Becoming Domestic

I do know that we are extraordinarily lucky living where we do and living the way we do. We have three beautiful, healthy little kids, great friends and family etc etc etc but very occasionally, when I’m tired, or have too many things going on at once and feel under it I need a reminder about how fortunate we are.

This week I was getting irritated with myself for not having a house which was nice and tidy all the time (mainly because the boiler needs fixing and all the shelves with all the stuff on are taken down in anticipation of the repair man coming on the day he said he would). I also always feel a little inadequate when I visit a friend’s house for the first time and see how neatly they are able to keep their house compared to the way ours always seems to look despite our best efforts. When we went to a bbq at another family house this weekend I asked the hostess how she managed to keep such a lovely home and wrote her answers down. This was great for me as its something that is rarely discussed between us girls and somehow I managed to miss out on how to keep house as I grew up. She made it sound so easy and stressed that she wasn’t mad on housework but does love the results. Here are the weekly routines she uses.

Mon: Bathrooms

Tues: Dusting, mirrors, windows, clean kitchen floors, online shopping delivery put away

Wed: Beds and a ‘zone’ (ie. one main area like the lounge, the main bedroom, kids bedroom)

Thurs: Hoover rooms and an extra good hoover in the zone

Fri: Bleach kitchen surfaces and do the floor

Sat: Order food online

Sun: Clean fish tank

I do remind myself
(a) that I don’t live in a modern house and that in itself gives our house a more shabby country chic look along with the fact that a large percentage of the things we own are from second hand sources.
(b) I have a newish baby, a part time role with Bealers’ firm, and two messy five year olds who are given more stuff (toys & clothes) than we can actually cope with by their four loving sets of grandparents so have not enough time and too much stuff to make the house the minimalist zen-like environment I dream of.
(c) by following a few simple housework rules it is super-easy to go from a house which feels horribly messy (especially after the weekend with grass and mud being trampled into one which feels orderly and well tended with not much effort.
(d) There is probably a good case for ceasng to hang out with friends who have super huge, gorgeous houses with small armies of cleaning staff as I tend to look at our own home in a poor light after visiting them but I can’t as they’re my chums. I’ll just have to re-read this post and resist any kind of urge to feel envy for others.

As the Massive Attack lyric goes

‘Though you may not drive a great big cadillac
Gangster whitewalls tv antenna in the back
You may not have a car at all
But just remember brothers and sisters
You can still stand tall
Just be thankful for what you’ve got’

Two posts from fellow simple-life, green and frugal bloggers were really inspiring to me this week. The lovely pictures on Ted & Agnes blog of a beautiful family home with gorgeous home made and second hand treasures made me open my eyes to some areas of our home (obviously not the piles of laundry waiting to be put away, or the kids playroom with the toys all out on the floor) and how nice some of the things we have picked up from Freecycle or second hand shops over the years are. Here are the pictures to show myself if ever I forget what a nice place it is:

Slightly broken mirror from my Grandfather - clearly says ‘Property of Buckingham Palace’ on the back, a picture of us moments after our marriage vows were exchanged in an East End pub with the registrars who did the deed.

More wedding paraphenalia - a remnant of the beautiful poem our friend Jane painted for us mural-style for the wedding (I left the comics in the picture as it reminds me that my son sits there to read)

The view from my bed as I feed my baby several times a day. How can I ever find anything to moan about with this outside the curtains?

My kids’ curtains made from popular Ikea fabric but brings an advance tear to my eye thinking of the days when they are no longer children and how this pattern will invoke memories of all the years of goodnight lullabies and sleepy chats. They have a nice view too.

Patchwork quilt from local charity shop, dressing table from car boot sale, hand painted name tags and better than all of this - the twins have learned to make their beds every morning!

The view from the baby’s nappy change unit.

Our veg garden - all Bealers own work this year as I’ve opted out completely

The other post which made me really stop beating myself up over the state of our house was from Finding Simplicity which lists out many of my favourite things to feel happy about as hers too.

I came up with a few things of my own to realise once in a while to:

1. The House-Spotless and Hotel-Like Auditors are **not** due to arrive tomorrow (or the day after, or ever actually).
2. The house I live in will be very clean and very quiet for all the many many years that my children are likely to be grown ups. My Gran is now 94, her son - my father is in his sixties. She has had five decades of not picking up his things, not treading on small toys, not asking him to be quiet and not washing up his porridge bowl . Presumably the cuddles dried up a lonnnng time ago too.
3. Finding the time to enjoy the smaller things makes a huge difference. Watching a blackbird feed a cherry to its young, the mother rabbit with quadruplet babies bounce around in the evening sun, my five year old daughter gently explore the contents of my sewing basket while I mend her bunny, my small baby learning to laugh, to feed, to use her hands, the warmth of sun on skin, a beautiful sunset, being able to phone my mum and dad for a chat and for advice, flowers. These are all things I enjoy. I am hugely rich.

