Did You Enjoy Your Christmas Dinner?

Well Happy Christmas one and all.

For most of us, the dinner is the main event, particularly after the Childhood present frenzy has left us.

In the last few days, in most of the National Newspapers, there has been an article about a grandmother of 4 who charges her family £35 per head for Christmas dinner (booze included).  

I was a little taken aback,  I know as a frugal person that to share the cost of Christmas is a very sound thing to do and I do applaud that, however personally I prefer a Jacobs Join kind of affair where everyone brings a dish but if people prefer not to, to just share the actual cost of ingredients is grand and not to make a profit.  Article from one of the papers below

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7824191/Grandmother-charges-family-35-head-Christmas-dinner-says-120-profit-preshtml 

What concerned me was, and if you are to believe reports, she makes a £150 profit from this from 12 of her nearest and dearest.  I have a problem with this, but I also do question her actual costs and if that figure is in itself accurate?   Based upon the Maths and again if its how its reported, which may not be the truth, it works out at (after deducting her profit) her actual cost being £22.50 per head. 

I looked at the picture of her Christmas dinner below and I was quite frankly aghast.  Unless each person drinks at least 4 bottles of wine each I can’t see where the money is spent? 

Her dinner and I don’t mean to disrespest anyone but if I was served that, which looks like frozen Yorkshire puds with Paxo stuffing and frozen peas and hardly any meat and with a dribble of gravy I would send it back.

So I just want to show you an actual homemade and frugal Christmas Dinner (apologies I forgot to take photos of the puds but they were drowned in Brandy Sauce so all you would see was white) which came in at £5.54 per head using quality products and frugal tips. 

So our starters

Homemade Smoked Salmon Mousse Parcels with a little side salad of cherry tomatoes, spring onion and balsamic glaze with 3 pieces of Tesco’s French Toast came in for 44p per portion.  Admittedly due to sister making the salmon starter in return for 12 of my mince pies which cost me £5.90 to make so cost me in actuality 94p per portion.

Homemade Chicken and Ham Terrine (recipe courtesy of Slimming World and so flavoursome and meaty) with a little side salad of cherry tomatoes, spring onion, a few pickles and balsamic glaze came in for £1.74 per portion with two thick whopping slices of terrine plentiful for any starter. 

Main Meal

We don’t like Turkey so I bought a medium chicken from Tesco’s for £2.95 cooked to perfection it turned out uber Moist.  A gammon joint (which I glazed in Honey) was £2.99 ( noting I still have lots of meat for sandwiches even after the main event.  I bought I bag of Tesco’s Redfearn Carrots and Parsnips for 19p each (Made carrot and swede mash), Potatoes, for £1.59 which provided loads for both Mash and roast potatoes and still left over.  A cauliflower for 29p (Made cauli cheese).  

Sausages (quality Irish sausages 12 for £2). Finest Tesco’s Streaky Bacon 12 Slices again for £2, ends up with whopping pigs in blanket for 34p each (don’t do the little chipolatas).  Stuffing (no paxo involved ! purely pork meat, herbs, onions, breadcrumbs, seasoning) free from Sister.  Gravy granules (bisto finest well it is Christmas, 25 per head) .  The actual cost of the main meal – photo below turned out to be £2.98 per head.

Dessert

Christmas Pudding courtesy of Iceland it was a great pudding soaked in Cider, brandy and Sherry and was really lush, boozy, fruity and moist for just £1.19 and will feed 4 people,  Topped off with 500ml, (again for 4 people more than enough) of Brandy Sauce at £1.25 per pot.  Dessert ends up being 61p per head.

So for a fabulous 3 course meal and a couple of things I bartered and exchanged my homemade goodies for (which I've included my costs for ) actual cost a total of £5.54 per head, and I don’t mean to be bitchy but I think my Christmas dinner looks better than the photo the papers provided and everyone thought tasted fabulous with very full bellies. 

So where did her other £30 per head go? It is reported that this includes booze and other things but crikey unless you have 12 alcoholics around your dinner table,  I can’t fathom how its spent and I personally would be a little disgruntled if any family member of mine tried to charge me £35 for a dinner?   

So what I would say is you can have a fabulous, lush, indulgent and quality Christmas meal for little cost;  you just have to be a savvy shopper and also share your skills with friends/family.

 

Perhaps if she did a Jacobs Join as I mentioned above and other members of her family brought a dish, even if they can’t cook, bring some wine or cheese etc,  you can have a lovely family meal and with booze without it costing an earth and certainly not everyone having to find £35 each. 

Love your Library

Dad and I have just got back from our weekly trip to the library, it’s a recent thing we do.  Dad loves reading; my siblings and I a few years ago all clubbed together and bought him an Ipad.  

