Hello Dear Reader,
Today is supposed to be Blue Monday. So called because families total up the costs of debts they’ve run up over Christmas, folk have already capitulated and given up giving up what ever they tried to give up. Families have spent two weeks together and the solicitors are rubbing their hands all the way to the bank as couples line up to get divorced. Not here! No apologies for sounding smug but I love this time of year.
It was great to get back to work, there really is only so much being at home I can deal with. I like being busy and enjoy the routine of the alarm going off, jumping in the shower and heading off to work. I enjoy a busy day and the gym after work. I’m still maximising the gym membership by going every day and flogging myself half to bits when I get there. Today, 40 minutes spin class followed by a weights session and topped off with some killer crunches. It certainly assuaged the guilt of eating a calorie ridden supper.
If you’re not British, then you probably haven’t eaten pig in blankets. You take one gluten free sausage (Black Farmer - freedom food - outdoor reared pork) and wrap each in smoked streaky bacon (also from the freedom food section) and then grill them under a medium grill until the bacon just starts to crisp.
I served the pigs in blankets with steamed veg and potatoes and the left over braised red cabbage from yesterday’s lunch. I also managed to squirrel away a portion for my lunch tomorrow. I’m running 5K after work tomorrow so I’ll need to stock up on calories a few hours before I set off.
I thought for a moment of how good life is today, not to mention every day. No debt from Christmas or otherwise. No stress over Christmas as we keep it very very low key. We are deliriously and happily married. The weather doesn’t bother me as life just goes on.
I’m about to spend a happy hour at my sewing machine working on a quilt that I’m making as a gift and then head off to bed for an early night.
Over to you Dear Reader, who is happier this year because they didn’t run up any debt over Christmas? Who is happy to get back to the normal routing? Who feels in control because they have a budget set for the coming weeks and months? Not to mention, who else loves pigs in blankets and feel they are a meal in themselves?
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxxxxxxxx
We had these for dinner tonight too although ours were only sainsburys (yellow ticket at 25p per pack which made them taste even nicer). No overspend on christmas here either. Love the new year and new start to my new budget spreadsheet 🙂 Life really is good. Happy new year
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Yum Yum. love pigs in blankets too. Turkey, stuffing, mash, veg, gravy and cranberry sauce here again tonight and not sick of the turkey yet! Yes, I loved getting back into routine today and have had a very productive day. No debt here either after Christmas. New motto: if you don't have it, don't spend it, and keep putting some aside for the future to avoid taking out loans when things go wrong,
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No debt here, Christmas was budgeted and saved for and we kept to budget, had a mammoth batch cooking session using every scrap of left overs, including pigs in blanket that I made into a pie with lots of veggies. Freezer is full which will see us through Jan and new budget spread sheets set up, love this time of year and like you fabulously happily married, we don't have much, but we have enough and make the most of everything. Debt, financial worries can destroy a relationship, a stress thankfully we don't have and we work hard to make sure it stays that way. HNY
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I had never thought of pigs in blankets as the main part of the meal! I certainly will now 🙂
I love this time of year, we had a family christmas and it was wonderful to spend two whole weeks with future hubby and kids. We stayed in budget for it and even threw in a bedroom carpet in december. Long saved for, took me 7 years to be anle to have it, and i sat on it and cried when the fitter had left! It was a fabulous break this year and im really looking forward to 2014!
Happy new year froogs! Xx
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Oh me, so glad Christmas spending and wastage is a thing of years gone by.
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Oh me, so glad Christmas spending and wastage is a thing of years gone by.
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I do that! I sit down and lie down on the new carpet and make a starshape, enjoying the newness and space 🙂
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We had daughter & 3 grandchildren with us. Husband had not seen them since last Chridtmas due to his poor health last year. I did not go mad on presents but we had plenty of food! I was only thinking yesterday how good my finances were looking after Christmas & how good it felt. Much better year coming up & all very positive!! I love pigs in blankets & when I start grocery shopping they will be on the list, at the moment living out of the freezer for January!
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Never tried this dish, but it does look delicious! 🙂
I am happy to go back to a routine, holidays were good, but I am glad they are now over for a while!
Debt?! Is there anyone who would really make debts for Christmas?? That sounds unfair… At least it does to me…
I am planning to stay on a budget for the coming months… I love to live a frugal life!
