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Occasionally grumpy 70-something (though I still feel 40! Or maybe 50!!)
Long-term interest in health and weight control on a budget, converted to this blog in 2015. Now producing digital and printed books (slowly).
Digital & Android versions of cookbook Fabulously Frugal from 67goingon50 are now on sale at Apple Books and Lulu Bookstore. (Details here.). Print version is underway.
The blog 67goingon50 has never had a paywall.
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3 December: Christmas Biscuits from the Archive: Easy-Peasy & Freeze Ahead
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| Sensational texture; halve the size for double the amount |
Easy Festive Cookies 2025, Archive favourites: glorious choice of freezable doughs to slice from the freezer as needed OR simple but tantalizing cookies to bake for now
Back again...
Thank you for being so patient. The print version of the cookbook Fabulously Frugal, now renamed Wallet Friendly Wonders from 67goingon50 has finally been submitted to the publishers. The proof copy has been ordered and once checked will - hopefully - hit the bookshelves of Lulu soon.
Details in due course.
Meanwhile the countdown to Christmas continues.
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PRICES: Please note some of the recipes posted during the life of the blog have not yet been updated and PRICES WILL BE HISTORICAL. Note the date the recipe was posted and calculate accordingly. Generally, the newer the recipe (see top left hand corner above photo) the closer the cost will be to current prices...though with some products showing rises again (end May 2025), one can never be sure!!
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67goingon50's Bargains/Treats in North London: (depends on availability).
APPEARING ALTERNATE WEDNESDAYS when supermarkets update their offerings. NEXT: 3 December
- M&S: Walking into M&S Pond Street in Hampstead on Wednesday was like walking into Santa's Dining Room. It's easy to be mesmerised by so many great products designed to make life easier for chef/cook -- cranberry sauces, ready made gravies, roast potato spices, stuffings, sausage rolls (meat & veggie), prepped sprouts, main course already-seasoned meat roasts; trays of cooked and/or cured meats; organic smoked salmon and trout, easy-peel oranges -- everything necessary for the big day, before and after. Christmas special on bacon with or without nitrates, smoked or maple cure, pork or vegetarian, streaky or rashers are 2 for £6.50, from £4.25 each; variety of pork & vegetarian sausage rolls 2 for £6.15 normally £4.25 each. Few items in store sported the reported mind-boggling prices but plenty of 3-for-specials: a variety of party foods which all bake at the same temperature, Picky Bits (a wide selection of olives & Super Dips like 67 favourite Salmon & Dill Cream Cheese) plus various varieties of hummous, taramasalata and avocado spreads -- with pleasing savings. The number of different Christmas themed crisps, all reasonably priced, was surprising. As was the varieties of tinned Christmas cookies. If you were just looking for the usual everyday M&S specials, however, you won't be disapppointed. Take your pick of Dine-in Pizza, Indian Food, Chinese food (with a new Soy Vinegar Pro Rib Rack £13.25 and Slow Cooked Black Pepper Beef £10.50). A new Dine In category - Winter Warmers - of one main and 2 sides features Chicken Chasseur, Tomahawk British Pork & Lamb Shoulder alongside chips or mash & various veg. Plenty of Oakham Gold large (1.6k) chickens £9.50 for freezing or replacing turkey. New also are generous tubs of natural nuts, mixed or single (cashews,almonds); mixed seeds; dried fruit (a medley or single fruit) ranging in price from nearly £4 to £12. There's a good selection of meals for one such as Fish Ragu and Italian Ricotta Tortelini at £6.75 each. Other bargains: baked beans (for toast) 45p; Raspberry cheesecake cookie £1.05 from £2.10; Cheese & Onion rolls £1.95 from £3.90. None of these choices even begin to take into account festive cakes, stollen and mince pies. One could go on; instead I urge you to leave plenty of time for gawking when you next pop into Pond Street!
