Chickens on the run!

The chickens escaped from their run today as the door latch became unfastened and they made a break for freedom. They looked so lovely striding about in the grass together that I thought I would take some photos. This one shows the Silver Sussex cockerel with a couple of the hens.

This is them attacking the broad beans, which is the point at which we had to chase them back into their run!

The larger white bird in the middle of this is the turkey who is living happily amongst the hens.

Here is the cockerel again with more of the hens - 10 of them laid eggs today so I am very pleased with them! To the left of the cock is an Orpington hen and to the right, a Buff Sussex. The white ones are the Sasso breed that we originally bought for meat and then decided to keep a few (well, five!) of the hens for egg laying.

The quail haven't caught on to the egg laying idea yet, but I am living in hope. Snow is forecast here for tomorrow and Monday so it was great for the chickens to enjoy the sunshine whilst they could as I don't think that they will enjoy the snow as much!

End of month celebrations

Yes - we made it to the end of the month and stayed within our budget! It has proved to me that I can stay away from the shops and really stick to my aims when I get organised but it helps enormously that I have this blog and I know that people are reading it and I am trying to be accountable to you - and be honest!

I did spend a little money today but only £5.92 on an ox tongue and that was an accidental spend: my neighbour's father wanted an oxtail from the butcher who comes to the market in the nearby town but they don't carry them and he had to order one to collect this week. When M was telling me, I said I wondered whether they had tongues and she said she would find out for me - well, I was absolutely delighted when she actually brought me one home! Sliced tongue is horrendously expensive in the supermarket and I have stopped buying it, but home cooked and pressed tongue is delicious. It is a while since we have had one - a couple of years probably - but I am really looking forward to cooking this tomorrow afternoon and then pressing it overnight. The £5.92 is well within the £11 odd that I had left, so we have achieved our aim.

So what shall we do for February? More of the same, I think. I have restocked the cupboards, at a cost of about £92 from Asda, and so I am giving myself the same £100 again for the weekly shopping over the month. That will mean that we are spending no more than £200 for the month - about £50 a week, or £12.50 per week per person. This will need me to continue baking bread, using fruit and veg from the freezer - we have loads left - and keeping a sharp eye on snacking foods; Oh for the days when the children were preschoolers and had three meals, two snacks and a biscuit at bedtime - some days when we are in and out, we seem to be eating at some strange times of the day, and I am sure that people are eating the wrong kinds of things - snacks will have to be more basic because I am not going to start buying rubbish and crisps again: the month has proved that they can do without, and so they will. I am also not buying things like ice cream when the temperature is only 2 degrees outside - we are going to be eating more in tune with the seasons so we'll save the ice cream for summer!

My menu plan for the month ends tomorrow so I will plan the next two weeks' worth of meals tomorrow, based around the foods we have and the plans we have for the various days. I will share that with you soon. Tomorrow is also family weigh-day so we will see whether the FH and I have lost any weight.....

Wednesday blues!

The YFG had a day at home yesterday with a cold; she could cope with the cold but the problem was the severe headache she was getting from her sinuses. A day of pampering was in order - some breakfast eaten on the sofa snuggled under a duvet, cuddling Mum! Then watching a favourite DVD for an hour or so, some lunch - macaroni cheese, her favourite - a neighbour dropped by for a recipe and a chat, and then she did some painting with the FH. Soon after that, the EFG was home from school and things soon dropped back into the normal after school and evening routine.

The hens laid seven eggs between them yesterday, although they have been less productive today! I have put a good layer of straw down for them in their runs, so this afternoon they were ecstatic, scratching and pecking away and really enjoying it! The weather is forecast to be dry but cold for three days, so I am hoping that the mud will dry out a little for them.

