Cooking on a budget has led to some interesting and creative meals that ordinarily we'd not even attempt, as thinking out of the box would not have even be required like this evening. I threw some chicken portions (these frozen packets of chicken portions are the cheapest to buy) into the oven, when cooked removed the meat from the bones - the result a juicy and tasty chicken. Now when the budget is not so tight, one would resort to those beautiful deboned chicken portions, chop them up raw and add them to the fried onions, green peppers and mushrooms, (that’s if you are making chicken ala king)and possibly throw in a special 'chicken ala king packet mix'. The result in this case is generally a dry, non juicy chicken!! This evening, to make the meal go further, (possibly to put half away in the freezer for a chicken pie another night) I added frozen peas, scratched around in my fridge and found the leftover coleslaw mix, (no mayonnaise in yet) added that and wow, what an amazing chicken ala king. Now let me add that when you use the wonderful deboned, skinned portions, there is no left over brine from cooking the chicken as with the chicken portions. This brine is the crème de la crème of this meal, the finger licking good end result! Now please don't take me wrong, if you prefer to use the deboned, skinned portions, don't feel guilty, I too used these nifty, quick to throw together meal deals! So go ahead use whatever you like, it's just when the budget is limited, creativity need not be!
I have another interesting story I would like to share with you too, it’s my ‘
end of the month pilchard special’!
As I have previously mentioned, creativity need not be lacking (well at least with me where cooking is concerned as this has always been a passion for me anyway, so relax if you can’t conjure up the same excitement as me on this) when the budget is tight or let me rather say limited.
Last week, the day before pay day, my freezer was bare, but in my cupboard I had one last tin of pilchards staring at me.
Now one would think ok, fish cakes, uh no – No potatoes to add, no eggs to bind!
So creativity out of the hat I really had to pull to feed my family.
So what else did I have, I had pasta – no rice, I had half a cabbage in the fridge and some carrots.
So I stir fried the cabbage and carrots and finally added the pilchards, (the ones in a tomato sauce) a couple of herbs and spices and served this on the pasta.
It was so enjoyable that this ‘end of the month pilchard special’ will definitely be on our menu during the month as well!
Patience is a virtue, especially where these tea cosies are concerned. It all begins with a ball of wool and something you have in mind and as you crochet, so it develops its own charm. This is especially true with the white cosy I made, I put about five balls of wool together and knew that somehow I wanted to incorporate all the colours, then one fell out and I was left with four and so this charming cosy appeared. It does require patience as I mentioned before, I am forced to set my crocheting aside for when I get home from work to continue. Here are some funny sayings I found about patience, which one do you like?
“The secret of patience is doing something else in the meanwhile.”
Anyway, when Sophie came to work for me in January this year, I saw she was busy crocheting a doily and gave her my purchased tea cosy with wool and asked her if she could fathom out the pattern as I wanted to learn how to crochet one. About 2 days later, I checked in on her progress and she was still busy, but with her second tea cosy. She came into the kitchen where I was and told me to look in my cupboard; I looked but didn’t see anything then looked again and there it was the first tea cosy she made was sitting on my tea pot. I have subsequently been downloading patterns and gathering lots of inspiration from the internet. I am hooked and loving it! I have crocheted four tea cosies, and lots of flowers. It’s a new passion in my life as is the blog, 2011 has most certainly awakened new things for me. Sophie also came into my life this year and she has been such a blessing to me and my family in fact, she has been part of our family for a long time as she worked for my sister for about 10 years so, we have known her for a long time. I look forward to what more 2011 holds but for now, I am content! I hope 2011 also holds good and nice new things in store for you!
Wellcome to the cosiest collection of tea cosies. Much inspiration has come from the Crochet with Raymond blog I follow(see link) Sophie my domestic help has crocheted most of the cosies and I have decorated them all with the flowers. 
I made this tea cosy. All the tea cosies that Sopie has made were from following patterns I had read and made; as she cannot read she has to work out the patterns by sight or ask me what the patterned said.
I was delighted when I found this pattern for the roses with the leaves below. They are so rewarding!