- Waitrose: Lots of seasonal and general bargains. Christmas specials: classic & lemoncello fizz panettones, £8 each from £12; Jewel fruitcake 20% off at £6.40 from £8; Sensation crisps, £1.50 down from £2.50; also good bargains on Pringles and Doritos. Very pretty Christmas tree shaped sushi platter with generous portions, £15; special on Cherrywood smoke Scotia salmon, 25% off hickory smoked salmon - see price on pack. Chocolate: large 340g Toblerone £5.50 from £8.50; 300g Ferrero Roché £8.50 from £12.50; Tony's choccalony, various flavours, £3 from £4. General Grocery: Baxters favourite soups 20% off; Branston Original Pickle 720g, £2.75 down from £3.50; Rude Healthplant milks are £1.80 from £2.40; Lurpak spreadable £3.25 down from £5; Flora buttery spread £1.75, from £2.80; Clover £1.95 from £2.75. Davidstow Cheddars are 25% off ticket price; three for £8 deli offers include olives, Sunblush tomatoes, vine leaves, grilled veg, artichoke; dips 2 for £2.50, normally £1.95 each. Fage 950g 2% yoghurt, £4.95 from £5.80 Good Coffee buys: Gold blend Nescafe £6.25 from £8.35, Gold blend Columbia £4.75 from £5.90; Waitrose number one ground coffee, two for £8.50, regular price £4.75 each. Baking: 20% off Dove's organic flour - chickpea, £1.90 from £2.40 & oat flour £3.35 from £4.20. Specials on good sized bars cooking chocolate: Menier milk and dark, 20% off at £2.25 from £2.90; Lindt intense and smooth, £3.85 from £4.75; coloured ready-to-roll icing £3.50 from £3.95. Kosher: Mr Freeds falafels are £1.80 from £2.30; potato latkes 20% off at £1.75; deli meats now include traditional salt beef, £7.50 per 170g. Fresh veg reductions: Celery, large fennel, Romano peppers, cherry tomatoes; 2 for £4 fruits include black and green grapes, best of British apples, cantaloupe and Gia melon; blueberries are £2.80 from £3.50: Foodie gifts: Glennfiddick, single scotch whiskey gift selection £12.50 from £15, Ottolenghi pantry gift box with microplane grater £20 from £25; Bellazu extra-virgin olive oil, with pourer, £24 from £30. Health & Beauty Specials include discounts on Nivea, Neutrogena, Palmer & Faith in Nature creams; also selected lip balms. Nivea Skin care for men is half price; Gillette blades are 20% off; Rock Face products are 25% off
- Recent health posts from Twitter/X (b lee @BrightSunEnter1)
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Note: Print version of WALLET-FRIENDLY WONDERS FROM 67GOINGON50 is on the final stretch after technical problems not of the blogger's making! Watch this space!I
For more details of the FABULOUSLY FRUGAL FROM 67GOINGON50 COOKBOOK including what it offers, how it helps ease the cost of living crisis, reviews and links, go here
Buy:IOS/Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/fabulously-frugal-from-67goingon50/id6443309798 £5.99
ANDROID/ everyone else: https://www.lulu.com/shop/bonita-lee/fabulously-frugal-from-67goingon50/ebook/product-mjdmvk.html?page=1&pageSize=4 £6.99
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A small doglover's dream:
hand-knitted postboxcover in Belsize Park
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updated Jan 2023
I am in my 70's but don't look or feel it. Strangers are surprised by my age. I'v'e had a lifetime to study good health and now achieve it (with lapses) on a small budget.
I'm shy and don't like having my picture taken but one taken recently is at the top of this page. See also Testimonials page from people who know or have met me, and About Me on the Navigation Bar above.
67 GOING ON 50
Many but not all recipes were originally created for age-specific ailments (heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, overweight) but are now targeted at the entire age range, to help prevent the onset of such afflictions. Some recipes are family-friendly, some for hard-working professionals, some for small households. Others are aimed at more sophisticated tastes. It's a blog for anyone interested in healthy eating.
Recipes include 'skinny' versions of much loved 'dirty' dishes. Many incorporate cooking techniques gleaned over a decade as a contract chef, making life easy for the busy home cook. Look out for easy-peasy, almost-instant or prepare ahead recipes.
The blog works on the principle that one indulgence-day a week is the only way to achieve success in eating healthily; thus you will find recipes for cakes & cookies (often modified to reduce sugar and fat) and the occasional dig-deep-in-the-pockets crowd-pleaser.
The blog grew out of the long-held notion that healthy eating can be available to everyone, whatever your age or income. I knew from personal experience that it is possible to age gracefully and to fend off, or reduce the effects of, various ailments which afflict the old.
Worries about the NHS we're also a factor. What seems an eternity ago, 67goingon50 believed that if we take responsibility for improving our own health, there should be less pressure on the NHS.
Since then, there's been a seismic shift in the landscape. Somehow the concept of the NHS being responsible for the care of people suffering from ill-health has shifted to doctors' representatives demanding we put them ahead of patients. And that strikes for huge salary rises, now, are justified.
It's all rather astonishing, and serves to emphasise even more how important it is for individuals and families to take the necessary steps to become...and stay...as healthy as possible.
You want to be able to fend off chronic ailments that afflict the old, and if that's not possible then to reduce the effects of them.
No one wants to spend years in pain or dependent on medical drugs. No one wants to wait eons for operations or treatment for life-threatening conditions.
You must do everything you can...NOW whatever the ages of those closest to you...to boost health and immunity through diet, exercise and good emotional and mental health.
Hopefully, 67goingon50 can help in that effort.
Concept to Action
A lunch club was formed in one of the unhealthiest areas of London, providing free healthy meals for a group including non-English-speaking housewives and the home-bound. The Blogger was the volunteer chef, cooking meals while passing on a few principles of healthy cooking.
The idea was developed with West Euston Partnership in London, then moved under the umbrella of Well London. It was funded by the National Lottery, with a small grant from Morrisons.
