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

weezl74

HowlinWolf wrote: »

Well I think that it would need to have reasonable different taste and texture so that the family didn't feel like they were eating the same thing each day just made into different shapes. It's okay to eat the same thing a few days in a row or several times a month but I think there does need to be an element of variety even with the same ingredients. Hope that makes sense.

I think so

I think I'm not skilled enough to know from it just written on screen though, so I'm trying it. I am quite good at sameyness tho so I think maybe if others did a bit of Joel testing too it'd be really helpful cos they might notice if it is repetitious whereas I wouldn't. For me a rotation of 2 days done for a month would be ok.

weezl74

howlin:A sorry to bombard you with questions! Another one though:

If we didn't think hardly anyone or no-one was going to follow the joel month, do we really think variety is so key?

Not disagreeing necessarily, just want to follow the logic properly!

twinkle_star_2

twinkle_star wrote: »

Not sure what to do with everything but I found a recipe that might be adapted for a dinner.

Vegan spanish omlette

Grind chickpeas into flour.

Mix the flour with milk (or water I think would be fine if we can't use the milk), tomatoes, salt, chilli and garlic powder.

Blitz in a blender to create your 'egg' mixture.

Pour over chopped potatoes (and maybe defrosted spinach) and mix well.

Pour into a hot frying pan.

Cut into wedges and serve with tortillas.

Adapted from here http://www.ivu.org/recipes/european/vegan-tortilla.html

How about the above thing for tea with:

Breakfast:
some kind of nut & raisin welsh cake/pancake
OR
nut butter on raisin bread

Lunch:
Lentil pate sandwiches
Or
Dhal and toast
(with tomato puree, liver and seasoning to give the pate/dhal some flavour)

Not sure if any of these will actually work as I can't visualise the amounts very well but hope the ideas might help.

weezl74

Avocet wrote: »

Or:

BREAKFAST:
~ savoury bannocks (SR flour, defrosted spinach, salt, 30g oil -- hold back a spoonful of flour for evening meal)

just made a half batch of these, for 2 of us. I think they need garlic or chilli avocet, but otherwise they're fine We wondered if we can have toast with them tho cos it's not a big breakfast (probably the size of one shop bought scone in total mass of food IYSWIM?

shanks77

weezl74 wrote: »

I think so

I think I'm not skilled enough to know from it just written on screen though, so I'm trying it. I am quite good at sameyness tho so I think maybe if others did a bit of Joel testing too it'd be really helpful cos they might notice if it is repetitious whereas I wouldn't. For me a rotation of 2 days done for a month would be ok.

I am also quite happy with repitition but i think we need to do a bit more variety, or i think folk might get bored quickly IMO xx

emg

Time to de-lurk..wow!

I'm amazed at what you guys have done, you should be really proud. It's taken me weeks to read the thread (I had to stop for a little while until i had caught up with doctor who to avoid spoilers!)

I really want to try out the Shirley month for a variety of reasons. Obviously the moneysaving aspect is very appealing (as I would like to start overpaying my mortgage and really need to stop buying lunch everyday) but I am also interested in eating 'properly' in terms of nutrition and calories and I love the fact that it's all worked out for me in the plan. Lastly I am also aware that I waste a lot of food and throw things away so that is also a factor.

So I have a few questions. Did anyone work out a weekly shopping list for Shirley? The one on CFR says 'dont buy it all at once' but i can't find anything to say which bits I do need to buy first. I am happy to try and work it out but thought I would check if anyone has already done it.

My other question is about a food processor. I know i might be able to get by without one but I have wanted one for a while and it wont cause me any financial hardship if I buy one. Should i get one with a blender attachment too? I do have a stick blender already. What kind of capacity bowl should i look for? I live alone but do cook in bulk when I can. Can anyone recommend one?

weezl74

hello and welcome emg wow you read it all! Gosh

we do have 4 weekly shopping lists done by the lovely allegra, she linkied to them all from one post, I'll have a hunt.

I have a new kenwood mixer/food processor from Argos and it's capable of all the things on the shirley planner, I'll getcha a linkie too

emg

Thanks Weezl, yes I read it all! I'm a bit of a completist in that respect Still, that bodes well for following the plan!

It's been fascinating to see how it has all evolved and how much work has gone into it and the website really looks great, very professional.

System

weezl74 wrote: »

Avocet having eaten my share (if I was in Joel's family) of the liver yesterday, I think I'd need to change the titles of some of your ace recipes. Anything with 'meat' in the title would most probably change to just 'savoury'. As it's really not meaty enough. I'll make the 'meatballs' today tho just to double check but I think they'll be a pulse flavoured rissole, rather than a meatball IYSWIM?

How does that sound?

Absolutely fine by me! :-)

weezl74 wrote: »

re: variety, avocet suggested 3 days, wyebird one and I have one up my sleeve. Does a 5 day rotation sound good or should we hold out for 6 or 7?

I posted four, actually. I'll post a couple more for you in a sec.

System

BREAKFAST:
~ sandwiches made with bread and thin layer of carrot pudding (assuming from its name that the carrot pudding has some moistness about it, and trying desperately to incorporate it into a meal rather than having it as a snack all the time)

LUNCH:
~ pastry made with SR flour, 60g oil, salt, water
~ made into pasties filled with liver, chickpeas, red lentils, half the green lentils, half the potatoes (all cooked), grana padano, tomato puree, salt, garlic (all chopped together)

EVENING MEAL:
~ potato rice (saute remaining potatoes (raw) in 30g oil, in a massive pan, with chilli and garlic; add rice, cover with water and simmer until the rice and potatoes are both cooked)
~ dress with spinach and tomato (spinach, tomatoes, storecupboard flavourings to taste)

SNACK:
~ fry the remaining cooked green lentils (cooked) in remaining 7g oil until crisping up, then season with chilli, garlic and salt, and mix with nuts and raisins