Thursday 14 June 2012

Advice needed please...

I have found a recipe for homemade peanut butter,very straightforward apart from the bit where you have to remove the red skin off the nut,Does anyone know any easy way to do it?
I have shelled the monkey nuts but its going to take an age to peal them if i don't find an easier way.

I had a bit of a result today.In the post i had confirmation of my gas and electric going up(after negotiations my gas dd was reduced and my electric increased) so I'm now paying £5 extra a month on both.
Another letter was from the insurance company i have my buildings insurance with,giving me my renewal quote.(its separate from when we lived in a different house whilst repairs were being done) I got a quote for combining which was very good a saving on what i pay now.I then phoned Nat west who i have my contents insurance with to enquiry about either leaving or adding building insurance.Very unhelpful and a fee for leaving(£26) or a fee for adding.
Phoned 1st company back and asked if they could cover the leaving costs and the end result was an either better price £48 a month a saving off about £30.

I know that I'm charged for paying monthly but at the moment that's the only option at the moment.
But all in all a result I'm about £25 a month up now thanks to this reduction.

Its now pouring with rain again( makes a change)
So as i cant do anything in the garden i have been catching up on some blogs one in particular is Sue's
http://ournewlifeinthecountry.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/so-tasty.html
I have gone back to the beginning and its a great read.She has done a few challenges one of which was her spotty jug challenge.She worked out how much she normally spent on groceries got the cash out and anything left over went in her jug to save for her holiday.
Well I'm thinking of doing that.I want to cut back on my grocery spend so I'm going to put £70 in a separate purse and work really hard to reduce it and then any left is going into my saving pot for my woodburner.

So fingers  crossed
until later
x

10 comments:

  1. I wonder if you soaked the nuts in hot water the peel might come off, like getting off the skins of tomatoes. Good luck and well done on your insurance savings.
    Patricia

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  2. We got a woodstove a couple of years ago because our heating bills were so high. We don't have central heating. We used to have two propane fires downstairs which cost us around $1000 per month in the winter (I do mean one thousand!). We removed one fire and replaced it with a woodstove.The bills dropped dramatically because the heat the stove gives off cuts the need for the propane stove we still have.
    It's hard word chopping the wood, and it's dirty but the cost benefit can't be beaten.
    Jane x

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  3. I moved into a house with a woodstove just before Xmas...no central heating, just a Rayburn and a woodstove. I love it! Sometimes I'm a bit chilly and can't be bothered to light it as I'm going to bed in an hour so I put a hoodie on , and remember that we didn't have central heating when I was a kid :-) Think mine came from that place on the A4 just outside Theale. Re peanuts...how about warming some up in the oven and then popping them into a sealed sandwich bag or similar? I think the skins might loosen and come off then if you rubbed them in a teatowel. I'd test this out but I'm afraid I hid all of the peanuts in my tummy:o(

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  4. I make peanut butter and just leave the skins on, but if you roast them first (gas 4 or equivalent for 6-8 mins, turning once) then the skins will rub off more easily, as kittykittyweaselfish suggests.

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  5. I don't know if it's something that would work for you but roasting nuts slightly with no oil or anything usually helps to remove the red skins.

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  6. Thanks for the tip about a new blog to check out. We love our wood stove the only problem is it will run you out of the room it is in! I use a fan to help cool the place down in the winter

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  7. Yep, heating them in the oven and then rubbing them in a clean tea towel works for me.

    I wondered why there were some readers of that particular page yesterday!! :-)

    Thanks for linking to me. My stats have gone amazing in the last few months with over 22,000 folk reading the blog last month alone. Wow!!

    Let us know how your peanut butter turns out.

    Sue xx

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    Replies
    1. Peanut butter is nice,it tastes so different ,nuttier and not as sweet.
      x

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  8. You would need to stay away from tesco lol can you do it????!! Im sure you can x

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    Replies
    1. That would be hard,,I cant resist a glitch...
      x

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