicken, mash, yorkshire puddings and vegetables

THURSDAY - Bacon frittata, salad, wedges

FRIDAY - Beef casserole, potatoes, vegetables and yorkshire puddings

SATURDAY - Homemade pizza and wedges with salad

SUNDAY - Roast Pork, apple sauce, sage & onion stuffing, Roast potatoes, vegetables

Oven Disaster

Was in the utility this evening when I heard a noise from the kitchen. Went to investigate to find this....

the inner glass had shattered on the oven door. So more expense to fork out. There's always one thing after another. Thankfully I did not have our meal in the oven at the time or that would have been ruined too. Luckily we have two ovens so I still have one I can use until we get a new piece of glass.

Think I've to buy a new iron too! Every time I iron the electric cuts out. Did it four times the other day when I ironed and did it again today. Will only buy a cheap iron because they never seem to last me long. Mooooor expense!

Had a good clearout under the stairs today. This is the dumping ground for all the shoes.

This is a pile of some of the shoes. I still had another red box of shoes under there which is daughter No2's box. Had her sort through her box when she returned from college. Some of the shoes had not seen daylight for a very long time. A lot of tatty shoes were binned. None of the shoes to be thrown out were any good for the charity shop. It's now a lot tidier and we can actually find our shoes now. So another job done today that I have been meaning to do for months.

No spare cash will be left at the end of this month then will all the  things we now have to buy. Hope nothing else happens that's going to cost us this month. Any disasters in you home this week?

Temptation of the shops

Got to thinking about my spending after reading an American blog. Five years ago when I lived in the  big city of Leeds, my pastime when I was bored was to wonder round the big shopping centres buying whatever took my fancy and generally getting into debt buying things I did not need or really want. If I wasn't in the big shopping centres I'd be in the huge supermarkets that sell everything nowadays. I'd saunter along the aisles

popping whatever took my fancy into the trolley. Because the supermarkets are so big it took me a couple of hours to do a shop. After the clothing department tempts you it's then the household department, then the entertainment department. I used to come out with a trolley full and it used to cost us a fortune. Then there was the time it took to unpack the stuff and put it all away when I got home! I think it wasted a day going shopping when I lived in the city.

Where I live now the supermarkets are not very large and the temptation is not there to spend as much, but I've also worked hard at not wasting money now and I don't often get tempted  away from my shopping list when shopping. I now dislike clothes shopping and get irritable if I have to shop in the large shopping complexes.  I buy most of my clothes from charity shops now. I do buy the odd new item that I want. The majority of the clothing budget goes on the girls and hubby and myself don't bother much with clothes these days. When the clothing budget has gone the kids have to wait until the next months budget is available before they get anything else. Same with my food budget. I allocate myself a certain amount each week and try my best to stick to it. I find it easier if I withdraw the money from the bank then put my shopping money in a separate purse then just use this for any groceries. I've simplified my way of shopping now and don't waste a whole day on grocery shopping now preferring to use my time in other areas.

How do you feel about this ?  Are you happy giving your money to the big guys? Are you one of the 'don't need it, don't buy it brigade'? Talk to me, let me know how you feel about this.

It's free

 
Not many things are free in this life but if you work hard as my daughter No3 has at high school it pays. This is the second year now daughter has been in the top 15 of her year group to be chosen to participate in a freebie day out. Pupils are awarded house points for good work and the top 15 pupils with the most house points have been given a day out of class to go for 2 games of bowling. A meal at the bowling alley. A visit to the cinema to watch a movie of their choice and a coach to take them to and from the complex.  ALL FOR FREE. Too often schools are always wanting money for this and money for that so it made a nice change to read a letter from school not asking for money. So this is daughters treat next week which she is looking forward to.

Well it shall soon be upon us, the school holidays! Daughter No2 breaks up from college this week and daughter No3 breaks up two weeks after. I have a few items that will need to be replaced in the uniform department for when they return in September and intend to get them very early on in the holidays. I detest the hordes of people who engulf the uniform shops a couple of weeks before term starts. The shop is too crowded, the kids are always tired and fed up with trying uniforms on so I am going to be prepared and buy early before the crowds descend and the shop still has some stock. I have already bought daughter a pack of 3 shirts from Tesco for £6.00 which is very cheap. The most expensive item will be the blazer. Must admit she's had her wear out of it. She's worn it every school day for two years now but it's time for a new one. Poor girl is going to school at the moment with a hole in her shoe! but I told her I am not buying new school shoes for the last few weeks of term for them not to fit when she returns September. Thankfully I have a daughter who is very understanding of my frugal ways and agrees with me it's silly to get a new pair now.

No, these are not her shoes!

Lots of frugal cheap day trips and things of interest to sort out over the next week. I see lots of picnics and dog walking around large parks for a start. What activities have you planned for the holidays? I need some ideas for teenagers if you have any suggestions.

Bye for now

Menu Week 04/07/11

MONDAY - Cold chicken, salad, homemade coleslaw, pesto pasta, new potatoes and garlic bread

TUESDAY - Spaghetti bolognese and homemade garlic bread

WEDNESDAY -Egg, chips and beans

THURSDAY - Chicken and bacon pie,vegetables and boiled potatoes

FRIDAY - Fish in parsley sauce, mash, carrots and peas

SATURDAY - Beef burgers/ veggie burgers, wedges, corn on the cob and vegetable kebabs

SUNDAY - casseroled chicken drummers, Yorkshire puddings, sage & onion stuffing, potatoes and vegetables


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Lovely Sunday

Had a lovely day today just doing things together as a family. We went to our village boot sale this morning. I remembered to put some sun cream on but wish I'd remembered to bring my hat. My head got very hot and uncomfortable with the sun beating down on it.

Hubby striding ahead

The boot sale was quite busy and it had a good amount of stalls. I made a few purchases and the girls bought some bracelets.

My boot sale finds

I bought two wooden puzzles for the grandaughter, a jar of damson jam and a nice medium sized bowl which I shall use for salads. In all I only spent £4.00. We went home and I did some tidying then we had lunch then we went out to visit a 'Pick Your Own' farm. The weather was really hot by now so I remembered to take my hat and apply more suncream. Here I am picking raspberries.

Me picking raspberries

My Girls picking strawberries

The strawberries were put in the basket after we tasted one to check they tasted good. We seemed to eat one, save one until we got full on eating strawberries. Daughter no 3 was rather excited about going fruit picking because she has not been before. We picked a basket of strawberries and half a basket of raspberries.  The farm also had blackberries which we sampled and blackcurrants, sampled these too but did not pick any because there were not many left. Daughters sampled a gooseberry but neither were impressed with them. I don't like gooseberries neither. The farm was very busy, it seems to be a very typical English summer pastime to pick strawberries on a Sunday afternoon. We had a really enjoyable day  and went home with our booty.

Our booty

We shall have some with whipped cream later after our our meal and daughter No3 wants to take some to school tomorrow in her packed lunch. I'm sure none will go to waste. Summer fruits are just lovely to eat with nothing done to them, they taste so gorgeous.

Hope you all had a lovely day today.