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

ariarnia

Can you use the pyrex casserole dishes instead? and if so can you use the lids that come with them rather than foil? they seem a bit big but I wondered if it would work.

I've got 2 pudding basins (I assume that's what they are - heavy white bowls with a lip but no lid) but I've never quite worked how you seal the top of them it looks fiddly and unstable to just elastic band the top with foil and I'm not sure what you mean by pleating the foil first.

nopot2pin

OrkneyStar wrote: »

Weezl- is there anything on the list that really needs trying ?
I am happy to help, but as I have still not read ALL the pages I fear I may have missed something important!
Happy belated birthday Fergie, not long until the next one comes along!
x

Only one of the surveys has had no responses
Recipe for falafel

Some of the surveys that have only had one response as follows:
Recipe for frugalised chutney
Recipe for pasta puttanesca
Recipe for corned beef hash
Recipe for onion bhajis


From what I can gather, from memory.... the surveys that have the best respones, are the ones where someone has posted a picture of their results

All surveys found on POST 4

ceridwen wrote: »

Well - I tried my sloe muffins out on friends - about 15 opinions of them later says they were lovely:D and there was a couple of hints that a second "sampling session" would be welcome:D.

I've got some sloes sitting there in sloe gin and sloe vodka that I made a few months back - and I'm looking nervously at that. Errr....I dont know if I even LIKE gin....<cough> but I had a go at making some.

Am thinking I will save the sloes from these drinks and use in something or other - something chocolatey could be one possiblity...:)

I used dried sloes, for my gin, as I have been unsuccessful, so far, in finding fresh one in my area.
This year I added a large cinnamon stick to the mix, which meant I was able to add less sugar.
Next year I think I will try with cloves and cinnamon, for even less sugar, hopefully

I was unable to use the sloes once I removed them from the gin, as the soaking did not soften them
So, when the weather was exceptionally bad a while back I put them out for the birds, without thinking .
It was only later the next day, once they were all gone, that I realised, that there may have been a few birds in my area with a cheeky hangover that day

weezl74 wrote: »

If so, please add artybears mist sprayer as an oil possibility and also asda and sainsburies have a huge variety of briliant silicone cakeware. Also from recent chats with frankie, I realise I've taken a pudding basin as a staple and it's not:o. There are a lot of things I've assumed people have because they are accomplished cooks, like frankie, but of course steamed puddings are not such a popular thing since about 1950:rotfl:

B&M and Poundland are selling silicon bakeware much cheaper than Asda, which could be worth remembering, IF Bob and Shirley live near either of those.

Lesly: the base of the chickpea crumble was lovely
I haven't tasted the topping yet, as I made 4 portions for the freezer, for when I work lates. But I was pleasantly surprised that there was a generous amount of crumble... I thought it would be a wee teeny sprinkling. I will deffo be making these again, and they will be a good variation for me when I work late shift. Thanks

Ok, off to bed. Up in 5 hours for work :eek: :wave:

queen_of_string

you mentioned walnut bread for the veggie menu. So, inspired, I made this yesterday:

http://www.experienceplus.com/reading_room/recipes/pane_di_noci_pain_aux_noix_walnut_bread.html

I have to say that this is the best bread I have ever made. I did suggest to my OH that I might freeze half, which he robustly assured me would not be necessary as none of it would be around long enough to go stale !!!! It looks superb and very posh and is lovely plain or toasted.

ceridwen

weezl74 wrote: »

Ceridwen, I wondered if you might be willing, as you were able to see early on that shirl might be thwarted by lack of rolling pin

:think: Hmmm.....hmmmm....kit list...hmmm....

Reet - guess that equals checking out the suggested kitlists in various cookbooks I have - work out the "lowest common denominator" between them and list that and whatever frugal equivalents I can think of/anyone else can suggest to those things - eg: rolling pan = winebottle.

I'll have a go then...:)

EDIT: I'm on the case - a basic list made out already - now I'll start whittling and substituting.

ceridwen

queen_of_string wrote: »

you mentioned walnut bread for the veggie menu. So, inspired, I made this yesterday:

http://www.experienceplus.com/reading_room/recipes/pane_di_noci_pain_aux_noix_walnut_bread.html

I have to say that this is the best bread I have ever made. I did suggest to my OH that I might freeze half, which he robustly assured me would not be necessary as none of it would be around long enough to go stale !!!! It looks superb and very posh and is lovely plain or toasted.

