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

Kittikins

Hi Lesley, those spinach dumplings look gorgeous, I've had similar at Carl*ccio's before and think I may have worked out what to have for dinner tonight

aless02

weezl, I did know that! :rotfl: was just merely sticking my oar in at the mention of sweet potato, lol...

Lesley, those spinach dumplings look fantastic. Methinks I will readjust the meal planner slightly so I can make them sometime in April

BARGAINHUNTER!

You very kindly phoned and spoke to me on the phone ISOM re lodger and I thought that your accent was beautiful!

In_Search_Of_Me wrote: »

in haste as just home and need to research the next blanket!
Arty I have a supa dupa blender but rarely use it due to the faff of washing it up. I also have one like this;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Breville-VHB012-White-Hand-Blender/dp/B001DH61UW/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1269890660&sr=1-14
which I use all the time. I did a uick search for cheapies and suspect with more reserch you could get it cheaper - I got mine at argos but its now 48!!!! The linky above is the same equip but different name! If I had to keep one kitchen set (seriously considered when sitation v dire!) this would be it - got all you need for soups, whisking and chopping on a smallish scale (just do it twice for more food lol!)...would say I did have a plastic stick one but it melted so personal choice would be for metal stick...hth?

lol re the what do we look/aound like!! People always get me very wrong when they meet me - and on phone - partly due to voice sounding definately English (with odd welsh expression thrown in isnt it!)! Weezl has like me I think, a mix of accents/expressions from being in various places but generally wouldnt be known as from Cardiff ...I would say she is well spoken but not posh...Would like to meet people but as weezl wil verify its quite nerve racking! A bit like a first date without the snogging lol!!

weezl74

Lesley_Gaye wrote: »

anything I can help you with today Weezl?

oooh ooooh yes please! can I run some (more!) spreadsheet thingies past you?

xx

In_Search_Of_Me

aww thanks bargainhunter! Hows it going?!! I found a second lovely lodger who will be here for a few weeks more and then the flat is mine once more!
spot the weezl excitement at the mere mention of a spreadsheet ...dear readers if ever wanting to give our weezl sommat dont think along traditional lines...go for sommat like a supa dupa intelligent all whistling spreadsheet and you'd have one happy weezl!

domesticgoddess789

queen_of_string wrote: »

Pink hayley, that's a great list.

Today's thought is,as Shirley may be a novice cook, does it need to include a paragraph about only cooking something once and reheating it once and not re freezing defrosted foods without cooking them first?

Please dont feel you have to include anything that I suggest. One of the things I can be good at is making unusual suggestions and thinking in a slightly different way. Please see my suggestions as just that, and hopefully a stimulus to others thinking too.

Yes, definitely will try to knock something together on food safety and will add it asap. Thank you for the useful ideas.

And I am very grateful for your suggestions and am sure Shirley will be too

FrankieM

The Frugal Meal Plan couldn't have come at a better time for us. I've had a few extra expenses I wasn't quite expecting so it should give me the opportunity to claw back some cash! Well done weezl

FrankieM

pinkhayley I make 'Magic Rice' with any leftover rice, onion and/or other veg or bits of meat. Dash or two of soy sauce and Bob's your Uncle...or DH in this case.
I don't know if that's any help to you, for your 'Leftovers'.
You could do the same with pasta to make a Pasta Salad....?

domesticgoddess789

FrankieM wrote: »

pinkhayley I make 'Magic Rice' with any leftover rice, onion and/or other veg or bits of meat. Dash or two of soy sauce and Bob's your Uncle...or DH in this case.
I don't know if that's any help to you, for your 'Leftovers'.
You could do the same with pasta to make a Pasta Salad....?

They are great tips FrankieM, thank you.

I will add them to the list when I can.

Allegra

My dinner was luuuvery I was gonna take a picture, but ate it all before I could reach the camera

I did a half batch - I'd normally only be cooking it for the two adults, anyway, and as OH got a last minute invitation for a meal out, it was me only for butternut, and here is where we hit the only slight glitch - I ate the whole lot and do not feel overfull Piggy piglet. In my defence, though, I did walk to work and back today, and shelved for hours, eating very little during the day, so I had to get my strenght back up, innit :A

I did as Sian suggested, and roasted sliced squash first, stirring it in at the last minute. I also used 1tsp of dried herbs - in my case, that means home-dried homegrown oregano, and as that packs quite a punch, I could have got away with half that - but I did not have any stock to hand (all frozen and no time to defrost it quickly enough), so it probably made up for the fact that I had to use just water for liquid (I used 3/4 litre).

I used half the oil to start the risotto off (add peas, add rice, add water), a small amount - probably 1tsp - to roast the squash, and the rest to drizzle over the finished product. Cheese - I stirred half in with the squash, sprinkled the rest over the top. Salt to taste, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. There was gonna be parsley on top, too, but it was chucking it out there and I did not fancy getting wet for it as it was just me, so went without.