If I just stuck a pin in my stomach all will be well. Don't have gas, not even "blocked up," as they say, just very, very uncomfortable. Guess it must be something I ate. The older I get the more stomach issues I have. I really do need to take better care of my diet, but everything I love is everything that is bad for me. What is a person to do? I guess it will be a plain tasteless food type of day to let my stomach settle. Meanwhile I had better stay in the house covered up, as people will be asking me when my due date is!! On a side note, it's my baby brother's birthday today. Not really a baby anymore at 45 though.
Egg Pie is one of my younger brother's favourite meals, and as it was a cold day and I haven't turned the heat on yet, I thought I would prepare a couple of meals and one of them was Egg Pie. I think all in all this meal would cost us all of $3 tops and I'll break it all down as we go along. Egg Pie: Hard boiled eggs, two or three per person Cheese Sauce Mashed Potatoes. First hard boil your eggs, you know how to do that. If you don't there are instructions here. Peel the eggs and cut in half and place in the bottom of the casserole dish with the yolk side facing up, as in the photo.
Next make the cheese sauce. My recipe consists of: 1/4 cup plain/all purpose flour 1/4 cup marg 2 cups milk 1 or 2 cups of grated cheese, I prefer a strong cheddar 1 tablespoon of mustard, any flavour you like salt and pepper. Melt marg in pan, add flour, using a whisk to bind it together. Let it cook over a medium heat for a minute or two whisking all the time. Gradually add two cups of milk, again whisking all the time until it comes to a boil and thickens. At this point I usually season it by adding the S & P plus the mustard. I then turn off the heat and add the grated cheese. The heat of the white sauce will melt the cheese without any added heat from the stove. Pour over your eggs:
Potato layer. I used Yukon Gold this time and I also cooked a big pan of potatoes so I could have leftovers. I'll explain later. When the potatoes have cooked, around 20 minutes. I mash them and add salt and pepper to taste, a clump of marg probably a couple of tablespoons, and probably around a cup of milk. When they are all mashed together, I then take a wooden or silicone spoon and beat them until nice and smooth; or until my hand aches. Layer the potato on the top of the cheese sauce and make a decorative pattern with a fork if you so desire!!
Depending if the egg pie is cold or warm, you need to put it in an oven to warm through.. I use our toaster oven and have it on at 250 oF for around 45 minutes so the top of the potato gets nice and crispy. THIS EGG PIE DOES NOT FREEZE, THE EGGS GO NICE AND RUBBERY - ASK ME HOW I KNOW! Before I said cook a big pan of potatoes as leftover mashed potatoes do freeze nicely. It is so handy to pull out a bag of potatoes that can be heated up in the microwave in minutes.
Now I flatten the bag right down, so it is nice and flat and thin; the contents were still hot when I took this photo. A flattened bag uses up less space and it takes less time to defrost. In the back left hand corner of the above photo is part of another meal I made. This time a favourite in my elder brother's household. I'll post that recipe in a day or two's time. So the cost break down is: Eggs around $1 Cheese around $1 Potatoes, salt, pepper, milk, butter, mustard around $1 I got the cheese on sale for $4 for 500 grams, I probably used less than 1/4 block. Eggs were well under $3 for 18 Potatoes were $1.99 for 10 lbs, I did not use 5 lbs in this recipe. Milk was free with another deal I got the other week. The other items used were not much of anything, at the most 25 cents for all. I cooked this on a Sunday when it is cheaper electricity, so cooking everything wouldn't cost much either, especially as I use my toaster oven to bake it at night. The added heat with cooking and having the toaster oven home also warmed the house up a little another added saving of not having to put the heating on.
I have two big garbage bags (we have to use clear bags in Dufferin County) so far of shredded paper. I have gone through the personal tax files, that more or less accounts for the bag in the front. We have bought two new homes in the past directly from builders. I had forgotten how much paperwork that accumulates. Found it interesting the faxes that were sent back and forth concerning problems. Then of course the paid bill drawer, got six months worth of paid bills shredded. The four big files on the coffee table have to do with insurance and mutual funds. I am going to get dh to sort those out, as I am lost with them. Plus if it were up to me I would shred most of them!!! We had a plastic filing box similar to this one:
We used it for receipts and warranties. It wasn't very full and when I cleaned it out, it had only a few things in it, so gave it to ds and I will put the receipts and warranties from there into our filing cabinet. I can safely say I have gotten rid of 25 things from the house this week!! It is also my brother Nicks birthday today. He has a blog here if you want to pop by and wish him Happy Birthday. While you're there tell him to pull his finger out and start posting a bit more on his blog!!! I'll let him tell you how old he is; but here's a hint it's closer to 50 than 40!!! Happy Birthday Nick and sorry about not mailing you a card!!!! I am putting it down to my age and getting more senile!!!
Woke up on Tuesday to flipping cold weather, so cold that any moisture up your nose froze instantly. Also snowed the night before and so the driveway was to plow out as well. It does look pretty, when you are inside and sitting in front of the fire!!!
