weezl and friends Phase 4 - recipe testing christmas treats!

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

pinkhayley789 wrote: »

Hi R.a.i.n.b.o.w

Do you mean this one? http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/recipe-potatosalad.html?opt=rdinner

Will definitely try the salmon pasta soon after so many glowing reviews

That's the one! Thanks so much, I couldn't see it for looking!!:j

domesticgoddess789

Apricot, adding a bit of brocolli sounds like a great idea to add some more of the five a day! I will try that! :T

R.a.i.n.b.o.w, glad it was the recipe you were looking for. Please come back and let us know how you get on making it

aless02

I make the smoked salmon pasta with the same sort of bechamel-y sauce that's in other CFR recipes. It makes it lovely thicky & creamy! I dunno why I never thought of throwing broccoli in, as I will do peas sometimes!

Just looked and tonight's recipe is saag aloo, which I've weirdly never made before. We had a GORGEOUS chicken tikka from The Takeaway Secret, made with cheaper legs/thighs rather than chicken breast. The only thing I had to buy was yoghurt, so I still count it as pretty darn frugal . But I might have a better storecupboard of spices than some! We did some onion bahjis to go with, those are SO cheap to make I keep forgetting I should do them for lunches sometimes.

I think weezl is looking for a bit of help on getting the competition just right, so if anyone wants to volunteer, please send her a PM. (even just 10 minutes of your time would be helpful, so don't be shy!!)

weezl74

Hello, I'm sorry I haven't updated here for a little while! Hello all visitors old and new, lovely to see rainbow, potty and mooloo amongst us. Of course it is absolutely fine to visit, we love it when you do!

Having never run a complex internet collaboration before, I did not really understand how to give it continuity. I sometimes struggle to define exactly what the project 'is' and who it is, because we all need to dip in and out of it at times. I would value very much if anyone has any concrete suggestions on how to add more cohesion to the project

On a personal note I really struggle with February, and don't feel I am myself I do very much hope my quietness doesn't put people off, I know my posting energy will spring back, in the erm... spring! :rotfl:

weezl74

artichoke wrote: »

will you be doing more another batch of recipes soon?


keep up the good work it is much appreciated..

art

hello! That's Lovely to read! thank you

we have a whole 'nother planner, option 3, which needs some work, but the vast majority is there. It will feature 17 new recipes. Also we know the competition will generate more. I have a further 35 recipes which stand seperately from a planner, but are the same price point.

JuliMK is helping with some database issues which were slowing that down, and sami is waiting to hear about some gaps in the nutrition stats.

Realistically I do need more help to launch those new things, as my boys do need rather a lot more than they did when the project began, and in different ways. My hope is that people enjoy contributing to CFR and get something out of it personally, and therefore we can recruit helpers without fear of anyone getting too burdened, I think that's got to be the way this goes forward. Do please let me know like JuliMK did if any of you have some space and would like to help.

Love Weezl x

Julimk

Strange how it has gone so quiet after Weezl said anyone could volunteer if they had some time! Trust me, she will not ask you to do more than you can & if only an hour or two free it will just be a tiny task. I just happened to have a block of free time at the mo. (W will probably dropbox task 1 tomorrow).

Anyway, I am very impressed with L!DL. Did my main shop there this week for the first time & most things were cheaper for better quality. At worst they were the same price as value but for at least the OB, rather than value, quality.

Have done loads of batch cooking this week. Made the fishy items I listed before & some Dan Dan noodle topping, Moroccan chicken & sausage cassoulet. Still have about 7kg of uncooked, frozen, meat & fish. Cannot fit any more into the freezers – already a case of shove in & slam the door quick. And the fridge is chock a block too. I have a ridiculous amount of food in!

Aless how was the saag aloo? This was a recipe that I liked the look of, and I have everything in, but haven’t made yet. Also, I haven’t found a chicken tikka/ chicken tikka massala recipe that I have been wowed by. I had an Indian ex who cooked for me, so have had Indian food as cooked by an Indian. I love butter chicken & use this recipe (though with ground almonds, rather than cashews, due to personal taste):

http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/513782

It is a bit of a faff, as have to marinade the chicken in yoghurt & spice, then cook that in a hot oven to get the tandoori chicken, before making the curry. But it is really yum & lower in fat than the traditional meal.

