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

weezl74

hornetgirl wrote: »

Oaty raisin cereal bars (with oil removed) feedback

We both gave 8/10, thinking they were possibly just a little bland. Nothing a good pinch of mixed spice (or garam masala!) wouldn't sort out. Not too sweet, which we like

Brill! Not sure why I omitted the spice, since shirley will have this . Glad they were a hit

pinkhayley789 wrote: »

Have only just caught up since yesterday.. Finally got there

Am planning on trying Lesleys chickpea crumble next week and will have a bash at the eggless apple cake as well. Very much looking forward to those too, they sound delicious.

Weezl, great new on getting the go ahead for the home birth and you're son Fergus is absolutely adorable.

Thanks for testing we look forward to your verdict.

Also thanks for the lovely compliments about fergie. I agree, but am very biased :rotfl:

weezl74

nopot2pin wrote: »

Ok... thats me caught up now...
But knackered... I hope to be back over the next day or so, with some surveys

Do mend well before embarking on those surveys Potty

poohbear59 wrote: »

I make a thick roux sauce for my chicken and sweetcorn pie. My family love it. I have planned to have chicken on Sunday so will be making chicken and sweetcorn pie on Monday. I always boil the bones to make stock for a broth too. Nothing is ever wasted in this house.

Oh it will be great to know how that goes :T:T:T

poohbear59 wrote: »

I made the pasta carbonara tonight. I used one onion and teeny clove of garlic, 1oz butter, 1 oz flour, 1 pint skimmed milk from my powder, 1 pack of diced bacon pieces, 1oz parmesan from my store, 100g peas and 500g pasta. It was plenty for five adults and DH said it was beautiful.

Would anyone mind doing a calc of costings from asda or nutrition from recipecal for this dish as poohbear has described it? NB she has made 5 portions with these quantities.

Thanks loads if anyone is willing

weezl74

FrankieM wrote: »

Do you want me to do the pastry as normal and then give you an idea of ingredients? I shop at Tesco so not sure if you want prices as well?
Is the pasta bake with a white sauce?

Yes please

I was hoping to include 2 pasta bakes, one with a white cheesy sauce and a hint of bacon, and one very rich and tomatoey, which one did you mean? I'm confusing myself with Bob and shirl's diet! :rotfl:

ceridwen

HOWMUCH wrote: »

Evening everyone
Back to the bones for stock, if you buy alittle something at your local butcher and ask for any bones for the 2 dogs you have (hee hee) I have always been given plenty for free, they are only too glad to given them away. Plenty of yummy stock for soups and don't forget the chicken carcase too, after your made the chicken and sweetcorn pie with it.

....and - further on the "use everything" lines - I'm sitting there currently reading Sharon Astyk's "Nation of Farmers" book (she's Rob Hopkins' American equivalent - and is busy telling Americans that LOADS more of them/us are going to have to go back to farming) and a little thoughtlet from her that caught my eye when she was talking about wasting nothing herself (now - I've never tried carrot greens - didnt know they were edible - mental note time) is to crush up eggshells and put them in with flour in 1:10 proportions - so as to get the calcium in them (and I bethought myself that we were talking about eggshells recently...).

Presume this really only applies to free-range eggs - as those eggs have got so much more "nourishment" in them, including the shells....(but ..since F.R. eggs is all that will be available soon:D) then its worth making a mental note of it now.

I duly headed straight out to the kitchen/took off the inner "lining" of an eggshell I just used and threw it in my electric grinder (thinking "well Shirley could always put it in a bag and belt it with a rolling pin or something to grind it up instead..").

I'll be having a go at throwing that crushed eggshell in with the flour the next time I make bread.

OOh...I am getting just so mean with making sure I use up all food....I even put the leftover flour from the worksurface (after making the last lot of bread) into a little container to use shortly...:cool:

So - has anyone tried carrot greens? What did you do with them if so?

weezl74

ceridwen wrote: »

So - has anyone tried carrot greens? What did you do with them if so?

we ate the carrot thinnings and greens as part of a salad, along with beetroot thinnings and greens and HG rocket. It was lovely. The carrot greens of the young plant are sweet and carrotty

ceridwen

vandanfc wrote: »

No you wouldn't ;o) - it's a real 70's cheat version. Any guesses what's in it yet ?

Okay here goes, chopped chicken, half small tin of sweetcorn (3 for £1 at Mr M), 5 chopped mushrooms, tin of campbells condensed mushroom soup made up with extra half tin of water. Mix all together into a pie dish. Season to taste. Pastry made from a packet mix (was on special at Mr T 22p for 450g pack)- used half for the pie top. Serves 4.
Excluding chicken I think it cost £1.10 plus whatever veg you decide to serve with it.

I remember those 1970s recipes - every other one felt like it added a can of condensed soup (think the canned soup manufacturers musta had a very strong lobby/advertising campaign/etc or summat going in that era). Thinks....maybe 'twas summat along the lines of the era in American(?) cookbooks where cookbook writers used olive oil (but were forced to put "olive oil or Canola oil" in the list of ingredients because of pressure from the manufacturers of Canola oil).

Anyways...despite that...its well worthwhile anyone who is having a browse through secondhand books taking a gander to see if there are any 1960s/1970s cookbooks there. Thery were more frugal in that era in some respects.

I have cookbooks coming all the way through from the 1970s to now and its very noticeable how the condensed soups vanish from the ingredients and things that we now regard as everyday start appearing regularly - aubergines/peppers/garlic. My ones from earlier this century feature Raw Food pretty heavily and for the last two years the emphasis is moving to "using what you've got" - at least amongst the recipes I'm busily accummulating:).

The cookbook from earlier eras I think most worth looking out for (for the veggies amongst us anyways...) is:

"Doreen Keighley's Vegetarian Cook Book"

Its an early 1960s cookbook - so theres a very small range of ingredients used. There might be one or two copies lurking round on Amazon (EDIT: there is - 52 used from 1p).

FrankieM

weezl i can do either. Do you have an actual recipe for things...method wise or shall I just throw it together as I think and let you know?
Also do you have weights for the meat portions? I'm not sure what you have available from your shopping list.

FrankieM

Ahhhh! Ok, after saying i could do those meals, I've looked in the fridge and I have no bacon bits so I can't do the pasta bakes until next week and I would do the chicken on the weekend when DH is home.
Do you have any veggie meals you need testing?

weezl74

FrankieM wrote: »

Ahhhh! Ok, after saying i could do those meals, I've looked in the fridge and I have no bacon bits so I can't do the pasta bakes until next week and I would do the chicken on the weekend when DH is home.
Do you have any veggie meals you need testing?

do you have the stuff for a baconless version of risi e bisi done as per allegra's latest version?

If not then how do veggie burgers sound or an onion tarte tatin a la sian?

I got your email, and will post your piccie after I've uploaded it

Many thanks!

xxx

FrankieM

i can probably do the veggie burgers.

Is that with potatoes, carrots, onions? Are there any other ingredients I can use from the shopping list?