Here’s a fantastic list of easy ways to save money from The Times Online. Some really good ideas.

http://timesbusiness.typepad.com/money_weblog/2008/02/the-thrifty-fif.html

I’m already doing some of them (cooking in bulk, using leftovers, magazine swapping with a friend each month, using a piggy bank for all my loose little bits of change, reusing pots and bread bags for storing sandwiches and leftovers in, using pan lids to keep in extra heat and turning off the hob a few minutes before the food is eaten) but was unaware of several choice gems including:

When taking your car for an MOT use a local council test centre rather than a private garage. The council centres do not offer repairs and therefore have no vested interest in failing your motor. Contact your local council for details of your nearest centre.

Check whether it’s cheaper to buy medicine over the counter rather than putting in a prescription. Many commonly prescribed medications, including painkillers, allergy tablets and dermatology creams, are also available over the counter without prescription. Often it’s much cheaper just to buy them this way, rather than paying the £6.85 flat prescription charge.

If you do buy fresh herbs and find it hard to get through a whole bunch, instead of throwing what’s left away make frozen stock cubes. Finely chop the herbs, put them in an ice cube tray and cover with oil. Put the tray in the freezer. When frozen, pop out the cubes and place them in a freezer bag for easier storage. Next time you need herbs for soups; pastas, etc. add a cube to your recipe and warm.

Being thrifty and frugal is definitely becoming strangely fashionable. Everyone’s talking about it, only a few are doing it…

Ever since we noticed our monthly food bills rising without good reason, since we heard more and more about the so-called ‘credit crunch’ and the predicted downturn in the economy, we started thinking seriously about what options we had to make ourselves recession proof.

A brief look at our fixed monthly outgoings identified our rent, food, fuel, insurance premiums and phone bills as our biggest expenditure areas.

An extremely quick win was to have a short and pleasant chat with nice customer service people at our respective mobile phone providers to agree new (and lower) rates for fixed annual contracts (including a free brand new phone each despite my telling them that neither of us needed new handsets).

This is great news as it means a net monthly reduction of about £70 between us plus two swanky new Nokia handsets which we will immediately try to sell on eBay (it worked last time) without even taking them out of the boxes.

Put in real terms the results of these two short phone calls will cause us no hardship (we will still be able to make phone calls and send sms messages which are the only two functions we use on our phones despite them being apparently capabable of so much more) and will save us the equivalent of the approximate cost of twenty new pairs of jeans, ten pairs of good shoes, about forty take away meals, two thirds of a months rent or one week in the sun for the whole family.

Tremendous.

My local butcher stocks really good quality meat but doesn’t supply chunks of stewing lamb as by the time he has taken all the cuts of meat from the animal there is very little left to cut into pieces worth selling. For some reason though the supermarket does sell stewing lamb and so when I saw a couple of packets in the reduced refrigerator section I decided to snap them up and find out whether we like traditional Lancashire Hot Pot (we do)…

Some recipes for this dish call for lamb kidney but being a hater of all things offal I gave these a miss and made a simple stew of lamb pieces, 2 sliced onions, 3 carrots chopped into mouth sized pieces, 2 parsnips (instead of turnip which some recipes called for) and finely sliced celery heart (including the flavoursome leaves).

The meat was browned by heating a little vegetable oil to a high temperature then added all the chopped veg and sauteed it all with the lid on for a little while, I added a teaspoon of cornflour to thicken the stew liquor, some thyme and a bay leaf, loads of black pepper and a little salt. I then added just enough water to cover the ingredients. About 3 potatoes were sliced thinly (skin left on) and arranged in a pretty overlapping circles pattern across the top.

I then went to collect the kiddies from school and when I was giving them their tea I brought the hot pot back up to a gentle simmer and the casserole dish was then baked with the lid on for about 1.5 hours at a low-medium heated oven, then 30 minutes before eating the lid was removed, the potatoes were brushed with oil and returned to the oven without the lid so the potatoes could go golden and crunchy on the top.

It was really nice. We had it without any extra vegetables as Bealers was in a hurry to go out to meet someone but I thought it would have been even better with a portion of freshly cooked purple sprouting brocolli.

Mmm-mm. Whilst sorting out my cupboard I found 3 full bags of red lentils which is a lot for someone who only knows one recipe calling for red lentils. As we are keen to use up store cupboard supplies in light of my recent thoughts on food prices increasing but me being determined not to let any more of our income go on the weekly food shop thought I’d better increase my lentil repetoire.

A quick search on ‘red lentil recipe’ came up trumps as one of the first recipes I found (on the BBC Recipe website) was for a quick, easy and tasty sounding dish, was gluten-free and I just so happened to have all the ingredients for (apart from the cream so I just omitted it). I added a bit more cayenne than it called for too (2 teaspoons instead of 1/2). It was delicious and what’s more the Meat Lovin’ Husband thought it was tasty too. We had it with a green salad with a lemon juice, olive oil, sun dried tomato paste dressing.

