How to Get Through The Tough Times The Old Style Way.

floss2

Mrs_Veg_Plot wrote: »

In an attempt to start running down the freezer I took some mince out last night to do a cottage pie today but it was to hot to contemplate that type of cooking so I made burgers instead. Being MSE I combined the mince with some red and green lentils, onion, soya mince, herbs, chilli powder and an egg. Result = great burgers but there are 9 to go back in the freezer

Can I suggest that you cook them first before re-freezing the defrosted mince? Then they will be less likely to cause any upset!

floss2

ceridwen wrote: »

Well - if Vitamin D helps with poor muscle tone in the throat - wonders what it does for poor muscle tone elsewhere (like the stomach and abdomen area)???? :cool:...maybes it might be helpful from a looks POV to up the Vit D intake as well??

Oooh, now there's a thought! Getting toned by taking a tonic!! I like that idea!

Seriously though, I will have to look that up - do you have to increase intake, or is exposure to the sun enough? Must admit, I do snore more in the winter....

gillst_2

What a lovely sunny day. Hope everyone is enjoying the sun. Sorry to hear about those of you suffering with bad backs etc. Having had a bad back myself for many years (along with numerous other aches and pains!) I can really sympathise with you all. Hoping you all feel a lot better soon.
I went to our local pick your own farm today and picked 6lbs rhubarb, which cost me just over £3.00. A lot cheaper than in the supermarkets. Going to make some pies and freeze them.
Yesterday I tried a Sainsbugs recipe - turkey mince, beans and pasta. Using reduced price turkey mince, baked beans instead of kidney beans, tinned tomatoes, a couple of carrots, an onion, garlic, a pinch of chilli power and basics penne pasta this made an extremely cheap meal, total cost was less than £2.00 and can easily feed at least 5-6 people. Will add a bigger pinch of chilli powder next time though as the pinch they recommend using we could not really taste.
Today I tried ChocClare's chinese chicken using pork steaks - absolutely delicious. Also, whilst the oven was on I made two cottage pies, one for dinner tomorrow and one for the freezer.
I really feel the support felt just by reading everyone's post is helping me so much. In the past I would never have thought of cooking more than one main meal at a time, but using the oven whilst it is on to cook other meals will hopefully save me money on the electricity bill and will definitely save me a lot of time - it took no longer to make two cottage pies as it would have to make one and will save me so much time on another evening

mardatha

Nobody living in the UK gets enough constant exposure to sunshine to keep a decent level of vit D. Our levels are very poor here.

GreyQueen

Yesterday the British part of my family heard from the foriegn contigent of our clan, those whose great-grandad emigrated in the early twentieth century to A.N. Other part of Europe.

Auntie Lily, aged 88, passed away in a hospice from cancer yesterday. She was a lovely lady, an expert seamstress who sewed for a living and trained as a milliner as a young girl. She was a mother-of-four and a grandmother of 8 and will be sorely missed by those who knew her.

In the middle of the night, a strange thought came to me; I'll release my favourite recipe of hers, the one she dictated to me as a young woman in her tiny kitchen in the 1980s. Like all the best family recipes, the quantities are deliberately imprescise and it's fairly bomb-proof and seems more expensive than it is.

Auntie Lily's Cheese and Potato Bake

Ingredients; peeled raw potatoes, milk, salt and pepper, grated strong cheese like Cheddar (can be stale, doesn't matter).

Method; grease an ovenproof casserole dish. Slicing the potaotes as finely as you can, build up alternate layers of spud and cheese, seasoning as you go, until you reach the top. Pour in milk slowly until halfway up the dish.

Cooking; place on a baking sheet in case of spills and bake, lidless, in a medium oven for 1-2 hours. It's cooked when the spuds are soft to a skewer all the way thru and the top is crispy golden brown. The milk should have been mostly absorbed/ evaporated but there may be a small amount of liquid in the bottom.

Serving suggestions; on its own with a salad perhaps, or as side dish to something else; it doesn't mind.

Kittikins

Sorry to hear of your loss GreyQueen, hugs to you and your family xx and nomnomnom to the recipe, it's like an extra cheesy and cheaper gratin dauphinois, one of my favourite potato dishes

Mrs_Veg_Plot

greyqueen sorry to hear about your aunt. That recipe sounds great so will be trying that at some stage soon.

Did not do any of the ironing last night ended up spending ages trying to search prices for Pen Delfin rabbits which was very confusing. Have decided that I will e bay the boxed ones that are as new and to car boot the rest.

Will take OH to work today so that I can have the car to visit nan later but aim to get upstairs cleaned and to start on clearing the attic for the car boot (wish me luck).

silvermaid

Thanks for the recipe GQ and sorry for your loss. I make something similar called Pan Haggerty - thin slices of potato on bottom and sides of container, cheddar and chopped onion in the middle and covered with more thin slices of potatoes. Slow cook in the oven for as you describe or on the hob over a very low heat. Very yummy with salad.
I made this a couple of days after our last family BBQ. We had mozzarella and creme fraiche salad left over, so I used that instead of cheddar as the filling. It worked really well and used up my leftovers:)

Thanks for the post about Nella Last books, sounds great, need to look out the books and film if poss.

lostinrates

ceridwen wrote: »

Well - if Vitamin D helps with poor muscle tone in the throat - wonders what it does for poor muscle tone elsewhere (like the stomach and abdomen area)???? :cool:...maybes it might be helpful from a looks POV to up the Vit D intake as well??

Does anyone know? It would certainly help lift my spirits visibly to have my figure back to normal....

The weird thing is one always feels a little more toned with a tan....even though its bad for us etc etc.

DH is having light treatment atm for psoriasis, plus gardening at the weekends. IMO, looks great with a tan...and he NEVER burns. I don't burn often either, and sent a lot of childhood un protected from a tropical sun. BUT unlike DH I'm paying for this now: freckly arms waiting to be liver spots and I'm only early thirties. My skin is very pale these days, I use factor fifty daily on face/arms/shoulders/decolletage but leave my bottle white legs uncovered. I think the shade of the rest of me protects them somewhat:o But here's the thing, I already have a line where my gardening shoes don't cover my feet. I've obviously been wearing trousers more than shorts, because I'm white to past the ankle, and then white toed, just with a funny slightly tan square on each foot!

water is going in well today. By friday I will be well rested, well hydrated and relaxed!

littlecal

Grey Queen,so sorry to hear about your aunt.

Am off to visit XMiL so hoping for a nice day in the cs - she loves them as much as I do but wont admit it!

Hugs to everyone who wants,or needs,one.