Everyone was astonished at how easy it was to eat well on a limited income. I proved my point: it is possible to live a healthy lifestyle on a tight budget. However, despite its success, the venture did not end well.
BACKGROUND
The blogger worked as a contract chef at posh banquets and events, City canteens and directors’ dining rooms, on Army bases and in little one-chef kitchens.
If anything has been learned about encouraging healthy eating, it is that everyone wants to do it but they’re simply not interested in boring food. They want something that excites the taste buds, satisfies the appetite and looks great on a plate. And they don’t want to spend the earth.
Increasingly, in a backlash against industrial meat production, they also want to cut back on meat or even go vegetarian or vegan.
The blogger is a die-hard flexitarian - eating a range of foods but of the best quality possible taking into account the budget - and that's what this blog offers. And judging from an increasing global audience, the recipes are welcomed.
For health reasons, the blogger relies on as a high a proportion of organic food as budget allows. However the blog recognises that organic food is out of the reach of most people, especially those on limited incomes, and recommends only that shoppers buy the best food they can afford as and when they can afford it. And not to feel guilty when they can't.
The blog's section on frugal food (see Navigation Bar/Recipes II), is popular with pensioners and students. Two invaluable posts for those on low (or high) incomes are:
Eating Healthily on very low budgets from Jack Monroe
The blog also also offers practical advice on subjects such as reducing grocery bills, budgeting, low-cost exercise and freezer storage - all validated by personal experience.
POSTING
The blog hopes to continues to post a maximum 4 recipes a week during the lull between cookbooks. The first cookbook, Fabulously Frugal, is finished and currently on sale at Apple Books. An Android version is available at Lulu Books. Go to the top of the page for details of the book, a few early reviews and a link.
A second bookbook, Dieters' Delights, is in the final planning stages. Once that is underway a minimum of one, usually two, new recipes will post every week.
The Welcome to the Blog page continues, as does 'By the way' which includes interesting developments in foods and eateries, plus recent Twitter posts on b lee@BrightSunEnter1. (The account gets hacked; best not to follow it but check in weekly.)
The blog's recipes are aimed at its global audience, which includes families with kids, pensioners/twosomes, busy singletons, and senior executives with sophisticated palates.
The first post lands at 00:01 UK time on Wednesdays; other recipes may post on the weekend. Sometimes everything is posted on Wednesday.
67goingon50 posts on Twitter as BrightSunEnter1.
FORMAT
At the top of each page, underneath the title and strap-line ‘Recipes and Tips for Great Health and Graceful Ageing Whatever Your Age or Income’ is a Navigation Bar. Click on the following sections and it will go direct to the page:
Welcome to the Blog
A brief round-up of what’s being offered in the week’s post including items of interest such as grocery and shopping bargains.
Home
1-4 Recipes, with photos, on a single page
Recipes
One big rule for recipes: the dishes have to taste good. It doesn't matter how healthy it is; if it doesn't appeal, it won't get posted. That includes vegetarian and vegan food -- if carnivores won't eat it, it's out. 67 has two perfect tasters for veggie/vegan food - a 'food is fuel' previously die-hard carnivore and some macho independent butchers.
The recipes are divided into various categories e.g. frugal, easy-peasy, fruit-based desserts, lamb, fish, vegetarian/vegan, free of common wheat etc. The recipes section is divided into two pages for ease of reference.
How to…
A treasure trove of practical information including Healthy Eating: Principles; Exercise on a Budget; Cutting Shopping Bills; Feeding Kids; Medical (eg Statins, Stress); the Sick Bed (incl. cold & flu remedies); healthier baking, processed foods, pulses, slow cookers and 'No, we are not all gonna die if we have a bit of sugar or bacon!'.
About Me
A little more information about the Blogger’s health
Testimonials
...from those who know or have met me
COSTING
Calculated according to amount used, e.g. 2 eggs NOT half a dozen eggs. Prices are normal supermarket prices, not organic, although egg prices are free-range. Please check the date of the recipe; 67 tries to keep up to date with prices but they seem to change every week!!
PORTIONS
67goingon50 is obsessive about smaller portions. We don't need as much protein as we think we do. (See How to...calculate Daily Protein needs) And we definitely don't need as many sweets as we would like. 67 believes we often only taste the first few bites of any food anyway. The only things you should be having large portions of are salads (with dressings that don't go overboard), vegetables, fruit.
PRODUCTS
It's a minefield out there in the supermarkets; some products are definitely inferior to others. 67goingon50 marks its chosen products with a* and the source and price are indicated below Tips.
COMMENTS & FEEDBACK
67goingon50 welcomes feedback. Go to the bottom of the recipe page to the Comments box and type in questions or comments.
Thanks to Dan Patterson and Christopher Alley for technical assisatance
DISCLAIMER: The author accepts no liability for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.
The list of the top ten foods to buy organic comes in handy when I go shopping. In the summer, we support our local farmers and we have to buy the products, and it's very useful to our health and mainly organicorganic food is very important to our kids and old age peoples.
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