Tuesday 2 July 2019

Minor Victories On The Home Front

I've done surprisingly well with my 'eating the stocks' campaign. Odd half-portions from the freezer are being combined into other meals, all sorts of fresh things from the fridge are finding their way into salads. Hugh FWs Leftovers book has come into its own.
One slight hiccup - I'd bought a 6pt container of milk. I thought I'd need it for teamaking at church, then didn't. And in this heat, it started to turn when I had 3 pints left.
I made half into yogurt, and half into "vanilla custard" in my slow-cooker. I just borrowed this book from the library.  This author, Steph O'dea blogs about her slowcooker recipes, and has produced a number of cookbooks. [I think "Steph, Oh dear!" does sound like something I might say when cooking for my daughter]
I used some of the custard to fill a pastry case from the pantry and make a strawberry tart. Another 'use it up' recipe from the book inspired Sunday Lunch. I had three chicken thighs, and I boned them and made a chicken curry which cooked whilst we were at church [in at 9am, out at 1pm]
I used this recipe - but replaced the marmalade with apricot jam plus a pot of lemon slices from the fridge. Sounds weird, But Bob declared it Very Good. The apricot jam was from my Preserving Glut. Last year, Bob came home with a huge tray of fruit, which he'd been given. I knew we'd have to eat them quickly, or preserve them - hence a shelf of glistening orange jamjars. He doesn't like jam, so it has taken a while to get through them. 
We'll be eating this curry again. Apricot curry isn't that different from Rosie's beloved 'mango chupney' is it? The pickled garlic is working well - we've used it in various recipes, and it is quick and convenient.
Another triumph has been the savings on tea. In January, when Bob was having a Lapsang Souchong loose-tea phase, I saw this grey  "Stump Teapot for £4 in Sainsburys Post Christmas Sale. It has a neat infuser - it makes just two mugs. It occasionally gets used for LS, but more often for our regular tea- and one bag is enough.  
After 40 years of the trad Brown Betty pot, I am using this one instead. The BB plus 2 teabags will make 4 mugs - fine for company, but 95% of the time, those 2 extra mugs were never poured. I reckon I will save at least £30 a year in teabag costs[£26 in the first year to allow for cost of the pot] 
I continue to recycle as much as I can, and also take small things to the charity shops. But in the last couple of weeks, I have started selling on eBay and Facebook Marketplace.
Not much - but some bakeware, an old table, and my leather biker jacket have brought in £50+. It was hard to let go of the jacket - but my pillion days are over now Bob's sold the bike. And the young woman who bought it was thrilled- she looked good in it too, as she rode away!
Unlike Sue in Suffolk, I'm not good with Boot Fairs. For one thing, they are mostly on Sundays, and if I do find a Saturday one, I haven't the energy to assemble a whole table-full of goods. This dribs and drabs method - posting one or two things in the evening occasionally, seems to be working for me. Gentle economies, minor savings, and small sales- but they all add up.
Has anybody got any good tips for using EBay & FB Marketplace?


4 comments:

  1. Your strawberry tart looks delicious! I can't say I've ever had a curry cooked with jam, though!

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  2. I have sold occasionally on Ebay, but dont do social media. It's said that the important thing is the wording of the heading of the thing you are selling. Don't just put 'Saucepan', but add things like colour, make esp if it's a Le Creuset! I'm sure you know all that anyway.

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  3. I find that if you prepare a sale on your ebay account page as a draft and then wait and don't put it on ebay will send you an offer like maximum selling fees £1 or whatever, that way you get to keep even more of the sale money.
    Also I always ignore the offers from buyers to pay less or put it on at a higher price to begin with.

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  4. The advice I was given is to finish your sales on either a Thursday or a Sunday as those seem to get the most views and theoretically a better chance of a successful sale.

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