Bits and bobs...........

Just having a catch up.  Been a busy weekend with one thing and another.  Snowed on Sunday, so we had a lazy snow day.  Hubby was watching football games from the UK.  He wanted to see the Wrexham game.  We watched the series on Netflix, Welcome to Wrexham, which was interesting.

On Saturday I went to Shopper's Drug Mart to pick up some things that were on sale.  You also got either 20 or 30k in points when you spent over $60.  I was lucky and got the 30k.  I stocked up on toilet paper; had coupons to make them cheaper.  Stocked up on coffee and picked up some "fancier" shampoo that was on clearance, along with the usual eggs.

This is what I spent and how many points I ended up with.

I spent $65.32, and got over 36k in points which is worth $36.  I had already cashed in $60 worth of points the day before, so my balance is down slightly at 313,114 points.  When I was in SDM, I actually stopped in my tracks as I was wandering round as I was shocked at the price increases in a lot of items.  I truly can't believe how much everything has gone up.

Got a couple of book reviews published also on Saturday, you can read them, here and here.

Someone was saying I didn't have much produce in my fridge.  I had a look (Sunday morning) and I have 3 romaine lettuce hearts, 3 sweet peppers, cabbage, carrots, rutabaga, courgette/zucchini, red onions, yellow onions and a cauliflower.  I maybe didn't have much in the photos, here.  I also have mandarins and bananas in the fruit bowl and potatoes in the cupboard.

I am going to make cabbage roll casserole, cauliflower with cheese sauce and garlic bread; shepherds pie, chicken and veggie stir fry this week, so that will use up a lot of veggies.  I may also make a lentil and sweet pepper soup for my lunch this week.  I got the sweet peppers on sale for $1.89 for the 3 which was a super deal.

I am now taking oldest grandson for swimming lessons every Friday, so I will be popping into another store I don't normally drive to, to pick up their deals as well.

I made Cabbage Casserole for supper on Sunday.  It will last us a couple of suppers.  I first posted this recipe here back in August 2008. It takes a while to bake in the oven, so it was good to cook it on a Sunday when the hydro is cheaper.  I love eating the crispy edges!!

It was yummy, been a while since I had made it, so made a lovely change.  Plus there is enough for another meal.

This weekend seems to have flown by.  Going to spend Sunday night doing a bit more cross stitch.  Still have one more book mark to complete after this one.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend? 

All about food, Sausage Risotto - A one pot microwave meal

This is an excellent recipe if you have extra zucchini/courgettes and it cooks in the microwave in the one pot.

Sausage Risotto:

1lb Sausage (I use English Bangers)
8 slices bacon
1 onion, chopped
2 sticks celery, thinly sliced
2 zucchini, sliced
12 oz (350g) long-grain rice
2 tbsp. tomato puree
2 cups (600 ml) boiling chicken stock
1/2 tsp dried oregano
salt
freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Place the sausages on a plate and prick thoroughly with a fork.  Cook on high power for 5 - 6 minutes, turning and re-arranging the sausages once.

Place the chopped bacon in a large bowl and cook for 3 minutes, stirring once.  Add the onion and celery.  Cook on high for 4 minutes, stirring once.

Add the zucchini, rice, tomato puree, chicken stock, oregano and salt and pepper to taste, blending well.  Cover and cook on high for 13 minutes, stirring twice. 

Leave to stand, covered, for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, cut the sausages into bite size pieces. 

Stir sausages and parsley into rice mixture.  Serve at once.

This dish is excellent to freeze for another day.  If you want a vegetarian meal, leave out the sausages and bacon and add more veggies.  Oh and use veggie stock instead of the chicken stock.

You can use spicy sausages if you like food with a "kick," we don't so I like the traditional English Bangers, we get from Zehrs, they are the PC brand.

I picked the grapes last night, before the birds ate them all.  Over here on The Witch's Island is a how too on making grape jelly, which I want to attempt on Sunday.

I also got a few more raspberries, I hope to also make some raspberry jam on Sunday, finally!!

I picked my onions on Saturday night.  Am I supposed to do something with them before I bring them indoors?

All my potato plants are dead, so I MUST dig them up this next week.  I dug these up to keep us going through the week.

That was all the gardening I managed to get done on Saturday, as I was busy in the house.