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Flying gleefully into 2009 - One Fresians adventures in debt-busting
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Recipe please!! (For the chili)tomtombeanie wrote: »welcome to the world of slow cooking! mine is going great guns today with a huuuuuuge batch of chili - all destined for the freezer. i portion it into individual servings so when DH says, i'm going to be late, i'll get a pizza i can shout - don't! we've got chili tonight! very cheap, so easy, so yummy.
i see you've found the "what's in my slow cooker" thread. (was going to post the link when saw your post there!). some great ideas on there.
for what it's worth, mine has 2 settings - low and high. the chili will be on low for about 12 hours today (8.30am - approx 8.30pm) so my "secret" ingredients (red lentils, mainly), dissolve nicely. low all day is fine. i wouldn't leave it on high all day but it's great for times when you don't bung everything in until lunchtime.
have fun!0 -
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Reminder to me: £9.12 paid into bank account today. Find out where the heck it came from...0
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Evening all!
Just a quick update from me - I've just finished dinner and I'm off to the movies in ten minutes :j
I had bolognaise last night for dinner - I made enough for me, four friends (including t'other half, but he's my friend too! Just in case you thought I don't feed him...) and one small child. I had enough left over for my (massive) portion tonight and one more left for t'other half. This was therefore enough food for 7.5 people from one packet of mince. I have discovered the wonders of padding things out with oats, woooohooooo!!
That was my first attempt at padding out food with oats, but I honestly didn't taste a difference, and that was with 750g of mince and about 2 handfuls of porridge oats. The only change was that todays leftovers were a little thicker than normal (A bit porridgy looking, but that's only because I knew there were oats in there :rotfl:) and that was easily fixed with some hot water. By my reckoning therefore, if I buy one packet of 750g mince, there should be enough in there for eight people, so four meals. Awesome
I'm getting quite into this old-style cookery lark :rotfl:
Nothing else happening, apart from the mysterious £9 payment into my bank account. It's not Quidco, and the only other money would be from my savings account, and I asked for £60 not £9! It only shows as a Bank Credit today but should show where it came from on my online banking tomorrow.
Right, must go to the movies. Will be on later!
f_f
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You've all made my mind about whether to buy a slow cooker or not - thank you! Can you post a link to the 'OS' board for me please? I don't know what OS stands for, but it sounds like i need to know
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=43570
this is one of the slow cooker threads i like to keep an eye on - just gives you ideas of what other people are using it for!Mortgage free as of 11/11/15 !
:Anow... to start some serious saving :A
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Hehe FF well done on the stretchy mince! I don't like using oats for padding myself, usually just chuck extra veg in, 5 a day and all that.
Did you know that oats can be used to soothe skin irritations including sunburn? I have funny skin (basically I'm allergic to heat and pressure - idiot :rotfl:) and it comes out in like hives if I'm not careful. Usually it's ok cuz I have tablets to control it but when it was really bad last summer the nurse said to put some porridge oats in a pair of tights and use it as like a sponge - it really works!
Thats so weird with the money, is it a refund for anything maybe? Guess you;ll just have to wait and see!
What you going to see at the pictures? I have got free tickets to see 'state of play' on sunday morning.
xxThs signature is out of date because I'm too lazy to update it...
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flying_fresian wrote: »Recipe please!! (For the chili)
i have a 3.5L slow cooker, which does a double batch of chili very nicely. this gives me 6 good individual portions (approx 2 soup ladles full per portion!) which i freeze and pull out as required....
approx 200g minced beef, browned on the hob first (this is the only bit of cooking prep)
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
2 tins of kidney beans, drained and rinsed (use baked beans if you'd rather)
2 onions, chopped finely
a few peppers, diced
2 beef stock cubes, dissolved in about 3/4 pint boiling water
a few teaspoons of beef bisto gravy powder
a big squirt of tomato puree
garlic (as much as you feel you need)
chili (i use a teaspoon of "lazy chili" from asda, as a contact lens wearer i don't go near the ones that you have to chop up as the oil stays on your fingers!)
some mixed herbs to taste (the one i use is american and you can't get it here, but one of those grinders with all sorts in it is similar)
a couple of small handfuls of red lentils (makes it go further!)
a couple of small handfuls of porridge oats (helps thicken up nicely)
once the meat has been browned, and the fat drained off, just bung everything in the SC. i leave it on low for around 12 hours and take the lid off once or twice to stir it (but you don't need to and shouldn't do it often as you lose a lot of heat and the cooking then takes longer...). i actually think it's nicer "second time round", which is why i freeze all of it, then defrost as required. mushrooms also are good, but i don't think they freeze well so don't tend to add them to mine. if you're in a hurry, asda do frozen diced peppers and diced onions, it sounds really lazy but they are not dear to buy and saves on chopping time. i've always got some in the freezer for days when i don't have to do much prep. i don't let DH see the lentils & porridge go in, they look odd at first but then dissolve into the mix - not yet detected!
i thinks that's everything! let me know how it tunrs out for you when you have a go. x
PS just read your bolognese post - i should note that i am very stingy with the mince - so you could always add more if you need to. but this is meaty enough for us!Mortgage free as of 11/11/15 !
