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

In_Search_Of_Me

weezl; it is finished! Its washed and "blocking" but Isoke seems to think its hers and, despite the fact that there are pins sticking out all over it, she still insists on sitting on it...hugs for you all re nasty tummies...not good. Hope you are all on the mend? Re when you start dont think you will ever please all the people all the time...plus from the looks of it you have alot of lurkers too!!

In_Search_Of_Me

fletch the carrot cake is yummy...I was also dubious about the oil but bet youll love em! Would recc a half batch if on your own though!

Murrell

frugalmumof4 wrote: »

Hi, Still havent got through all the posts and dont know if the link to the meal plan at the beginning is what the current one looks like, but was wondering if a lentil pate may be a good alternative to some of the houmous sandwich days? We usually make up basic lentil dhal recipe with lentils, value stock cube, 1 onion, tsp herbs, bit of curry powder, then when it cools down it will set like pate. Cheap, tasty and nutritious. Possibly one for a vege planner?
Also I see there are quite a few posts about carrot cake, I made the eggless one, but didnt use the milk powder as listed, there was no oil on recipe, wasnt sure if it was a error, so i used soya milk to bind it all together, this was then vegan and fat free, and ohhhh so tasty, im going to cook one up now!it goes a bit like a bread pudding!

Weezl did a lovely lentil pate in the 50p thread. I think possibly we may be looking at including it in the veggie or vegan plan, as a few of us have mentioned liking it, but I could be wrong. I guess yours may be more frugal though. If its not included, I can find the recipe for you if you want. Hope your new vegan way of eating is going good. See you over in the vegan thread!

Sandra
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Murrell

A tip for Shirley might be to use a oven rack balanced on tins as a cooling rack for her cakes.

Sandra
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Murrell

I know a lot of us are scared at the through of baking our own bread. So
I don't know if this will be worth watching, have it on my to watch list. In search of the perfect loaf. Documentary which follows award-winning artisan baker Tom Herbert in his search to bake a loaf that will win him first prize at the National Organic Food Awards.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rm55q/In_Search_of_the_Perfect_Loaf/

Also Raymond Blancs Kitchen Secrets is on bread this week. Its on tomorrow at 8:30pm on bbc 2.

Sandra
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weezl74

Thanks sandra great ideas as ever

ok, Lesley and i have chatted, and i think I'm just not as 'there' as I should be for a thursday beginning. At the best of times I don't have the right skills and for me this is not the best of times! with kester being so new i mean.

Lesley is great at detail, but because we aren't in the same place to just look together at the same thing it takes up loads of her time to hammer out something that in person would take 5 mins!

I know we've got enough evening meals and breakfasts and that they are within budget. I'm stuck at the moment with lunches and the snacks.

It was a bit of a blow to think that the snacks not being savoury would be a stumbling block for people, as I had run pretty far with that because the carrot cake and cereal bars seemed so popular at this stage I don't think i can change that too much without adding a lot of extra time. I have added in 2 batches of mr Aless' savoury bites for eating over the month, but apart from those, the snacks are cereal bars, biscuits and the carrot cake.

HowlinWolf

Well on the testing front we had roast chicken, carrots, roast potatoes and stuffing for tea. We were supposed to have peas with it a la Shirley but I got distracted playing a recycling game with ds.
On the good news front we normally eat both breasts at least between the two of us (not very frugal) but with Shirley in mind we used a breast and a half plus one wing for dp who snaffled it before I managed to strip it. I did more tatties than I usually would and that and stuffing (which we don't always have) did help to make up the difference. I also plated it up rather than putting things in bowls on the table for us to help ourselves. There is plenty of meat left for the chicken and onion pie and with there only being 2 and a half of us it may stretch further than just pie.
If i was being really frugal I'd make stock for soup but I'm knackered and I just can't be Ar*ed. I am just going to have a cup of tea and one of those museli bars that Ceridwen posted a link to before I go to bed.

shanks77

Weezl i know you are not ready for testing and thats fine but where is the most up-to-date planner? i need to go shopping soon and was planning on using some of the planner as a smaller test but cant find which one we are using. I may have your "cheese rind" head on so forgive me if it so obvious its staring me in the face
Thanks

weezl74

I think too that I'm in danger of becoming frustrated with the healthy eating component of our planner due to my own excessive conscientiousness.

as I sit here tonight I am most worried that this will be the thing that ultimately discourages me so much that I give up. Which I don't want to do.

Here's how I see it. If a person who normally spends £500 in a month on food in the supermarket posted a meal planner, it would just be accepted, people would like and use and enjoy their recipes, perhaps making their own tweaks away from a particular ingredient they don't like.

Jamie oliver writes something called 'feed your family for a fiver' and people think oh goody, yes I will that looks nice!

end of story.

what makes me feel really sad is that because I have chosen a different price point, or perhaps for some other reason, i'm not sure, the health thing just feels like it's a bit out of hand.

I can't really believe that if we sent anyone into a uk supermarket to do a month's shop even with £500 that they'd come back with something that has the right amount of calories, carbs, protein fats, every vitamin and mineral no transfats. I just believe the chances are too slim. But there's no scrutiny applied to the £500 a month basket. Why is that? And why does cheap mean scrutiny?

These questions may sound challenging or feisty or confrontational. They aren't meant that way. It's just that I feel so disheartened and if I could understand why that's the case I'd feel more ok I think.

At the moment I more feel like, blimmin Delia and Jamie can just come up with recipes and get paid a big wodge for doing it. they've never spent 2 hours on the phone to asda customer services trying to find out how much calcium is in the flour! They don't even put how many calories is in the recipe mostly!

sorry about this all. I just feel very downcast and that I can't produce this

HowlinWolf

Hugh F-W is doing novice breadbaking on more4 plus 1