Weezl and friends Phase 3 - sitting pretty with Kitty

Allegra

Lesley_Gaye wrote: »

what are you doing with the runner beans in the slo cooker Allegra? I have lots of lovely runners at the mo, any new ideas to use them gratefully received.

It's a very much a case of necessity being the mother of invention with me and runner beans at the moment :rotfl:I am bringing in about a kg of runners each day, and as they do not freeze well in their natural state, I gotta cook them up somehow before they go in. This lot is just being stewed slowly with a little bit of thinly sliced onion, and will then be frozen in portion-sizes and served on defrosting as a side vegetable with a splash of oil, vinegar and a little bit of crushed garlic.

The last lot I slow-cooked with a chopped onion, finely chopped stick of celery, a couple of thinly sliced carrots, couple of thinly sliced potatoes, and a little bit of stewing beef, all cooked in fairly thick gravy (this was 6.5 l slowcooker full). We had it that day for dinner - and very much enjoyed it - served with rice, the rest went into the freezer.

Weezl, I think anyone with a lack of loaf tins and a small oven will be grateful for the tip - it could probably get a bit scary to suddenly realise you have all this dough and nowhere to cook it :eek:

Sian_the_Green

weezl74 wrote: »

hey lesley

hope you aren't too tired after your drive, that's a looooooooonnnnnnnnnnnng way!

chaps can I please ask for some feedback?

A few folk on MSE recently have said they couldn't only/just eat what's on the CFR site.

Can anyone help me to understand this more? We now have 100 recipes, although 7 are pretty much duplicates due to the two planner nature.

This seems quite a lot to me, and a good balance of breakfasts/lunches dinners etc...

I just wondered if anyone had insights about this

I think perhaps it is the idea that someone is kissing goodbye to the way they eat already. I became vegetarian for a couple of months once but gave in eventually, and it was the idea of never having my mum's spag bol again that really cracked it. Or perhaps a family always have fish and chips as a family supper once a week and it has come to represent more than just food, it is their time together around the table and people make an effort to be there. Or someone has a real pechant for sausages and mash and wants to make sure that once a month they get to have that, substituted for another CFR recipe they are less keen on. Food has such a massive emotional connection, we see it as more than nutrition and people are creatures of habit. I don't think that is a fault of the planner, some will stick to it entirely but others would rather plan in a couple of old favourites so they don't spend an entire month craving something not on the planner.

Hope that makes sense.
Am looking forward to the testing tonight, I need to work out what I need to buy though. I made my first sour dough loaf yesterday which will be going into the panzanella

weezl74

thanks sian

I wondered if it's something about the site because I've heard a lot of websites mentioned on MSE but never with that qualifier before so I always feel people are trying to tell me something?! does that make sense? But perhaps they aren't?

And hello by the way!

euronorris

Hi Weezl!

I tried out the sweetcorn fritters on Sat, which tasted delicious, but didn't stay together too well when I was trying to cook them. So, I'm just wondering if you know where I went wrong.

I halved the amounts detailed in the recipe as there is only me and my OH. And I added a little extra flour as I don't have any garam masala (still trying to figure out where I can buy this here - there must be somewhere - a speciality shop I think). Anyway, I'm wondering if I didn't have enough flour in there. Do you think that would be it?

Otherwise, they were a huge success. My OH was dubious when I was preparing and cooking, but he really loved the taste (as did I)! Unusual for him and anything with veggies! So, I'm keen to get it right next time.

Thanks.

Euro x

weezl74

Hello euronorris, thanks for trying the fritters and glad the taste was a hit

what kind of consistency would you describe the batter as having?

I may tweak the description on the site if it's misleading! Sorry about that and great that you are doing some testing for us

weezl74

PS what supermarkets do you have, I'll look up cheap spices for you

euronorris

weezl74 wrote: »

Hello euronorris, thanks for trying the fritters and glad the taste was a hit

what kind of consistency would you describe the batter as having?

I may tweak the description on the site if it's misleading! Sorry about that and great that you are doing some testing for us

Well, the batter didn't seem too bad, but the sweetcorn kept escaping! lol :rotfl::rotfl:

But, now that I think about it, maybe I had too much sweetcorn. One tin was ......194 g, I think (with the fluid), but I thought that would be OK. Maybe it was just a little too much.

I really want to try the shepherdless pie too, but both OH and I are skint until late this week/early next week, so can't get the extra ingredients we need. Maybe I'll have a small win on the lotto tomorrow and can then buy the missing ingredients. Here's hoping!

Allegra

weezl74 wrote: »

I wondered if it's something about the site because I've heard a lot of websites mentioned on MSE but never with that qualifier before so I always feel people are trying to tell me something

You're forgetting (again !) that no one has ever done anything like this before - the other sites that get mentioned do not offer a full plan for a whole month of all breakfasts, lunches and snacks, which is why a qualifier isn't needed - you couldn't only/just eat what was offered on those sites even if you wanted to :cool:

And I agree with Sian - very well put :T I could eat purely CFR, but would probably not want to, because I am curious about food, because I grow my own, because I forage, because I shop around and buy yellow-stickered stuff - if all of that was taken away, and all I had was £25 per person per month to spend on food, you're damn right I'd be happy to eat "just" the CFR stuff !

Just curious here though - were those comments made before or after Kitty planner went live ? Not that it should make that much difference... But still, there are many more recipes up on the site now than they were a few weeks back Perhaps it'd be easier to eat "just" the CFR stuff now.....

weezl74

ok, so it seems that I feel a critique is being offered but you guys don't? Is that right?

Just summarising, as this helps my brain

Lesley_Gaye

Allegra wrote: »

You're forgetting (again !) that no one has ever done anything like this before - the other sites that get mentioned do not offer a full plan for a whole month of all breakfasts, lunches and snacks, which is why a qualifier isn't needed - you couldn't only/just eat what was offered on those sites even if you wanted to :cool:

And I agree with Sian - very well put :T I could eat purely CFR, but would probably not want to, because I am curious about food, because I grow my own, because I forage, because I shop around and buy yellow-stickered stuff - if all of that was taken away, and all I had was £25 per person per month to spend on food, you're damn right I'd be happy to eat "just" the CFR stuff !

Just curious here though - were those comments made before or after Kitty planner went live ? Not that it should make that much difference... But still, there are many more recipes up on the site now than they were a few weeks back Perhaps it'd be easier to eat "just" the CFR stuff now.....

I do what Allegra does too. Try new things, grow stuff, use opportunities when I see them, pick stuff in fields

thanks for the runner bean recipes Allegra. I am a bit dubious about freezing them as I remember trying them as a child and not liking them at all, neither did anyone else, but I'll give that a try. Do you serve the side dishes hot or cold? Or maybe they work either way. It would be good to be able to freeze some beans and spread out the eating of them a bit. It is beans with everything in Aug & Sept!