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

phizzimum

hi got it spend it, it's something DH makes - not particularly frugal and definitely not subsistence so I won't write it all out here.

the recipe is rick stein's moroccan lamb tagine with buttered cous cous (sorry can't do link but the recipe comes up if you google it). DH makes it with extra sauce, so we eat the lamb for one meal then keep the leftover sauce as soup.

talking of DH - I printed out the spreadsheet meal planner and he was very interested. would like a bit more meat but he said that he would happily eat just about everything on there.

weezl74

ceridwen wrote: »

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??

I think the third plan (currently being given a little thought by twinkle star) will be able to afford salad

Although if shirley could be persuaded to grow her own as you have ably done C, she can have it too! :rotfl:

Interesting thought on backing up our documents, you are right I would be scuppered if MSE went down. I shall have a ponder. I suppose I've got all the recipes stored. But I wouldn't have accesss to you lot

mooloo hello! How are you and yours? I agree that supermarkets change regulary. Our resource would need a lot of maintenance. It is also very UK centric as Aless has pointed out and is also illustrated in that the american peanut butter based subsistence diet is £1.01 here whereas you get all this lot on the googledocs planner for 80p, crazy differences in world economy

phizzimum

shaz - have I read your sweetcorn fritter right? you used no eggs and no milk? impressive! what liquid did you use? just the oil or did you use water?

I keep forgetting to pick up a tin of sweetcorn so I can try these. ignore me! sorry shaz, just read your whole post and you mention the water.

weezl - I've just been googling chana mutter masala, as I have to admit I've never heard of it. the first website sold prepared indian food - guess what was second? this thread!

so I'm not much the wiser - is it just chick pea curry?

weezl74

phizzimum wrote: »

talking of DH - I printed out the spreadsheet meal planner and he was very interested. would like a bit more meat but he said that he would happily eat just about everything on there.

That's great! We seem to have much more male 'buy in' than I/we were expecting.

There's hoping that Bob can be persuaded eh?

ceridwen

weezl74 wrote: »

I think the third plan (currently being given a little thought by twinkle star) will be able to afford salad

Although if shirley could be persuaded to grow her own as you have ably done C, she can have it too! :rotfl:

Interesting thought on backing up our documents, you are right I would be scuppered if MSE went down. I shall have a ponder. I suppose I've got all the recipes stored. But I wouldn't have accesss to you lot

Awww....would you miss us our Weezl?;):)

Well - we'd certainly miss you - thats for sure....

Hmmm....first thoughts on you having back-up access to us = maybe if you had our private email addresses on file in case you wanted them??? (well - you have mine anyway - but in case you wanted to keep ahold of other peoples as well.....).

weezl74

phizzimum wrote: »

shaz - have I read your sweetcorn fritter right? you used no eggs and no milk? impressive! what liquid did you use? just the oil or did you use water?

The newer recipe uses frozen phizzimum, but of course you are welcome to buy whatever you like!



I agree that the egg freeness is a huge bonus and opens up a pasta carbonara option, or more cake, possibly in the form of breakfast muffins if the endless porridge feels a bit much for Bob and Shirley.

grandma247

Lesley_Gaye wrote: »

There is a lot of coconut in this and I thought I might be able to reduce it as it is high fat and saturated fat at that. Tried it with half the qty and it didn't really work, so added in the other half. At 5 servings, there is 22g of fat per serving

Please don't be afraid of the fat in coconut. Although it is supposed to be a "bad" fat it is not. The research was wrong apparently. There is a thread on mse somewhere and I also did some research myself and what I found was thought provoking. It is actually very good for you. Also have you ever really closely looked at people who use it all the time for cooking? They are not fat and their skin is beautiful and wrinkle free until they are very old.
If I could afford to use organic virgin coconut oil all the time for cooking I would.

phizzimum

weezl74 wrote: »

The newer recipe uses frozen phizzimum, but of course you are welcome to buy whatever you like!

thanks, I hadn't noticed that (hmm...not sure which of the above smilies I find more disturbing!)

ceridwen

grandma247 wrote: »

Please don't be afraid of the fat in coconut. Although it is supposed to be a "bad" fat it is not. The research was wrong apparently. There is a thread on mse somewhere and I also did some research myself and what I found was thought provoking. It is actually very good for you. Also have you ever really closely looked at people who use it all the time for cooking? They are not fat and their skin is beautiful and wrinkle free until they are very old.
If I could afford to use organic virgin coconut oil all the time for cooking I would.

Ummm.....goes off thinking to self about that one....ummm...

Just wondering what sorta cuisine features coconut oil on a regular basis?..as its not summat I've encountered much (if at all) in British recipes. Is this summat that is a regular feature of some other countries cuisine purlease? if so - which ones? (I'm wondering a bit whether it might be a bit of a "cocktail effect" of a beneficial nature - ie of coconut oil and other ingredients that dont come into regular use in British recipes that might be having that good effect???). I use extra virgin olive oil 90% of the time that oil is called for in any recipe - as cant remember details - but do remember the general message that its MUCH more beneficial if its extra virgin. Is it the same sorta reason as to why you state "extra virgin" coconut oil - rather than just standard coconut oil?

grandma247

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

Yes another tin of sweetcorn would have been a good idea but I didn't have another one. I have been waiting to see if it goes on sale at a better price.

I would certainly think that wedges would be good with it. If it was a case of that is all there is then it would be fine for us but I would still prefer to have another veg in normal circumstances. I would either do salad or a green veg. That is just the way we always eat. Not everyone eats that way these days. We grow a lot of our own too which may have a bearing on it.