Freedom is one of my most important values. The freedom to be me. It took me a long time to achieve it. At last I am taking the opportunity to live my life the way [...]

I only found out about this way of sowing seeds recently. Apparently seed snails have been trending for 2 or 3 years, and people have had positive results. I am attracted to it as it [...]

Getting through winter and the hunger gap is my biggest challenge as we rarely buy any fresh fruit or vegetables at this time of year. My only exception is that I do buy an odd [...]

When I was a mature student 35 years ago, I used to make money in the holidays to feed my daughter by doing various side hustles. One of them was making earings to sell at [...]

For about 2 years now I have seen reels with this healthy snack. Ramadan is just around the corner and so majoule dates are discounted at a lot of shops. I finally bought some to [...]

I have been asked to talk about what we eat in a week. This was a question from someone who was sceptical about our annual food budget of £750. If I shopped regularly, I wouldn't [...]

Sorry I haven't posted recently. Life and health take over sometimes. I thought that I should put our easy Yorkshire pudding recipe on here as we are proud to come from Yorkshire. It used to [...]

I don't grow winter crops (just Swiss chard, lettuce and spinach). My garden can be quite hazardous. There are also cheap Christmas vegetables around and and I have lots stored that we grew during the [...]

I am trying to eat more beetroot. I know it is good for me, especially  to lower blood pressure. However, I hate beetroot. It tastes like mud to me!  Usually I make a beetroot chocolate [...]

This is a recipe that I have made for over 50 years. I think it might have originally been from a Margarette Pattern baking book for kids. I even made it in my O'level 'home [...]

I probably make a chilli in the slow cooker twice a month. It is one of our favourite meals. Sometimes it has meat in it (I brown the mince first before putting in the slow [...]

During the summer I dehydrated  different herbs, fruit, and wild ingredients to make herbal teas.  Herbal teas are a fairly new thing in my life, but a way I have found useful to add more [...]

A cold snap is upon us. It seems extra cold now as it has been a mild winter. We limit the amount of time that the heating is on due to cost. My children and [...]

Christmas shepherds pie is a great meal to make on Boxing day, or later if you have frozen the leftovers from your Christmas meal. There are no quantaties as you use what you have. We [...]

Over the last 10 years I have been working at improving my skills to help me thrive in my simple, frugal life. This has  helped me adapt, stopped life feeling tougher as prices have increased, [...]

Someone in my private group had used  an 'intention bingo' card last year, and so a lot of us are making one this year. It is a great way of motivating yourself to take actions [...]

Today I decided to start operation no waste. The Christmas holiday is over and my fridge is full of food that is going out of date. Mr S has been ill and hardly eaten anything [...]

I have had my decorations up since the end of November and so I am looking forward to taking them down soon. For me, wrapping up Christmas isn't just about throwing the baubles in a [...]

Christmas, and the end of the year, are almost upon us. I don't drink alcohol very often, but am sitting here, by my wood burning stove, nursing some mulled wine in my tin mug. It [...]

I have been shopping all of the bargains that are around at this time of year. My cupboards and freezer are full. We won't need much until March now. It is not unusual for me [...]

I have seen these fir cone truffles  being made on the internet for a number of years now. This Christmas it was times to give them a try for our family meal. The truffle recipe [...]

Bone broth is so good for you. It is full of collagen which apparently helps keep the skin elastic and hold back aging. I could definitely do with some of that. Another bonus is that [...]

We had our Christmas early this weekend. My children have to work Christmas day, or visit inlaws. For a change we decided to serve fish as in some countries this is the traditional Christmas food. [...]

November and December are the months that I replenish my cupboards with bought goods. January is also a month for bargains. Whilst other people are out Christmas shopping, I am stocking up on food for [...]

I try to give my grandson as little ultra processed food as possible. He loves chocolate cereal, though. I therefore decided to make some of my own UPF free chocolate cereal. Making my own also [...]

Mr S loves somosas, but they are expensive to buy. However they are easy to make if you have some filo pastry. My daughter gave me half a packet the other day which was left [...]

Nothing says Christmas like mince pies. Not everyone has the right kitchen equipment to make individual mince pies, though. I was in a hurry today as I was trying to have the oven on for [...]

I see people still filling their trollies up week after week in the supermarket. My mind boggles over how they can eat so much and how they can afford it.. The fact is they can't, [...]

Yesterday I made pumpkin puree waffles for my grandson. We still have pumpkins left over from Halloween and I am trying not to waste them. I don't really life the taste of pumpkin. Pumpkin puree [...]

My daughter came round to lunch unexpectedly with my grandson  and so I had to stretch the meat that I had. I had meant to make steaklets for the two us, but instead made the [...]

I enjoyed making the chocolate pengun lollies the other day and  so decided to have a go at another chocolate animal lolly. I still had white chocolate buttons left. Ingredients Large white chocolate buttons. Small [...]

Usually I make my pizza crust with yoghurt and flour. Today I made it with pumpkin puree and flour. I had made the pumpkin puree in the slow cooker. A few dessert spoonfuls of pumpkin [...]

I have 4 pumpkins stored. Recently I have been researching all of the different things that you can make with pumpkin puree and so I thought I would make some. I didn't want to put [...]

Making presents doesn't have to cost a lot of money, and you don't  have to be an expert. Today I made some Christmas chocolate lollies with my grandson. I will make some more nearer Christmas [...]

A few people have asked me about my quick, easy bread recipe, recently.  I thought that I would repost it today. It is so easy and quick to make and doesn't need knocking back and [...]

My grandson loves gingerbread men. They are so expensive at the bakery and so I did a baking session with him last week. This is a brilliant recipe as it keeps it's shape when baked. [...]