The OS Doorstep - a helpful and supportive thread in these tough times

kidcat

Pooky - I use more than that most days never mind in a week. My parents however would struggle to get through even half of that amount as they simply dont cook or even use much fruit or veg

camelot1001

How could that veg box feed you all? There is only DD and I here and we eat probably double that!

I sympathise with those not seeing their sons, I have 2 sons and DD, the eldest DS hasn't contacted us for a few years. I did manage to get hold of him before we moved last year and he came to collect his belongings, he also brought his fiance who is nuts. She was very friendly with us and then decided to split the family. They have a daughter who is 3 but I haven't seen her since she was a week old. He's a big boy now (26) and can make his own decisions but it's a shame he can't have us all in his life. He doesn't keep in contact with DS2 or DD either.

Mrs LW I'm so glad that Docky has settled with his new pour on, wish I had known about it when we had a dog, she was terrified of bangs and cracks, and the noise flies made too. It is very upsetting when they can't be calmed down.

chickens11

kidcat wrote: »

For anyone who has an auty or a little person with sensory issues, the pop up glow tent has been reduced on @mazon to 11.99. I know a few people who use them as sensory den and say they are ideal for smaller spaces.


ETA fuddle I want lobster bisque now!! I have also been craving chowder!

Kidcat......My DIL as just ordered a glow tent for auty Tom , all thanks to you for mentioning it on here, hope he gets along with it , as its only £11.49 and no postage , not much to lose if it doesnt help have you got one Kidcat..?., thank you ....Sheila...

kidcat

chickens11 wrote: »

Kidcat......My DIL as just ordered a glow tent for auty Tom , all thanks to you for mentioning it on here, hope he gets along with it , as its only £11.49 and no postage , not much to lose if it doesnt help have you got one Kidcat..?., thank you ....Sheila...

A few of DS friends have them, mine arrived today but its a gift for Christmas so I cant try it yet, must admit I am eager to see if he enjoys it We borrowed a larger one from the toy library and whilst he enjoyed it, it wasnt cosy enough

ivyleaf

nursemaggie wrote: »

Thanks ivyleaf. No I can't buy smaller cartons of smoothies neither Mr M or Ald! sell small ones. I steer clear of the other supermarkets they are harder to get to and are expensive. I just thought it would be a way to use it up and have a cake. If you look I gave a recipe for a fruit cake with tea. I used to cook it for diabetics.

Of course you did, sorry. brain not working well recently as I've got a cold.

I was actually meaning small bottles of fruit juice, which I think Mr M sells.

SQ Cats do have a way of owning the place.....one of mine used to jump onto the worktop when I was getting their food ready, while his mother fumed impotently from the floor because she was too fat, and her legs were too short, to jump up there herself

Fuddle lovely jumper

stiltwalker

Hoping mine is better than that Pooky - got a good offer from Riverford as we don't have a local local scheme (IFKWIM) and the first one is arriving tomorrow. DH is back on his diet as his waistline is creeping back up again (well if I'm honest it's not so much a waist line as an area where his waistband OUGHT to sit but doesn't - lol!) and I'm hoping that tastier veg will help sweeten the pill of eating much more veg based meals to keep the calories down. It sounds like a good amount on the blurb so fingers crossed, do I sound sad if I 'fess up that I am quite excited about it?


Busy week here again (as if I ever have any other!) SEND training workshop today for the new Education Health Care Plans, Speech and Lang for little man tomorrow plus his new chair arrives, committee on Weds, Thursday is treat day as my mum is taking me out for lunch and then Friday I really must catch up with my study as I have an essay due next week. Roll on the invention of 36 hour days!


Done another chunk of Christmas shopping today with the Mr T double up vouchers - think I'm almost getting there now so will have pennies available to have a bit of a blow out on food for the day/week for my best small little foodies to enjoy.


Hugs all round - catch you laters - Hx

Airthrey

Just realised I have some T*sco vouchers which need using up this month and really fancy a slow cooker. My oven is an electricity guzzler.

Are you pleased with your new one MrsLW? I'm not sure which would be best for us. It's mostly just two of us but I often make large quantities and put some in the freezer. Have any of you any recommendations?

VJsmum

fuddle wrote: »

Yeah, I felt a noticeable change past midnight last night kidcat. I expect the winter bedding be on this week.

Shiela you must have been doing as you were told from the medicals

Does anyone cook in rapeseed oil? It's supposed to be healthier than a lot of oils and cheaper than olive oil but I'm wondering what it's like at cooking at higher temperatures?

Knit_Witch wrote: »

a lot of bog standard veg oils are rapeseed these days fuddle! We use it all the time (well apart from a bit of olive oil with the home made bread) and never have a problem

Rapeseed (or canola) oil is not very healthy - especially when heated

Read here

http://authoritynutrition.com/canola-oil-good-or-bad/

I stick to olive oil, coconut oil, proper block butter (Kerrygold if possible - because the animals are grass fed) and lard

mardatha wrote: »

I'm looking for a nice, light, christmas-type cake that's easy to make and not heavy on sugar.. anybody got anything foolproof?

Hi mar, I did a trial run of this the other day and OH and I love it. Will definitely do as my Christmas cake

Christmas cake
Serves 20 small portions
600 g mixed dried Fruit or a mix of the following (raisins, prunes, figs, apricot, currants, sultanas, dates)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla bean extract or paste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
zest and juice from 1 orange
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 eggs
200 g (2 cups) ground almonds
50 g walnuts
Preheat your oven to 150 C (fan forced)
Prepare a 20 cm round cake tin with baking paper lining the sides and the base.
Combine dried fruit, spice, vanilla, orange zest + juice, olive oil and eggs.
Add the almonds and walnuts and mix through.
Spoon Christmas Cake batter into your baking tin.
Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Check with a skewer to see if it comes out clean, if not bake for another 30 minutes.
Cover the top if necessary to prevent over-browning.
Cool, then remove from the tin and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 month.

Also I didn't have any oranges so I put in a generous tablespoon of mixed peel and a good few tablespoons of rum (because that was the first to hand)

Nellie_the_Viking

Nursemaggie (sorry, I haven't perfected the art of quoting from other people's posts yet).

"I have a bottle of German wheat beer DS did not like, not this bottle he bought two. The shelf in Ald! did say it was barley beer or he would have bought it.

Have you any slow cooker recipes to cook something in German beer Mrs LW".





I've got a recipe for "beer-cooked bratwurst with sweet and spicy mustard" that works really well in the slow cooker and demands a wheat beer. If you want to make the mustard it really needs to be done 4 or 5 days in advance, but if not, the sausage/beer cooking is really simple. Let me know if it sounds like the sort of thing you might like.

Rosanna79

I wonder if anyone else has a slow cooker as old as mine? We were given ours as a wedding present 35 years ago and it still works perfectly. I didn't use it for some years preferring to batch cook for the freezer and use a combination of microwave and gas cooker for meals. In retirement I've dug the SC out again with it's original recipe book and have been amazed how effective it is.


It's a Tower brand as well- only has a high and low setting but every time I look at the modern ones I can't really see what the benefit would be of changing it when there are only 2 of us? I generally need to brown meat first but it will roast a small chicken 0f 1.25 kg (only available in Aldi these days I find) or a small beef joint to perfection. I made a chicken curry in it yesterday and it was really tasty.

Ivyleaf
Love the sound of your cats and their sleeping places! I leave bags on chairs throughout the house so Henry Hoover can't sit on them!! They really are naughty creatures for making themselves at home. I think as he's nicked my armchair for his bed despite having a proper cat bed that I'm entitled to have somewhere to sit without getting completed covered jn cat hair!