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

Murrell

Made the savoury bites yesterday and took them into work today and they were liked by all who tried them and will be taking recipes into work when I'm next in. I did the original vegan recipe but with 100g oil instead of 140g, as i've got organic oil and want to keep the cost down. Frugalmumof4 if you haven't tried these, I would definately recommend them. If you missed the original vegan version, just look on my site, I've put it there, as i couldn't link to the original, as its changed so much.

Sandra
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poohbear59

Allegra wrote: »

All the ones in gray are to be updated still. Click the links for savoury bites, and for scones.

Thank you. I am going to crack on and make some tonight after I watch Masterchef.

Allegra, I usually use a 500g bag between five adults, that is four men and me. We would usually have a good size portion of vegetables too.

When cooking with chicken breasts, when I had more money, I used to cut two up into pieces and serve in a sauce (for six of us) and discovered my best friend always cooked one each for her family. My lads are still strapping young men despite being so deprived.

Thank you for the pat on the back not2pin.
I am doing my best here, despite a few human hiccups, eg someone eating the cheddar:mad:

shanks77

weezl74 wrote: »

evening

Thanks for the feedback shanks, your ex seems pretty willing to try this stuff out, which is commendable

I hope the outcome of the interview is exactly right, as in, if it's right for you to work there, that you'll get it IYSWIM?

4 on 4 off nights sounds like it could be tough though potty does horrid shifts too and I think they can mess with your head when you don't see much daylight!

hoping everyone is full enough with the carbonara... DH and I were most worried about portion sizes with this one, hence the bread

Thanks Weezl i enjoyed the 4 on 4 off the last time it seemed to suit me fine and had no trouble adjusting when the days off came around. Its this day shift that kills me and i have given it a year and a half and still hate this being up early it just not me plus going to bed early 11.30pm ish (early for me) seems like a punishment.
Carbonara was delish no complaints about portion size and that is def a compliment as we are good eaters. Ex is quite good i have a couple of things as back up in case it gets too much but he seems happy enough with the choices and variation and if they have enough flavour and are filling he will go along with it. (Still wants meat "he is a man") but at the end of the day if he doesnt like it he can go home and go hungry:)

shanks77

artybear wrote: »

Lol i meant 9 out of 10.:D I quatered everything and thought it was a big portion-maybe I didnt do it right??:o

I was dubious because once I quartered my cheese portion it was a tiny amount so it sort of disappeared rather than making a cheese sauce but the taste really came out in the pasta. Cant believe how much cheese I'd normally put on when so little can make it nommmyyy.:eek:

I couldnt manage bread as that would be too carb heavy for me-however it did feel unhealthy eating it without salad which is what I would normally have with a pasta dish.

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Arty i think we are related because i thought the same as you that the portion was big the cheese was small but you def got the taste and yes i would also grate up more cheese normally. I think i have weighed more things in the past 2 months than i have in the past 2 years and sometimes i think it helps seeing what a portion should look like rather than what you think is right (personally i would have had less pasta but if Weezl says..............)

weezl74

morning all, thanks for the feedback on the carbonara, much appreciated

I was wondering if it feels unhealthy myself beforehand as it is the only dinner without any F and V portions in it

My inclination is to see whether there are other meals over the month which can spare some of their veg, or to add in an extra portion of carrots on top of the budget.

Allegras idea of the dandelion is good too

Poohbear sorry I wasn't around to help with the savoury recipes glad others helped you though.

Would it be less confusing if I just said, 'right we're all having the scones!' snack option 2?

weezl74

Allegra I think maybe we work quite similarly, in that I don't eat much at breakfast and lunch but need a substantial dinner, I usually have more than half my day's calories at my evening meal

Thinking more about what Frankie said, about the reasons people eat and addressing the comfort factor of food, I think for me I see my bigger dinner as my reward at the end of my day after working hard. So I guess if I were shirley I'd rebalance the meals accordingly.

I tried the BNS risotto as a lunch yesterday, and it was way larger than I would want for a lunch, so I'd make tweaks like that I think:)

Also, you and DD being so tall and pretty active in your job, you probably need a bigger portion than shirley, who at the national average of 5 foot 4 and a half needs lots less energy than you!

Not sure what my[STRIKE] excuse[/STRIKE] reason is, I'll claim Aless' lovely descriptor: coughjusthadababycough

shanks77

Morning all well its day 3 already. Just had my toast with apple curd and it is lovely but i dont think it will be as filling as the porridge but will wait and see. Felt a little peckish last night but i am not sure if it is physcological ie i normally have a cuppa and a biccie during the eve and because it is not there or if because i am greedy if it is going to take time to adjust to normal portions. It will be interesting to weigh myself next week. Looking forward to the onion tart tonight and have taken the hummous in a pot to have at work. Hoping to make some bread tonight as well will try not to have any excuses today as i dont start til 12pm tomorrow so dont have to go to bed so early tonight.
Good luck to the rest of you hope your day goes well. xx

aless02

weezl, I think it just boils down to everyone is different. A bit randomly, I wound up eating more like you yesterday (small breakfast & lunch, large heavy dinner) and it actually felt kind of odd! Not bad, just strange to me. It got to around 5 o'clock and I'd realised I'd only eat X food so far and I was surprised at myself. I could happily eat some BNS risotto for lunch and be very happy for it (I prefer hot lunches to sandwiches most days, it's just usually not practical!). AHA but I've just realised I can get away with eating too much during the day because I'm breastfeeding and that makes it okay, right? lol...

I thought the carbonara had peas in it? If not, then I've been making an old version because I use peas which helps it feel healthier!

Made the savoury bites yesterday and didn't even realise the recipe had changed until this morning when I realised they don't have Marmite like the original! No one around here noticed, clearly :rotfl: The lard in the mix seemed excessive and disgusting, but once they cooked you can't even tell and it's all lovely tasting.

hornetgirl

Morning all.
What are we meant to have with the onion tart - is it carrots and wedges again? I think I'd like to do it with mash and a mix of carrots and peas if that's ok.
I'll be out most of the day today, so am looking forward to having loads to catch up on when I get home

FrankieM

Morning,
I've got my re-heated porridge for breakfast this morning and while thicker than when first made it is still perfectly edible. A bit of water could be added while re-heating but I'm finding it ok without.

We enjoyed the Carbonara last night, though I thought it was very scant on meat so gave most of my portion to DH which worked well cause he thought the amount of meat was ok.
He would have liked some onions and sweetcorn, which I'm thinking I can probably easily fit into my budget once I've tweaked it.
Looking at the amount of snack etc, I'm thinking I could get away with the same amounts as a family of four and get some money back that way for the sweetcorn.

weezl Don't know if it's of any interest to you but I'm considering trying powdered milk for next week as most of the meals don't have very much milk and I'm sure powdered would would fine for tea. I'll let you know how it goes. It may be a good way of getting some money back in the budget.