weezl and friends Phase 4 - recipe testing christmas treats!

Lesley_Gaye

weezl74 wrote: »

Apricot, I think lesley has made it with bacon and said very positive things about it! I'm not sure if she made any specific adaptions, but I'm sure she'll pop up and tell you about it. I will be interested to hear how you get on.

GISI, really nice to see you over here too

we are having it again tonight as it happens

I did the same recipe, but used a rasher of crispy grilled bacon each instead of the salmon. Will have some peas with it this time I think

it is very lovely, as my DGD aged 3 might say. That's what she says whenever she is 'cooking' anything with me, she usually says it whenever she is stirring something when we cook together, apparently that is what cooking is on cbeebies

queen_of_string

Hi all,

I might phrase Weezl's question as "why are you here?"

We are aware that everyone comes to a project for their own reasons and we thought it might be useful to find out what some of those reasons are. That would mean we could try to ensure that the things that attract you to the project and keep you here are retained into the future.

Add your thoughts however works for you.

I'll start:

I followed the 50p thread and enjoyed it immensely so when I stumbled across this thread I knew I'd like it. I think Weezl is really talented in super frugal recipes and menus and I knew I would learn somethings along the way.

I love to cook and try new things, so testing recipes was a natural thing for me to volunteer for. We are always up for eating something yummy!

I'm a bit lonely out here and often on the computer so it seemed like a good way to be sociable.

I'm not able to work at the mo, so volunteering for tasks and eventually, some planning type thinking, keeps my brain moving and is a bit work like, in a way that doesn't exhaust me and can be done in my own time. It helps me use a bit of my brain that was used to run my business, until I sold up. A bit of my brain that was not getting exercised and needs to be for me to feel good.

HTH

Nic

Sparklyfairy

aless02 wrote: »

Sparklyfairy, are you a fellow Yank then? Or just enjoy Turkey?

I'm working today, so we'll do our Thanksgiving dinner probably on Thursday...hope there's a turkey for sale in one of the local supermarkets, otherwise will have to settle for a crown...

Yes! I am ! :beer: Happy Thanksgiving, Aless!

Allegra

I wrote about my reasons for getting involved with CFR quite a few months ago - as the time went on, more layers were added to the list that was already lengthy at the time; but as the time and enegry is at a premium at the moment, you will have to make do with the old version You can read it if you click here.

katkins78

Sami_Bee wrote: »

ooh Gino did a Yorkshire pud master-class on This Morning today and he said the mix should be cold from the fridge so I've no idea why mine have failed previously but I am spurred on to give it another go using his tips, I think I'm going to see if mum has a spare tin I can borrow and do individual ones next time.

He did a starter, main and dessert one, dessert was filled with ricotta, honey and pistachios then topped with a few berries :drool:

Do you use plain or SR flour for the puds? I don't know if it true or not but Delia says that SR flour prevents the puds from rising as they should. All my puds used to resemble hockey pucks, whether I used SR OR plain flour, now we use Nigellas 'back to front' method and so far we haven't had a failure. I say 'we', I suppose I should really say 'he' - for some reason pizza making, barbeques and roasts are his domain.

I hope I am not treading on anyones toes by posting this, especially as I know that on the CFR planners you only use SR flour?

artybear

I wrote my reasons for getting involved in CFR at the beginning

SusanC_2

Okay I am here because:

• I like the concept of the meal plan.
• I am interested in food, nutrition and frugal cooking and enjoy discussing those things with people who are similarly interested.
• I think it is a worthwhile project because the aim is to help people.
• I like the people here.
• I gain useful tips/information from some of the discussions.

Is that what you're looking for?

weezl74

SusanC wrote: »

Is that what you're looking for?

yup

lengthen

nopot2pin

SusanC wrote: »

Okay I am here because:

• I like the concept of the meal plan.
• I am interested in food, nutrition and frugal cooking and enjoy discussing those things with people who are similarly interested.
• I think it is a worthwhile project because the aim is to help people.
• I like the people here.
• I gain useful tips/information from some of the discussions.

Is that what you're looking for?

Its more or less a "ditto" from me on what Susan said
There is a real community feeling on these threads

I made the salmon pasta tonight too ;p
Its the first time I have made it, as previously I used mussels, instead of salmon, as I dont really like the texture of smoked salmon.
Anyway... it was lovely, and I am glad I tried it. The texture of the salmon changes, which I didn't think would happen
The biddies loved it
And theres a portion left for Ron

Lesley_Gaye

thought I'd join in with the reasons for joining

I originally heard about cfr because weezl posted asking for recipe testers. As I have always been interested in anything to do with food, I replied. I enjoy reading cook books, finding new things to eat, experimenting with recipes, feeding other people, the drama and spectacle of a session with friends.

Having outed myself as interested, I found out what cfr was all about and was intriqued. I very much enjoyed the initial round of recipe testing and became drawn in to the whole concept of eating a good diet while spending very very little.

My working background is in IT, and spreadsheets were a frequent tool, so it was a natural progression that when a big, and what turned into, a complicated, spreadsheet was needed, I volunteered my services to help build it. I enjoy that kind of thing, always have, it's part of why I worked in IT, and why I like to think I was good at it.

I have always been aware of the cost of things, and have cooked from a very young age. We were brought up on home cooking, home grown veg, rabbits bred by Dad and pigeons bagged in the woods. Much of that was because it was cheap, so cheap meals are something I gravitate to.

By this point I was curious just how much I could reduce our own budget to, and worked up a months worth of meals using cfr principles, except for the using up all the ingredients part. So, in March I think it was, DP and I spent £1.26 each per day on our meals. I didn't think I could reduce our spend to this much, so was really pleased.

I was now enjoying using the spreadsheet to price up my own meals and frugalising them to a price point, and telling anyone who stood still long enough all about the plan and what it could mean in monetary terms. Not only to dig yourself out of a debt hole, but to enable spend on things that may have been out of reach before. Many people were also intriqued and had a look at the site and asked about the recipes. I am going to give a talk to a local group in January about it, along with a demo of a few dishes.

At times, I spent a lot of time on cfr project stuff, but came to think of it as my contribution to charity, something I had done with cash in previous times. That shift in perspective meant that the project was now a part of my life. Whereas before, I would donate x% of my income to charity, now I use some of my time.

Over the months, I have got to know the people who are involved, and enjoy that friendship very much

At the base of all, there is the knowledge that people in financial distress for many and varied reasons are finding cfr a valuable resource. Some of the emails sent to the website are very touching, some indeed are heartbreaking. I am proud to be part of something that helps people in such a meaningful way, and very much hope that the good things I get from it, and the project itself, will go on for a long time yet

I'm sure there is a lot more, but this a long enough post already