Breakfast for 10 and Change from a Tenner

BREAKFAST FOR 10

It's Scotland, it's cold, it's wet, it's windy, it's a PORRIDGE BREAKFAST DAY!

Porridge oats currently cost around £1 per kilo retail and one kilo is supposed to make approximately 22.22 portions (weird number) if you follow the guidelines for a 'recommended serving'. I don't, I use 50g. Besides, if we all stick with the 'recommended serving' of just 45g, there's nothing to deter the companies from reducing the weight of their kilo bags to 990g and still charging us £1.00! I AM WATCHING FOR THAT!

I'm very cynical about recommended serving sizes, as these, in my opinion, cannot possibly be true; there are far too many different lifestyles to cover for anyone to make such a generalisation with regards to calorific intake. You're still going to get fat if you eat more than you burn and you're going to starve yourself to death if you follow the recommended 2,000 or 2,500 per day when your daily lifestyle is burning up over 3,000+ calories!

But back to the porridge breakfast...

Per person

1 x small cup (~50g) of porridge oats
2.5 x small cups of water
Good pinch of salt

I cook mine in the microwave, takes only about 6 minutes, but this timing will depend on how powerful your microwave is. Don't forget to stir the porridge halfway through and let it stand for a minute before serving.

Serve with a little milk and a sprinkle of sugar (if prefered).

Allowing 8p for the salt, milk and sugar, this amounts to approximately 18p per serving in grocery costs.

My microwave is a 700w. A 5 minute blast with this costs approx 1p, so the REAL cost of a bowl of wholesome, homemade porridge is only 19p.

If you have a handful of dried fruit with this, rather than sugar, you can easily add on another 10p, so maybe best save the fruit for a mid-morning snack if your budget is tight.

So there you have it: you can feed 10 people a warm and filling breakfast for less than £2. If you just happened to be charging them £1 each for the luxury of having their breakfast made and provided for them, that's shown a profit of over 400%

Would you pay £1 for a bowl of freshly made porridge?  Or perhaps you already have, if you've paid 99p for one of those boil the kettle and 'just add boiling water' concoctions that the supermarkets now sell. (And they're only 48g including whatever additives they may use,)

Shona Prophett
www.shonaprophett.co.uk

Rey Nacarado Entered at Warwick on 24th February 2012

I've had a quick look at the entries and the 3.45 looks like an interesting race at Warwick this Friday, with several of the runners having competed alongside Giles Cross in the past. Several, indeed, pulled up during the National trial at Haydock at the weekend, so they all know what they need to beat.

Of those entered, Rey has already come up against the following:

• Pacco, whom he beat by 10 lengths at Plumpton in December 2010, 3m2f, good to soft
• Giles Cross, winner beating Rey Nacarado by 1.75 lengths at Fontwell in November 2011, 3m4f, soft
• Fortification, 3rd to Giles Cross & Rey Nacarado in above, slow-run race, where Pacco was a faller
• Leading Contender, ran third to Rey Nacarado's win at Newbury in December 2011, 3m2.5f, soft 
• Fort View, ran fourth to Rey Nacarado in above slow run race 
• Giles Cross won the National Trial at Haydock on Saturday where the following Ludlow entries also ran: Micko De Beauchene (Pulled Up) and Fredo (Pulled Up)
• Wild Receiver is a stablemate of Rey Nacarado, so the trainer should know how this pair compare at home.

Trainer Charlie Longsdon has managed to bring home a couple of winners over the past two weeks, so let's hope his horses are performing well by Friday.

For this outing, assuming he runs, Rey Nacarado will carry 11st 7lbs. His stablemate, Wild Receiver,  is also entered - he won his last race easing down after making all in the Clugston Lincolnshire National (Handicap Chase) on December 31st 2011. Not too sure what to make of this, as Wild Receiver does have a tendancy to charge ahead as a front runner and can stay there, assuming he doesn't jump himself into trouble. Seems a bit of a quirky character, whose race on Friday might give clues to the overall plan for Rey Nacarado. He is, however, also entered at Sandown the same day.

Wild Receiver is not alone, as all of the following Warwick entries are also entered at Sandown:

1. Ballyvessey
2. Bench Warrent
3. Chapolimoss
4. Cotswald Charmer
5. Fort View
6. Inga Bird
7. Mid Div and Creep
8. Pacco
9. Sandhurst

Let's await the final declarations before jumping to any conclusions and trying to assess the chances of Rey Nacarado.

Shona Prophett
http://www.shonaprophett.co.uk

Shona Prophett on Racing

After a bit of a break away, I'm now back on track and raring to go but first, I'd like to include a little story here based on a topic that I find rather interesting - that of the glorious world of horseracing.

