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

mineallmine

weezl74 wrote: »

hiya, and welcome! we're more at a testing things out phase really, just seeing if the recipes are any good :)

as for a march edition, I'm probably going to disappear off for a little bit around then (see sig) but I hope all the other fab ideas from everyone else will keep flowing!

you can be part of that too if you like

Thanks for the kind welcome. Love your blog too! Fab photos. Well I hope you dont mind me saying that clearly you're eating a super healthy diet with baby last year and another in March, many congrats! :A

You've already inspired me to have some different things for packed lunches, thanks so much!

weezl74

maltesers wrote: »

Hi I'm back - thanks for the well wishes.

:beer: hello, hope you're not feeling too rough
What I take from what you're saying is that probably not much is available oils wise that is super ideal, and so we must press on anyway to help Bob and shirley out. So I think that's what we'll do, hurrah!

I'd hate it not to happen after all our collective hard work


Allegra, please try the potato one, it sounds great

I don't mind trying a mock up thick cheesy sauce one...

And we'll each report back and see how they pan out

Lesley_Gaye

weezl74 wrote: »

snobby wise, I'm not sure;) but the mince measures up well compared to other shop bought minces, it's not high in fat, it has under 10% fat, compared to this for example which has 16.6% fat:



and it even has very slightly less fat than this:



so it's not all greasy when you eat it. I suspect it has a slightly less rich flavour as the low cost would mean there was less time to hang the meat to mature it.

greenness wise, that's a toughie, I guess lamb would be a good choice because lamb is always free-range...

just musing really, not sure I know enough to oblige

Arty sorry to hear you've had a bad day at work, please ignore my earlier request for research, it might make your headache worse!

just catching up, so apologies if this has already been said

Cheap mince is cheap because the ingredients to make it tend to be ones that wouldn't be bought as is. Similar to cheap sausages. Ingredients can be any part of an animal and still be called beef or pork etc, so things like noses, skin, intestines and bottoms can all be included and the product labelled as 100% beef/pork.

If we are going to raise animals to eat, then I think it is only right that we eat all of them and not just the conventional bits. However, I would like to know if the product I am eating/buying is made up of floor sweepings, or something extremely processed to make it edible at all, then it is my choice.

I also object strongly to low welfare meat being imported and made into something else (eg sausage) and then labelled as British with the associated implied higher welfare standards, again, my choice

Lesley_Gaye

shanks77 wrote: »

artybear wrote: »

MMMMMMMMMMMMmmmm.........the lasagne looks yummy-the only issue I have is smartprice mince.

I have never bought this-am I being snobby?

Not necessarily on topic but I do try and be 'green' when it comes to meat-dont really know what I'm asking but any info would be useful if you have time Weezlie.

I find it ok myself if a bit fatty but my ex has said he would rather not have meat than touch this stuff and even when i have disguised it as lasagne, etc he can always tell. Not very helpful i know.
Maybe try it once and not tell anyone it is "cheap" mince and see if they notice.

we had some cheap mince from Spar when it was on offer and it tasted strangeley fishy. I can't imagine what contributed that flavour, unless perhaps they were fortifying it with fish based omega 3, some of the spread I buy, which has added omega 3, can't be used for cooking as it makes the dish taste inappropriately of fish

skaps

I made some yoghurt muffins this morning and thought you may want the recipe.
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1956,141163-225200,00.html

Also i have tried out the sweetcorn soup and have filled out the form. I also made the honey and raisin cereal bars which were easy to make and taste great. One thing i did to make it more healthy was to add wholewheat flour, know this probably makes it more expensive but i bought a big bag of this (called atta) from an indian supermarket.

ceridwen

Lesley_Gaye wrote: »

just catching up, so apologies if this has already been said

Cheap mince is cheap because the ingredients to make it tend to be ones that wouldn't be bought as is. Similar to cheap sausages. Ingredients can be any part of an animal and still be called beef or pork etc, so things like noses, skin, intestines and bottoms can all be included and the product labelled as 100% beef/pork.

If we are going to raise animals to eat, then I think it is only right that we eat all of them and not just the conventional bits. However, I would like to know if the product I am eating/buying is made up of floor sweepings, or something extremely processed to make it edible at all, then it is my choice.

I also object strongly to low welfare meat being imported and made into something else (eg sausage) and then labelled as British with the associated implied higher welfare standards, again, my choice

Hence one of my reasons for being vegetarian - ie if I cant afford decent quality meat (which I cant in fact...) - then I'm not prepared to have all sortsa revolting "bits and pieces" hidden away in cheaper meat products:T

phizzimum

ooh my head is spinning! this thread is convincing me that my diet is rubbish, and I always thought I ate healthily. starting to think I may as well give up home cooking and start eating ready meals!

I'd never even heard of a PLU code till today - just been googling it and found out it stands for Price Look Up - where would I find it on a bottle of oil? there are some codes printed on the actual bottle neck, others on the label by the bar code. is it just a 4 digit number (or a 5 digits in the case of organic or GM products?)

Lesley_Gaye

weezl74 wrote: »

Lesley/IOIWE if you have any time on your hands;) then a nutrition profile of the cereal bars with apple in posted earlier would be FAB

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]

Apple Cereal Bars [/FONT]

16 Servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories79.9 Total Fat1.1 g Saturated Fat0.3 g Polyunsaturated Fat0.6 g Monounsaturated Fat0.4 g Cholesterol0.0 mg Sodium43.2 mg Potassium47.0 mg Total Carbohydrate19.2 g Dietary Fiber1.5 g Sugars6.1 g Protein2.2 g Vitamin A0.8 % Vitamin B-120.0 % Vitamin B-60.7 % Vitamin C0.0 % Vitamin D0.0 % Vitamin E0.4 % Calcium0.6 % Copper3.4 % Folate1.5 % Iron2.9 % Magnesium4.8 % Manganese26.9 % Niacin0.5 % Pantothenic Acid 1.5 % Phosphorus 5.7 % Riboflavin0.9 % Selenium0.0 % Thiamin5.6 % Zinc2.9 %

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

phizzimum

hi lesley

it's interesting that you mentioned the fishy smell from certain margarines...I've had the same but I'd always thought that maybe the baking tray had been used for fish or something. what you've said makes more sense though - it might have been when i used Pure or Vitalite, can't remember which

weezl74

phizzimum wrote: »

ooh my head is spinning! this thread is convincing me that my diet is rubbish, and I always thought I ate healthily. starting to think I may as well give up home cooking and start eating ready meals!

I'd never even heard of a PLU code till today - just been googling it and found out it stands for Price Look Up - where would I find it on a bottle of oil? there are some codes printed on the actual bottle neck, others on the label by the bar code. is it just a 4 digit number (or a 5 digits in the case of organic or GM products?)

I'm not sure Phizzi, but I'd read that they have them at the checkout so I asked this morning when we shopped

But also all the major supermarkets won't allow GM stuff in their own brand goods anyhow, so that's reassuring too

eggless onion tart is baking now...

Mr Weezl's verdict on the pea and apple soup: 'Lovely, thick filling, great blend of flavours, savoury with a hint of sweetness. I'd have thought it was one of those 'covent garden' posh types '

Fergus' verdict on appley cereal bar: Grabs out of Daddy's hand, big mouthfuls, happy grin, much devouring. Even reached into the scoop of his bib to rescue any lost bits which never happens