:Anow... to start some serious saving :A
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Hello F_F!
Hope you are well and enjoying your movie. Did you take your own snacks? We do. Its hilarious trying to smuggle them in. Normally its me who has to do it, shoving bags of popcorn up my jumper.... Hee Hee.
Badly want a SC. When you pad with red lentils do you still need to soak em first??
Must go and look at the OS board, as I have been online for nearly 3 hours already, I should probably call it a day before my eyes glaze over and I start chanting about MSE DFW methods!!!** Proud to be dealing with my debts **LBM - Jan 2009 _pale_ : £24,802.21 :eek:February 2010 :silenced: : £18,078.47 (not including OD)July 2010
= £16,819.34 (not including OD)
January 2012 :mad: = £14,338.75 (not including OD)0 -
Yummy yummy!! I shall be trying this out on Sunday/Monday I think. I'm challenging myself not to go to the supermarket again until we're out of freezer meat. I have lamb chops, shoulder, a couple of pieces of lamb I can't identify (that will be a slow cooker job) due to my dad not labelling them, mince, stewing steak and a whole chicken. And that's just what I can remember!!tomtombeanie wrote: »approx 200g minced beef, browned on the hob first (this is the only bit of cooking prep)
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
2 tins of kidney beans, drained and rinsed (use baked beans if you'd rather)
2 onions, chopped finely
a few peppers, diced
2 beef stock cubes, dissolved in about 3/4 pint boiling water
a few teaspoons of beef bisto gravy powder
a big squirt of tomato puree
garlic (as much as you feel you need)
chili (i use a teaspoon of "lazy chili" from asda, as a contact lens wearer i don't go near the ones that you have to chop up as the oil stays on your fingers!)
some mixed herbs to taste (the one i use is american and you can't get it here, but one of those grinders with all sorts in it is similar)
a couple of small handfuls of red lentils (makes it go further!)
a couple of small handfuls of porridge oats (helps thicken up nicely)
once the meat has been browned, and the fat drained off, just bung everything in the SC. i leave it on low for around 12 hours and take the lid off once or twice to stir it (but you don't need to and shouldn't do it often as you lose a lot of heat and the cooking then takes longer...).
I also have chicken soup (home-made), shepherds pie - the base bit, no tatties as I wasn't sure how they would freeze - bolognaise and lamb moosh (I made it in the slow cooker the other day. It's not quite casserole or anything as exciting, but it is tasty) frozen as home-made ready meals. If I know I have a long day ahead or what have you I can take them out to defrost and know that I have cheap, filling food to look forward to :j
This sea-change is all very odd for me, as I'm not someone who would class herself as "domesticated" or a good cook, but I'm finding a lot of satisfaction in cooking good MSE meals and keeping the house nice with the guidance of the Flylady thread. I must admit that the Flying has gone to pot this week as the cooking has taken over, but I hope to be able to strike a balance soon
So, if you're lurking on this diary (and more and more lurkers seem to be popping up - please say hello, we're all very nice!) and think you can't cook or don't have time, you can and you do. It just might be that you have an awesome dinner but the bathroom doesn't get cleaned. It seems to be all about balance.
I honestly don't recognise myself from six months ago... :rotfl:0 -
The_Golden_Goose wrote: »Hello F_F!
Hope you are well and enjoying your movie. Did you take your own snacks? We do. Its hilarious trying to smuggle them in. Normally its me who has to do it, shoving bags of popcorn up my jumper.... Hee Hee.
Badly want a SC. When you pad with red lentils do you still need to soak em first??
Hello!
I went to see Monsters vs Aliens and didn't feel too ripped off as I have a cinema pass, but would have done if I had paid the £9-odds they charge for 3D movies now. I also saw a sign that said that cinema card holders are going to be charged £1.50 for 3D movies. I swore at that. I shall be going to 2D from now on, the damn pass cost [strike]me[/strike] my mother £145 for the year...:mad:
I wasn't going to snack, as I had loads of dinner, but I saw that the Ben and Jerrys stand now have hot fudge sundaes. They were £4.90:eek::eek::eek:but I thought "sod it" and bought one. Three scoops of ice cream (of your choosing) hollowed out in the middle whenceupon they pour either hot chocolate or hot fudge sauce into it (I chose fudge) whipped cream on top and then chocolate animal shapes Oh. My. Word. Next time I'm getting the smaller size though
I have only padded out my food with oats (last night) to no ill effects - the slow cooker threads are the place to check that sort of stuff out. If you search for it you should find the info you need.0
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