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

Allegra

weezl74 wrote: »

Allegra, can we include a line in the fab batch cooking blurb to talk about freezing chopped stuff specially for shirley's cooking for 1 or 2, incorporating Jenny's tip? And by we, I mean, erm....you!

Done !

Hope shopping was good and I look forward with interest to read what motivated you to get on board with this plan?

Done too And shopping was great - I didn't spend any money

artybear

Nicely put allegra:T:T:T:T:T

kezlou

Nicely put allegra!!!!!!!!!!:T:T:T:T:T

grandma247

artybear wrote: »

Nicely put allegra:T:T:T:T:T

Same thought here.
Also weezles thought on post ww2 :The people who didn't tended to be those who had viewed it as a troublesome hardship inflicted on them. Those people rebelled and ate lots of sugar/fat etc after the war. The ones who fared better were those who took a more pragmatic view and who trusted that the ministry of food had created plans which were healthy and non-wasteful. I wonder if that makes sense? What I'm thinking is that shirley will fare better if she doesn't have a 'victim' mentality. She will need to see that this is a resource which is for her and her family's benefit.

My ds1 who will be 36 this year has this attitude. According to his wife he feels he was very hard done to when he was growing up because I MADE him eat healthy food! When she tries to give him healthy stuff that he does not want he tells her "I had to eat that as a kid but I am in my own home now so I can choose what to eat."
With a lot of coaxing from her over the years he now eats almost all veg except parsnips which he hates with a passion. They have a reasonable diet but almost no wholegrains in any form although ddil likes brown bread she will not buy it often just for her so she eats it when she comes to us.

shanks77

Hi all Arty well done with your batch cooking you have done really well for someone who was so worried. Do you feel more confident now? I wish i was as organised i had great plans but as so often happens things went out the window. My job interviewer was 25mins late for meeting and then interview went on for over an hour (dont know if that is good or bad or if i want it but that is another story) then meeting a friend for coffee, and then when i got back ex wanted to go to B&Q to get things for the garden for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I happen to mention in passing that i wanted to grow a few veg and for the first time ever he decided it had to be done NOW so that was 1 1/2hours of my life i will never get back. Anyhoo that is me back but dont think i will get as much as i had planned. Have boiled my chickpeas (what the heck will i do with all of them) and away to make apple curd or i will be having porridge 3 days running and will prob get told off by that Welsh woman:rotfl:.
Still motivated and enjoying the plan also like the fact that the next days meal is decided for me and i dont have to stand in front of the freezer wondering what to have the following day. Still dont think batch cooking is really for me prefer to do as and when required but that will depend on recipe i think. If making the pizza dough will make the full batch but will prob just do 2 loaves at a time.
Well done to the more organised:T
Ps OT does anyone like loose tea? I got some as a pressie and not overly keen happy to post to anyone who wants it.

artybear

Thank you Shanks- i was so nervous, I even had nightmares about it last night and woke up at 6 thinking that today was B-day lol!:o

I have no idea why I stressed out so much-just think I have not ever bought that much food in one go and didn't want to ruin it as I am pretty skint at the mo.

Also I was worried that my landlady would be around, as I'm better at sorting myself out on my own and always feel guilty when I'm in the kitchen even though I pay to be here!! (on a side note anyone with lodgers do you get annoyed when they use the kitchen?) But shes been out all day so I made lots of mess thenhad time to tidy it all away-she will never know!!!:D

However when I started I really enjoyed listening to the radio and pottering around and really it was quite straight forward!!:):T

Hope you get the job (then decide if you want it or not) I'm doing applications at the moment-its all a bit soul destroying isnt it?

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shanks77

ARTY can i recommend that you DO NOT do all the chickpeas at once if you are short of freezer space as it makes heaps a bit more than i thought so maybe just do half the packet HTH

Sian_the_Green

Allegra, that was a great post and I love the emotion you put into it too, very inspiring!

Frankie, poor little car but good job on the crunchy scones, they can be paper weights or something! I think we need an addendum to this plan of amusing stories of silly things people have had happen to them!

Shanks, what is the job may we ask? Over an hour sound good to me, rude of them to make you wait that long! I think I know what you mean about batch cooking, though it can be good to get things done and out of the way if you are someone who cooks to relax or gets overwhelmed with 50 things going on at once maybe splitting them is best so you don't go loopy! Plus, people are less likely to steal a spoonful of flour from the cupboard than they are a scone out of the breadbin!

Housie is cooking for us tonight, yum yum! Though that means I am washing up, rubbish!

Have a great evening all!

artybear

Thanks Shanks I will only do half as the freezer is full- I had to re-arrange everything just to get two packs of frozen peas in. So my meat is all in the fridge which I had to rearrange too!!

Grrrrr my landlady just doesn't factor in two people in the house at all-roll on Sunday when I can put loads of food in Mr artybears freezer

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weezl74

thanks Allegra. All that you wrote explaining why you're on board was fantastic

Not just because of being nosey, I do feel that knowing your ethos will help others to know if/why they should participate

Grandma 247 your interesting post made me think of another reason shirleys might have an 'attitude problem' with the planner.

I'm reading Marghueritte Patten's 'we'll eat again' and one of her jobs for the ministry of food in the war was to supervise collectives of women as they prepared fruit grown locally for MOF approved Jam to be sold for the war effort.

She had to regulate an exactly 60% sugar content of the jam to ensure it lasted and the MOF could be sure it delivered as much energy as they had calculated. She talks about frequently encountering the attitude 'young woman! I have been making jam since before you were born!' but that she held firm. (I love the way she writes!)

These women felt affronted that an area they felt expert in was being challenged. this made them very resistant.

I have been thinking of how the testers who as I see it are all already experts, good, creative, frugal cooks have been able to think about trying this, without feeling this potential affrontedness. You could all easily say 'young woman!(!) I am already an excellent frugal cook!'.

How would I describe this good attitude? I think it's something to do with a mix of remaining open to learn and humble enough to think that even someone less expert than you might have something interesting to offer. And being willing to give it a go without feeling threatened or that it makes you a lesser person.

You are obviously all also very humanitarian, spiritual people who want to help others.

I wonder if the other, real shirleys will be like you. What will we do if they are like the people the venerable Ms Patten encountered?!