Christmas cheer on the cheap

 Christmas is coming and personally I love it, but I know a lot of people find this time of year very stressful. I hate to think of people missing out on the excitement and magic as they worry about how they will afford the presents. This is not what it is about. Corny I know, easy to say I know, but seriously I've had such a contrast of Christmas's. I've had the skint one's and the extravagant Christmas's, and I have to say the ones where I made more effort with my time, rather than money were the best! It's so true, give your presence not just presents. With the 1st of December not so much creeping up on us, as running after us screaming "It's Chriiiiiistmaaaaaas!!!" in a brummy accent, I would like to share with you one of my favourite ideas to create the magic of Christmas for as cheap as you like with my list of  'advent things to do'.

Now this doesn't have to mean spending loads of money on days out, or expensive ingredients or props. It can be simply the things you already do in the lead up to Christmas, but dressed up as an 'advent surprise' I guarantee the children will love it. It will create the magic and suspense that Christmas is all about. I've put my list as an idea. Anything from watching a movie together with the duvets, or drinking a hot chocolate together while listening to Christmas music can be put on the list. I visited my local Poundshop for most of my supplies last year.

The girls making their paper chains

Hot chocolate and whipped cream

                                                   

Gingerbread house we decorated

 

The girls decorating their cookie tree

Toad out of the hole

If you enjoy toad in the hole but need to make it go that little bit further, then I have got just the thing for you! By simply slicing the sausages and serving them in gravy and adding some fried red onions to your Yorkshire pudding batter you can feed a few more with the same amount of sausages. We have literally just had this for tea and it was delicious!

2 red onions

200g plain flour
3 eggs
200ml milk

Preheat oven to 220
Place a large oven proof dish with 2 tbsp oil in the oven to heat
Fry red onions and leave to cool
In a bowl whisk the flour, eggs and milk
Mix the onions into the batter
Remove the dish from the oven and pour in the mixture
Leave for 25 minutes do NOT open the oven door to check it will sink
While this cooks grill your sausages and when the Yorkshire pudding has 5 minutes to go make your gravy (I just did bisto best) and slice your cooked sausage
Serve with the gravy on the onion pudding and whatever vegetables or potatoes you like.

Bob's bargain bacon one pot panhaggerty

Having looked at a few variations of this recipe for panhaggerty, mainly because I wondered why I'd heard so many names for it, I've discovered the dish varies slightly depending on the region. Pan haggerty is a dish from Northumberland involving cheese, potatoes and onions, while panackelty is the Sunderland version with corned beef, onions and potatoes. They all have one thing in common, they're extremely cheap to make, can all be done in one pot, very tasty and very inexpensive. I'm going to give you the lovely Bob's recipe from Whitby for panhaggerty as he called it. I made this for our tea and it tasted absolutely beautiful. So meaty, filling and warming. Perfect for this time of year. Even the kids loved it.

350g Cooking bacon cut into chunks
200g Black pudding
2 onions sliced
4 large potatoes thickly sliced
2 oxos
Flour

In a large pan or oven dish (can be done on the hob or in the oven) line the base of pan with a layer  of sliced potato
Sprinkle some onion over the potatoes
Crumble some black pudding and some oxo on top
Scatter the bacon chunks over the top and a dusting of flour and repeat the process until you have a few layers of each ingredient.
Finally pour boiling water over the ingredients (I poured too much on and have been left with a lovely thick ox-tail soup like gravy which was yummy with bread!)
Bring to the boil and leave to simmer on a low heat for an hour or more until nice and thick and serve immediately. (If doing in the oven put in a casserole dish on 200 for an hour or more)

Money-free magical memories

I'm always thinking outside the box for things to do that don't cost a lot, but create the most magical memories. More often than not, the days where not a lot of money has been spent turn out to be the best. Days that are just spent together chilling where no plans are made, where literally anything can happen. One of my children's favourite mornings was a very simple idea. I'm very lucky to live where I do in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park. Being surrounded by so many beauty spots we would be crazy not to take advantage of the scenic locations that are literally on our doorstep. So one morning I decided to make breakfast more fun. How better to start the day than with a picnic next to the river? If people can have a picnic for lunch or tea why not breakfast? A quick trip to Lidl for some cheap part-baked rolls, croissants, fruit, yoghurt and apple juice and we were good to go! I baked the rolls and toasted the croissants at home and wrapped them in tin foil to keep warm. I packed the bowls, spoons and some plastic cups and loaded the car and off we went. Five minutes up with road and we were at Maybeck. A beautiful scenic spot, that even in the height of summer was a peaceful place to have our picnic. The kids thought it was great and put us all in holiday mode for the rest of the day. So why not try it with your family? Why not try a supper picnic under the stars? Even if it's just in the garden in a tent! Enjoy creating magic knowing it's not cost a thing.