He’s got a very active mind, thank god and has always had a passion for politics and history.  Via his Ipad he reads all the major newspapers each day as well as Reuters the news agency.  He’s a great person to have at a dinner table because he is so well read, he literally will know something about whatever any guest talks about. 

I love my kindle, which is my must have when we go on holiday as in a week on holiday I can easily read a book a day.  However it can get expensive and I did get into the bad habit of buying about 3 books month, as via your kindle it is so easy, literally just a click but it totted up to easily £18 per month. 

In Lancashire our County Council was in the process of closing all local library's to save money, it ended up losing the Labour Administration the election as the uproar was unprecedented with the new Conservative Council promising they will protect them and they remain open.

It really did give me food for thought, as its one of those things that we just take for granted and one of those things that unless we use it, we really do risk losing it.  I decided that we would support our local library as best we can and at the same time save me oodles of cash.  So each week Dad and I go and browse through the shelves and pick up a new book.

It really does amaze me that (and I know we all pay taxes etc) that we get the opportunity to get books and enjoy what is a great hobby, for free.  So love your library, use it, cherish it and enjoy a free hobby.

Left Over Roast Lamb

Last week Tesco’s had legs of lamb for half price so I bought a whopper for £11.  Now I slow roast this in the oven on low heat with onion, carrot and stock for about 5 hours. 

We have relatives coming tomorrow and I’m making lunch of shepherds pie, I prefer to make shepherds pie with shredded leg of lamb rather than mince.  So for this one meat joint I have managed to make enough shepherd’s pie mix for 2 pies each feeding 6 people.  Dad had a hot lamb and onion sandwich for his lunch. 

I’ve used the rest, in a lamb and veg soup which has made 6 portions.  Taking into account the cost of the veg and stock used (£3.18).  I have made 13 hearty meals for 75p each. 

So this is my Lamb and Veg soup its one of those left over chuck it all in meals and it really does taste delish. 

I start off by boiling the lamb bone in water with an onion, carrot, herbs and black pepper with a lamb stock cube which is the basis of the soup stock for about 40 minutes creating a really rich stock.

Gently fry a chopped onion, 2 sticks of celery, 2 carrots, one diced pototo, add in a litre of the stock you've made and simmer for 30 minutes.  But you can add in any left over veg you have.   

I take out half the mixture and blend to provide a bit of thickness to the soup.  Add in left over chopped lamb meat and simmer again for 10 minutes.  Add seasoning to taste.  Uber flavoursome.  

Fair Exchange Is No Robbery

My sister and I have our own skills, I like to think we are both great cooks, we are each other's harshest critic and wouldn’t think twice of ripping our culinary attempts to shreds (ha, ha) the fact that we both survive unscathed is real testament.

We have however our strengths, mine is primarily baking not just sweet but savoury (my sausage rolls are legendary)  hers is wholly savoury.

So in exchange of my homemade mince pies (pastry recipe courtesy of Paul Hollywood, really rich butter pastry and the lightest and most delicious I’ve ever tasted, its really hard to handle due to the amount of butter but its worth it).   Mince meat courtesy of me, lots of fresh orange zest and brandy and mixed spice hic.  

In return I get several smoked salmon starters which is her homemade salmon mouse wrapped in smoked salmon like a little parcel, as well as the meatiest pork, sage and onion stuffing.   

To buy the quality of Salmon starter and stuffing that she provides me would easily cost £18 in the shop.  The mince pies I make her from a bakers (obviously you can get cheaper pre packaged pies from the supermarket for a snip at the price, but not the size and quality) could easily cost you £12.  However costs me £5.90 to make.  I really feel I’m up on the deal ;) , so share your skills and save some cash 

Make It Yourself and Save Pounds

We have four graves which we visit at Christmas of parents and grandparents we have sadly lost.  My hubby likes to lay a Christmas Wreath as a mark of respect and in previous years I have bought these.  This year I looked in our local garden centre where they were retailing for a startling £26.99 each yikes.  Even the cheapest at Aldi which I didn't like as it was a bit too jazzy were retailing at £9.99 each.

So I decided to bite the bullet and make my own.  I bought 4 rattan wreath rings from Ebay at 99p each and used foliage, holly and berries from our garden.  I am lucky in that respect, we have a very mature garden with big evergreen hedges, trees, bushes and shrubs and 3 very large holly and berry bushes which look lovely at this time of year. 

I bought 2 oranges and sliced these and put them on a baking tray on a low heat in the oven for 2.5 hours to dry them out.  I added a bit of old ribbon (I always save ribbon and wrapping paper etc from any gifts we get over the years) and e voila my own hand made, home made wreaths.  For a bit of my time and at a cost of £1.14 each, £4.56 for all four.  Hubby is delighted and I have to say so I am I, I've made 4 for half the price of one of the cheapest ones I could find, now that's a saving. 

