Weezl's phase 1- recipe testing and frugalisation- come one, come all!

weezl74 · 13 February 2010 at 8:46AM

ceridwen wrote: »

So - at a practical level:

1. give those weekly shopping lists (broken down into days)

2. give substitutes by ingredients (so that people are aware that, for instance, canned butterbeans would substitute for canned chickpeas if need be)

3. forget the "family politics"

4. list equivalents for equipment people might be missing (whether it be equivalent equipment - eg use a small rinsed-out baked bean can with the top cut off instead of a mini pudding basin OR use an empty wine bottle instead of a rolling pin)
OR alternative recipes they can use - eg a cottage loaf type bread recipe, as well as the standard type of bread recipe that requires one to have a bread baking tin.

I was thinking of going down the encouraging them to buy the equipment, for the following reasons. If shirley has no tins for baking bread then she could buy this:

017435.jpg?ts=633854901660

instead of baking her own. But it'd cost her £11.02 extra per month compared to making it.

4 nice brand new loaf tins in tesco will only cost her £13! I think asda have them cheaper but can't find it online.

Therefore encouraging her to buy the kit has got to represent a massive saving.

Also on a health front, here are the ingredients of the smartprice loaf:

Wheat Flour, Ater, Yeast, Salt, Spirit Vinegar, Soya Flour, Vegetable Fat, Emulsifier (Mono and Diacetyltartaric Acid Esters of Mono and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids), Flour Treatment Agent (Ascorbic Acid).

here are the ingredients of the HM loaf:

Wheat flour, yeast, salt

(half the amount of the smart price loaf's salt.)

I'm thinking, Shirley! Just buy the loaf tins! Even if you can't borrow any off your mum / get them off freecycle/find them cheaper on ebay/at a car boot sale, that £13 is going to save you £130 in a year.

Shirley! Just buy the loaf tins!

canidothis · 13 February 2010 at 9:14AM

I would like to vote for staying with the plan as it is. On a personal note it has given me energy and is so so thought provoking, and I so want to see what happens without changing it now - I wouldnt want to increase the amount, the £100 makes you creative and you cant think 'what the hell Ive got another £50 (or whatever) I'll just buy some 'ready meals' -(not that I would - but you get my drift)

I kind of agree not to worry too much about family politics - it would be so hard to consider them all - I think the mystical family has to take some responsibilities and set their own rules on taking food that was meant for a meal - so many families have their own methods - I for one will hide tins and packets in a non food cupboard!

So in a nutshell Weezl I say keep going you're doing a grand job and with the fantastic help that is being given and offered by everyone you should have a fab plan:j

got-it-spend-it · 13 February 2010 at 9:17AM

Weezl- poundland has non- stick loaf tins. They look okay quality. I saw them when I was looking for a flan case.

homegrown_life · 13 February 2010 at 9:21AM

weezl74 wrote: »

blue/purple(Aubergine, purple grapes, plums, raisins, blueberries, blackberries, purple figs, dried plums, black currants)

I've put the ones on our list in BOLD

I realise I have made a mistake and was counting both red cabbage and beetroot as blue/purple family...

Back to the drawing board...

Thanks for this. Everywhere I've looked Red cabbage and beetroot count as both red and purple/blue so don't give up on it.

I was using this site . But it didn't say anything about any of the pulses hence the start of my confusion

Sorry, just a quicky from me today as I am working in a bit (not even dressed though - oops). I'll have a ponder on all your thoughts and see if I can come of with anything coherent later on

Lesley_Gaye · 13 February 2010 at 9:31AM

phizzimum wrote: »

lesley - I like the sound of the beetroot tart - I'll try and make it one day next week.

I found the greengrocers in Heathfield by the way, thanks for telling me about it! didn't get another from the box but still got some bargains.

glad you found the greengrocers, they often have bargains so if you are in Heathfield always worth a look

weezl74 · 13 February 2010 at 10:00AM

:rotfl:

sorry this is utterly off topic, but I had to share:

DH and I talking about valentine's day tomorrow:

DH: 'I have to confess I haven't got anything. I wanted to get you flowers but I didn't know if you'd think it was a waste of money. (he pauses...) I knew it had gotten bad when I considered walking home via the graveyard and inspecting the roses there....'

