The Garden Fence - help and support in tough times

elona

Mardatha

A quick way to skin tomatoes is to put them in boiling water for about a minute having cut an X on the bottom then remove with a slotted spoon and put them into an ice cold water bowl. The skin should come off easily.

If you make tattie scones you can add softened onions, cheese etc to ring the changes.

elona

A long long time ago (apologies to star wars) I was a teenager living with parents wanting a light meal and very little in the cupboard apart from instant mash, a tin of luncheon meat and a tin of baked beans.

I chopped up the tinned meat and added it to the beans, put it in an oven dish then put the mash on top with some grated cheese and then put it in the oven for half an hour. Simple but tasty.

mardatha

My mum used to make fish cake sized things out of - I think - mashed tatties and cabbage with bits of bacon... does that sound right? I might try that one tomorrow cos got bacon that needs using up.
I've also got a big "boneless pork loin crackling joint" (according to the lable) from Sainsbugs to cook sometime. That is going to be fun!!

elona

Mardatha

Please don't be offended but maybe you are taking this too seriously.

I used to cook white knuckled and desperately following recipes and then decided to let myself fail and treat things as an experiment and substitute ingredients. I did have some failures but they were edible now I can knock things together without thinking about it. Some dishes are better than others but it is all edible and the fact that you like fairly plain food is a plus as you don't need fancy and expensive ingredients.

Knit_Witch

Toss small potatoes or chopped large spuds in a mix of olive oil, garlic and rosemary and roast at gas 6 for about 30 mins (take them out half way through and turn) BTW these are good hot, warm or cold!

shanks77

How about Croatian potato salad? Take cooked pots with skins on and chop roughly into cubes. Take an onion and slice as fine as possible. Put both into a bowl and add some vinegar, oil and whole grain mustard to it. Leave to sit for a while and voila a different kind of tattie salad. The vinegar and oil can be any cheap stuff or you can ring the changes with balsamic vinegar and posher olive oil if you want. xxx
With regards to veg how about sweetcorn fritters or cauliflower cheese?

ivyleaf

I'm loving the potato recipes

mardatha

Elona.... I can cope with ghosts. I can cope with rodents. I can cope with smelly ferrets and fierce hawks. I can even cope with the RV .BUT I CANNY COPE WITH COOKING!! :eek::rotfl::D

greenbee

mardatha wrote: »

Elona.... I can cope with ghosts. I can cope with rodents. I can cope with smelly ferrets and fierce hawks. I can even cope with the RV .BUT I CANNY COPE WITH COOKING!! :eek::rotfl::D

How about ready meals mar? Maybe you should just give in? Or find someone locally who will cook the food you like for you and fill your freezer with meals (with reheating instructions)? I used to this for neighbours who couldn't cook for various reasons. I either made the stuff at home and packaged it in foil containers, froze and delivered in a cold box or I went over to theirs, shopped with them and cooked at their house and froze things in their dishes. Or a combination of the two. I charged for the cost of ingredients plus time. Where they supplied stuff like game or home-grown veg it obviously made it much cheaper. And I had some very good sources for ingredients as I was bulk-buying certain things, so it wasn't particularly expensive for them per portion and certainly better than throwing things out because they'd gone wrong or didn't like them. Or living on toast...

mardatha

The RV would throw me out GB! I'd be a poor old soul in a cardboard box
I do get some frozen stuff for when we can't face any more of my cooking - but I don't like all the additives. Surely to god I can cope with a roast chicken and various tattie things .... that will keep us alive for 3-4 days