A Cooking Idiot

Stephen_Leak

Having just cracked an anonymous - but very useful - glass roasting dish, I am trying to remember where I saw some pukka Pyrex roasting dishes (BeWise? Wilkinsons?) on my travels over Easter.

I always try to get the best, but for less. It usually (barring accidents) lasts longer. I may not earn much money, but that is no excuse for being poor.

Just remember "Martin's Money Mantra" - Do I need it? Will I use it? Have I looked for it cheaper elsewhere?

PS. I've just run that Pyrex roasting dish through the Money Mantra - and it failed! I need and will use a small roasting dish, but in metal, so that I can also use it for things like Toad in the Hole.

JoolzS

bertietheblue wrote: »

I am not too fond of salads - or maybe it's the way I make them - besides, I've never seen a lettuce for one!

Little Gem - a lettuce for one, although they usually come in packs of two

Balsamic vinegar is a great dressing for lettuce - even the value one from Mr Ts isn't at all bad. It could be that the reason you don't like salad is because nearly all salad dressings call for or use olive oil. I discovered about a year ago that I simply do not like olive oil. I bought some rapeseed oil and now I really like salad dressings.

If you have a Poundland near you then they sell what I call "plastic chinese takeaway boxes" - 10 for £1. They don't have the absolutely best seal for freezing stuff, but they are a great portion size and stack up really nicely in the freezer.

Some things don't freeze well, but you can only discover that by trial and error. I was absolutely convinced that my DH's moussaka would be awful after freezing, but we had a portion left over one day so we chucked it in a chinese takeaway tub and froze it. It was as lovely on defrosting and reheating in the microwave as it was when it was first made!

Julie

Stephen_Leak

JoolzS wrote: »

If you have a Poundland near you then they sell what I call "plastic chinese takeaway boxes" - 10 for £1. They don't have the absolutely best seal for freezing stuff, but they are a great portion size and stack up really nicely in the freezer.

I use these. They're usually called "Microtubs". They usually come in 3 sizes - 500ml, 750ml and 1 litre - it's on the label and the underside of the box. The 500ml ones are good for portions of Bolognese sauce, Chilli con Carne, curries, etc. Using my recipes, weight-wise, these are about 350g. Add 100g of boiled rice, and you've a damned good meal.

I find the 750ml size is useful for soup, as I do these in 2 x 250ml bowlful portions. Unfortunately, the capacities are exact, so the 750ml ones give a bit of "headroom" when handling.

Poundland/Poundstretcher also seem to stock one size at a time. If they don't have the size you want, just pop back in a week or so's time.

The only downside to them is that the lids do get very brittle when cold.

[Deleted User]

As a widow I have had to learn to cook for one over the past 6 years, and definitely turn your freezer on(after making sure its mildew free inside of course) and slowly fill it up with things that you have learned to cook.Try cooking a meal of mince, maybe on a Saturday and portioning it up for the following week and freezing (when cold of course)Invest in a slow cooker around a tenner in Tescos.Cook things in it either over night, or put on first thing in the morning and its cooked when you come home.A £5.00. chicken could make you at least half a dozen meals if not more if you make sure all the meat is off when fished out of the SC. use the darker meat for a curry and slice and freeze the lighter meat for later.I can honestly say I don't throw a thing away as food is far too expensive to waste. Even spuds, I make sure that they are all used up before they start to 'grow' I will boil 'em,mash 'em and when cold freeze 'em in handy portion sizes for bunging in the microwave when I don't feel like peeling cooking after coming home in the evening. :rotfl:
Remember baby steps, and try a new recipe every week
P.S. If all else fails find a kindly OAP:rotfl: and ask her how to cook,most of us would be happy to show you how.;)
I couldn't boil an egg when I first got married in 1963 but with a cook book in one hand and very little money in the other I learned over the years to streeetch things to unbelievable lengths:D :rotfl::rotfl:

wigglebeena

Any 'growing' potatoes go in the veggie patch for me. Nature is generous!

nopot2pin

JackieO wrote: »

P.S. If all else fails find a kindly OAP:rotfl: and ask her how to cook,most of us would be happy to show you how.
I couldn't boil an egg when I first got married in 1963 but with a cook book in one hand and very little money in the other I learned over the years to streeetch things to unbelievable lengths:D :rotfl::rotfl:

:T:T:T

Brilliant.

My nana always used to say " I can make a meal out of nothing, so long as I have got the stuff "