It's Minestrone Today

Gosh we are having a storm and a half, the rain is lashing down and the wind is well very windy.  So another day to make some nourishing soup.  This is my recipe for a very rustic, chunky Minestrone, it's really filling, makes 4 very hearty portions but can be stretched if you have a smaller appetite.  It's practically a stew hence why it's so filling.  Total cost of all ingredients was £2.86, so 71p a portion but as I say can be stretched to 6 portions particularly if you have a sandwich with it. 

So chop 1 large onion, 2 celery sticks, 2 carrots and a pack of smoked bacon and sweat this on a hob for about 3 minutes. 

Add some garlic, 3 tablespoons of tomato puree, herbs (whatever you have in the cupboard, I added Oregano) and mix and fry this for another minute. 

Add a can of chopped tomatoes and a litre of chicken stock (made with 2 chicken stock cubes.  Add some seasoning and pop a lid on and simmer on low for about 50 minutes.  

Then add in 50g of any pasta you have in the cupboard and a can of cannellini beans and again simmer for about 20 minutes.  Check the seasoning and e voila 

It really is scrummy and whilst not the cheapest soup recipe due to the smoked bacon but as I say its more like a stew and is really filling so for 71p it's not too bad.  Enjoy

Deck the Halls ......

Well this time of year can be a financial minefield.  Stores are bursting with goodies and if you were to believe the adverts, you can’t have a great time without spending oodles of money.  I once was hooked in, ship, line and sinker when it came to Christmas.  I could easily spend a couple of thousand on gifts, decorations, food, drink, entertaining, new outfit, parties.  Crickey it was a lot. 

So can you have a cracking time and still be frugal?   Of course you can, because somewhere along the line some of us in this consumerist age have lost the true meaning of Christmas and with just a little bit we can have a cracking time. 

Today we decorated the house, we used to buy a real tree (hubby wanted to this year but I said no (I know how mean) I’d buy a real wreath for the door, I would always buy different decorations etc and a few hundred pounds later…..

This year however it has cost us zero, as we have decorated the house with all our old decorations, 2 artificial trees (which I bought in the sale years ago) and an artificial wreath I’ve used year after year. 

It really doesn’t have to cost much, I have made decorations in the past, and if you’ve got little ones it’s a great activity on the run up to Christmas.  I’ve embedded a link to making decorations from recycled materials again no / little cost.  http://diytotry.com/25-christmas-decorations-made-with-recycled-materials/

So reuse, recycle, make and mend.  Your home may not look like the inside of a glossy magazine but it will be fabulous and it will be you. 

Getting my craft on

Well the weather is a little milder today, just a tad, so I wrapped up warm and ventured into my workshop in the garden, just a fancy shed.  A colleague of hubby sells homemade bags using old curtain material at craft fairs and sells my cards as well.  I gave her a box full for last weekend and they went down a storm and she asked for some more for this weekend at another Christmas Craft Fair she’s attending.  I make these as a hobby mainly and its cheaper than buying cards for friends and family, it is also a little bit of pin money, not a huge amount but pays for my hobby and allows me to buy crafty stuff.

I really need to tidy up my crafting area just been so busy making so much on the run up to Christmas.  I know no excuse ;) 

My messy Crafting area, making my Christmas Stocking Cards

Pricing up my Heart Tree Cards and my Scandinavian Heart Cards 

Gingerbread Man Wooden Tree Decoration

Felt like work today ;) perish the thought.  

Budget Booze

Now to be completely frugal I should be tee total but life is short and I have to be honest that I do like the odd glass of wine or two on a Saturday evening whilst watching Strictly on the telly.  I was also thinking of Christmas and New Year with friends coming over.

Now my favourite wine costs £9 a bottle (I know very expensive tastes), you can buy a perfectly nice Chardonnay in Aldi for £4.99 and that is what I usually do.  However it is Christmas and I thought I would treat myself to my favourite as it is smoother and tastes so much more lush but £9 is a tad steep.

However Tesco currently have it on offer at £7 a bottle and if you buy 6 bottles or more they also have a 25% off deal at the moment so I did treat myself and got my £9 wine for £5.45 a bottle. Whilst still 46p a bottle more expensive than the very palatable Chardonnay on offer at Aldi the quality is worth it.  

It is a treat at a much discounted rate.  I no longer go mad at Christmas and will detail my spends in a later blog.  We will have a great Christmas Lunch with homemade Christmas Cake and homemade mince pies.  Not going too mad and keeping spends in check but we will be well fed and a little merry and so the budget booze I've stocked up on I don't feel too guilty about. 

