A big shop and giant cauliflower

 I think the older I get, the more I hate shopping.  I know I could do it online and have it delivered but I hate doing that as well, and you can't get to look at and choose your own fruit and veg, or easily pick out substitutes of things they don't have.  Nor can you get any yellow stickered things online - I got several packs of meat and fish things yesterday that were yellow stickered, saving me over £14, it all went straight in the freezer.  It was a big shop, we used a big trolley rather than the smaller one we usually use, I definitely won't need anything other than a couple of top up shops for fresh veg and fruit for the next month, we're well stocked in the (admittedly unlikely) event of being snowed in for a month 😂.  So my job for this morning is to do another freezer and larder inventory, and lunch/dinner menus for a month.  

Sometime over the next few days, I want to do some batch cooking of meals for both us and the dog....I got 2 packs of reduced chicken mince to cook up with veggies and brown rice for Betty, and reduced pork mince, diced chicken and cod for us.  I also got a ginormous cauliflower, an extra large one because they looked nice and fresh whereas the normal sized ones had very droopy leaves and were going a bit off colour, they'd obviously been there a while.  We like the leaves of fresh cauli lightly cooked as an extra veg, so I always try to get one that's got nice leaves.  The cauli will make around 8 portions of cauli cheese, even more if I add macaroni to it as well.  Cauli cheese, with or without macaroni, is one of my favourite meals, especially with a jacket spud.  I've got a few apples that need using up quickly, I bought Cox's a week or so ago, they're generally one of my favourites but these ones must have been in storage for a while, instead of being crisp, juicy and flavourful, they're soft and powdery, not nice to eat as they are but will be fine in a crumble.

We were forecast sunny spells yesterday but they didn't materialise, just the unrelenting cold greyness again.  Once again, the local forecaster on the TV said it's colder than average, it should be around 8 or 9 degrees this time of year but is only about 4, and feels even colder than that with the bitter wind.  They do say it should be sunnier and getting warmer - up to 11 deg wow! - from the middle of next week.  We can but hope.

I've just found out (I saw something online) that I'm now eligible for the shingles vaccine, as I'm now 65 - apparently I should have been offered it by our surgery but I've not heard from them yet.  I might ring and ask about it.  We know a few people who've had shingles and they all say it's horrible, really painful.  Husband had his jab a few years ago.