Tenner Week Nov 2012: Day 1
The first day of a Tenner Week is usually the easiest, and starting it on a rainy Sunday certainly made it easier to stay in and have a no-spend day. It’s also a good day for getting things done around the house.
Yesterday I had a really good look in the fridge, freezer, cupboards and garden to see what needed using up. It was quite a shock to see so many forgotten items lurking there, but it’s also quite reassuring. We have all sorts of goodies to make the most of, and it looks like there will be lots of variety and the chance to eat healthily.
It was also good timing, as there was a fair amount of food nearing its use-by date. A fridge recce revealed a couple of eggs that needed using immediately, plus some smoked mackerel pate, and I’ve drawn up what looks like a good menu for the week now.
We started off with a hearty brunch: defrosted muffins, toasted and topped with scrambled eggs and wilted spinach, and some baked beans. It was lovely. That kept me going while I separated out ten things to put on eBay, then wrote a freelance article.
We had the radio on instead of the telly at lunchtime, which I liked a lot. It was a quick lunch, just some hot toast (wholemeal bread from freezer) and smoked mackerel pate, and a glass of orange juice (longlife from the store cupboard).
I was hoping to get out into the garden to plant some raspberry canes and do some general tidying, but the rain didn’t let up. In the end I just soaked the cane roots in water for an hour, then drained the water off and wrapped them in damp newspaper. Hoping to get them planted out, or at least heeled in, first thing in the morning.
On Sundays we like to spend a bit more time on our main meal, so I’m making a casserole for dinner. We have loads of onions and carrots left over from economy packs and a few jerusalem artichokes to get it started, and there’s some leftover mushroom stock and Guinness to make a sauce with. Flavourings are coming from the garden: leaf celery, bay, rosemary and thyme, and I’ll make a few dumplings from store cupboard flour. Beau gets some stewing beef found at the back of the freezer, and I’m going to have mushrooms and homegrown borlotti beans in mine.
That’s going to simmer away in the oven as I can’t find my slow cooker. Maybe I Freecycled it before I moved here? Dunno. We’ll drink the rest of the Guinness with dinner as well. It’s rude not to. Dessert too today – hot spiced peaches, seeing as I found an overlooked can of peaches in juice earlier.
While that’s cooking I’m going to have a soak in the bath and read a magazine, and then I’m going to use up one of my rationed hours of television watching Homeland, and maybe do some writing as well.
A fairly quiet day, but it feels like I got a few things done and the food’s been good and tasty.
Total spend: £0.00
How’s your first day of Tenner Week been?
