Many of us have this idyllic dream of living in the countryside and being self-sufficient, but for most of us that is not achievable.  I know that even if I won the lottery now that [...]

In 2008 I was told that I needed to have knee replacements.  I was in a lot of pain and often walked with a stick.  I don’t do hospitals or anything medical if I can [...]

I don't usually make brownies as they have so much chocolate and sugar in them, and they cost a bomb to make.  I think that these are good value for the taste.  These brownies can [...]

I have started getting free food every day now, and it will only increase as we move into summer and autumn. It is such a relief.  Having this free food helps me feel in control [...]

Many people pinch the shoots out from tomatoes, but not all gardeners remove the side shoots (or suckers as they are also called).  I often don’t pinch them all out as I grow so many [...]

I am grateful to have reached this age.  I didn’t think I would, and I nearly didn’t due to stress and other factors in my life.  I know a lot of people do not reach [...]

My brother bought me a burrito salad from Morrisons  a few years ago when we were doing some gardening and sorting out my Mum's house after she died. It was delicious.  They are too expensive [...]

Rhubarb brings back memories as a child of my gran giving me a stick of rhubarb and a bag with some sugar in as a treat, and me dipping it in and eating it raw. [...]

Rhubarb season is well under way and we have already made pies, crumble, and frozen some and so I wanted to make something different today. I made this recipe for the first time.  I had [...]

The picture is of my basil seedlings and you might think that there are a lot (I actually have two boxes like these!) but I plant a lot of tomatoes in bucket and tubs and [...]

My last weekly menu plan attracted a lot of FB comments and seemed to be helpful for ideas to some and so I thought that I would put my planned menu for this week up [...]

I like to make crumbles and we have a lot of different ones throughout the seasons.  It tend to make a big batch of crumble when I have made some butter from reduced cream.  I [...]

I have only just found out how beneficial raspberry leaves are to our general health, though I remember drinking raspberry leaf tea when I was pregnant in the early 1980s.  The books of the time [...]

It has been a cold year here in the UK and many vegetables that I usually grow are very behind in their growth, despite the fact that I sowed lots of seeds in February.  I [...]

Have you noticed that the chicken that you get from the supermarket seems to have a more rubbery texture now? Marinating it in yoghurt makes it more juicy and tender. You can marinate it in [...]

Each week I make a meal plan but I do not have set days for meals as how we feel, and what we are doing changes, and we might not want to eat what is [...]

After being ill in 2009 the first thing that I wanted to do was to get rid of all my debt.  I had not realised how much it had impacted on my health and caused [...]

I hate waste of any kind and so make onion powder from the skins of onions and garlic, and the bits of onion that I had taken off when preparing onions to cook.   I dehydrate [...]

I have been frugal since I first lived on my own as a teenager, which is nearly 50 years, and so have a lot of experience of how to save money and make the most [...]

Finding and gathering wild and natural foods is called foraging. I remember watching the news about 30 years ago and it was about food shortages in Russia.  It showed an old Russian woman picking dandelions [...]

I have started cooking baked potatoes in the slow cooker as I can just forget them whilst gardening or going out, and it costs less than using the oven. I didn't realise until recently that [...]

WHAT IS FOREST BATHING? Any one that has followed me for a while knows that forest bathing keeps me sane.  It does not mean I am taking a bath there, but that I am soaking [...]

I always make sure that I have some of those part baked rolls or baguettes in the cupboard.  At the moment they are 69p for 6 in Lidl and are good value in lots of [...]

April is the start of the food season for me, and when I start filling my pantry and freezer again from things grown or foraged.  I am lucky as wild garlic grows in abundance near [...]

A lot of food that I make during April involves wild garlic as it adds a lovely taste to food and saves me buying onions or garlic. We use these  air fryer wild garlic scones [...]

This fish finger pie meal is one we make when we want to all eat at the table and have a meal that we like, but also the children will eat.  It is relatively frugal [...]

Bags of crisps used to be on our shopping list as a treat some times but with rising prices they are a luxury that has had to go.  If we fancy some crisps now we [...]

My aim is to be more organised for next winter and make sure that we have enough preserved food for the 'hunger gap' that occurs between us eating most of my crops (usually by the [...]

I have only just started making my yoghurt in a slow cooker, but both times it has turned out lovely and thick and I have not had to sieve it.  Getting your yoghurt to the [...]

The excitement and exhaling of breath as seeds have germinated this year feels stronger than previously.  It has been a long winter and my intention to keep my food budget low, and still enjoy meals, [...]

Every year we make Easter cup cakes, and we have even sold some to family and friends in the past to help pay for a break away for ourselves.  Adults and children alike love them. [...]

I nearly didn't put this recipe on as it is so basic, but then I know we have some young readers who may not have made these, as over the last 10 years bought cupcakes [...]

I am using up all those bits in the freezer that the labels have fallen off as I am decluttering my freezer and shopping from home.  I thought that I had cooked pork but it [...]

I thought that I would share some of the really small habits that have improved my life. Individually, these daily things that I do may not have transformed my life, but together they have had [...]

The wild garlic is finally out in Yorkshire.  This is one of my favourite things to forage as I use it in meals, in baking, to flavour butter and to make pesto (which I freeze [...]

A free resource We were away by the coast last week and so I collected a bit of kelp seaweed for my garden as there was loads on the beach that I walked every day. [...]