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

FrankieM

weezl I think that would be a good idea.

I was just wondering this morning how you made it work with small/non eaters.

Bigjenny

Hi Weezl

I will be trying out some of the recipes over the coming weeks, scaling down to single portions to see if I like them.

It will not be true frugal cooking as I will be using what I have in my cupboards and freezer
if thats ok.

The only extras that I have bought today are Garam Masala which appears in several recipes and extra carrots and smartprice oranges for carrot cake and orange flim flam.

Will also be using low fat chedar cheese. Didn't think it was worth buying Gran Padano for small amounts needed (had to google to see what it was):D:D

Usually have porridge or wholegrain cereal for breakfast and soup or sandwich for lunch, and plenty of fruit and veg,
so will be mainly dinner recipes.

Will also be interesting to see portion sizes as they are for a family with hungry kids,. As a mature lady:D some of the rice and pasta amounts are more than I usually eat but will cook amounts given and let you know if they are too much for me.

Jenny

Dick_here

Allegra wrote: »

More excited than ever :j

Assuming 'ever' began on day 1

weezl74

!!!!!!_here wrote: »

Assuming 'ever' began on day 1

Ah! Hello. What's all this about a putative business trip taking you out of the country for a substantial portion of the month? Seems a little suspect to me:p

artybear

Ok Iv so far made the lunchtime pate, the pumpkin seed butter and the bread is in the oven.

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Dick_here

weezl74 wrote: »

Ah! Hello. What's all this about a putative business trip taking you out of the country for a substantial portion of the month? Seems a little suspect to me:p

It wouldn't have been very money saving of me to turn down an all-expenses paid, business class two week trip across the pond with a daily allowance thrown in, now would it...

Sian_the_Green

weezl74 wrote: »

sian- thanks for the tom scone feedback :A

You're welcome!

weezl74 wrote: »

Can I have a what you actually did plus a how much of ingredients cos I'd like to incorporate your tweaks in the final version

Yes, you can...

I chopped the lard into smaller cubes (had been out of the fridge for a few minutes) and then poured in the oil. I added the flour all at once with the pepper and salt and rubbed together to form crumbs. Now I wasn't sure the best time to add the mustard and tomato so I actually added them next, though if I were to do it again I think I would add the mustard (if I were using it!) and tomato to the oil at the beginning and rub in together. I put the water and vinegar in together and stirred it up with a spoon until it all bound together a bit more and then used my hands to knead it a little on a floured surface. It needed a bit more flour to make it a suitable texture to squish out. I cut them with my metal egg cup and baked them on a silicone baking sheet at 200C for about 15 minutes.

The final size was a little smaller than a jaffa cake (sorry, can't think of a better illustration) and were a lovely orangey colour. They didn't rise as much as the other ones I did with the milk but I think rerolling the dough to use all of it gets some of the air out. Maybe some more baking powder? The mustard was okay but it left a bit of an aftertaste that I wasn't keen on.

weezl74 wrote: »

Plus can I check, they are ok without spread? I tried originally with just lard as the fat, but the mouthfeel was too dry, so I added in the oil to the cheese ones and raisin ones and that's been better, was that true of yours too?

Sorry for all the questions

I thought they didn't need any spread as they were quite flavourful and moist in the middle, mmm!
I like the questions, I like to feel involved! lol. The other good point is that they are pretty easy to knock up so would be ideal to whack in the oven with something else, e.g. when the bread is rising and the oven is warming for it or at the end of cooking another meal.

:T:T:T <--- for all the brilliant testers

artybear

Hey guys

well i did it:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j...sortof

I made the bread-its nice but has a really really crusty edge so I dont think it needed to be in the oven that long. Any tips from bread makers???

The liver pate is good-its very meaty but that means it can be spread really thinly.:D

The pumpkin seed butter-turned out niceish, I think mr artybear will be eating more of that than me-took ages to blend though.

The tangy bean pate!!!:D Possibly the easiest and nicest thing to cook-iv already dipped a few pieces of bread in ooppsssie.:T:T:T:T

Iv decided that I wont be cooking the apple curd or making the carrot cake today. I simply dont have any room left to put anything and untill Mr Artybear comes back theres no need for me to have that much food. Im off work on Saturday so willl make them then.