:rotfl: Must point out that DH would never steal fresh flowers off a grave.

shaz_mum_of__2 · 13 February 2010 at 10:23AM

I think the challenge should stay as is ........with a few modifications we need to be led a bit i think (by you weezl) give us a recipe, let us have a go, and then feedback . At some point weezl needs to decide which recipe is the official one and then we stop and move on. otherwise we will be debating forever which is the real recipe .......Too many cooks and all that !!

The reality weezl is that only you know how this list of ingredients will fit togetther as the month progresses. I think you thought having us all onboard would save time but have now realised it has created lots of work and the ideology is getting watered down.

was that the kind of comment you wanted ??

On reading grandmas feedback about the fritters........if you followed my recipe ie no egg or milk you would not need to add more sweetcorn to use up the batter as the batter is made around the sweetcorn ...........I do agree that the chutney alone would not be enough and that wedges would work well we had 3 each as shown in the picture which would be fine with the chutney and the wedges

Shaz

Lesley_Gaye · 13 February 2010 at 10:26AM

grandma247 wrote: »

Please don't be afraid of the fat in coconut. Although it is supposed to be a "bad" fat it is not. The research was wrong apparently. There is a thread on mse somewhere and I also did some research myself and what I found was thought provoking. It is actually very good for you. Also have you ever really closely looked at people who use it all the time for cooking? They are not fat and their skin is beautiful and wrinkle free until they are very old.
If I could afford to use organic virgin coconut oil all the time for cooking I would.

oh that's interesting. I went to Wiki to read about it and olive oil. I use olive oil a lot and rapeseed to fry stuff in. I find it quite a complicated subject. I use olive oil to saute stuff in too but sometimes think it's not a good idea

Wiki says sauteing is ok for olive oil, but deep frying is not in general. I assume that deep frying is at a higher temp than sauteing. There is quite a lot there on coconut oil but I would need to read a lot more to make my mind up

weezl74 · 13 February 2010 at 10:32AM

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

I think the challenge should stay as is ........with a few modifications we need to be led a bit i think (by you weezl) give us a recipe, let us have a go, and then feedback .
Shaz

Morning shaz! Shall I just be a bit more bossy then? :rotfl:

Can someone risk a chutney experiment?

It would need to be someone who has made various pickles and chutneys in the past and is fairly up for a lob it in the pan and see what happens approach

Lesley_Gaye · 13 February 2010 at 10:37AM

weezl74 wrote: »

on eating the colours and how to guesstimate it for each day:

each day we should have 1 portion from each of the following groups:

red(Tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, tomato juice, tomato soup, red peppers, red onions, beetroot, red cabbage, kidney beans, apples, pink grapefruit, red grapes, strawberries, cherries, watermelon, raspberries, cranberries, pomegranates)
yellow or orange (Carrots, summer squash, corn, sweet potatoes, butternut squash,pumpkin, yellow peppers, cantaloupe,grapefruit, lemons, nectarines, oranges, peaches, pineapples, tangerines, apricots, mangoes, papayas)

white:(Cauliflower, mushrooms, white beans, onions, garlic, parsnips, shallots, turnips, ginger, bananas, pears, chick peas)

green (Leafy greens, asparagus, green peppers, broccoli, green beans, peas, cabbage, green onion, Brussels sprouts, okra, courgette, green grapes, honeydew melon, kiwifruit, limes)

blue/purple(Aubergine, purple grapes, plums, raisins, blueberries, blackberries, purple figs, dried plums, black currants)

I've put the ones on our list in BOLD

I realise I have made a mistake and was counting both red cabbage and beetroot as blue/purple family...

Back to the drawing board...

do we have to have 1 each day, does it not count if we have 7 portions a day but unevenly distributed colours over, say, a week?

have tried to find somewhere talking about the colours but haven't yet, can you point me in the right direction?

Weezl's phase 1- recipe testing and frugalisation- come one, come all!

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