Thinking about the "reduce, re-use, recycle" mantra, I wanted to share my washing powder ideas. There are better ideas out there but this is what I am using at the moment. To start with, I use less that the recommended amount whenever I can; the manufacturers obviously have an interest in the consumer using more of their product, so I take their instructions with a pinch of salt. I used to use normal washing powder, usually a supermarket own-brand product. After some reading, I have now got a mixture going which is working very well - the clothes are clean and fresh so aim achieved! I mix together two bags (one kilogram each) of washing soda with a big box of Tesco Value biological washing powder (the last one cost £1.41 although it has probably gone up since then) and a big box of the own-brand powder. All this is mixed together in an old insulated cool box which my father threw out. I use this because it is big enough to hold all the powder and it has a tight fitting lid. One batch of this mixture lasts about six months, so it is quite a saving on my past usage of normal powder. I know that other people use vinegar for fabric softener, but I am using some watered down cheap stuff and will maybe try the vinegar when that runs out - or maybe just go without!

Using less than recommended is a valuable exercise - it can be applied to all sorts of items from washing powder as I said, to shampoo and toothpaste! Another similar challenge is to mark the date that a box or package of something is opened actually on the pack and then to work out how long that pack has lasted and try to make the next pack last longer. All these little ideas build up to a big sense of achievement if successful and having something to aim for makes all the difference sometimes when dealing with relatively mundane chores!

The FH and I had a good sort out of the freezers this afternoon. There are loads of bags of frozen apples, plums, green beans, tomatoes, some bags of peas, asparagus, broccoli, blackberries, homemade ratatouille and soup made from scratch and just frozen. There is some meat but less than usual. In the smaller freezer, I keep my homemade bread and baked goods, of which there are plenty so no baking needs to be done this week.

As to the eating from stored food challenge and only spending £100 for the month, I feel that I have achieved it. I have not spent anything on groceries since the last update earlier in the week, but I have done an online order from Asda to restock the cupboards. This will be delivered tomorrow, which is before the end of the month, but there were several really good offers which expire on the 31/1 so I couldn't wait until February as those would have been unavailable. I took my time and loaded the virtual trolleys in the Asda and Tesco websites with as near as possible the same items - it took me an hour last night as the Asda website was slow - but it was worth it as it was about £11 cheaper in Asda. This will be my first Asda delivery so I will see how it goes in terms of quality and service, but I am pleased with the prices.

Saving

Saving what? The YFG noticed on the back on my copy of The Tightwad Gazette that it had the headline "Save money! Save time! Save the environment!" and we had a little chat about all that. We don't completely agree with the sentiments of the author, though, as saving money and the environment sometimes do take up time, so we didn't completely understand the time savings idea.

It is very true, however, that saving money does contribute to helping the environment; many of the things we do to save money are contributing to us using less energy and leaving a smaller carbon footprint. In the long run, we should as a family consider whether spending money is a good idea when the only reason for spending it is that we have it available to spend! Double dutch? I hope not. What I am saying is that even when saving money is not the prime objective, we should still consider our priorities more carefully.

As to saving time, well, I don't know. Making bread as opposed to picking it up with the shopping doesn't save me time, but it saves me money and gives me the huge satisfaction of being able to feed my family wholesome food without additives, which is a priority. Stockpiling food does save me some time as it greatly reduces the amount of time I have to spend in the shops - walking around the supermarket and picking up four cans of tuna once a month is a lot less time consuming than travelling there every week and picking up one can each time with the shopping. By cutting back on the journeys we make, we do save some time - but this is only really valuable if we use the time saved to our benefit; using the time saved to knit/sew/make jam/do something with the children is beneficial - spending it sitting like a vegetable in front of the TV is not (and yes, that is me being judgemental - TV is one of the biggest time wasters out there!)

I don't think that anyone has ever claimed that saving money was an easy thing to do - it involves making different choices, and maybe learning new skills, adjusting to different ideals, and focusing on particular goals. The trouble is that people who are new to economising hope that there is somewhere a switch which can be flicked to put them in moneysaving mode, expert in all the tips and tricks, and money will instantly start building up in the bank. It doesn't work like that, and so it is the people who live like this in good times as well as bad who understand that the true benefits take longer to accrue. Skills need time to be perfected, knowledge has to be learned, and networks of suppliers have to be found for cheaper goods, gardens have to be dug and seeds sown - all this takes time and preparation before the benefits are seen. Sometimes it takes months. Knowing that the tough times can be outridden is a security that I wouldn't want to give up, and living from one payday to the next is a position I would hope never to have to find myself. We have lived as a family in this way for about 16 years, and remember seeing my mother and grandmother do all sorts of things that saved in the long term, from home baking and jam making to darning and making clothes at home.

