The Garden Fence - help and support in tough times

candlelight_2013

Mar, so sorry you are not well, look after yourself.

I think you can be forgiven for having easy meals when you are not well we have all done it

Take care

Candlelightx

Softstuff

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Didn't realise you had all that level of facilities. Now I understand that high annual charge.

Funnily enough, most flats over here have high body corp charges. Was talking to an agent yesterday and a complex with fewer units, just one pool and not much in the way of gardens was working out at $5000 a year. Hence wanting a house, rather than just a move to somewhere with less facilities. Apartment high rise attracts pretty high fees too, thanks to having lifts, which are apparently a money pit over here.

Washing machine is rescheduled for tomorrow. Allegedly. If this one doesn't arrive intact I have half a mind to post the customer service department some of my husbands sweaty socks :rotfl:

I'm sorry you're rough Mardatha. I agree with the cooked chicken idea. Over here you can buy a rotisserie chicken pretty cheaply and there's a dozen ways to cook it. Something we did today was have store bought cooked chicken with a frozen reheated portion of white wine and mushroom sauce, on top of couscous. Total cooking time 5 minutes. I can see the same thing would work for a few sauces, but I can't for the life of me think if you can buy cooked chicken like that in England Fuddle!

mardatha

I get it from Costco, 6 big thighs for £3.45. ty Ivy xx

nursemaggie

Get well soon Mar.

moneyistooshorttomention

Good point Softstuff. It does seem to be rare to have complexes of flats with anything much at all in the way of facilities here. In my home area there was quite a fair-size complex of flats for instance recently built and I don't think there was a single communal facility - other than a tiny patch of grass.

A house is by far the best bet and as detached as money will allow at that.

It was always one of the things that put me off buying a flat (even as a starter home) to know that things like communal expenses wouldn't be under my control and I was at risk of either finding communal maintenance didn't get done on the one hand OR it did get done but I was charged more than I could afford for it on the other hand. You could call that a lose/lose situation I guess...:cool:

ivyleaf

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

We're having relly easy meal today, I'm cooking some YS new potatoes to leave to get cold (I've done the whole pack as I have some nice uses for cooked potatoes), I also have some cooked peas from a couple of days ago and some cold cooked sausages from Tuesday. The potatoes will be sliced, the sausages will be diced and all will be mixed together with the peas in a large bowl and some mayonnaise and plain greek yoghurt added along with a good grinding of black pepper to make a dressing. You can dress this up with pesto, curry paste, chopped olives and tomato puree added to the dressing but it's lovely as it is and plain. I serve it on a bed of mixed green salad leaves and it's a godsend for those days when I'm just too busy to cook. That is the summer version, the winter version uses the same ingredients but hot and works as well hot as it does cold.

That sounds really yummy, Lyn! Thank you, I've bookmarked it to try next time we have sausages

ETA Mar Just seen your post - so sorry you're ill Is it the ME or is there something else atm as well? Get well soon x

[Deleted User]

I tweaked the recipe today IVYLEAF so added to the basic 2 large chopped gherkins, 1 cored and diced apple and a couple of teaspoons of horseradish sauce in to the dressing, Oh Boy was it good too!!!

Other good things to do with cold cooked potatoes

Chop them and add to an oven baked crustless quiche to give it more substance.

slice them and top a thick piece of tost with butter, sliced potatoes, sliced beetroot and a slice of cheese then put under the grill until the cheese is melted and golden, it's a swedish Hot Smorgsbord which I think is called 'Heno' or you can put sliced sausage on to the toast before the other ingredients for a change.

Make a wartime 'Hard Times Omelette' which is 2 eggs per omelette (would have been dried ones originally), 2 slices of bacon snipped into thin strips, a chopped onion and as many diced potatoes as you like. Fry the bacon gently with the onions until the onions are soft and cooked. Remove from the pan and add in a tiny nut of butter and pour in the whisked eggs, when they start to set scatter over the potato,and bacon and onion mixture and cook until the egg is set then pop under the grill to finish off the top side of the omelette. You can scatter over a bit of grated cheddar first if you like.

Yorkshire pudding with cooked potatoes, bacon and onion scattered over the top during cooking is pretty good too!

fuddle

Thanks so much for the feedback.

Seems to me that there's a bit of a play on the 15 minute idea. I'm certainly not a juggler in terms of cooking, more methodical in my approach (might translate that to faffing)

My freezer has always contained my stocks to which I cook with, I've never entered the world of stables in which to batch cook with, as haven't needed to really. I think now is the time where I have to learn new approaches. Because everything in prepared already it means I have nothing in fresh to make for our lunches so DH and I are both buying sandwiches for our lunches. The cost alone is silly.

I will look over your suggestions at the weekend and look onto having a plan. Very much appreciated.

Mar sorry to read you are poorly. I think cooked chicken and salad is very savvy and uber healthy and can be made into any meal you need it to be. enjoy your white out!! I'm wearing soft canvas shoes today, snow is a million miles away in this sun and 12,degrees! I am visiting FIL on the west coast of Scot next weekend though so may be in for a bit of a shock! What's your average temperatures?

TiredTrophy

That recipe also works with tinned potatoes and a smoked sausage....if you are without cooking facilities.

Knit_Witch

when it comes to lunches you could make some couscous the night before, pack it with diced salad veggies and cooked new spuds/diced ham/Quorn cocktail sos depending on preference. Portion it into a couple of T*perware containers and then all you need to do is grab one along with a fork and you are good to go!