Nice People Thread Part 9 - and so it continues

LydiaJ

lostinrates wrote: »

Well, also in lighter news I'm having a good day.

Can you bear with me while I sound nuts?

I'm having another day where I look like 'me'. The difference is clear to me, just like when DH commented the other day. S much so that for the first time in well over a year I have put 'me' make up on (parrot green and cobolt blue) and it Los no more ridiculous than coloured eyeshadow might intrinsically look, so it wasn't that I was getting old or too fat to wear it, it was actually something odd to do with my face, or skin tone or something.

I feel made up like me if not dressed like me But, sort of like a fat me, and I feel closer to accepting this as something I could be comfortable with going forward. Not happy about no, but , if I can me 'me' not someone lost in this, then its not so bad.

Its the sort of thing I know that if one says to a consultant one sounds barking mad ...but its as if the muscles under my skin is actually holding my skin differently.

I know that all sounds super odd.

You make perfect sense to me. So glad you are feeling so much better. :j:beer::D

GDB2222 wrote: »

What a prat! He had no way of knowing whether someone was travelling up that escalator whilst he was skiing down. He got away with it, but not something to be proud of.

That's what I thought too. And then I thought maybe he had a friend posted at the bottom to warn people not to go up. Let's hope he did, anyway.

vivatifosi

Generali wrote: »

I think the trick to a really good arrabiatta sauce is to cook it in a Pyrex in the oven really slowly to get a smoky flavour or to do it very, very fast on the stove top to make it super fresh.

When I'm training properly on the bike I'll eat pasta arrabiatta twice a week.

The first dish I really taught myself to cook was a ragu sauce. I picked up one of those cook in sauces in the supermarket and bought all the ingredients on the label that weren't chemicals before returning the jar to the shelf. It tasted ok and I refined it from there.

I make my arabiatta sauce the second way, very light heat for short time. I think I do this with most of my sauces as some of the ones I use would separate otherwise.

In terms of your ragu experiment, that's exactly how I started out. Read the ingredient then replicate. I think sauce manufacturers are wise to that now though, as they just put herbs on the label. But if I made a mistake and used basil instead of say oregano, they would taste totally different, and not always in a good way.

lostinrates

vivatifosi wrote: »

A big issue I think is the bulk. I wouldn't be cooking for five and don't have the freezer space for masses of lasagne. I do cook a lot of pasta though and almost always make my own sauces. I think for smaller quantities, stove top rather than all forno recipes are the way forward.

A more practical starter meal for absolute beginners would be a spaghetti. Possibly a Bolognese, or for a veggie like me I like al arabiatta. Plonk pasta in boiling water. Make sauce from passata, chilli, herbs, olive oil, bit of garlic, poss a splash of vodka. Jobs a good un.

Plus rest of mince for Bolognese could be used for cottage pie, another of the easiest to cook meals in the whole world.

ETA.. reading this back, spell check appears to have had its wicked way with me again. GRRRRR...

I think a lot of budget ready meals are cheaper than can be made at home on a budget.

Healthier or tastier....no.

There are times to balance. When your back is against the wall......budget harder for the short term, when its less bad budget longer term, for me that means feeding people better for longer term health. I love old style but there are some things thee, some compromises made I would not make for more than a few days. In our house hold we would be more likely to omit than to scurry about trying to replicate an expensive food ( like meat) cheaply.

I prefer the taste of fresh veg, but fresh veg out of season are expensive and not ethically very sustainable.....hence our desire to grow more ourselves and freeze and bottle, but also processing extra bought in summer. Its a fair enough compromise.

Unless there is specific reason to eat red meat, it could be struck off completely. We have an inkling lots of kids benefit from fish oils. If I were going to 'junk' a meal on the cheap it would be a little snack we call 'cat sick' in my house which makes a light supper or adds heft next to a bowl of soup and gets fish oils into one in a junky way...albeit with some sugar and fat. (Though also ketchup which is meant to be good for you know, and cheese which is calcium rich and gives good dreams

There is no doubt my lasagne is more expensive than a ready meal one. But its ok.......we don't eat it monthly. Veg lasagne is cheaper.

lostinrates

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

And glow-in-the-dark pants, don't forget those!

Very useful in a blackout. Strip and everyone knows where you are.

LydiaJ

Can any of the NP recommend a reasonably easy chocolate pudding that I could make for a thing I'm going to tonight? It needs to serve about 10 people, and as long as I do most of the work before I go, it can be actually cooked at the people's house if necessary. Hot rather than cold sounds like a good idea since it's going to be cold tonight, I think.

ETA I can't do the self-saucing chocoate pudding that ends up with its own sauce underneath the sponge bit, because I did that last time, and I've never been very fond of bread and butter pudding, so I don't really want to do a chocolate one of those.

PasturesNew

Bit confusing, so new layout:

michaels wrote: »

enough for 2 meals for 5 (more 2 meals for 3-4 as 3 of them are kids)
6.50 for 1kg of low fat mince
20p for a tin of tomatoes,
£1 for a jar of red sauce,
2p for a beef stock cube,
30p for 3 onoins,
40p for 4 large carrots and a sprinkle of herbs.
===
£8.42

Spag bol,
40p for dried pasta,

Cottage pie
50p of spuds

Lasagne
30p of dried pasta
£1 jar of white sauce

I can't believe you're paying £1 for white sauce.... I'd make that up in the microwave with flour/marg/milk for about 20p.

I'd also put cheese on top.

£2.20 for the other bits

So £10.62 for 10 meals. £1.06.

I'd buy a "serves one" for £0.80

The problem I'd have is that I'd not want to go to all that effort to then have to eat a lot of it. I'd want mince 1-2 days max, then I'd want something else.

I've never made a lasagne - not that interested in them really.

Where do you get tomatoes for 20p? Cheapest I can see on mysupermarket is 31p now.

neverdespairgirl

Having dropped Isaac at school, and finished a fairly urgent bit of work, there are several things I could / should be doing, but in fact, I'm going to make some peppermint tea and curl up on the sofa with a blanket and a book. A bit of laziness is sometimes a very good idea (-:

GDB2222

That's about the limit of my culinary skills, I'm afraid, but it's easy to transport.

PasturesNew

lostinrates wrote: »

I would never buy fur, even if I could afford to. I think I am feeling guilty for liking it.

Buying/wearing fur wouldn't bother me .... if it was the right price and I liked the look of it I'd buy it.

I used to have an American Opossum 1950s long coat which was shabby and belonged to my mother. Got rid of that in 1997 when I moved (pre-ebay and vintage obsessions or I could have probably sold it for good money).

I also had a coney jacket, lovely pale grey colour - car boot £3. It never really fitted (boobs always too big), but I wore it open. Finally got rid of that as the rest of me grew out of it a little too, so it just was tight across the shoulders.

Edit: Now I could cry, one on Etsy at £318 that looks identical: http://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/167076672/opossum-coat

PasturesNew

LydiaJ wrote: »

Can any of the NP recommend a reasonably easy chocolate pudding that I could make for a thing I'm going to tonight? It needs to serve about 10 people, and as long as I do most of the work before I go, it can be actually cooked at the people's house if necessary. Hot rather than cold sounds like a good idea since it's going to be cold tonight, I think.

No. But if I had to do that I'd head for those Express programmes on the telly. e.g. see if Nigella Express did one, or Jamies 15 Minute Meals.

I bet they've both done one and it can be viewed online.