Hello Dear Reader,

As promised, the heatwave hit us. At the hottest, my garden was 38 degrees in the shade. I stopped working outside at 10.30 this morning and found plenty to do inside. I’ve sanded down all the wood work (door frames, skirting boards, window sills) in the utility rooms and have under coated and glossed all of those surfaces. We’ve also put a coat of white emulsion on the utility room walls. So far, we haven’t bought any decorating supplies and we’re just using what we have. It’s now a quarter to eight in the evening and just cool enough to go back out in the garden again. (I burn in SPF50 so I don’t chance it). We’ve also touched up any bits of paint work that needed it and we’ll keep going like this as the house is being photographed for the website and brochure next week.

I’ve also done the stock take and put a menu plan together. Part of me wants to go to the butchers and buy a chicken but the sensible bit knows there is food here that needs eating. I did buy two tins of braised steak in gravy from Poundland and yes, they were £1 each. I make Poundland pie by cooking some frozen mixed beg in the microwave, chopping a tin of potatoes and a tin of braised steak and using that as a pie filling. The pie will stretch to four meals and will cost about £2 altogether. It’s about the only meat that some people can afford. Even a tin of corned beef costs at least £1.50 now. If any of you go to Lidl, they have lots of tinned herrings in a variety of sauces. The herrings are fine but the sauces are an acquired taste and much better mixed with mashed potato and formed into fish cakes.

I’m on Radio Cornwall tomorrow, I’ll also bring up the Great British Budget Menu and how people are really struggling to feed themselves. I’m going to talk about austerity cooking with some menu ideas, some budgeting ideas and hopefully will read out some of your emails. It would be great to hear from readers ‘down under’, ‘across the pond’ and in mainland Europe. How do you cope with the rising costs of food and how are you stretching every pound/dollar or euro? I’ve not yet heard from anyone in Greece or Portugal when austerity is causing grievous hardships. Let’s share our thrifty recipes to the world.

I’ll put the listen again link up - please email [email protected] with anything you want to share about frugal food and healthy eating on a tiny budget. You can also phone the show whilst on air on 01872 22 22 22. It would be great if you phoned in or emailed in with your opinions of the muted idea of no packed lunches and how that will affect your family budget or the lack of cooking skills and how these can be addressed!

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xx