Catching up!

I seem to be a day or two behind myself on here at the moment.

Some of the cinnamon buns made it to the freezer on Friday, although several got eaten! One bag was brought out and defrosted in the microwave this morning for a quick but substantial breakfast. We don't eat much cold cereal here - the EFG only seems to like an expensive, too sugary confection which I won't buy regularly, the YFG only eats dry cereal and then only picks at it, so all in all it is not a good choice for breakfast here. Toast is often the choice, mostly just with butter, but occasionally with a swipe of chocolate spread over it; the YFG prefers pancakes, and will occasionally ask for a "salad" which is what she calls a plate with a little heap of cubed cheese, maybe some ham, a cut-up apple, and perhaps a biscuit on the side. Cinnamon buns are a popular breakfast choice so it is great to have a stash in the freezer so that I can serve them when they are requested, or when I don't have time to offer pancakes. The EFG will sometimes choose scrambled eggs with some toast, which is never a problem as we have always got eggs. The FH likes porridge, but the girls hate it! Thinking outside the box is a way of saving money when the accepted norm of cold cereals for breakfast is not necessarily cheap, and quite often not a particularly healthy choice. Some of my offerings do have fat and sugar, but there are no E-numbers, additives and preservatives, and I know exactly what is in everything that I make, so I count that as a benefit. I also prefer that what they eat in the morning has a little protein in it, so that helps to keep them going till lunchtime - which is OK at 12 for the YFG but the EFG has to go through until 1.20 before she eats lunch.

After gymnastics yesterday, the YFG and I went to do the shopping. The groceries came to £28.74 for the week, bringing the total for the month so far to £88.58. Again, it was mostly fruit and vegetables: grapes for lunchboxes, apples, clementines, cabbage, broccoli, plums; some meat - ham, sausages and chicken thighs as the stocks of meat in the freezer are nearly exhausted; cheese; stuffing mix (the girls just discovered this and love it but I should really be making it from scratch so this is the last time I buy it!); and squash to drink. Broccoli is expensive compared to other green vegetables at £2.19/kg, but we eat a lot of it because it is a valuable member of the cruciferous veg family, famous for cancer-fighting qualities, and we all like it. Cabbage is our second-best alternative which we eat several times a week, but sprouts are not enjoyed by all the family although we have loads of them in the freezer. They get eaten by the EFG and FH. Cauliflowers are expensive and we don't really rate them particularly so we rarely buy them. We do grow other green veg in the summer, and love green beans, in season as well as from the freezer.

This month's challenge of living from the stores has been a good one - not quite over yet, but the finish line is now in sight. I have £11.42 in hand for the rest of the month - only 6 days, and I doubt that there is anything that we will need, although I will record any spending from that. The stores are doing OK although I will begin to make a list this week for re-stocking the shelves. It looks at first sight as if it is the tinned goods that have taken the hardest hit - the chopped tomatoes are all gone, there is no soup left, and the tinned fruit is reduced (but we still have peaches, pears and pineapple). However, we have our own tomatoes in the freezer that can be used in place of the tinned ones, and there is carrot and parsnip soup also in the freezer, as well as bags and bags of cooked apples!

We have not bought any books, shoes, clothing (apart from the tights for YFG and a school sweater for EFG), stationery, stamps, DVD/entertainment-type "stuff", magazines, toiletries, chocolate or crisps (much to YFG's disgust!). It has made me realise how easily money can be wasted on things which are really not necessary and could be cut out from the regular shopping and just allowed as very occasional treats.