Tomorrow, Saturday 18th February at 3.20pm, Haydock will see the running of the Betfred Grand National Trial (Handicap Chase) Grade 3 (CLASS 1). It will be shown live on Channel Four but I suspect I won't make it home in time to see it, so I decided to write this blog post now, to give new readers an understanding into how my brain works, as far as horseracing goes, anyway. I don't study form, nor am I much of a hardened gambler. Heaven forbid anyone mistakes what I say for tips, for they never are - they are mere observations.

I'm intrigued by a horse in tomorrow's National Trial - REY NACARADO - who seems like the perfect candidate for my ramblings. Indeed, I have rambled endlessly about him already, so I'll extend my apologies to anyone reading this who is already bored with the topic. But I assure you, it is looking like a classic example of how I see the entire National Hunt racing game.

I'll refer to the horse as Rey, because the Nacarado part of his name makes me think of broken down old nags and that's certainly not what I think of this horse.

Rey is an Irish thoroughbred, foaled on 20th May 2005. I suspect he was bred to win and reared in a fitting way, as his preparation work with regards to hunting (no boos please, we all know it's banned, but horses still need to run and jump and National Hunt racing won't change its name for anyone I can think of at the moment.) Anyhow, this 2005 bay colt is now a 7 year-old gelding who had his first run as a 4 year-old at Limavady in a 3 mile Point to Point, which he won without too much of a problem.

Not being a true fan of following form, I'm more of a pedigree person, so let's take a look at that, first. Rey is by a stallion named Posidonas, out of a mare named Ice Pearl, who was sired by Flatbush. Posidonas's grand sire (male line) was the great Slip Anchor by Shirley Heights who, of course, was sired by the famous Mill Reef, so there's some Classic blood in there.

But what about Ice pearl? Well, the 'pearl' part of her name may give some of you some clues... she's also the dam of Florida Pearl.

Rey cost £30,000 when purchasd through the Cheltenham 'Stars of the Future' sale in November 2009. He has already won that back over the past 2 years, but he's still about a quarter of a million pounds short of his half-brother's career earnings.

This is now year three and training fees can easily cost £12,000 per year, so Rey needs to start clocking up prize money at a rate of at least £1,000 per month. All going to plan, I can't see this being too much of a problem. His races would appear to have been carefully chosen, showing, for me, that he may have a preference for left handed tracks.

After a lacklustre start, the horse found his distance and settled well into his career, gradually improving. I really do see a great career ahead and a future National potential here.

Rey finished second to Giles Cross in November and I suspect his run in the Haydock National Trial is a bit of a test, so they know exactly what they're up against in the future.

This is just the way I look at horses - assuming Rey keeps safe, he's my watch of the future and I wish him and his trainer every success. He's certainly worthy of Shona Prophett.

Shona Prophett

Edited in post-race:

Despite his being pulled up, I am not disappointed in the results of today's trial. On the contrary, I'm delighted to see Giles Cross take the race.

I'll be watching out for Rey if he gets the run on Friday 24th February, as he is entered in the 3.45 at Warwick. Perhaps trainer Charlie Longsdon wants to make a real fun-filled day of it?

The Frugal Living Challenge Just Got Even More Interesting

Frugal Frivolity in the Name of Financial Fun

It's now almost mid-February and we're 6 weeks into the 2012 frugal living challenge. As explained in the appropriate forums, the part I play in all of this is to try to raise whatever extra finance is needed in order to have a bit of fun, over and above the fun of frugal living that keeps us debt and mortgage free while pursuing a fairly good life.

The next stage of my particular challenge is about to begin - playing with the savings in the hope they attract a little more than they can generate in interest!

Basing this experiment, once again, on £600 over the period of one year, it equates to £50 per month, or approximately £11.50 per week. For all you smokers out there, that's 40 cheap cigarettes a week and for all you drinkers, that's only about a dozen decent cans or a bottle go cheap spirits and possibly a mixer.

For the purposes of boring security, the first £100  is banked and another 2 months' money secured by way of Premium Bonds - always safest to safeguard at least one third of your income for future emergecies, I say. In the original trial of this challenge, in 2006, the money was allocated as follows:

• £100 into a high interest savings account
• £100 into premium bonds
• £100 on lotto tickets
• £100 on scratch cards
• £100 on sports bets (horse racing)
• £100 on shares

Owing to all the changes that have occured over the past six years, high iterest is no longer available and online shares trading is almost impossible on such small amounts owing to the free trading opportunities having disappeared - please correct me if I'm wrong and you know of any sites offering completely free trading or banks offering more than 5% interest on small sums of money.

This year it's a free for all - I can do as I please with the remaining £400, so who can afford to join me in this wacky challenge? It is completely separate from the business money-making ventures, this is purely for fun and should be looked upon as a hobby.

Shona Prophett

Teaching Money Matters in Schools - WHY?

Home Economics + Basic Arithmetic = Good Kousekeeping!