Ingredients
175g/6oz red lentils
350ml/12fl oz water
110g/4oz cheddar cheese, grated
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
½ tsp cayenne pepper
a little lemon juice
1 large egg
3 tbsp single cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp butter

Method
1. preheat the oven 190C/375F/Gas 5.
2. Pick over the lentils for any sticks and stones. Rinse thoroughly and cook in a tightly covered pan with the water for 10-15 minutes. Check after 10 minutes in case you need to add more water. The mixture should cook to a stiff purée.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the grated cheese, chopped onion, parsley, cayenne pepper and lemon juice. Season to taste.
4. In a separate bowl lightly beat the egg, stir in the cream and pour this mixture over the lentils.
5. Grease a 450g/1lb loaf tin with the tsp of butter and press in the mixture.
6. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the top is golden brown and the mixture feels firm to the touch.
7. If you are serving this loaf hot, let it stand for 10 minutes in the tin before turning it out. Alternatively, serve cold with a salad.

I was a bit shocked to see that we had overspent by £175 on our Housekeeping account but it is not yet the end of the month. My initial reaction was to be cross with myself for not keeping on top of the spending, for not sticking to the budget and for not doing things like menu planning. I also assumed that the overspend was due in part to the fact we have had lots of friends and family come to stay recently and on these occasions we tend to cook some special meals and have more beer and wine than we do when are at home alone and had eaten out several times.

I chatted to Bealers about our overspend expecting him to be annoyed but in fact he wasn’t and instead he mentioned the fact that a friend of ours had written about rising food costs

When I read her blog post & comments from others where recent increases in food prices had been noticed by individuals but downplayed by the media I realised that our overspend was not a one off as I scanned our grocery receipts and looked for where the obvious luxuries had increased the food bill but couldn’t actually find any.

If food and other household essentials are to take a bigger part of our monthly income we decided to take the following action steps to ensure that we are still able to live within our means and not nibble away at our savings.

1. Be stricter with our weekly food shop and prepare meal plans in advance
2. Cook simple, low cost meals (shepherd’s pie, vegetable pasta sauces, risotto, omlettes, soups) instead of fancy meals with exotic ingredients (Thai vegetable green curry, pizzas with pepperoni & mozerella)
3. Use online grocery shopping as less tempted by ‘off list’ things and can also tally up the total before getting to the checkout
4. Eat less meat (especially as we buy organic meat which is more expensive than tasteless factory farmed meat) and buy fewer gluten-free cakey treats
5. Buy zero pre-prepared food. Hard as we buy very little but do usually have veggie sausages etc in the freezer
6. Use the food in the freezer, cupboards at the end of the month instead of buying more food (eg. use the bread machine to use the packets of bread flour instead of buying loaves costing £1.10)
7. Have an emptier fridge so we can see at a glance what it contains rather than having things going off at the back
8. Buy fewer convenience foods for the children (don’t buy many anyway but had got into the habit of buying small juice cartons for lunch boxes but the kids take a bottle of water to school anyway)
9. Buy in bulk for things we use a lot of where possible (eg. potatoes, carrots, beer, meat) at the beginning of the month having worked out approximatly how much we’ll need and try to use no more (just like people used to do in days gone by according to Mrs Beeton’s book of household management)
10. Plant and grow plenty of vegetables we use a lot of or ones that can be used for lots of different recipes (eg. tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, parsnips)
11. Explore the ‘Value’ range at the supermarket - already buy Value butter and this week discovered that the kids don’t care about the Value bourbons in the biscuit tin or the Value fromage frais in the packed lunches.

• Rice flakes
• Millet flakes
• Toasted coconut flakes
• Raisins
• Mixed nuts (brazil, hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts)
• Sunflower seeds
• Pumpkin seeds
• Chopped dried apricots
• Chopped dried dates

Mix together & enjoy with milk!

I love vegetables, Bealers isn’t so keen, he loves pasta & bread but I can’t eat gluten, I could eat rice every day and never get sick of it, he can’t abide the stuff, I rate fish and shellfish highly but Bealers doesn’t!

On top of all these likes/dislikes we’re trying to be healthier and more thrifty with our food budget so what meals does that leave on the list of things we both like and won’t blow the budget (and are easy to make!). Luckily we are both meat eaters so are at least compatible on that.

