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Cooking for one

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  • Nelski
    Nelski Posts: 15,197 Forumite
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    If I remember correctly from many many years ago Jack Monroe was an active member on here so lots of her ideas came from here.
    No such thing as a new idea eh but I know there were some annoyed peeps about how it was done.

    Not sure whats for dinner tonight its too far away at the moment:D
  • caronc
    caronc Posts: 8,088 Forumite
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    Nelski wrote: »
    If I remember correctly from many many years ago Jack Monroe was an active member on here so lots of her ideas came from here.
    No such thing as a new idea eh but I know there were some annoyed peeps about how it was done.

    Not sure whats for dinner tonight its too far away at the moment:D
    Ah didn't know that can see why folk would be upset
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698 Forumite
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    edited 15 February 2017 at 11:08AM
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    Nelski wrote: »
    .... lots of her ideas came from here....
    No such thing as a new idea ....
    I didn't know that.

    But, yes, no such thing as a new idea - which is why it's annoying when "somebody with a media profile" "steals" your stuff and gets to be "well known/famous" as if they invented it, so to speak.

    I just don't like her ingredients list either - that's not my shopping basket profile.

    Selecting one at random, this one was mentioned earlier in this thread:
    https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2013/07/17/creamy-salmon-pasta-with-a-chilli-lemon-kick-27p/

    Going through that:
    - pasta, onion, chilli, oil, salmon paste - I'd have
    - parsley, half a lemon or 2 tbsp bottled lemon juice, yoghurt - I'd never have.

    And actually her "recipe" without the things I'd never have, is what I've been making for 30 years with sardine/tomato paste and crab paste without needing those extra "fripperies". :)

    I'm also not sure how she calls that 27p for two people (54p total) when a jar of paste can easily cost most of that/more these days - and a lemon's 24p last time I bought one (Xmas). Surely yoghurt would cost most of that too.
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698 Forumite
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    edited 15 February 2017 at 11:27AM
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    After yesterday's spud/cheese/beans and 2 jam sandwiches (sans buerre), I felt today I should "try harder".

    But the reality is that I've still got three spuds to get through at some time, so it'd be easy to do the spud thing again.

    Had toast for breakfast while I work out what to eat today .... I could break out the final Fray Bentos pie (but one pie's too much for one person really) .... and I'd really like that with chips, but I've run out of oven chips (and don't want to "waste" a "fairly good quality" potato making some.

    Choice .... there's too much choice. Too many things I COULD have, resulting in 10 hours of thinking and no food prepared!

    You have to fancy it and have everything else you'd need.

    I've still got no eggs, I should get some in the next few days as I'm feeling ready to start tackling them again. I have recently changed my egg purchasing. I used to buy the "15 eggs for £1" but they can be a bit small so I'd often use 3. Instead I tried the A1d1 "8 eggs for 79p" and they're a lot larger and I was only using 2 at a time. So now, with only 8 eggs to get through once I've bought a pack, they should be less daunting.

    One of my filling "go to" meals has always been: beans on toast with scrambled eggs! Love that.

    I have curated a recipe collection of "food I could make/eat" - all things I would eat, could eat - it's close to 4000 recipes.... all that I "COULD" have .... I can filter them to find only food I actually have the ingredients for - then filter the list into cooking method ... and any other way I choose to slice the list... but, I am simply underwhelmed by the concept of putting effort in to make food to eat :)