I've been watching the recent news and developments with regards to the petitions that are floating around the place. They are plying us with reasons to pledge our support to their cause, asking us to help bring money matters into schools as part of our basic education system. To be frank, I just don't get it!

School is a place for children learning the basics needed for their future adult lives, isn't it? These lessons are simple, they establish an elementary understanding of subjects that are important to everyone during future careers, regardless of what that career may or may not be. We can choose to listen and learn or we can tolerate these 'lessons' up until the point we have the freedom of choice to leave school and learn in another capacity - through life itself.

Some may see school simply as a place where children get sent during the day so they aren't wandering the streets with nothing better to do, biding their time until they are old enough to earn. School, like nursery, could even be seen as a place where children go so their parents can carry out activities other than childcare, like earning an income or anything else they see fit to do in the absence of their offspring.

Whatever any of us thinks of school, it is our right to have a basic education and our duty to provide similar for future generations. But it is not our duty to accept responsibility for the bad spending habits of others. We each receive a basic understanding of reading, writing and arithmetic, along with the simple concept of economics, be they home or otherwise, so common sense should prevail. But it doesn't!

Those who should know more than us have burdened this society with false beliefs that we should all be classed as equals, that we should all be able to partake of a decent meal, own designer labels, buy the most up to date gadgetry and possess all manner of luxury items. We should all be able to afford hobbies, pastimes and holidays, convenience and luxury should be readily available, en masse.

They led us to believe that we could all own our own homes and have the basic skills necessary to turn us into entrepreneurs or even just start our own businesses. But they overlooked one fundamental flaw in the plan - the fact that money is not a living entity. It cannot grow naturally, it cannot adapt to its surroundings and it cannot learn right from wrong. It is nothing more than paper, plastic and metal developed, manufactured and controlled by the chosen few who, to their disgrace, have been unable to balance the nations' books.

The concept is simple - take one pile of money, divide it be any number to whom you see fit to lend, then sit back and watch them pay dividends, by way of interest. If those payments fail, charge even more, add on penalties and drive the borrowers further into debt. Offer an array of incentives and promises of a better future, more security, better choices and the potential to feel good and then sit back, watch the borrowers borrow more and spend more, lining the pockets of the chosen few or those who chose to become one of them by sheer grit and determination. They all seem to have one thing in common - a total disregard for others when things, not surprisigly, go wrong. But there are always the get out clauses of insolvency and bankruptcy!

This continual building of debt has now escalated to such a height that even they cannot fathom out an agreeable method to stopping it, let alone putting it right. Their solutions are to print more money, cut back on what they think is 'unneccessary' spending and make it ven more difficult for 'normal' people to build real, reputable businesses that can grow to prosper and employ others.

They price ordinary people out of the market with legislation governing maternity pay, paternity pay, pension schemes, insurances, restricted working hours and minimum wage thresholds, then sit back and await the next emergency move.

But where do they go when all the previous options fail? They need to cast blame further and wider, so now we see the blame being laid on the children... If the youth of today and the common people had learned more, this may never have happened.

Well that is bullshit!

Those who dragged this nation to its proverbial knees were the very people who allegedly benefited from extra education. All their accumulated wealth of wisdom and expertise led us to where we are now, watching and waiting for the next global catastrophe that can quickly be assigned a few billion that adds to the amassed debt. They need huge tragedies, wars and disasters, so future generations can look back on history and point the finger of blame in any direction except that which is true. Nobody appears to have shoulders broad enough to support the burden of controlling what really cannot be controlled, so let's start again - educate the young.

To whom should we look for this teaching?

How and why are the current teaching methods allegedly failing us so badly?

Controlling a company, household or personal budget is nothing more than a combination of basic arithmetic and home economics, so why are so many people so bad at it?

Why isn't a closer look being taken at the education system itself?

Why are teachers failing to teach the basic principles of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division?

Why are parents failing to teach their children the basic skills necessary for survival in a capitalist society?

Is it not possible that some form of brainwashing has swept through our entire Western civilisatio, engulfing an entire generation, and that generation is not the youth of today! Nor even is it their parents' nor their grand parents' generations.

There has always been poverty, unrest, unfair division and class differences. YES! I dare to suggest that we still live within a 'Class' system and I dare to deny the existence of this so-called 'classless society' or equality that was dreamt up by some 'numpty' who thought the only way to cast off blame from those who should have known better, would be to invite society's minions into their lifestyle of wanton greed and waste - offer them more credit, hold them down by debt, if they come out fighting, let them take the blame when it all goes wrong.

So, I guess what I am trying to say here is that, in my humble opinion, people won't learn lessons that they don't want to learn, even if it is taught in schools. Brainwashing is everywhere - it's called advertising! Unless we ignore all of that and accept that debt is caused by spending more than we have, then what gets taught in our schools matters not one jot.

