Weezl and friends Phase 2 -giving it a whirl for Shirl! Testing meal plan for a month

weezl74

r.a.i.n.b.o.w wrote: »

MY OVEN IS BROKED!!! *cries*

I need to make some bread - has anyone tried the No-Knead Bread in a breadmaker? Any tips or adjustments to the recipe? What setting should I do it on?

Thanks all.

sorry I wasn't around rainbow How did it go?

queen_of_string wrote: »

Right, I have done the Canadian version of the shopping list. I used Real Canadian Superstore as I think this is the best equivalent for AS*A.

Couple of notes, we dont get pigs liver in the supermarkets and there is no lard, so I had to substitute.

The list comes in at 189.23 GBP or C$287.

I have to say that's still really good!!

The only items that were cheaper were: potatoes, eggs and the spices.

( this made me chuckle as Sikhs and Mennonites are the people who immigrated here first and I wondered if that was reflected in the prices!)


I cook from scratch, we do eat well though and I can spend C$200 a week for 4 easily on a normal week. This menu would represent a significant saving here, even though the total is more.

Our food doesnt have European food subsidies, makes quite a difference doesn't it?

Oh, and we dont really get whoopsies either, I think they must just bin stuff, though I hope they donate to the food programmes ( I have my doubts).

that's amazing qos, as I know you are a careful and frugal cook, so if it quarters your possible spend, that's fabulous! thanks for doing the research :T:T

queen_of_string wrote: »

Ooh forgot. Had a Nigella recipe for tea last night. Potato, sweet potato, onion and peppers roasted then grilled with cheese on. Very simple and lovely. Wondered if Kitty would like a potato, butternut squash, onion version with a bit of the non cheesy cheesy sauce and maybe some breadcrumbs?


SHANKS on the cooking guide page, can you ask the boss if we could have a subtitle about what the page contains, I am concerned big picture people like me wont read to the bottom of the page and will miss the links ta.


Lovely photos Lesley, mine aren't so far on. Living in temperate rain forest, the rain bit has been to the fore the last 2 weeks, I think once the warm kicks back in, everything will go beserk!!

nice recipe qos would she have it with another carb like rice, or just as it is as a one pot meal?

weezl74

spotdogkez wrote: »

No, my 'Bob' still doesn't know!!

My food bill has reduced by approx £30 per month so far and I have many more meals to be incorporated, for example homemade soup is next on the list to tackle. I am hoping to be able to knock at least another £20 off over the next couple of months and to do that the website is a vital resource for me.

fantastic! I love the 'softly, softly, catchy hubby' approach

queen_of_string wrote: »

Excuse me for being nosey, spot dog, but do you know what you're hoping your monthly spend could be eventually?

Arty. petrol is cheap, so is elec and gas, but almost nothing else. It is however a stunningly beautiful, clean, relaxed, safe place to live ( and of course contains my OH, which was my main reason to move here. TBH if he had been in Columbia instead of British Columbia, we'd have moved there too :-D). I am really pleasantly surprised by BC. The pace of life is just a tiny bit slower and it makes a huge difference.

The problem with prices is the vast distances involved in moving anything, it's very hard to get a sense of how big this country is and how few people there are. A reasonable example is where I live. BC is 4 times the size of the UK and that's just one province of many. In this area 4 times of the Uk, there are, I think, about 30 million people, so less that half the people in the UK in 4 times the space.

The deceptive thing about this is that most of the people live in a thin strip of land within 1 hr of the US border. This means mad things like, where I live is a fair sized town. If I drive South for half an hour I am at the border. If I drive North for 5 minutes and stop and face North, there is no one, I mean really no one, between me and the North Pole!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think the compensation for the extra expense is the sheer physical beauty, the air quality and the quality of life. Overall it seems to pan out about even to living in the UK, maybe a little more, it's hard to tell from our budget at the mo, as we are paying out for 2 1/2 houses!! ( really hoping to be able to stop doing that soon!)

I loved canada DH and I spent a month there and took in 5 provinces but all on the east side. We travelled first class from Ottawa to quebec city and the views were amazing. The cabot trail and PEI generally were stunning too. (I read anne of green gables out loud to DH as we drove from halifax to PEI, echoing anne's journey which was cute and spooky!)
I think it can take a long time to forge real friendships in Canada though, so it's fab that you and OH have such a good friendship. One brit I know spent 2 years on nova scotia but felt pretty lonely

queen_of_string

Ooh I forgot, she might have a pepper lurking about too! I would think it would be a one pot meal, with potentially 3 of the 5 a day , not sure on the cals though.