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Never tried this dish, but it does look delicious! 🙂
I am happy to go back to a routine, holidays were good, but I am glad they are now over for a while!
Debt?! Is there anyone who would really make debts for Christmas?? That sounds unfair… At least it does to me…
I am planning to stay on a budget for the coming months… I love to live a frugal life!
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Never tried this dish, but it does look delicious! 🙂
I am happy to go back to a routine, holidays were good, but I am glad they are now over for a while!
Debt?! Is there anyone who would really make debts for Christmas?? That sounds unfair… At least it does to me…
I am planning to stay on a budget for the coming months… I love to live a frugal life!
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A debt free Christmas here too! Today we had turkey - still love it! I love pigs in blankets too but today I'm as happy as a pig in sh** - having managed to bring our monthly gas DD from £104 (last May) to £39 !
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Us too - no debt here…no daft splurges on chocolates, christmas puddings, faddy foods: no weight gained by either of us as no over eating. I did get a bottle of cream whiskey liqueur and some mulled ginger beer that was very much eked out and enjoyed, and MW enjoyed a few bottles of wine through December. Now into the new year after MW's recent sickness, and really enjoying each other's company…..we also have our Tesco voucher boost meal out to look forward to!
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I adore pigs in blankets.
I feel happy that I haven't ran up debt over Christmas. I love the fact that I even managed to put money in my savings account to pay off the car loan over Christmas! Long may the savings continue.
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No Christmas debt here. I paid cash, kept to my budget, and paid my obligations. I can't believe I paid CASH for the kid's holiday. It's a wonderful feeling. I am glad they are over.
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Froogs, we also have pigs in a blanket over here, across the pond.I think of them as Summer food, cooked over an open fire. We enjoyed our practical, planned for, budgeted for Christmas, had a lovely meal together,all leftovers accounted for, frozen for future meals. No cc debt to worry about, I'm the lady who pays it off every month, racking up “points” which I later convert into cash that I accrue and usually use for laptops. One DS needs one and has an April birthday. Your dinner looks lovely, I adore all sorts of vegetables.
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Just love pigs in blankets! No Christmas debt here either. We're allowed to be a little smug I think 🙂
Dan
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Our December was spend, spend, spend. As we were driving home from our holiday we were discussing the amount of spending we did in December. No need to panic :o)! Our spending was all saved for. We saved for years for the remodels that we are doing and our 25th anniversary trip. The only unexpected spend was the few extra gifts we got for dad at Christmas. Mom passed away this year and we invited him to stay several days with us. We always get them a gift so the only extra was to fill a stocking for him and an extra gift of easy to eat foods for his 2 day trip back to his home. We've been budgeting for decades and have been out of debt for many years. While the spending seemed crazy to us (we are savers, not spenders) we comforted our confused souls knowing it was paid for before the work was even started. Due to the extreme cold my back to work routine has been postponed a few days. I have very much enjoyed the unplanned extra 2 days off. It will be nice to go back to work and the gym later this week, get the weekend off and than a full week starting next week. Pigs in a blanket in the USA are hotdogs or sausages wrapped in a bread dough. They are very yummy and an extremely frugal entrée.
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Can't honestly say I'd ever thought of doing “big” pigs in blankets. Only do the little sausages in bacon at Christmas time. Thanks for the great recipe idea! 🙂
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in the US pigs in a blanket are the tiny cocktail size franks inside a rolled up crescent roll.
No debt at Christmas.
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Pigs in blankets in Canada are sausages in pastry. So very good, but so very fattening. I may have to give the British recipe a try.
No debt here over Christmas. We stay in our budget and have money saved to use doing the holidays. Took a bit of doing, but after 38 years of wedded bliss, we have gotten good at ending the year on a positive note.
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We make pigs and blankets but then my mother is from Yorkshire. No debt from Christmas. However yesterday my car side mirror and indicator disappeared while it was parked. So that is going to make an unexpected hole in my plans.
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No debt here either. We're living on Christmas leftovers and then we will be eating from the freezer and stockpile.
I have already bought a couple of Christmas presents for this year, reduced either in store or online. Buying throughout the year whenever I see a bargain is one way I stay within my budget. I had money left over from the Christmas budget in December and that has now been added to my savings account.
So, not only no debt, but I have savings.
