Nice People Thread Part 9 - and so it continues

PasturesNew

PasturesNew wrote: »

....

Oh - and at this point I've got a pile of washing up, I've spent over an hour making it .... and if I did scale it up I'd then have to think about the portion size/what I'd freeze it in and dishes of the right size to reheat it .... so more stuff to buy.

Or ... £0.80 ready meal for one, nuke it in 4 minutes, eat it out of the container with a fork. No washing up.

PasturesNew

I've never cooked for anybody - and only once ever had to take food somewhere..... I was invited to a summer buffet party and had to bring a salady type thing. I was living in a bedsit so had a cooker and a fridge - fridge had the kettle and toaster on it. No worktop. I had one small saucepan.

I made up some pasta twists, then bought a jar (which I've never seen since, it might have been Heinz) of Honey and Orange dressing. Poured that over. That dressing was absolutely GORGEOUS!

lostinrates

PasturesNew wrote: »

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

Tbc, vintage fur doesn't bother me. (I have some, a zebra hide, a rabbit scarf, some other things...a designer gave me a credit an with a mink button to be photographed on many, many years ago, I still have it somewhere, though I am less comfortable with that now, though was told it was 'ethically farmed' I'm not so sure. )

Wild shot fur wouldn't bother me. (But how one guarantees it is is difficult)

Used resource from farmed animals for meat (like hides from from cows and sheep, and to a degree farmed rabbits for meat or dual purpose etc) is wholly sensible and pleasing to me.

I tend not to be personally perturbed by croc or snake (oh the shame) because I don't much care for crocs or snakes.

But the conditions of animals reared for fur is generally pretty low and less well monitored. Fur buyers are generally less concerned a market than freedom food buyers. If the conditions were more like better conditions farming I'd apply the same standards of personal feelings to it and be content.

michaels

PasturesNew wrote: »

Bit confusing, so new layout:

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.

Thanks for the layout. It would serve 8 adults unless they were all 'hungry men' as my kids can put it away. Yes I did miss 50p of cheap grated cheese.

KTC tomatoes at Morissons are often 5 for £1

You are 100% right about the sauce jars being a rip off compared to making it yourself they are just quick and easy (DW is not the worlds biggest cook). when we do spag bol it takes one lidded stir fry pan and 1 saucepan for the spaghetti. Main trick is too pour the fat off when you are browning the mince (I know some purists would say you are also losing all those flavoursome meat juices but I prefer minimum fat) and then use the pan to fry the onions so no need to add any oil at any point. Total prep time is less than 15 minutes although the meat gets simmered for at least an hour for better flavour.

We don't add salt to anyhting we cook at home and find all ready meals much to salty.

lostinrates

michaels wrote: »

Thanks for the layout. It would serve 8 adults unless they were all 'hungry men' as my kids can put it away. Yes I did miss 50p of cheap grated cheese.

KTC tomatoes at Morissons are often 5 for £1

You are 100% right about the sauce jars being a rip off compared to making it yourself they are just quick and easy (DW is not the worlds biggest cook). when we do spag bol it takes one lidded stir fry pan and 1 saucepan for the spaghetti. Main trick is too pour the fat off when you are browning the mince (I know some purists would say you are also losing all those flavoursome meat juices but I prefer minimum fat) and then use the pan to fry the onions so no need to add any oil at any point. Total prep time is less than 15 minutes although the meat gets simmered for at least an hour for better flavour.

We don't add salt to anyhting we cook at home and find all ready meals much to salty.

I don't add salt either, leaving people to do this themselves.

Be ware though k that this can actually leave you sodium deficient if you eat no processed food. Obviously lots of my symptoms are similar to sodium deficiency and so every now and again I will just have something salty:o to make sure I am not sodium deficient. Mild sodium deficiency is hard to pick up on, and is rarely considered ina society where most people eat too much salt, but we do need it.

michaels

There is salt in the stock cube and the sauce jar and no doubt in most other things we eat every day (bread, crisps etc etc). I think you would have to eat everything from scratch to avoid it.

PasturesNew

On foodnetwork right now (freeview) Barefoot Contessa is making a Sticky Date Pudding.

I took notes in case it was interesting, but in the end it wasn't, but here are the notes:

Here's what she had/did:
1lb dates, chopped
Boil the dates in 3.5 cups water. Bring to the boil, then add 2 teaspoons of baking soda
Butter (2 sticks?)
3/4 cup sugar
Cream butter/sugar togethr - add 4 eggs and 1 teasp vanilla
2.5 cups flour, 1 teaspoon of salt
Add the dates mix to the rest.
Add 3.25 tablespoons baking powder. - leavens and thickens it

Grease/flour two cake pans 8-9"
Pour mix into the pans
Into the oven at 350 for 30-40 minutes

She brought the toffee sauce with her.

Half a pound of butter and 1 cup of brown sugar (8oz), have a cup of heavy cream, teaspoon vanilla. Bring to boil, turn heat down, simmer for 1 minute. Give it a stir. Pour into a dish to keep.

To reheat that she tipped the sauce into a saucepan to warm it up
Took the two date cakes out of the dishes upside down
Take toothpicsk and poke loads of holes all over the top of the cakes.
Poured the toffee sauce all over the top and down the sides.

It looked easy - but she had a mixer, so it was just her putting things into the mixer .... didn't have to beat it all by hand for 10 minutes

They then scoffed it hot.

I won't be making one. Too much volume.... but that toffee sauce is easy and could be scaled down and microwaved. Although I never buy cream so won't be making that either.

bugslet

Anything with dates in is fantastic! Give me a pack of mejdool dates and I am a very happy bunny.

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

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 (-:

I think so too. Does the peppermint help with the nausea?

PasturesNew wrote: »

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

If it's a by-product, I wouldn't be fussed, the farming scenario is not ideal. i don't think I've ever had anything that is real fur, though I have a couple of fab fake fur coats.

lostinrates

michaels wrote: »

There is salt in the stock cube and the sauce jar and no doubt in most other things we eat every day (bread, crisps etc etc). I think you would have to eat everything from scratch to avoid it.

Yep, but some of us do make most things from scratch! Even then you get some. . Certainly eating crisps, bought sauces and stocks and bread I would think you'd get plenty. .

Are crisps everyday food, especially now the lunchboxes are meant to be 'healthy'? Are they allowed them? They were in lunchboxes when I was at school, certainly, and school put them in our lunches for outings too.

bugslet

vivatifosi wrote: »

Bugs, so sorry to hear your news. How are you in yourself? Do you have friends and family to lean on? How about the business and your support there? Just want to make sure you are well looked after in RL as well as NP worlds. Thinking of you.

I am blessed with some remarkably good friends, no family, but the friends make up for it. Work, just as well I work for myself, I seem to be idling:o

PasturesNew wrote: »

When he died he was skeletal to the extreme. A week before he died his eyes were hugely bulging and mum said she didn't even want to be in the same room as him when I took her to see him.


.

I'm not looking forward to later on, he's thin enough with bones sticking out all over the place and he now has a big head on a little body.

We'll see what the sub-cut does for him.