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

System

Help! Can't follow thread! :-)

For the biscuits, are we using the recipe in post 1225 or post 1247, please?

weezl74

Avocet wrote: »

Help! Can't follow thread! :-)

For the biscuits, are we using the recipe in post 1225 or post 1247, please?

I'm struggling too avocet! Are we going too quick do you think?

I don't think the biscuits are decided yet, both boodle:A and Kaz:A have suggested versions, both of which taste great but Kaz feels her version's method may be a bit much for Shirley, but others are doing tests (ISOM, and I think maybe Phizzi?)

Is that making all your calculations go wrong?

xxx

weezl74

125g granulated sugar
125ml rapeseed il
Zest of 1 lemon
150g raisins
225g plain flour
pinch of salt

PS Boodles recipe if used would need to be tweaked to orange zest from lemon zest. Boodle do you think that would be a downgrade in flavour or still nomnomnom?

xxx

ceridwen

Hi Weezl

I've gone to that RecipeCal website you wanted me to check out:

http://www.recipecal.com

Reet:
- the initial steps were straightforward and I have duly registered and noted that I would have to put a date in my diary 3 months later to re-register (as the membership lasts 3 months - rather than automatically continuing).

- Reet....thinks me..."Click the recipe heading on that top banner" and duly came up with the page to put my own newly-created recipe on.

- All set to go - so typed in my recipe heading and the number of portions it made for me and head for that main empty recipe box on the webpage and typed in ingredients and method I used and clicked on the "Save" thingie at the bottom of the page.

- At that point I expected it to just tell me it was all duly entered and show me my recipe and "bingo - job done". Errrr....nope. It told me I hadnt entered the ingredients.

- "Ah" thinks me "I must have to enter those ingredients someplace else and its just the method that I need to put in that empty box" and worked my way through clicking every possible "label" I could think of looking for another box to come up for me to type my ingredients in. Blowed if I could find it.....:cool:

END RESULT = unable to input recipe as website too badly designed. I guess people more computer-literate than I am can figure out how to get round that bad design and put their recipe in anyway. End verdict on the website = it might be a good website if they had designed it clearly. Because they had a poor website designer - then it is only usable for inputting recipe purposes by those with a reasonable level of computer skill (that rules me out then).

***************************

So - I guess what you were thinking is "I wonder if an intelligent, but non computer-literate person is able to use that site. Who can I think of that matches that description?" and my name promptly came to mind:rotfl:

Thats my level of computer skills accurately worked out then:rotfl:

So - overall...if I cant figure my way through that site as it stands at present in order to add a recipe - then a lot of other people arent going to be able to either.

Certainly - myself - whenever I come across a badly-designed website then I just forget about it. If its something that particularly interests me - then I check back at intervals to see if the website has been redesigned yet to make it user-friendly - but just note it as "not usable by me" until that time.

weezl74

ceridwen wrote: »

So - I guess what you were thinking is "I wonder if an intelligent, but non computer-literate person is able to use that site. Who can I think of that matches that description?" and my name promptly came to mind:rotfl:

:whistle:couldn't possibly comment C!:whistle:

weezl74

Righty ho Ceridwen! Do you similarly think this site


and this one are too user-unfriendly?

xxx

mumtoomany

Hi Weezl and all,

Just caught up. Had a hectic week with DD4's social life (half term), uni visit in Aberistwith (sp?) with DS and work!

A couple of points, have looked at the meal plan thing. The lunches might be difficult if Bob, Shirley and the children need to take them to work, school, college. And have you got enough spread to last the month? We are getting through 2x500gm tubs of not butter type stuff a week, and I use the A$da cheap spread for cooking. (also use if for spreading in summer, too hard to spread in winter)

Hope you are all well,

Mumtoomany.

weezl74

mumtoomany wrote: »

Hi Weezl and all,

Just caught up. Had a hectic week with DD4's social life (half term), uni visit in Aberistwith (sp?) with DS and work!

A couple of points, have looked at the meal plan thing. The lunches might be difficult if Bob, Shirley and the children need to take them to work, school, college. And have you got enough spread to last the month? We are getting through 2x500gm tubs of not butter type stuff a week, and I use the A$da cheap spread for cooking. (also use if for spreading in summer, too hard to spread in winter)

Hope you are all well,

Mumtoomany.

Hiya, glad you had a good week and thanks for looking at the planner

there is one week day which involves soup at lunch, you're right, it's been playing a bit on my mind too. But I will probably see how we go with the colours before moving it... It is duly noted though! Hmmmmn wondering if you thought the bhajees and falafels aren't lunch box friendly... Was that cos of the chutney?

the houmous, peanut butter and apple curd all contain their own butter/oil and are moist enough to use without the butter, so it was only really for when they have beans on toast or marmalade on toast or possibly toast with their soup.