• Pork & cider casserole with mash/rice/baked potatoes
• Hungarian beef goulash with rice
• Chilli with corn tortillas, grated cheese, avocado, salsa and greek yoghurt
• Curry of all kinds (rice for her, naan bread for him)
• Roast dinners
• Omlettes of all kinds
• Fish, chips & mushy peas
• Spicy beanburgers and salad
• Wheat free lasagne
• Thai red curry with veg and tofu
• Jacket potatoes with homemade coleslaw & cheese or houmous & salad
• Lamb/pork chops with new potatoes salad/veg
• Fried breakfasts (bacon, eggs, tomatoes, baked beans and mushrooms)

Not a huge list there. A lovely new years resolution designed by Bealers was to use our plentiful supply of recipe books and try to cook something new from one of them every week of the year so we discover new dishes which we both enjoy. So far he has stuck to his plan and last week we had a very tasty supper from the latest Jamie Oliver book ‘At Home’ with chicken thighs, new potatoes and tomatoes all roasted together in a big oven proof tray.
When Bealers is away or out for the evening I always treat myself to one of my personal favourites:

• Rataouille with rice or a jacket potato or just on its own with grated cheese
• Chick pea and spinach curry
• Risotto either plain, ‘green’ (peas, courgettes, brocolli) with loads of white wine and parmeasan
• Fisherman’s pie
• Bacon, spinach & avocado salad
• Fresh soup

This recipe for Christmas Chutney is taken from ‘Delia Smith’s Christmas’. I made it for the first time tonight and have included it because it was really easy & quick to make. I can’t, however, vouch for how tasty it is as it needs about a month to mature in the jar before eating. It smells nice though and has lots of tasty ingredients in it. It took me about 10 minutes to weigh and whiz up the dried fruits and onions, a pleasant hour of simmering then about 2 minutes to spoon into 5 large jam jars.

I plan to give four jars away as Christmas presents and to keep one for ourselves to eat with cheese and ham.

Christmas Chutney

This is so-named because it is made with dried fruits, which I always associate with Christmas: prunes, dates and apricots. It’s dark, spicy and delicious with cold cuts, pork pies or hot sausages – and it goes splendidly with matured Cheddar.

Makes a 1 litre jar
Ingredients

• 12 oz (350 g) pitted ready-to-eat prunes
• 10 oz (275 g) pitted dates
• 10 oz (275 g) ready-to-eat dried apricots
• 1 lb (450 g) onions, peeled
• 1 pint (570 ml) cider vinegar
• 2 oz (50 g) sea salt
• 1 level dessertspoon grated fresh root ginger or 1 heaped teaspoon ground ginger
• 3 oz (75 g) allspice berries
• 1 lb (450 g) demerara sugar

You will also need a 1 litre jar and a small piece of muslin or gauze.

The dried fruits and the onions need to be chopped very small, and this can be done in a food processor, or with an old-fashioned mincer, or else with a sharp knife and lots of patience!

When they’re all dealt with, put the vinegar in a large saucepan with the salt and the ginger, then tie the allspice berries up in a small piece of muslin, or gauze, very securely so they can’t escape and add these to the pan. Bring everything up to the boil, then stir in the chopped dried fruits and onions together with the sugar. Leave it all to simmer very gently without a lid for about 1½ hours, or until the chutney has thickened. Stir it from time to time during the cooking period. When it’s ready, you will be able to draw a spoon across the surface of the chutney and make a trail that doesn’t immediately fill up with surplus vinegar.

In the meantime, the jar should be washed thoroughly in warm soapy water, rinsed, dried and heated in a moderate oven for 5 minutes. Spoon the cooked chutney into the warmed jar, seal well with waxed discs and tight lids, and label as soon as it’s cold. Keep this chutney for 1 month to mature before eating.

We had a really good harvest of pumpkins. We planted just four small plants in the spring and by mid-October had ten lovely big orange fruits. Most we have given away as gifts to friends who visited from London but some we kept, made lanterns with and also some nice tasty treats.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

A top treat after scooping out the indards of a pumpkin to make a spooky Halloween lantern or having made another pumpkin recipe. I saved all the seeds from two lanterns and two lots of pumpkin soup before I shoved the oven tray covered with fat juicy seeds into roast while I was cooking some fish at the same time.

1. Wash & dry pumpkin seeds, having pulled them out of the sinewy orange pulp.
2. Leave until you have enough to roast
3. Spread over a large roasting tin and drizzle with olive oil, season with a good sprinkle of salt.
4. Roast on a high heat for approx 10 minutes but keep checking they haven’t been burnt.
5. Remove from oven
6. Store in an air tight container

Easy Creamy French Pumpkin Soup

My french mother-in-law always brings us a pumpkin when she visits with my dad. She showed me the following recipe one year and I’ve been making it ever since as it is ’souper’ easy.

1. Fry a sliced clove of garlic in butter in a large sauce pan
2. Add diced, peeled pumpkin flesh (not the stringy stuff though)
3. Cover with milk (sometimes if I have a bit of left over chicken stock I use this too)
4. Boil for about 10-15 minutes
5. Blend in the pan with a hand blender
6. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.