We got 6 peppers reduced to 10p each the other day and so we decided to make stuffed peppers as it is something that we have not been able to afford to make recently.  I [...]

I have been a bit down recently, and am trying to shake myself out of it.  I don't know if it is just my age, and my grandparent's felt this way in the 1960s and [...]

My ice cube trays used to sit at the back of the cupboard all winter until I discovered that I could use them to reduce waste. Using ice cube trays and then freezing is a [...]

Sweet and sour kebabs are one of my favourite recipes at the moment.  The meat melts in the mouth and they are so tasty.  I first made it when we had friends coming round to [...]

I am witnessing so many unhappy and bitter people around me at the moment, most of them living much easier lives than I am. One of the reasons that I believe that I feel happy [...]

This is a lovely, bright salad which is full of colour. It uses what is in season and growing in the garden. Ingredients 1/3 of a red cabbage shredded, or thinly sliced. 1/3 of a [...]

We have just started to visit a community fridge in a village nearby and this week we received lots of lemons and limes.  As we were having friends to dinner on the Sunday we decided [...]

We entertained friends at the weekend and had made a couple of things that only needed egg yolks.  I therefore needed to use up the egg whites so that they were not wasted.  I had [...]

The last few years have not been particularly good years for growing crops. This year has probably been one of my most unsuccessful years ever.  I am normally harvesting and eating most of my food [...]

My lemon balm is really doing well this year. I make hot drinks with it but I don't really utilise it enough.  It has a number of medicinal uses and so I am keen to [...]

Orzo is something new to us.  I had never eaten it until we had it in a cafe on the Shetland Islands.  In fact I had never heard of it.  I managed to get a [...]

I have just come back from a break a way on my own and I am determined to improve my eating habits.  I have got into some bad snacking habits.  The trouble is, that if [...]

It is the weekend tomorrow and this is when I do my meal plans and preparation. Every week I make a loose meal plan by looking at what I have in the cupboards, what is [...]

One of the reasons I went away recently was to do some 'grounding' or what some people call 'earthing'. Grounding is when your body has  direct contact with the earth's electronic charges which helps one [...]

I wanted a healthy substantial breakfast today, and I have so much spinach to use up.  My perpetual spinach is going mad this year.  I therefore decided to make some spinach wraps.  We eat a [...]

I love making  cous cous salad as it is a quick healthy meal. I make it on the days when I can not be bothered to cook or if I have been busy in the [...]

I made these low sugar oat cookies by mistake as I was following a recipe by What Jessica Baked Next for hob nobs, and I forgot to put the syrup in.  These are therefore a [...]

For years I was trapped in a fast life.  I was juggling parent hood as a single parent, a full time responsible job, the improvement and the upkeep of my home, studying, and a tiny [...]

I have been accused recently of being too extreme and fanatical about my frugal habits.  Why do people think that they can comment about my life when it is not impacting on theirs? I am [...]

A few weeks ago Mr S made me a raised, box tub out of some pallets that we had been given.  Previously he had made me a box out of some scaffolding planks that had [...]

What are Cleavers? If you were a bit of a rascal,  like me, at school you will remember cleavers as the sticky weed that you might have placed on some one's back.  Some people call [...]

It has been a very wet 18 months in the UK and farmers are already warning that there will be a potato shortage this year as many fields are still not ready to plant. Inevitably [...]

I had a couple of over ripe bananas to use up and I was short of things to eat for breakfast. I  therefore thought that I would make some banana pancakes. Now I know that [...]

This is my third week of just eating what we already have in, except for milk.  I have still been buying some staples and some reduced meat with my food budget, but have only been [...]

About 3 times a month I make what I call a pauper's stew.  This is a stew that I make in the slow cooker with any thing that I have that needs using up (or [...]

I am living out of the cupboards, fridge, freezer and garden at the moment.  I am buying some food like flour and oil, but it is not for use this month.  It is to replace [...]

Not that many years ago, everyone's lives were ruled by the weather and the seasons. Living by the seasons was a necessary way of life in order to survive.  Now, seasonal living has almost been [...]

People ask me why I don't go back to work as I could stop being frugal. I keep being told that I still have plenty to offer and I could enjoy a much better standard [...]

We never buy food especially for lunches.  We use what we have in.  Often this means using left overs.  The other day we had a bit of spicy stew left and some mashed potatoes,  There [...]

At them moment we are not doing any food shopping for 2 to 3 weeks.  I have an annual food budget and we have plenty of food in the house and so I will shop [...]

We keep looking for imaginative ways to use our sour dough discard. I am also looking for ways to use up some of the 15p carrots that were discounted over Easter. Last week we made [...]

As you know we are on this journey of using and keeping our sour dough starter.  We were given our starter when we attended a sour dough bread course at Apron strings in Hedon. We [...]

The rhubarb is loving all of this rain and so I am harvesting it a lot recently. Already I have made rhubarb gin, rhubarb brownies and a couple of days ago we made rhubarb crumble [...]

I get asked almost weekly for our meal plans or what kind of things we eat on such a low food budget.  I think that we eat really well, considering. Our meal plan varies every [...]

When the weather gets warmer we will be eating more simple and cleaner meals.  Every week we will have chicken with either chips, grains like quinoa, or homemade savoury rice, and a fresh salad picked [...]

My water bill is one area that I have been able to reduce my bill over the last 4 years.  Saving water is not only good for the environment, it is also good for my [...]