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

FrankieM

Morning.
I made the porridge for DH yesterday and he thought it was a bit stodgy so next time I make it he's going to make it with me so I can see what kind of consistency he prefers.

We had pizzas yesterday but I cheated and used ready made bases, that I had in the freezer because I spent most of yesterday in A&E. DH has a soft tissue sprain on his foot and ankle.
That also means we had a cornish pasty from the pie shop...ooopps.

DH really liked the tomato sauce base so I will definitely do the pizzas again and try the dough.

I've got my pie filling out of the freezer and will put it together this morning before church to have when we get in for lunch.
I'm not sure if we will have the soup this evening, we'll wait and see.

shanks77

Morning Frankie hope DH ankle gets better soon i had similar a few weeks ago so can sympathise. I really like the porridge and having that today as i am working and find that keeps me going better than the toast. My pizza bases are in the freezer with the sauce awaiting the next meal. We are having the pie at night as i am working all day so something to look forward to.
Speak to you all later xx

weezl74

Hi all, I'm thinking you'd probably need to condense your chicken stock today and get ahead on the steaming of the bacon pudding, if you're planning on having that tomorrow?

thanks for all the recipe feedback, things seem to be going well, I think?

Jenny, were there any tweaks that would make the pea and apple soup more successful?

Glad you liked the rest!

Hoping all the meat lovers will enjoy tonight's chicken pie, it's a pretty substantial meal, and hopefully will make up for the vegetarian days for those who have struggled with that should feel like more of a treat :T:T:T

Bigjenny

Hi Weezl

The Pea and Apple Soup recipe is fine

I'm not a great lover of marrowfat peas, but had a tin in cupboard so gave soup and Risi e Bisi a try, just wasn't keen enough on soup to make again.

Will use frozen peas in Risi next time to see if that makes a difference, also make the Green Pea Soup when it appears on the menu.

Jenny

Lesley_Gaye

Hi Weezl, let me know when you have the spreadsheet in a stable enough condition to not change it for a couple of days, whizz it over and I'll put the new changes in

arty - isn't it strange, I imagined you with hair that colour!

poohbear59

Hi,

Sorry I have been away for a couple of days.
On Friday night we had serious insubordination here and the boys cooked egg, beans and chips! We had all the ingredients here and we have our own eggs so they haven't really done too badly. They felt the need for something different. You have to remember we have been on very frugal meals for months now. Nothing to do with this menu plan.

They all went away overnight last night so DH and I just ate leftovers. That means we still have Saturdays ingredients and Fridays! The carrot cake is still going well too as I cooked double the mixture.

Chicken is out ready for cooking for the hungry hoards when they arrive home later today. DS1 has gone back to uni now after having a term at home so we are down to just 4 adults.

On the extra food front.

Last weekend someone gave us a whole lamb, yesterday we found a massive box of dried apricots in our porch and someone gave us a huge chunk of brie on Friday!
I am leaving the lamb this month but will have to use the brie and some of the apricots. I thought in the carrot cake in place of raisins?

weezl74

poohbear59 wrote: »

Hi,

On the extra food front.

Last weekend someone gave us a whole lamb, yesterday we found a massive box of dried apricots in our porch and someone gave us a huge chunk of brie on Friday!
I am leaving the lamb this month but will have to use the brie and some of the apricots. I thought in the carrot cake in place of raisins?

welcome back pb

that's a very inventive idea about the apricots :T:T:T

I wonder if you could use the brie in some of the recipes which need cheese? I expect it would add a lovely rich cheesiness to the carbonara, alfredo and risi e bisi?

the only ones I'm not so sure of would be the onion tart or pizza, those don't seem to lend themselves to brie!

FrankieM

We have just finished our Chicken & Onion Pie.

I made the filling during the week and the popped it in the freezer. When it defrosted this morning it smelt really bad. I'm not sure if it was the onion.

Anyway DS loved it. Everyone else thought I needed to make the pastry a bit thinner and add some different veg to the filling but they would eat it again.
I cut mine into 8 portions and I have 1 left for the freezer.

I also did some gravy with it and everyone was very full.

When I do it next week I'll try to spread my pastry out a bit more so its a bit thinner.

Allegra

Just a quick one for now while I take a break from making the pies

Pizza was great - the dough is a little more solid than what I'd normally make, but that's not a bad thing - where ours is normally a "deep pan" base, this was more of an Italian base, thinner and crispier, and rather nice. I was a bit worried that the sauce might be a bit too tomatoey for !!!!!!, but after a fair bit of dilligent chopping and mashing, it was nearly as smooth as passata, and was pronounced "very nice". I kept a little bit of onion rings aside to top the cheese with and add a little, shall we say, visual interest - and then I went off on a tangent and added the scrag end of chorizo that was lurking in the fridge I'll happily have it unadorned next time, though.

BTW, I made the full batch of dough for the bases, and rolled out 12 bases quite happily - only each one of those is what I consider a 2-person, rather than 1-person pizza ! We shall indeed be eating pizza from this batch of bases for a long time.... I'm happy with that, though.

Oh, and I also added a tsp of dried oregano to the sauce, and it was gorgeous Well worth growing and drying at home, if anyone is tempted.

Pea and apple soup was okay - I veered on the side of caution with the spice, but could have gone for more, and will probably do when I reheat the frozen stuff next time it's on the menu.

Mr Frankie's soup I thought excellent I made a half-batch and added more water than specified as I felt it could bear it, so now have two lunches (four portions) worth left to go in the freezer.

I have not managed breakfasts this weekend though, so may have a pancake tomorrow instead.

Chicken is poached and portioned up, pie filling made, just need to assemble the pies now. I feel I may have more than 4 individual pies' worth there - I guess I'll find out soon enough.

Oh, and Arty - Amy's hair colour is beautiful :cool:

Allegra

I was right. I did get more than 4 individual pies. I got 8 :j That's two Sunday dinners for me alone and 3 more for two of us when !!!!!! returns. Of course, we don't get a full portion of vegetable with each pie this way, but I think I can rectify that quite easily.

The pies, in case you are wondering, are about the size of a Greggs pie each. Not that you frugal lot would be closely acquainted with Greggs pies, I'm sure :A