A morning at Marton court community centre

This morning me and Chase (my youngest) had the pleasure of talking to the lovely residents of Marton court at the community centre in Whitby. I wanted to ask them for some tips and recipes for the blog and wasn't sure if I would get what I needed, but I came away with so much more! On arrival I was handed a Baileys, unfortunately I had to refuse as I was driving, it had been Nora's 87th birthday last week. What a happy woman with a radiant smile. There was Bob, Margaret, Margaret and Emily who was 95 and looking amazing.

From left to right Nora, Margaret and Bob.

They all so kindly offered up plenty of stories, tips and recipes. I will try before posting, but I'm sure they'll taste yummy and they cost very little. It felt really good to sit and listen to them telling me tales of their childhoods and how they never had a lot but were always happy, never hungry or overweight. Telling me how they used to knit and make their own clothes from a very young age. How they could make soups and stews from boiled bones and very cheap cuts of meat. So why are children so different today? Imagine giving a child these days a sack of marbles or a spinning top and telling them to have hours of fun with it? Telling them they have to knit their own clothes, or that for Christmas they would receive an orange and a little toy and some nuts in a stocking? Can you imagine the reaction? Their faces? So what has changed? Why do a lot of children these days have a sense of entitlement, that they should get everything they want, but never seem happier for it when they have it. The one thing that everyone I spoke to had in common was, they all grew up with very little, but all said they were happy nonetheless. So what does it cost to be happy?...Nothing, or as Bob would say nowt!. In an age where technology has impacted severely on everyday life, children are becoming more isolated from their families sitting in front of screens rather than spending time with their siblings or friends. All the time becoming addicted to an on-line world where most games involve the same thing, tapping on a screen (and they would find marbles boring?!). A world where friends are on a screen and not outside. Children's speech has even been affected, due to lack of conversation. I'm not saying the internet is a bad thing, after all it helps people connect from far and wide and has the answers to most questions you could ask. How many of us prefer to sit typing to someone, instead of ringing them for a chat? How many face to face, not Facebook, conversations have you had recently? I thoroughly enjoyed chatting to these lovely people today and I will be doing it more frequently as there is so much we can learn from the older generation. Not only are they teaching me new things but they loved speaking to me and Chase so everybody was happy! I challenge you to a technology free day and see how much fun you can have together. I'm going to do the same and I will post how we get on I have to admit the thought of an internet free day does fill me with panic but I'm almost positive it will result in lots of fun!

From left to right Margaret, Emily and Nora

How to pocket more pounds

I thought I would share some more tips with you on saving a bit of money, after all Christmas is sprinting towards us now! If there are any of you with young kids and they like the tins of spaghetti shapes for their lunch then you will know they cost quite a bit if you're buying a few at a time. I can save you pounds, instead of buying a few small tins, or even large ones to portion up, buy the basic brand spaghetti. It's around 20p-30p in most supermarkets, and get a jar of the cheap tomato sauce for bolognese, this ranges from around 30p-80p. Then simply cook what you need each time, it lasts longer than an opened tin and you can portion the exact amount you need. As spaghetti takes about 10 minutes to cook it's not much longer than heating up a jar in a pan. If your little one likes you can grate cheese on it or stick some chopped sausages in for a more filling meal or serve with garlic bread for a cheap, easy and tasty lunch. My children love it so does my step-son who is quite a picky eater and he gave it a big thumbs up! The same went for my cheesy pasta which is as simple as the tomato pasta. Instead of buying tins of macaroni cheese buy the basic brand pasta, very cheap for a bag 29p in Lidl! All I do with this is serve it with my home-made cheese sauce (recipe on my vegetable lasagne post) literally cook the pastas and then add the sauce to the drained pastas and stir. Very simple and very tasty, also you know exactly what you're feeding them when you've cooked it yourself and can't stress how cheap they are!

Bonfire bangers 'n' mash with a twist

So we've got Halloween over with I hope you all had an amazing time now for bonfire night. I usually do chilli and jackets but you could give this a try if you have guests to feed, just have a load of creamy mash made up ready and keeping warm in the oven and cook your sausages as you need them. Who doesn't love sausage and mash! Well I will tell you how to make it even more tasty with the help of a red onion and some red wine. I know, I know...not many of us have leftover wine to cook with. I actually don't drink red so I buy the little bottles for £1 in Asda, or if my dad's been round and left some of his I steal that (sorry dad!). It really doesn't have to be expensive wine I've tried it with the cheapest and it was still as tasty. So here's my recipe for caramelised red onion gravy the perfect partner for bonfire bangers and mash! The quantities will make enough gravy for 4 so adjust accordingly. Enjoy!

2 large red onions sliced
Butter and oil for frying
Sugar white/brown if you have it tbsp
Flour heaped tbsp
1 small bottle red wine (or however much/little you fancy/is left)
1 pint beef stock (couple of oxos)

In a frying pan on a medium heat melt a knob of butter with a drizzle of oil and place sliced onions in pan with the sugar.
Cook for 15 mins until soft.
Add flour and stir in coating the onions.
Pour in your red wine and stock gradually stirring constantly and turn the heat up slightly so it bubbles.
Let it simmer for 5 mins until reduced slightly  and then serve when it's ready!