That sounds nice - noted for a try at some point:)

Did you use the "oiled ring mould" she suggested - or just do it freestyle?

I guess frugalising of that recipe would mean:
- vegetable oil instead of olive oil
- sugar instead of honey
- fewer walnuts:(

Presumably this is a recent recipe - so the dried yeast she mentions would be quick yeast...
(as my oldest cookbooks mean standard dried yeast - but the modern ones are referring to quick type dried yeast).

...now goes off wondering what the difference is between dried yeast and quick-type dried yeast - so whether I could just blitz the little globules of standard dried yeast I have and they would maybe function as quick-type dried yeast? (as I reckon both types would then look the same - the question is whether they could both be used the same way).

ceridwen

Cor....our weezl isnt around - maybe she's having that thing that seems to be unknown in the Weezl household - otherwise known as a lie-in:rotfl:

Tiptoes round the place quietly.....puts up "DO NOT DISTURB" notice....:silenced::silenced::silenced::silenced:

...it wouldnt be would it...it couldnt be could it......?

....better not be yet....that birthing pool isnt turning up till tomorrow if my memory serves me correctly....
(tootles off for a quick check - Kester is due on the 30th...)

aless02

weezl, I just Recipecal'd our pasta from last night - clearly we're pigs! :eek:

I used 1oz butter, 1oz flour, 1/2 pint milk + 1/2 pint water, 1oz grana padano cheese, 1tsp mustard, dashes of salt & pepper, 100g peas, 100g bacon piece all on top of 200g pasta. It was VERY saucy (how we like it ) so to be much more frugal, I think you could get away with that amount of sauce for 4 people (well, I'd add more peas to be healthier).

Short Information

Values for one serving Energy 601.685 Cal Protein 18.947 g Fats 24.056 g Polyunsaturates 3.085 g Monosaturates 10.20 g Saturates 7.787 g Cholesterol 34.057 mg Carbohydrates 75.264 g

Detailed Information

Values for one serving Element Value Food energy (kcal) 601.685 Protein (g) 18.947 Fat (Total lipids)(g) 24.056 Ash (g) 2.153 Carbohydrate, by difference (g) 75.264 Total dietary fiber (g) 3.275 Sugar Total (g) 1.874 Calcium (mg) 21.864 Iron (mg) 1.568 Magnesium (mg) 59.471 Phosphorus (mg) 245.827 Potassium (mg) 268.969 Sodium (mg) 424.162 Zinc (mg) 1.861 Copper (mg) 0.32 Manganese (mg) 1.086 Selenium (mcg) 73.343 Vitamin C (mg) 0.319 Thiamin (mg) 0.235 Riboflavin (mg) 0.119 Niacin (mg) 3.645 Pantothenic acid (mg) 0.694 Vitamin B6 (mg) 0.249 Folate (mcg) 19.98 Folic acid (mcg) 0.028 Food Folate (mcg) 19.953 Folate DFE (mcg Dietary Folate equivalent) 20.00 Vitamin B12 (mcg) 0.346 Vitamin A_IU (IU) 55.328 Vitamin A_RAE (mcg retinol activity equivalents) 7.462 Retinol (mcg) 5.643 Vitamin E alpha-tocopherol (mg) 0.246 Vitamin K ( phylloquinone) (mcg) 0.516 Alpha-carotene (mcg) 0.353 Beta-carotene (mcg) 21.639 Beta-cryptoxanthin (mcg) 0.00 Lycopene (mcg) 0.00 Lutein+Zeazanthin (mcg) 41.485 Saturated fatty acid (g) 7.787 Monounsaturated fatty acids (g) 10.20 Polyunsaturated fatty acids (g) 3.085 Cholesterol (mg) 34.057

aless02

(he's running in the Milton Keynes half. It's part of his training for the Paris Marathon next month - kudos to your dad for trying to be a record-breaker!)

this morning's recipe sampling was the lemon & raisin pancakes...and I confess 100% bias here towards big, fluffy American-style pancakes for my breakfasts.

