500g of Mince.

 

Dear family, friends and followers.

As we continue to live in these uncertain times, I am frugal person with most things. I am a hater of waste, particularly with food, because like with most things it costs money. I was bought up that everything on the plate should be eaten and if not then it is re-heated for the next day. I defrosted 500g of British Minced Beef and then thought how far can I get this to go. I normally cut it in half and use half for a cottage pie and the other half goes into a curry. This time though, I thought I would cook half for a cottage pie, which did us for two days. 

In it I added onion, carrot and half a tin of tomatoes, along with garlic, beef oxo cube and mixed herbs. 

The second half I cooked in a similar way, but this half was going to make three meals. The first was with dumplings and the rest was put into a pie which will last us another two days.

I managed to get five meals from the 500grams and I actually think the cottage pie could have done us another day, if I had cut the portion size a little. All were eaten with veg and potatoes. I know some would probably not want to eat the same meat five days in a row, so you can always freeze a portion of the cooked mince for another day. It does not bother either of us, because it was all different sorts of meals. 

Who is ready for Christmas?

I can say we are pretty much all sorted. Cards written and posted. Presents bought, wrapped and posted. We have the last food shop before Christmas, coming tomorrow and that will be it. Monday I had to pop into town and collect the final prescription run before Christmas, which means I do not have to mix with the Christmas shopping rush, which we all know will still happen despite the pandemic. We are at home for Christmas, because with the virus still very much here and the numbers rising, we feel it would be wrong to mix with others. I completely understand, why some feel the need to get together with family and friends, especially aged parents or those with terminal illnesses, because it maybe their last Christmas, but we are not prepared to take the risk with our health or that of our family and friends. Hopefully there will be time to do some celebrating, when we have had the vaccination and the virus has gone. All of which are going to take time. It is all about having a little patience and behaving responsibly. Of course it would have been wonderful to see the family and the grand-children, but with one of the family being high risk, it would be wrong to put them or ourselves at risk. We will see them all next year. 

We have decided we are not having a traditional Christmas dinner. There seems very little point in cooking it for the two of us. In past years we have eaten out, but this year we are going to be having Peking Duck and lots of Chinese Nibbles, along with the traditional Mince Pies. I will even be doing Sausage Rolls and Cheese and Onion Rolls. It means I can cook a whole batch in one go and I can then sit and enjoy a festive time with the TV and a glass of something nice. 

Life in the Arm, has been pretty quiet. We are still locked in, which has made most people feel safe during the pandemic. Some boaters have stayed with us throughout and others have come in for the Winter. Everyone has been doing their bit to help each other out. Deliveries are made to the car park gate, which is locked. If people are not waiting for their delivery at the gate and the delivery company can be bothered to ring the number on the gate, the site manager will ring me, and I will collect the parcel and deliver it to whoever it belongs to, because we are closest to the gate. It is great because it becomes part of my daily exercise. I am not very good at sitting down for long. I like to try and keep busy and active, but also making sure I wear my mask, keeping the space and washing my hands when off the boat. If I am not doing the boat chores, then I am in the garden, because even this late in the year, things still need to be done. Have you ever noticed, that weeds never stop growing?

Time to make a coffee and then do some more to the family tree. I will post a bit more about it next time.

Pop back soon. Please stay safe and well xxxx