However from now Im on the planner so its Carbonara for dinner tonight I belive nomnomnomnom!!!!!!!:D

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p.s. I did buy a blender:D

FrankieM

I made the Fruit Scones today and I've got an extra step that I think needs to be added to the method:

Once scones are in the oven DO NOT give your 16yr old daughter a lift into town cause she missed the bus, forgetting to turn off the oven and then your slightly cranky VW Beetle breaking down and needing to be recovered.

Thankfully my youngest DD came home on time and I was able to ring her to turn the oven off for me. My scones, while not burnt, are probably slightly crunchier than desired


Well done arty on the batch cooking.

Allegra

A woman in Wales I've never met told me to Beats the old one about the voices, doesn't it ?

But let me explain. There is a method in my madness, really there is.

First of all, I love food. I mean I really, really love food. I love cooking. I love eating. I love the act of creating something amazing from almost nothing - it's like rabbits out of a hat, but it's not all smoke and mirrors (neither is the rabbit, but let's not nitpick, eh ? ). I didn't always - I used to have a hate-hate relationship with it, then a love-hate one, but we are pals now, and I hope that pals we shall stay.

Secondly, I have a child. This is one that all parents or loving uncles, aunties, godparents.... in fact, anyone who has had the privilege of watching a baby grow will probably get - they start off so small, so tiny that they fit inside a womb. And then they grow and grow and grow and suddenly there is this 6ft lumbering presence taking over the house, and where did the building material for all those limbs come from ? Yeah, you got it. Food.

So it's not enough just to eat. It's not just fuel, or guilty pleasure, or whatever. It's the building blocks to healthy bones, properly oiled joints, fully functioning organs and what have you. And much as you will never build a stable house from shoddy materials, or sew a good suit out of poor cloth, nor will you have your child grow into a healthy adult if you feed them cr&p. And feeding an autistic child a healthy diet... Well, let's just say it's a challenge and leave it at that.

So that's all pretty clear-cut, I think. But of course, that' not all. Because as someone who loves food, I not just eat it and cook it, I also read about it, read cookbooks and articles and blogs and fora and watch television programs.... And one thing that really, really gets on my nerves is food snobbery. Well, snobbery of any sort, but let's concentrate her for a moment. Specifically, the kind of snobbery that allows food retailers and manufacturers to decree that it is impossible to eat well yet cheaply, that all food deemed as healthy must have a hefty price mark-up, that one must take out a bank loan and bankrupt themselves if they wish to see their children grow up healthy and strong.

Okay, so there is a grain of truth in the claim that healthier production methods cause greater costs to the manufacturers - free range chicken and eggs will certainly have more overheads than battery farming; and chemical free organic farming does require more labour than the pesticide-sprayed crops, if it is not to be lost to pests and disease. So I hear and respect those arguments. But laziness, ignorance, fear.... All those take these couple of simple truths and end up equating them with expensive = good, frugal = child abuse.

And I'm sorry, but I don't believe that. Which is why Weezl's message resonates with me so strongly.

But that is not all, either. Because I don't like debt, either. I used to find it really hard to sympathise with people who ended up in unmanageable debt because they wanted bigger house, newer car, a garden makeover, designer clothes, in other words, stuff. I never really had much stuff. I live in a stone-clad bungalow because it would cost silly money to extend or remove the stone cladding. I am not aesthetically oblivious, I'd just rather not have debt. I'd rather financial independence. I am far mellower on the subject now, largely thanks to MSE where I met a lot of those people who I previously found it hard to feel much sympathy for. My stance is now that everyone makes mistakes, and that everyone deserves a second chance. In fact, I am very big on second chances. Without them, I'd probably not be here now, so let's hear it for second chances :T

And this to me seems what this idea, this planner is all about. A second chance. A rope to climb out of a hole, and who cares who dug th blighter in the first place ?

Furthermore, debt isn't alway self-inflicted. I worked with people in debt, and harsh woman though I am - was, had to be - I always felt deeply for those who ended up bankrupting themselves simply because they did not know how not to. Because they followed "safe", middle-of-the road moneysaving advice. Because they missed the point of Economy Gastronomy and thought that going any lower than that on their grocery budget would harm their families.

And of course, it helps that I've been stalking Weezl for a couple of years now and know that she is clever, frugal and intuitive cook, and that the food will be perfectly edible at worst (in fact, dear reader, my other half's least favourite recipe on the menu is actually mine, not Weezl's :rotfl:)

And I seriously do not think that any of us here will be particularly upset if we come to the end of the month and find there is money left in the grocery budget kitty. So it's not all about saving the world - it's also about saving money.

It does not get much better than that, wouldn't you agree ?