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

artybear

Happy Birthday Fergiexxx

grandma247

Hello. I am not quite caught up yet with about 15 pages to go. Dh has had this week off so we have been busy at the allotment. Back to normal next week.
I tried the weetabix cake and it was ok but I found it a bit dry. That might be my oven though. It will find itself left behind if we ever get to move . I also did the carrot cake recipe again but turned it into apple and banana cake. I used 50ml of oil and made the rest up with apple puree and added two very squishy mashed bananas instead of carrot. It was nice but would use less or no sugar next time.

http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/acatalog/Indian-Food-Pillsbury-Chakki-Atta.html
this flour is wholemeal and very fine. I was quite shocked when I first bought it because it is a bit yellow so I checked and rechecked the label and it is wholemeal. It might make good pasta. I found it was ok for bread Just a bit more dense than normal wholemeal but it is even better for cakes and pan cooked bread.

shanks77

Ok folks wish me luck i am making bread for the first time ever (i know i know dont shoot me) so just waiting for it to finish rising then to go into oven so quite excited. my reasons for buying sp bread was that i didnt realise it was cheaper to make and always been unsure about using yeast. Dont know whether to like or hate Weezl making me do things like make bread and eat meat and fruit together.:) I just hope B&S appreciate the lengths we are going to especially Weezl. will get back to you later to report on the bread.

PS i also tried the weetabix loaf and it was delicious. Got my mum and sis hooked on it as well. Didnt find it dry at all in fact almost a week later still fine with a fly cup

OrkneyStar

Hi,
Just a teeny weeny thought ? And apologies if it has been covered- still catching up on thread!
Is all food to be bought online or instore ? The reason I ask is I wonder if any of the budget is allocated to 'whoopsie's/offers ? By this I mean even £5 pcm which could purchase things like bread, or anything really (well freezable/usable!) which is reduced to silly prices ? Although this would mean adapting a budget/meal plan for the next week/month, it might also represent savings ? I know this is not a thing which can easily be measured as whoopsies to vary from time to time, but just an idea. If not spent one month it could be carried or spent on something else that is needed for pantry ?
Ok, am happy to accept that this would not work but just wondered ?
(I once got 3 haddock fillets for 10p and also 4 packs of local steak mince (about 400g ish for 60p ish each, for example.....that was a lot of meal components- and no doubt more weezl style lol- for about £2.50!)).
Also planning to try one or two of the recipes soon, not sure what though.....options options!

maryb

Murrell

There is a thread on Hummous recipes which I found yesterday but can't find now. Anyway I jotted down and combined various recommendations for a hummous that tastes like shopbought because mine never has and Weezl has inspired me to give it one last go. Success!! It tastes really nice and has made a huge quantity. I made it with dried chickpeas which I did in the pressure cooker so I just guesstimated the amount to use when they are cooked so that it looked like a small tin full and I'll use the rest in falafel.

1 tin Chickpeas
juice of a small lemon
1 dessertspoon tahini
1 garlic clove

whizz together in a food processor for longer than you would think. It's a bit like cake mix - it goes lighter when you've whizzed it enough. I needed to add some of the cooking water to get it soft enough.

Then stir in
1 dessertspoon yogurt
1 dessertspoon olive oil
salt
cumin, ground coriander and a little bit of paprika

I found I had to add a fair bit of cumin and some extra garlic but it made all the difference.
This uses less tahini than most recipes (and that's the expensive bit) and you could frugalise it further by leaving it out I reckon. Maybe add some sesame oil if you've got some. I can get sesame seeds quite cheaply and I could whizz them in the coffee grinder of my KenwoodChef so I think that would be better for me than buying tahini again Just as well it didn't use much because I could not have got more than that out of the jar - it had gone rock hard!!

You probably don't need the yogurt either and could get the consistency right with a bit more water. I also roasted the garlic first which I did when I was doing some peppers in the oven. It makes a less raw taste but that is probably why I needed to add more.

Hope this helps

EDIT sorry missed out the most important bit - I'm sure it would be nice if you seasoned it with Garam masala because that has cumin in it - and Shirley already has that in stock. Will try that next time

aless02

hummus is easy-peasy...I just did a massive batch today! maryb, that's a good recipe, but I do even simpler with no yoghurt & bottleed lemon juice. I also used tahini for the 1st time ever, but don't usually as I never have it around (and honestly can't taste the difference, I think).

Very very good if you have some random roasted peppers on hand to blend in, too! Sorry I realise this post isn't very helpful :rotfl:

Still have a million chickpeas left, so will ffreeze the rest to do the ravely-reviewed crumble later in the month :T

maryb

Aless
I did have some roasted peppers 'cos that's when I did my garlic. I should have saved a bit to put in with the hummous, that sounds yum.

What do you season yours with because I think it was adding the cumin etc that made the difference this time?

shanks77

Bread has turned out well rose a bit unevenly but that doesnt affect the taste. Will def make again maybe make some rolls next time or turn the bread into something flavoured maybe with sundried toms or if anyone has some tried and tested flavours would love to hear your suggestions

aless02

maryb wrote: »

Aless
I did have some roasted peppers 'cos that's when I did my garlic. I should have saved a bit to put in with the hummous, that sounds yum.

What do you season yours with because I think it was adding the cumin etc that made the difference this time?

Cumin, lemon juice & salt. Sometimes I throw a dash of cayenne b/c I like spicy things .

shanks - how about rosemary? sundried tomato? chili & cheddar cheesey? hmmm...

queen_of_string

Orkney star I touched on this a bit back. I think as experienced OSers we can cope with this kind of random purchase. To begin with the envisioned family are not presumed to have been cooking from scratch or shopping in this way previouslly, so initial versions of the budget are very simple and prescriptive. Weezl's analogy has been of teaching a person to fish. The hope seems to be that Shirley et al will catch on to the idea of OS (ie learn to fish) as she follows the plan and that other chapters in the plan will address the idea of such things as incorporating whoopsies and using any leftovers. It has been hard for me during the thread not suplant Shirley with me and the knowledge and skills I have. She is presumed not to have acquired a lot of things I take for granted ( like being able to make a white sauce without the scales for example).


Lesley Gaye: I also found some stuff about 2.5% of people being innovators and 16% being early adopters sooooo ( bit of extrapolating required here), if we take the preparing to change people (20%) then I think maybe about 16% of them would be the people who initially took up the plan. I know this is all a bit looking a ahead, but I am hoping to plant the seeds of thinking about this in the minds of people who are reading now who will write the final versions of the plan, and people who may follow on behind to extract information for a more formalised version.


Back more on topic, Bacon tunrovers. Weezl you asked about them and main meals. OH, who is a meat at most meals kind of guy, when asked, if we were in Bob and Shirleys position and I served them with gravy veg and wedges ( as you suggested) says: he doesnt think they need wedges, just lots of veg and some gravy as they are quite carby and filling, and yes he'd be happy to eat them like that. he also says that he thinks they would make a nice lunch with beans.

On the veggievs meat free debate. I think that we should go with this plan and a proper veggie one, not a meat free, looks almost veggie one. The egg thing is, I think, as others have said, a distraction.


Hope Fergus had a lovely day. My baby boy is 16 in 2 days !!!
HTH