Right I am defo going to bed now as it is super late here and I am very nortie still being up.

nn

weezl74

r.a.i.n.b.o.w wrote: »

OK, I've bitten the bullet and am having a go anyway - I need some bread, ANY bread, so I'm going to see what the following recipe gets me:

* 15g Allinson yeast (activated in a little warm water)
* Enough warm water to make the dough become....dough! Approx 200ml
* teaspoon sugar (in with the yeast)
* 400g strong bread flour
* teaspoon salt (in with the flour)
* tablespoon veg (rapeseed) oil

Set to medium crust on "rapid" (mine is 1hr 50mins) setting.

Put yeast in breadmaker with the sugar and a little warm water. Stir. Don't switch breadmaker on. Lid down until froth on top of yeast mixture. Add a little more warm water, flour, salt. Start the programme. If mixture is too wet, add a little more flour. If mixture is too dry, add a little more water. Once you're happy with the dough, close the lid and LEAVE IT to complete the programme.

I'll let you know how it turns out - this might be useful info for Shirley!

will happily include that for shirl, rainbow If succesful, would you mind trying 375g bread flour and 25g SR (so she gets exactly 4 loaves from her bag of flour)

Hippeechiq wrote: »

Wow Lesley! Impressive rhubarb!! :T

Am loving all the new additions to the site, but have to say, having the little pictures come up when you hover over a recipe title is just inspired! It definitely makes the viewer want to then go on to view the recipe more than just a title would, in fact, I think it makes you want to view the recipe because of it :T

If you're still wanting feedback on what recipe pictures look not quite as enticing as others it would be butternut squash risotto and risi e bisi for me, simply because of the lack of "colour" to the dishes. But that is just my personal preference, and is in no way intended as a criticism

By the way - when you hover of the title of pasta carbonara is shows a picture of uncooked penne....just wondered if that was correct?

Also, very interesting info about the herbs Murrell I wasn't aware that the herbs listed had high iron content. Well, I wasn't aware of any of the information you listed if I'm honest. Definitely think that kind of information would be a bonus on the site.

The photo idea was my dad's so I've passed your lovely feedback to him, he is very pleased

Yes! I must fix the pasta picture! Shanks can that please go on my do list?:A

Murrell, 93 unique shirleys have come via your blog :Tthank you! What sort of traffic is your blog getting cos that's a hefty amount of click throughs which implies your readership trust your links a lot

spotdogkez wrote: »

My original monthly spend was around £250 per month. This has reduced to around the £220 mark and I am aiming to get it even lower. I would like to think I could get it down to £150-170 allowing for the fact that we get through an awful lot of milk!!

As my signature shows, I have two children and one area I am finding difficult to reduce is packed lunches which we all have. They would not eat nut butter, lentil late or houmous and like the more obvious choices of cheese, egg, ham or tuna -all of which are in the higher cost bracket than the planner shows and obviously 'Jenny and Jason' are older and therefore less influenced by what is in their friends' lunchboxes. But as with my DH slowly does it and I am sure I will get there eventually.

Thanks for your interest. I feel as though I have been listening on your conversations for ages and that I know you all.

I don't know if this will help spotdogkez, but we tried grating a mature cheddar, stirring in some fairly runny homemade chutney, and using that as a cheesy sandwich filler. We found that just 15g of grated cheddar makes for a satisfyingly cheesy filling which would be only 7p per person of cheddar, which is a good saviing over slicing the cheese

weezl74

anyone willing to try a veganised version of the green pea soup?

425g green peas
25g lentils
40ml veg oil
100g onions

the usual spices plus marmite

frugalmumof4

hi, i will have a dig around in the freezer and see if i have any peas, looking for a soup to have for lunch! will let you know how it turns out, how much stock are you using?

weezl74

frugalmumof4 wrote: »

hi, i will have a dig around in the freezer and see if i have any peas, looking for a soup to have for lunch! will let you know how it turns out, how much stock are you using?

was hoping to get away with marmite/yeast extract as the stock, so's to keep the b12 nice and high

frugalmumof4

okey dokey, how much liquid?

Sian_the_Green

Weezl, was that recipe okay?
I wasn't sure we had creamed coconut in the house but I found it eventually last night, in with the vinegar and salt and pepper, go figure. So, I shall try the other recipe later

weezl74

frugalmumof4 wrote: »

okey dokey, how much liquid?

I'd guesstimate you'd need at least a litre cos red lentils are pretty thirsty

are you ok with trying it out until you get a good consistency and letting me know so I can build kity's recipe accordingly?

How are you BTW?

sian, :Athanks, the recipe reads brilliantly and what a time saver for me (I find composing the recipe methods always goes to the bottom of the pile of tasks )