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Pig in a Blanket in the US is any old hotdog wrapped in a store bought whack biscuit and baked in the oven. I have not had one in 30 years.
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I make Pigs in Blankets and cook them in the little oven with a tray of roast vegetables, 1 meal hot and 2 cold i love them each way. No debt low key Christmas and a spend of £1.80 so far this year. keep us on our toes Froogs.
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Wow congrats in the carpet dear..
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Actually not only don't I have debt after christmas, I have more money in my bankaccount than I expected. Must have gotten a bonus or something. I shall investigate. This year I want to take control of my finances in every way . I really want. No more surprises! Thanks for motivating me and showing me the way.
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Just found your blog it us fab. My Husband list is business I am newly self Employed with no profit yet. He has a minimum wage job. We are struggling to pay business debts and personal debts. We spent the absolute minimum we get away with and this month is going to be really tight. I am looking to save money on food shopping and anywhere else we can. We are putting away a small amount each week for Christmas as we can't run up any more debt. I am looking for part time work too. Looking forward to trying some of your ideas. Love pigs in blankets with Swede and potato mash and onion gravy. X Dawn
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Bacon rolls is another cheapy after xmas favourite . I really should read the case price deal at Approved foods weve an awful lot of stuffing
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we have no Christmas debt either , I love getting back to normal and spending as little as possible , since Christmas i have only spent on two days and that was very Small amounts , i still have some pigs in blankets in the freezer left over from the ones i made for Christmas i never thought of making them in to a meal by themselves , that's why i love this blog.
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Mmmm I love little pigs in blankets at Christmas time, didn't think of doing a big version. So pleased that (as we were moving abroad in November) I had all Christmas shopping done earlier in the year from sales, didn't need to buy a thing as a present, didn't have to kit crowded department stores in December either which was a bonus. I also tend to keep gift vouchers if I get them as a present to buy things with for others as I'd rather reuse what I have or buy cheaper brands (unless it's quite specific or from someone close in the family who would want to see what I got myself).
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Pigs in blankets are yummy and I always save some to have at the end of Christmas - we had ours last night with left-over roasties and parsnips from Sunday lunch. Love your attitude to January - might go for a run later today also 🙂
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Like Pam, we have pigs in blankets as a main with roast potatoes and parsnips and like you we often have braised cabbage while the oven in on.
No debt here and only £3.00 spent at the shops since Christmas.
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You are right, I haven't tried pigs in a blanket, but I think I might now 🙂
No debt here from Christmas so all is good. Everything is in place for good year, happy, happy, happy!!!
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Just reading through the comments and I too have to admit that I've never thought of doing pigs in blankets with normal sized sausages. Thanks for the suggestion - this'll go on our menu plan 🙂
No debt here over Christmas either - we specifically said that we were not buying presents or sending cards because, in our minds, time is the best gift you can give, so we invited people over for cakes and cuppas instead. Cakes were courtesy of Approved Food - lovely carrot cake mix from M&S. Yum!
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I made the same mistake with their madras curry kits… I didn't read the bit about them being in packs of five, and i ordered five… that's a hellovalotta curry!!!
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I still have pigs in blankets in the freezer from Christmas. I only plan to but fresh food for January and use up what's in the cupboard & freezer. I do feel a bit lost this January. I've spent the last few Januarys working on my debt clearance plan & shopping around for the best 0% credit card deals. Now I can just concentrate on making my money work better than last year and continuing my frugal journey.
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Debt free here too 🙂 your meals always look so nice . Pigs in blankets are more prized in this house than the actual turkey at Christmas dinner, might give having them as a main course a go I have all the ingredients in the freezer.
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Debt free here, but then I am every year. I am happy to be back to a normal after the Xmas madness, even happier today as we just heard DH has a teaching contract until the end of February and is likely to be kept on after that too. A regular income goes a long way to help when working out a budget.
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Haha I did that with naan breads I ended up with two cases worth- thank goodness the freezer was nearly empty!
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Yep, a debt free Christmas here too. I love this time of year, a fresh new start in everything we do. My Lovely Hubby loves pigs in blankets, must do some large ones for him a really good basis for a meaty meal, thanks for the suggestion.
I made some small ones over Christmas and accidently dropped one on the floor, now I know how much the dog loves pigs in blankets too 🙂
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