It is up to us, as idividuals, to challenge ourselves to live within our means and if speculative investments need to be made, have a back up plan in the event you don't quite pull it off in time.

Shona Prophett
www.shonaprophett.co.uk

British WW2 Veterans Attending Service of Remembrance at Kanchanaburi and Chungkai Cemetaries.

British WW2 Veterans Attending Service of Remembrance at Kanchanaburi and Chungkai Cemetaries.

How Much Do You Spend on the Feelgood Factor?

Health and Beauty: The Price We Are Willing to Pay

Recently, a conversation arose about cosmetic surgery and the amount of money some people spend in order to 'go under the knife' for whatever it was they wanted done.

I know people who have had nose jobs, 'surgical enhancements', gastric bands, porcelain teeth and someone, who shall remain nameless, who went on holiday specifically to have a facelift. These people didn't mind what it cost, they simply wanted it done because they felt there was a need for it and that it would benefit them.

So, this post is not about the pros and cons of what people will do in the name of vanity, because we are all guilty of it to a certain level. This is about how far people will go in order to afford something they want, when they want it, and the best ways of ensuring that it is within your means.

For some, this might mean a trip to the local hairdresser, beautician, spray tanning studio or spa, for others it's alternative or complimentary 'therapies', such as relaxation, meditation, reflexology, or hypnotism.

Some people choose to follow diet plans, paying others to tell them how, what and when to eat, using all manner of reasons for why they choose to do so. Or perhaps you pay a monthly membership fee to the gym, fitness centre or health club.

Let's face it, these payments go out on a regular basis over many months, sometimes years, paid by thousands upon thousands of individuals. These are very lucrative businesses that feed on the human desire to look and feel better about ourselves. They are feeding our needs, perceived or otherwise.

But what if you had the option to take a short cut and the money to afford it? There are some who will do whatever it takes to follow the quickest, most convenient route and some who can afford to throw a chunk of money at a cosmetic surgeon, looking upon it as an investment into their longterm well-being.

How far would you go in the name of vanity, sanity and the feelgood factor? Would you look for the best deals? Would you plan ahead and save or would you borrow the money and pay it back later? For many, sadly, their only option is to accept a prescription for 'happy pills' in the hope that they mask their inner feelings of need or despair.

Facelift
Tummy tuck
Liposuction
Lip augmentation
Cheek implants
Breast enhancement or reduction
Nose job
Cosmetic dental work
Eye bag removal
Lap band / Gastric band

I've checked out the prices for cosmetic surgery, including many of the above, and do you know what? None of them came anywhere close to what it costs to keep a racehorse in training for a single year!
To begin with, this post was written with an entirely different 'slant', as I have never been a fan of any form of pain in the name of beauty.

But the more people I have spoken to and the more I step back and look at it from an ever-widening angle, I can see the point. I can see why X wanted her facial birthmark removed and nose straightened, I can even see why Y so felt the need to pay the price of a 'holiday', returning home with his face in bandages. I can understand the personal decision to have a gastric band fitted, as all of these things can be seen as lifelines to 'better' lives. Growing old, fat or wrinkled certainly isn't easy.
We are constantly falling foul of the ravages of time - Old Man Time and Mother Nature, as a couple, make one mighty force against which no human can fight. If we can't feel good about ourselves then we might as well all give up now, because there is the possibility of living a long life and we can't cast that fact aside if we are already feeling negative about ourselves.

The quest for rejuvenation and a halt to the ageing processes are all around us, yet we seldom stop to consider how incremental each small step of the way really is... and we're all walkiing the same path. We're all heading over the same hill once we've reached the top.

Some people need a psychological crutch to help them make their inevitable, incredible journey through life, while others need something more tangible and obvious.

To be honest, I was stunned by my own previous lack of understanding and ignorant misconceptions, I'm embarrased to admit that I was one of those people who once tutted and shook my head at the mere suggestion of such extreme measures that involve risk-taking, surgical intervention and long-lasting consequences.

That was until I took those few steps back and really looked at the full picture.

How much will you spend during your lifetime in order to feel better about your own life? Even if it's 20 cigarettes, some crisps, cakes, chocolate, alcohol or weekends out socialising, it all adds up and we all spend that money somewhere along the line.

We need to feel good about something, we need to generate some positive energy in our lives and we need to allow ourselves to open up and embrace new ideas, concepts and possibilities that we may never have previously considered.

No, I am not considering undergoing any form of cosmetic surgery, but once I had allowed myself to absorb objective information and opened myself up to the idea that it is not all 'bad', I was amazed at the list I had mentally drawn up for some reconstructive bodywork!

Have your say here or in our Health and Beauty forum. All comments appreciated.
Shona Prophett / NYK Media
www.scottishmultimedia.co.uk