I have today made some dough in the bread machine for rolls for tea - which are proving right now on the cooker top - it is still warm in the kitchen from the dinnertime cooking. Whilst the oven was on earlier for the chicken, the YFG and I made some cheese scones. These are excellent as she loves them and will happily eat them at breakfast time, split and warmed in the microwave and then spread with a tiny bit of butter, but she will also want to have them in her lunchbox, so they are versatile. We made about 20, so 10 went into a tin in the cupboard and the others went into the freezer in two packages. The only downside to them is that they used up half the cheese that I had bought for the week, so the usual cheese sandwiches in the lunchboxes may have to be varied this week when we have used it all up - and the FH is rather a cheese fiend! When the oven goes on to bake the rolls, I will also quickly make up a batch of muffins so that there are some for tea and some for the freezer to call upon later in the week.

We have eaten the last home-grown chicken from the freezer for lunch, so the FH has been eyeing up the next batch. They are getting to the right age for butchering now, but they are not really fat enough to be a decent meal yet. It is possible that they will take another few weeks before they are ready to eat, and we should probably start increasing their rations (not that they are not well-fed now already!).

Baking day

Yesterday morning, I set the breadmachines going pretty early. The smaller machine was making an enriched dough, which I use to make cinnamon buns. Here is the dough when it has finished rising in the bread pan, and is ready to be turned out, kneaded again and shaped.

When the dough is nearly ready, I prepare the cinnamon sugar mixture, which is just a tablespoon on soft brown sugar and a teaspoon of cinnamon, well mixed together.

The dough comes out and it is a fairly heavy, dry dough, so it is quite clean to work with and doesn't stick all over me or the worksurface. I knead it for a good few minutes.

After kneading, it is time to roll it out flat.

I brush it with a little water so that the sugar mixture sticks to the dough when I roll it out. The sugar is sprinkled over the dough and then the dough is rolled up from the longest side.

It ends up looking like this and it really doesn't matter that the ends are not even!

Now the roll has to be cut into slices, which are quite thin.

Once cut up, the slices are laid in an oiled baking pan, touching each other - squeeze them in!

I leave them to rise in the kitchen for as long as it takes - anything from half an hour to two hours depending on the warmth of the room. They look like these below when they are risen.

Then it is time to bake them. I put them into a 160C fan oven for about 15-20 minutes, until they are golden brown. Then I brush them over with a tiny bit of maple syrup to add some glaze and a little more sweetness. It certainly makes them look appealing!

The ingredients that I use are:

1lb strong bread flour, half a teaspoon salt, 4 tablespoons caster sugar, 4 tablespoons oil, 2 eggs beaten together with 6 fl. oz milk, and one sachet fast-action yeast. This is all put in to the breadmachine and put on the "Dough" setting.

Thanks for this recipe go to D&DD on the forums at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ who has a fantastic recipe for an Apple Braid, for which these ingredients form the basis. That recipe uses cooked apple, which doesn't go down well here, so I use the same basic idea to make the dough for the cinnamon buns - which go down extremely well.

Restful day

I am getting over my cold from which I was suffering last weekend, but I appreciated having quite a restful day today. Instead of rushing around, I pottered and purposely didn't make myself a list of things to do. Lists are brilliant but sometimes they nag at you, and I wasn't in the mood for nagging today! I watched some TV, loaded up the washing machine and hung up the laundry when it was done, prepared a lovely chicken casserole for the evening meal, and phoned my aunt for a chat. The dinner was eaten early tonight at about 5pm, and everyone has now had a bath and is getting ready for bed - the FH and girls are watching TV until about 9pm and then I think that we will all be off to bed! Hopefully my get-up-and-go will return tomorrow!

Today has also been a "No Spend Day", which is good; the hens have laid eggs again, and I have organised the sale of a dozen and a half to school staff which I will deliver in the morning. The treadmill has been in action - I have done 15 minutes at 3 mph, whereas the FH managed 2 minutes (compared to yesterday's one!) at 1.5 mph - he complains about his legs aching very quickly...

The wet and windy weather which was forecast has been and gone, and we are now in a window of drier weather until the next low pressure system moves in tomorrow and over the weekend. The greenhouse is OK so far, but I am keeping my fingers crossed. The poor chickens need some more straw in their yard, so I will have to get them some at the weekend, as they are getting rather muddy.