I pulled a pound of ground beef/mince out of the freezer to make a shepherd's pie and some spaghetti sauce. To stretch the spaghetti sauce I added both mushrooms and finely chopped carrots. I also added around 1/2 cup of Renee's Cesar Salad dressing to make a rose sauce.
Renee's Cesar salad dressing is a creamy dressing and has a garlicky taste so adds that bit extra to a cheap spaghetti sauce it also stretches it further.
Oh it's my brother Nick's birthday today, if you have time pop over to his blog and wish him a Happy Birthday. You didn't hear it from me, but I have a feeling two four's could be in his age this year!!!!
Update on Molly: she is perfectly fine, though that guilty look on her face still seems to be there........GOOD I say!!
We had a beautiful sunset on Monday evening, and I took a couple of photos.
My dear brother is not known for his exercise abilities, but had has surprised us all and has made a new best friend out of Molly and walked her three times on Monday. Even going down the back field and back up again. Not sure who was puffing more my brother or Molly!! I took this photo as evidence for my other brother to prove yes our dear darling younger brother did walk the dog!!
My mam brought me a few British cookery magazines so I'm going to enjoy looking at those.
If you haven't already entered my first ever blog giveaway, here is the link to it.
Just spoke to my brother and he got back safe and sound, although he landed at 7am in Glasgow Airport, so hit the rush hour traffic getting out of Glasgow. Still he's a truck driver, so he's used to driving in traffic.
Anyhow, it's a short and sweet post today, as I have a guy coming to service the furnace this morning; wanted to get that done before the cold weather starts and we have to switch the heating on. I would like to think we don't have to switch on the heating for another month or so yet.....we'll see.
Then I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon, and while we are in the city we need to get our passports renewed. So as I am typing this, I am printing out the forms online. Still have to get the photo's taken, but that won't take long.
We get Canadian passports, despite the fact we can have British ones. It's easier; however the Canadian passport is only for 5 years, whereas the British one is 10 years.
Have a great Thursday and hopefully I'll get a regular post done for you for tomorrow.
My brother Nick is a truck/wagon driver in Britain, as is my brother Pete. Please find a minute to pop by his blog and read this post It's awful what some people do. Thank goodness he is alright as it could have been a lot worse. I knew it happened a lot in Europe, but didn't know it was happening in Britain as well?
***I talked to my brother on Saturday and he said there was one secure parking place in Britain where the truck drivers could park up overnight***
Another oldie but goodie and one of the best Christmas songs out there, Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas." Not sure but wasn't this the first "fund raising" record? Such a lot of groups from my childhood singing in this song!!
Here are the lyrics:
It's Christmas time, there's no need to be afraid
At christmas time, we let in light and we banish shade
And in our world of plenty, we can spread a smile of joy!
Throw your arms around the world at christmas time
But say a prayer - pray for the other ones
At christmas time, it's hard, but when you're having fun
There's a world outside your window
And it's a world of dreaded fear
Where the only water flowing is a bitter sting of tears
And the christmas bells that ring there are the clanging chimes of doom
Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you
And there won't be snow in Africa this christmas time
The greatest gift they'll get this year is life
Where nothing ever grows
No rain or rivers flow
Do they know it's christmas time at all?
Here's to you
Raise your glass for everyone
Here's to them
Underneath that burning sun
Do they know it's christmas time at all?
Feed the world
Feed the world
Feed the world
Let them know it's christmas time and
Feed the world
Let them know it's christmas time and
Feed the world
Let them know it's christmas time and
Feed the world
Let them know it's christmas time and
Feed the world
Let them know it's christmas time and
Feed the world
Let them know it's christmas time
I hope you like this song even though its not christmas!
Now that is a Styrofoam container and that is 8oz of raspberries. That took me 15 minutes to pick. There are a lot not ready, so I had to "look" for these ones. I think in a couple of days the picking would be easier. Now in the stores 6oz of raspberries are around $3, I was hoping to sell this container to the guy for $2? What do you think?
The blackcurrants are also more or less ready, but I won't be in a rush to pick those, as they are very time consuming to pick. However, I will mention to the guy about them and see what he says. I have also sent an email out to a few close friends and relatives who live reasonably close by to feel free to come by and pick some. By the way the raspberries are YUMMY!!! I just hope I get to pick some for myself.
Sunday was a lovely day weather wise, and I managed to get Kamikaze Hill cut which was a good thing, especially now the rasps are ready. I can see me being super busy over the next couple of weeks, if this guy decides to buy my rasps.
We went to a family barbecue also on Sunday, and it was nice to catch up with some relatives that we haven't seen in quite a while. I have to say though I was glad to get out of the city and back to the acreage. I'm not used to the hustle and bustle anymore. It's always amazing how fast the niece's and nephew also grow, as we don't see them very often.
My brother has now started a blog called: that british woman s brother original title or what!!! We have a "friendly" competition about what we each do with our "acreage's" If you have a minute pop by and say hello to him. He drives a truck for a living, and is away overnight a few days a week, so he may not get back to you right away, but I am guessing "he'll be right chuffed," if you leave a comment for him. I will say his veggie patch is looking a lot better than mine, as mine is full of weeds. All we need now is my other brother to start a blog and then it will be a family thing!!!