Souper Sunday

Well I don’t know what the weather is like where you are but up north its blinking freezing and then some.  On days like these we yearn for hot comfort food and homemade soup is the best. 

I make soup most weeks, it really is a great way to prevent food waste, any vegetables or bits of meat lingering in the fridge and you don’t think you will use up in time before they go off can be chucked into a stock pot. 

So today I went out and bought a ham joint, I cook one each week, it’s only £2.99 in Aldi and lasts us for the whole week.  So today’s recipes are Leek and Potato Soup (6 hearty portions) and Pea and Ham soup (4 hearty portions).   Total cost of ingredients was £2.49 (I only used about 50p worth of the Ham joint in the pea and ham soup), equating to 25p a portion, for a big bowl of soup which tastes far better than any tin you can buy in the shop, I promise.

I know there are lots of recipes for both but these are mine and really yummy

Leek & Potato

Into 2 litres of ham stock I put in (I did add in about 500ml of water to make up the 2 litres and crumbled in a chicken stock cube)

2 roughly chopped onions (I also added in a few spring onions as these where looking past their best)

2 roughly chopped large leeks

2 roughly chopped baking potatoes

Add a few herbs, salt and pepper to taste, bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 minutes.

As we like our soups smooth I then but it in the blender, check the seasoning and e voila

Pea and Ham soup

Into 1 litre of ham stock 

1 roughly chopped onion (again added in a few spring onions)

1 roughly chopped potato

A few herbs salt and pepper

Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes.

I then put in 500g of frozen peas from the freezer, I don’t cook these just leave them in the hot stock for a few minutes this ensures that after you’ve blended you have a luscious green colour and a very pea flavour.  (Photo doesn't do it justice due to poor lighting)

From the ham joint I chop up a couple of slices of ham, I then check the seasoning and again e voila a fab soup.

In this weather hubby likes to take soup to work to reheat for his lunch, filling, nutritious and on cold days like this feeds both body and soul. 

Black Friday - Did you survive?

So yesterday was a bit of a shopping frenzy, a recently adopted annual tradition that we have to thank our American cousins for.  Stories peppered the papers of people queuing in what was sub zero temperatures at 3am in the morning waiting for stores to open so they will hopefully get the gadget or goody they have their eye one.

I suppose it is quite frugal in one respect, if there is something that you need and you can get it at a hugely discounted price then it makes sense.  I do wonder however how many in the queue fell into the really "need" category as opposed to the “want” category and just got caught up in the consumerist madness.

I have to say I very nearly embarked on my own online Black Friday journey.  I don’t like shopping, and if I have to its normally online.  My lovely microwave is in a perilous state.  The internal white enamel paint has flaked away and it has gone rusty underneath; courtesy of advice via google this is a potential danger.  It can create hot spots and even fires, yikes.

I do use my Microwave daily, I heat up milk in it for Dads daily lattes and nightly hot chocolate and I also heat up left overs frequently, so whilst I don’t cook in it per se, it is well used.

Now the old me would have just ordered whatever I wanted online and despite the Microwave working perfectly fine apart from this, it would have gone into the bin.  So I perused through online shops to see their Black Friday deals and I couldn’t find a microwave that I liked or was willing to pay for.  All my white goods are integrated in my kitchen, all hidden away and those on show have a vintage / retro feel.  My microwave wasn’t on sale and online it ranges from £70 - £75 depending upon where you shop.  Yikes tis a bit steep.

So again thanks to google I found a step by step guide on how to sand down and repaint the interior and I found some specialist paint made for the inside of microwaves for £10. 

So instead of £70 I should end up with a “new” Microwave for a tenner, I can live with that.

Once I get the paint and I do my little bit of DIY I'll share to see if it works.  

Hello - I'm Back !!!

So where have I been, now that is a story and a half which I won't bore you with now, but one of the biggest changes is that I have "retired".  I say retired as I'm only 47 years old, can you retire that young?  But the reality is that I no longer work for "The Man" anymore and I don't get any state benefits, I live off (like a 1950's housewife) my husband and no we didn't win the lottery. 

It wasn't an easy decision but one that was necessitated by family circumstances and my darling dad who has many health issues coming to live with us full time.  He's a full time job in the nicest way.

So with a considerable drop in our income how do we survive?  I'm happy to say we are surviving and thriving and we really couldn't have done it without embracing frugal living.

I budget within an inch of my life, I have lots of time to make home cooked meals daily, so not having to rely upon any expensive convenience food.  I make do and I mend and we are debt free.

So I'm back to sharing what I have learned, the mistakes as well as the triumphs, lots of recipes, frugal tips and bits.  I will be throwing in a bit of crafting tomfoolery when I can, along with odds and sods as it comes to mind.