I've been working on 10g spread per slice of bread, and I think, fingers crossed I've allowed enough, but hopefully Avocet's magic spreadsheet with confirm this (AT SOME POINT NO RUSH!!!!:))

ifonlyitwaseasier

Ceridwen - it took me a while but you have to enter the basic stuff, press save then on the left add ingrediants and you have to type the thing in the box down on the left and then search, then click add on the right of the correct product (i did struggle finding the right oil for the carrot cake so improvised!)

Weezl - i'm reg'd there same as here and carrot cake is done, website is a bit loopy but i searched the help section to figure it out, tho even that could be more helpful (darn americans!! lol )

ceridwen

weezl74 wrote: »

A word or two about variety, and then I shall do some research about a birth pool and type up fergie's day planner for if he is being looked after in an emergency. (totally off topic, but will reassure Aunties Ceridwen and ISOM that I am indeedy not neglecting myself whilst persuing the challenge)

Variety:

DH heard a radio 4 report which showed that the average person knows and follows 9 recipes. When you think that at least one may be a special occasion meal (christmas lunch?) and another 1-2 possibly a pudding/cake type thing. That means that shirley average probably has 5-6 meals she knows and cooks on a regular basis.

A lot of you are fantastic old-stylers with creativity and flair in your cooking, but I wonder if this is the norm?

I think the meal planner may already contain more recipes than Shirley might want to learn:eek:, and I also feel it represents good variety.:D

I don't mean this defensively:), I genuinely want to know if that isn't the case, but am currently more worried about not bamboozling shirley with the variety rather than that the family may find the diet to bland or samey.

What do people think?

xxx

That could well be the case - ie that the average person doesnt actually know that many recipes (not so fond memories of a certain ex-boyfriend instantly came to mind here - he cooked his "signature dish" the first time he cooked me a meal and I thought "nice". But that was the ONLY darn "dish" he ever DID do for me and boy was I fed-up of it by the time he was cooking it for me for the 6th/7th etc time:cool:).

Its that "thinking time" factor though that I've mentioned before. The process that goes:
- what shall I have for dinner tonight?
- what recipe book can I look in to find a recipe for that?
- "thats not a bad recipe for x" - but wondering if another cookbook contains one thats tastier/cheaper/quicker
-finally decides on recipe and heads for storecupboard and finds out that I'm short of a vital ingredient or two
- decides to cook that recipe "tomorrow - when I've been shopping and bought the missing ingredients"
- gives up hope for the night and gets out pasta yet again and wonders what to put with it. Cue = "I know a dollop of pesto, some tomatoes, bit of butter and grate some cheese on top" and "darn it - not enough veg. in for a salad again - better have a couple more bits fresh fruit".

So - a good comprehensive meal plan. A One Stop Shop & meal planner - done in a form that Shirley can just print off. I dont have a printer myself - but, in my case, could ask around for someone I could send the links to and they could print it off for me would do for me.

Shirl could then either put the printed-off page in a special folder or laminate the sheets and tack them up on the kitchen wall.

JOB DONE.

If I were Shirl - I would be tempted to laminate the sheets and stick them up somewhere on the kitchen wall and then just look at the weekly shopping list on Sunday and think "right - on the list for shopping for Monday lunchtime - or whatever" and anything fresh at end of week time means a second shopping trip later in the week. Shirl might just do a once-a-week shopping trip.

Having done that shopping for the week - I would just get home and think "Right - its Tuesday - what recipe does it say for Tuesday evening?" and whack on from there (not having even thought what I would have till 5 minutes before starting to cook it).

So - variety is no bad thing and I think we should have as much variety as we can programme into this project. If Shirl stays in "financial shtuck" for several months at a time then she can just "recycle" the programme on into Month 2 and Month 3 etc. Some peoples financial problems would only be very short-term. However - I envisage there would be many Shirls who would do exactly that - ie do the programme again in Month 2, Month 3, etc.

Also - on the variety front - we all know that theres been lots of research into what vitamins, minerals, etc are there in foods and could give a more-or-less decent answer as to what is in any food we come across. However - the relevant experts have possibly/probably not identified everything there is in any given food. There might be all sorts of "food nutrients" as yet undiscovered. All round - the greater the variety of different foodstuffs we all eat - then the greater the chances that we wont miss out on any vital nutrients (discovered or undiscovered as yet).

The thing is also that we will all mentally "cross off the list" some of the recipes because we dont like them (ie beetroot soup in my case:)). I dont know how many different foods the average person dislikes - but we will all be restricting what we try in Shirls mealplan anyway because of having cut out the foods we personally dislike. Hence - my own personal wish would be for a 2 month mealplanner for Shirl's veggie equivalent - to allow for my personal dislikes.

NOTE TO WEEZL - no - I'm not asking for longer than a month's worth. One month worth even is a sight better than nowt and a good start to go on with:D There is a lot of work involved in doing a one month plan even - so I do appreciate we have to stop at that time limit.

.......goes off muttering to self the list of foods I personally dislike besides beetroot being used in soup (I will eat it some other ways though:))...= raw onions, corn (except baby corn), sweet potatoes, raw green peppers etc etc etc:):rotfl: