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

ceridwen

aless02 wrote: »

weezl - just a thought that (eventually! I know you're busy) you should have a list of basic supplies this family will need in their kitchen. For instance, I doubt most "normal" families have 4 loaf tins to hand (I don't! which is why I've yet to try your bread recipe) and therefore will need to invest in some.

Immediately coming to mind are:
- slow cooker
- 4 bread tins
- pie/casserole dish
- blender/food processor

And then possibly a rough tip of where to cheapest buy these items? HTH.

and woe betide the non-Brit who doesn't like beans on toast! And I was SO looking forward to trying your challenge

Hmmm....well...actually...I wonder about the possibilities of a sorta "cottage loaf" or, on the other hand, I know there is a type of loaf that is baked in a flowerpot (of the earthenware variety). Also there is flat breads. So - I think it is a valid point to think how people can make bread for themselves even if they dont have breadmaking tins.

ceridwen

weezl74 wrote: »

Hi all, interesting morning of thread for me to catch up on



Lesley did say it would be very hard to get people to comply with that everyday for life, so I guess the 80p is somewhere in the middle, and unlike porridge, toast and baked beans, our plan wouldn't need a synthetic vitamin supplement, so folk may prefer it for that reason.


Weezl x

..and we certainly DONT want to go down the synthetic vitamin supplement route - for many many reasons (which I could start going into - but we would then be here till midnight on a LONG debate...;):rotfl:). We need to keep this focused on just FOOD pure and simple...

ceridwen

twinkle_star wrote: »

I reckon it might be nice to have your meal plan on separate site as well. Much akin to hillbilly housewife's $45 emergency menu. I found that site months before I found MSE and it's nice to have it all in the one place. But here too, I agree. More people that find it the better. :T

P.S. I may be working on super secret veganised version of this meal planner. And I may be fizzling with uber-geek excitement at all the number play. Shhhhh :rotfl:

YEP...my first thoughts are "BOTH" - ie elsewhere for ready reference for all and sundry. ALSO - HERE ON MSE - because its such a huge site and will virtually "automatically" get noticed by a lot of people.:D

At a very "practical" level - we simply dont know whether MSE will continue to exist in its current form indefinitely. It would be a HUGE shame if all the work we are putting into this project simply "vanished" if MSE itself ever "vanished" for whatever reason. Right at this moment - I am remembering that massive "denial of service" attack MSE suffered from pretty darn recently - was it a days worth or 2 days worth in total that that was going on for?? and whilst MSE was sorting it out - then there was basically no access as I recall to MSE generally. (I have my own theories about that attack - that I wont go into at this point - as I tend to agree with the fact that MSE didnt give us any clue just who/where the "attack" came from - tho' I think they probably have a very good idea and I have the feeling it cost them a SIZEABLE amount of money to deal with this - ie eyewateringly HUGE).

Should anything ever happen to MSE - whether of this nature/a "commercial" nature/'whatever - then I wouldnt want "us" to "go down with it".

I honestly believe that we need to "protect" this valuable resource we are creating - WHILST CONTINUING TO SHARE IT ON HERE.

Hence - yep - I think we need to "safeguard" our resource by DOUBLING UP - a site of some description elsewhere to "safeguard" this resource AND THIS THREAD HERE because its such a darn huge website. We will be "small fry" as a website of our own (AS WELL AS HERE) and I believe we will be "safe" from any such Internet attackers. I think MSE was chosen for attack because it IS so darn huge.

<<ohmegawd...ceridwen in protective "mother hen" mode wondering if she shoulda been so blunt....>>

HariboJunkie

My twopenneth on the location of the plan, for what it's worth, is that it's up to Weezl and/or anyone who is actually working in the background for the rest of us though I can't think of any sensible reason why MSE alone wouldn't be a perfect home for it. It would be great to see it as a resource shared by many people, not just a select few who are "in the know";)

got-it-spend-it

Well I can confirm that the Onion Tart is also delicious cold, in case it comes up as a 'leftovers for lunch' option in the plan! In fact, I think I preferred it cold, and it is firm enough that it could be used as a 'pack-up' (love that phrase, only ever heard it on here).

phizzimum wrote: »

Tinned tomato soup is the best .But i do like my dads morrocan spicy soup its really nice.DD1:oMy sister says they might like lentil soup but with less letils .DD2:D

Please, please, please could you point me in the direction of a recipe for the Morrocan Spicy Soup?

Weezl- FWIW I used to love my Mum's lentil soup when I was little, although I was a crazy veggie back then too so that may have a bearing on it :rotfl:. I also loved her cheese and sweetcorn soup, but not sure how frugal that could be given it needs a fair whack of cheese.

ceridwen wrote: »

Would almond butter do - as a substitute for peanuts in peanut butter? Have to confess I havent worked my way through the range of nut butters to see what I think of them yet - as I'm just fine with peanuts myself.

**************************************

Reet - on another topic:

Just teeny thoughts on method type stuff:

- I'm just cooking away a leftovers savoury dish for dinner tonight as we speak.

- From that: yep its perfectly possible to make acceptable breadcrumbs with a grater. I usually just lob the bread I wish to make breadcrumbs from into my liquidizer and blitz it. However - I bethought myself about some people not having a liquidizer and got out my grater to try that method (ie a typical square box type stand-alone type grater) and started grating away with the bread - and, yep, perfectly acceptable standard breadcrumbs. They're a teensy bit "rustic" compared to my liquidizer - but perfectly acceptable and didnt take much longer and no electric used:D

- One thing that strikes me about the cheapie ready meals on the market (or any ready meals pretty much come to think of it...:cool:) is that they are sheer "pap" as regards texture. They all come over pretty much the same - very bland/very "smooth" - total PAP. Personally - I think texture is an important component of a meal as well - and I like summat a bit "crunchy" in there somewheres.
(hence tonights "make up a recipe as you go" leftovers bake has got added texture - by virtue of my "rustic" breadcrumbs. I just sauted them in a bit of oil and have scattered them over the top of the bake I am currently trying).

....reet....wanders off thinking to self "if this make-up as you go leftovers recipe" works out okay (still an unknown quantity at present.....:rotfl:) then I wonder if our Weezl would like a frugalised version of it for the vegetarian "family"?

I could love a recipe for it if it turns out well, please!

ceridwen wrote: »

Hmmm....well...actually...I wonder about the possibilities of a sorta "cottage loaf" or, on the other hand, I know there is a type of loaf that is baked in a flowerpot (of the earthenware variety). Also there is flat breads. So - I think it is a valid point to think how people can make bread for themselves even if they dont have breadmaking tins.

Ceridwen- I think an issue with making the bread without tins might be portion control? Well, that would be my issue anyway .


Speaking of the Aldi Super Six, as someone was, I wonder if it would be fab to have some kind of appendix which had recipes featuring veggies that tend to appear in this, the Morrisons 30p deals etc that could be chopped and changed when these offers appear. I appreciate that I am thinking ahead, but might be a nice tweak later on?

I am loving this thread! Thank you so much to everyone who contributes, including the amazing Weezl of course! :T:T:T

grandma247

Sweetcorn fritters and carrot cake.

We tried these tonight. I did the recipe exactly as it said including the bit that said only use enough batter to make them stick together. I got 9 the size of a curry sauce jar lid.
Half the batter was left. I added to it some grated parsnips that needed using up and fried small fritters till just coloured and put them to cool for freezing for another meal.

Everyone liked the sweetcorn fritters.

They definately would not have been enough on their own or with a small salad as a main meal for my lot and the only one of us that is overweight is me.

I did some sausage meatballs with some home canned jar of chickpeas whizzed up with an egg and mixed together with whoopsied luxury sausage meat and cooked in the oven along with the carrot cake. Dh also had a small piece of steak pie left over from ds2 lunch and a few leftover canned potatoes from yesterday. Ds 3 and I had just the fritters and meatballs. Ds 2 had that plus some of the potatoes.

3 of us had a slice of warm carrot cake.


Carrot cake.
It was ok and I would use the recipe again minus a little of the oil if I only had white flour.
My own recipe uses the same amount of oil as this recipe but it uses wholemeal flour and fine oatmeal so the oil is not an issue.

Overall I think the size of portions does depend a lot on how active people are. Dh has a heavy physical job, ds 2 is 191/2,very tall 6'4 and wants to keep fit to join the fire service. Ds3 is a skinny tall 10 year old who is never still. I have smaller portions to loose some weight.

I hope this is helpful feedback

weezl74

grandma247 wrote: »

Sweetcorn fritters and carrot cake.

We tried these tonight. I did the recipe exactly as it said including the bit that said only use enough batter to make them stick together. I got 9 the size of a curry sauce jar lid.
Half the batter was left. I added to it some grated parsnips that needed using up and fried small fritters till just coloured and put them to cool for freezing for another meal.

Everyone liked the sweetcorn fritters.

They definately would not have been enough on their own or with a small salad as a main meal for my lot and the only one of us that is overweight is me.

I did some sausage meatballs with some home canned jar of chickpeas whizzed up with an egg and mixed together with whoopsied luxury sausage meat and cooked in the oven along with the carrot cake. Dh also had a small piece of steak pie left over from ds2 lunch and a few leftover canned potatoes from yesterday. Ds 3 and I had just the fritters and meatballs. Ds 2 had that plus some of the potatoes.

3 of us had a slice of warm carrot cake.


Carrot cake.
It was ok and I would use the recipe again minus a little of the oil if I only had white flour.
My own recipe uses the same amount of oil as this recipe but it uses wholemeal flour and fine oatmeal so the oil is not an issue.

Overall I think the size of portions does depend a lot on how active people are. Dh has a heavy physical job, ds 2 is 191/2,very tall 6'4 and wants to keep fit to join the fire service. Ds3 is a skinny tall 10 year old who is never still. I have smaller portions to loose some weight.

I hope this is helpful feedback

thank you that's brilliant

So we would need to double the amount of sweetcorn to use all the batter if I've understood you right?

If you had had double, then it wouldn't be enough as a main meal. Would HM potato wedges and chutney have helped it feel more of a full meal (no salad) Thanks for any further responses

ceridwen

Hi got-it-spend-it

Well that leftovers recipe was...errrm...."reasonable" in my book.

I had some leftover cooked rice (brown in my case) and steamed cavolo nero (and a bit of leftover bread - including half a round of sandwich I hadnt eaten).

So I fried up some chopped onion and garlic and mixed it up with the cooked rice and steamed green veg (thinking to self - "guess a frugalised version would be white rice instead of brown rice AND leftover steamed green veg. of any variety instead of cavolo nero") and put it in a large casserole dish. I then poured half a pint of cheese sauce over the top and scattered over the top the bread (made into breadcrumbs and sauteed in a bit of oil - frugal thought being that one could use vegetable oil instead of olive oil).

In hindsight - not bad....but would have made a bit more cheese sauce and added a bit more cheese into that sauce too. For non-frugal purposes - then I would have chucked in a few black olives and scattered a few tomato slices over the top - but I was trying to do this in a sorta frugal way - so didnt do so.

ceridwen

weezl74 wrote: »

thank you that's brilliant

So we would need to double the amount of sweetcorn to use all the batter if I've understood you right?

If you had had double, then it wouldn't be enough as a main meal. Would HM potato wedges and chutney have helped it feel more of a full meal (no salad) Thanks for any further responses

Errm....I'm not planning on trying the sweetcorn fritters myself - as I'm not a fan of sweetcorn (the baby variety - which is the only one I ever eat - certainly wouldnt qualify as frugal:o:rotfl:).

However - I had bethought myself that I wouldnt personally regard them as pretty much a full meal worth on their own. They definitely need summat filling with them in my book - eg those potato wedges. HOpefully - it would still be possible to have summat colourful/crunchy with them - like salad of some variety - a bit of colour/different "mouth feel" to the meal??

got-it-spend-it

Thanks ceridwen- that sounds like a leftovers dish I do! I have some sprouts that need using up so might give it a whirl, although I agree some sliced tomatoes on top sound good!