verdict: 5/10 they tasted really doughy and glue-y to me. Pancakes really need some sort of fat in the batter just to add a tiny bit of richness (traditional recipe has egg, milk & butter!). Also, we like our 1 cooked breakfast of the week to be ultra-hardy, so the 2 of us could eat those 4 pancakes between us . (though maybe not in the future now that I just glimpsed the calories!!) HOWEVER, if all B&S are used to are flat, English-style pancakes (crepe!) they get once a year in February, they'll prolly likely these . Need some sort of topping - jam, marmalade, golden syrup, SOMETHING as this cuts the chewiness.

duly chastised on the surveys, will go do some now...

Nutritional info for pancakes:
Serves 4.

Short Information

Values for one serving Energy 225.206 Cal Protein 3.631 g Fats 0.42 g Polyunsaturates 0.118 g Monosaturates 0.041 g Saturates 0.061 g Cholesterol 0.00 mg Carbohydrates 54.618 g

Detailed Information

Values for one serving Element Value Food energy (kcal) 225.206 Protein (g) 3.631 Fat (Total lipids)(g) 0.42 Ash (g) 2.207 Carbohydrate, by difference (g) 54.618 Total dietary fiber (g) 2.07 Sugar Total (g) 28.541 Calcium (mg) 103.519 Iron (mg) 1.876 Magnesium (mg) 16.90 Phosphorus (mg) 186.794 Potassium (mg) 313.912 Sodium (mg) 636.659 Zinc (mg) 0.239 Copper (mg) 0.148 Manganese (mg) 0.363 Selenium (mcg) 8.867 Vitamin C (mg) 1.328 Thiamin (mg) 0.209 Riboflavin (mg) 0.152 Niacin (mg) 1.749 Pantothenic acid (mg) 0.147 Vitamin B6 (mg) 0.079 Folate (mcg) 51.062 Folic acid (mcg) 39.50 Food Folate (mcg) 11.562 Folate DFE (mcg Dietary Folate equivalent) 78.812 Vitamin B12 (mcg) 0.00 Vitamin A_IU (IU) 0.281 Vitamin A_RAE (mcg retinol activity equivalents) 0.019 Retinol (mcg) 0.00 Vitamin E alpha-tocopherol (mg) 0.06 Vitamin K ( phylloquinone) (mcg) 1.388 Alpha-carotene (mcg) 0.00 Beta-carotene (mcg) 0.038 Beta-cryptoxanthin (mcg) 0.244 Lycopene (mcg) 0.00 Lutein+Zeazanthin (mcg) 4.706 Saturated fatty acid (g) 0.061 Monounsaturated fatty acids (g) 0.041 Polyunsaturated fatty acids (g) 0.118 Cholesterol (mg) 0.00

ceridwen

We're making good progress on Bob and Shirley's kitchen equipment. I've put up a thread on Old Style on this and the responses are rolling in. Got some helpful suggestions to work with there:D

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2321795

Reet....Real Life calls....I'll crack on later with that..

poohbear59

aless02 wrote: »

weezl, I just Recipecal'd our pasta from last night - clearly we're pigs! :eek:

I used 1oz butter, 1oz flour, 1/2 pint milk + 1/2 pint water, 1oz grana padano cheese, 1tsp mustard, dashes of salt & pepper, 100g peas, 100g bacon piece all on top of 200g pasta. It was VERY saucy (how we like it ) so to be much more frugal, I think you could get away with that amount of sauce for 4 people (well, I'd add more peas to be healthier)

.

Aless Do you think that my frugallity is skewing the figures? My family have had to learn to have less sauce and more carbohydrate. I have done it gradually over the last few months. Just wondered if S and B and kids might find it too much of a jump to use my quantities. I allowed 100g pasta per person and I think fed 5 or 6.


ETA Roast chicken today and chicken and sweetcorn pie tomorrow. weezl Would you like me to make my 'normal' pie or shall I use your recipe? And if so where is it?

Re Dahl, I make a veggie dahl and serve it with rice and HM mango chutney. I may make some bahjis to go with it for a celebration meal as an extra treat. I will give your onion chutney a try when I next make it:)