    I figure: "Why go to all this bother, make all this mess, create all this washing up, that'll take nigh on an hour of faffing .... when, actually, I've got a perfectly good loaf in the freezer and tin of beans in the cupboard" It only takes 2-3 minutes to eat whatever you've made... there's no balance between effort you make and how long you actually "benefit" from that effort. IYSWIM.
  • caronc
    caronc Posts: 8,088 Forumite
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    PasturesNew wrote: »
    I figure: "Why go to all this bother, make all this mess, create all this washing up, that'll take nigh on an hour of faffing .... when, actually, I've got a perfectly good loaf in the freezer and tin of beans in the cupboard" It only takes 2-3 minutes to eat whatever you've made... there's no balance between effort you make and how long you actually "benefit" from that effort. IYSWIM.
    See I'm the complete opposite - cooking was and still is though more limited at the moment a major hobby and pleasure of mine. I love all the "faffing" about not every day or every meal and don't mind the mess or the fact the end result takes minutes to disappear. When I was working I used to love to spend Sunday's in the kitchen prepping a variety of food for during the day. These days well tbh there are so many things that I can't manage that I enjoy spending a good part of my time planning, prepping cooking and eating it would be a long, long day otherwise....Different strokes for different folks etc. :D
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698 Forumite
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    caronc wrote: »
    See I'm the complete opposite - cooking was and still is though more limited at the moment a major hobby and pleasure of mine. I love all the "faffing" about not every day or every meal and don't mind the mess or the fact the end result takes minutes to disappear. When I was working I used to love to spend Sunday's in the kitchen prepping a variety of food for during the day. These days well tbh there are so many things that I can't manage that I enjoy spending a good part of my time planning, prepping cooking and eating it would be a long, long day otherwise....Different strokes for different folks etc. :D

    I just hate it. I can see that somebody who owned all the gadgets in a fab kitchen might enjoy it... take X, put it into a food processor, remove from there and put that bowl into a dishwasher; repeat with other items.... all prepped, all in the dishwasher, press a button.

    But as I stand there with my small 65p paring knife staring at a pile of veggies I just think "pfft".

    :)
  • caronc
    caronc Posts: 8,088 Forumite
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    PasturesNew wrote: »

    But as I stand there with my small 65p paring knife staring at a pile of veggies I just think "pfft".

    :)
    Think we might have the same paring knife LOL :D
    I much prefer to do veggies by hand unless cooking for the masses finding peeling and chopping very good at dissolving anger and frustration - generally done while singing tunelessly to myself. Just as well I live alone thankfully pooch doesn't seem to mind the racket nor think I'm completely bonkers :cool:
  • Tiddlywinks
    Tiddlywinks Posts: 5,777 Forumite
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    caronc wrote: »
    ....generally done while singing tunelessly to myself.

    Me too :o.

    All through my childhood we lived with my gran who always had the radio (wireless) on in the kitchen. I grew up with Terry Wogan and Jimmy Young in the background.... with a quick switchover for the Archers later on. We set our clocks by the 'pips'.

    Now, the first thing I do is turn on the radio when I go into the kitchen to cook, clean or whatever. It makes the time go quickly and singing along always cheers me up.
    :hello:
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698 Forumite
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    edited 15 February 2017 at 2:11PM
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    I've no radio in the kitchen, nowhere to put one sensibly either. I've tiny worktop space; there are 6 sockets, but poorly placed for fripperies such as radios :) No shelves.

    Four of the sockets are used continually - that leaves two possibles - but that's where I make my sandwiches and sort out freezer food and pull together random meals, so no space for a radio. It's a single bit of worktop above a single base unit.

    I only listen to the radio in the car, when I have the local BBC channel on mostly, mindless chit chat and mad loony locals phoning in outraged about things that are of no importance ... makes me laugh :)

    My kitchens installed, not planned.... they fitted random units in, so it looks like a kitchen, but it's awkward and annoying.

    For worktop I've got two single bits over single base units - and I've got a double bit where the microwave sits (and the mini oven alongside that when I'm using that). One single worktop piece has the kettle/toaster on it. That leaves one single worktop bit for "working at".

    The single bits are on the other side of the kitchen to the double bit - so lots of back/forth/back/forth all the time.
  • caronc
    caronc Posts: 8,088 Forumite
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    My kitchen radio died but as I'm fairly open plan I can play the radio on my laptop in the dining room and still hear it unless of course it's pouring with rain as my kitchen roof if half glass and when it pours the noise is tremendous:(
    Tend to either listen to Radio 2 or Radio Scotland - Radio Scotland's good for a smirk at some of the "outraged from Orkney" or "indignant from Inverclyde" phone ins- mind you being Scots I do like a good rant ........:o:D
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