Apricot

weezl what do you need doing? I don't mind helping out but not sure what I would be helpful with tbh!

aless02

Julimk wrote: »

Strange how it has gone so quiet after Weezl said anyone could volunteer if they had some time! Trust me, she will not ask you to do more than you can & if only an hour or two free it will just be a tiny task. I just happened to have a block of free time at the mo. (W will probably dropbox task 1 tomorrow).

Anyway, I am very impressed with L!DL. Did my main shop there this week for the first time & most things were cheaper for better quality. At worst they were the same price as value but for at least the OB, rather than value, quality.

Have done loads of batch cooking this week. Made the fishy items I listed before & some Dan Dan noodle topping, Moroccan chicken & sausage cassoulet. Still have about 7kg of uncooked, frozen, meat & fish. Cannot fit any more into the freezers – already a case of shove in & slam the door quick. And the fridge is chock a block too. I have a ridiculous amount of food in!

Aless how was the saag aloo? This was a recipe that I liked the look of, and I have everything in, but haven’t made yet. Also, I haven’t found a chicken tikka/ chicken tikka massala recipe that I have been wowed by. I had an Indian ex who cooked for me, so have had Indian food as cooked by an Indian. I love butter chicken & use this recipe (though with ground almonds, rather than cashews, due to personal taste):

http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/513782

It is a bit of a faff, as have to marinade the chicken in yoghurt & spice, then cook that in a hot oven to get the tandoori chicken, before making the curry. But it is really yum & lower in fat than the traditional meal.

Juli, I definitely recommend the chicken tikka from that book, then, as it was YUM. The saag aloo was yummy, I had some homemade naans in the freezer it was delicious with those and a dollop of yoghurt .

Lesley_Gaye

I've had another little trip to M&S yesterday morning to spend some vouchers

looked for the Valentines offer, couldn't see anything, and thought, oh well, they must have just been advertising generally. After I had chosen and paid, there was a huge display right by the exit - oh bum, should have asked.

I got 3 cumberland pies (shepherds pies) on offer for £5, they are pretty small tho, not a particularly large portion for one and they are supposed to feed 2!
2 pots soup, Scotch Broth and an Indian Spicy Chicken & Lentil. After doing CFR levels of budgeting for so long, I can't tell you how extravagant it feels spending £2.19 on 500ml of soup :eek:
A Bouillabaisse, a lovely fishy treat for me as OH hates fish, so I rarely get it at home

For Valentines, I got some breaded Camembert with a sharp sauce, Bourguiguon for mains, with parmentier potatoes in shallot butter and Tarte aux Abricots for pud, with a big tub of double cream for that and other cooking (I do OH a single dish portion of trifle, using a single trifle sponge, raspberries from the freezer picked in the garden last summer, SP custard, a layer of cream and a sprinkle of toasted flaked almonds- he absolutely loves it)

plus some cranberry and orange biscuits, and some pistachio and almond ones

so some lovely treaty foods that cost the grand total of 57p, the other £31 being vouchers

got another £14 of vouchers with my CC statement yesterday, so still have about £47 left

also splashed out yesterday on some beautiful cream pure wool fabric to make some trousers. It looked like it would wash alright, even tho the care label said dry clean only - cream dry clean only trousers - eeek! Tested a piece this morning and it was fine, phew

went in the shop to get some magnetic clasps for some buttercup bags as linked to earlier in the thread, but they didn't have any, so not too sure where to get them now. May do a search online

also went to a jumble sale yesterday afternoon at Horam, just up the road from here to see if I could get some stuff for DGD. It was flippin' chaos! Three or four people deep at all the tables and much pushing and shoving. Dived in and started rummaging, then saw some people going round the back of the tables, so did that too, much better

Got several dresses and tops for DGD and 4 single duvet covers for DD who has foreign language students in the summer and was running out, so she will be pleased. Plus a couple of things to use as fabric.

So all in all, a successful day

the freezer is as packed as ever, so still trying to run it down :cool:

shanks77

Sounds like you got a nice selection of food there Lesley it all sounds scrummy. I finally relented and went to the shops and bought some squash, UHT milk pots, mush and some bread Made a big pot of soup today with some frozen chicken carcasses and some bits of veg that have been hanging around the freezer forever so will get them portioned off later on. Think i should still manage for about another week and a half before i need to go shopping again so not bad considering the last shop was the week between xmas and new year. Ex still has a little bit in his freezer so will try and get him to take that round and go for another couple of days.
Wet and windy here so snuggled up under a fleecy blanket having a relaxing day xx