Quick meals (beans on toast, jacket potatoes)

arbrighton

Thrift Wizard- the problem with supermarket white bread is just as likely, if not more so, to be the additives as the wheat, put in there to prolong shelf life etc and enable the bread to be produced so rapidly. The Chorleywood process just produces a spongy soggy fluff that doesn't resemble real bread at all. I haven't managed to wean the husband off it yet though for sandwiches but at least there is a local brand/ factory to buy (we can drive past it)

Out,_Vile_Jelly

MandM90 wrote: »

but hummus on baked potato with roasted veggies is one of our favourite meals.

I love hummus, but have never thought of putting it on a jacket spud; genius!

My favourite quickie meal is half a packet of spicy cous cous (just add boiling water- my kind of cooking) with a small pan of stir fried veg. I also retain a student passion for instant noodles, especially the random cheap packets you get in the world food aisles. Again, I bulk them up with stir fried veg.

Nobody's mentioned omelettes either; a quick and healthy way to use up the odd egg and bits & bobs in your fridge.

Pop_Up_Pirate

arbrighton wrote: »

But Asian countries eat a lot of soya/ tofu, which is one of those baddies someone mentioned a legume.

Generally yeah, balance, and less processed with a side order of common sense.

Noone is arguing that diet doesn't have an effect on things but there are a lot of myths and misunderstandings being spread as antidote to 'processed food and advertising' too....

I did mention these as not being good for "us", "us" being people in the UK.
Asians do have soy products, although not as much as we think they do, (It is a myth that Asians eat "a lot" of soy.) and when they do eat it its mostly fermented (miso etc) and their balance between soy and other products is very good.
Ie they would have a small amount of soy with large amounts of veg and some meat.

An Asian diet, overall, doesn't contain processed foods, doesn't contain wheat, and doesn't use intensive processes to make things edible, such as sunflower oil

Their veggies and meat are more wholesome, with fewer chemicals, pesticides, etc and they eat and cook more of an animal. They would eat the offal and then make stock from bones to use in broths and soups on a regular basis. Plus they eat the fat.

They also eat high amounts of fermented foods and virtually no dairy.

Within an Asian diet, the small amount of soy products they do eat, is tolerated well due to the rest of their diet being wholesome, heavy on veg, nutritious and virtually no processed foods.

In the US/UK we have been led to believe soy is a healthy alternative. It isn't. It's a pretty nasty substance with many adverse health effects,but the massive marketing campaign from the soy producers of the world have done a pretty good job of convincing us that its "healthy".

arbrighton

Fermenting is processing. Sorry.

PasturesNew

Mojisola wrote: »

Making a famiy-sized meal (so it's worth the effort) and then freezing it in one-portion sizes means you can eat well without having to cook from scratch every night.

But your freezer is then full, or close to, once you've done that 1-3x. A family can, say, make a whole second lasagne and freeze it - they only have to open the door once and remove it for it to be gone... a single person with, say, 6 portions, has to open the door 6x to finally see the end of it.

A freezer has very slow turnover in a single household if it's filled with "batch cooking" of any sort... leaving no room for the essential fish fingers

[Deleted User]

I live alone now I am widowed and the first year (2003) I virtually lived on jacket spuds as I just cba to cook.Then I realised the only person I was hurting was myself .

So I bought my first Remoska from Lakeland and use it almost daily I eat a lot better now than I did and will happily batch cook a lasagnes and freeze in portions what I don't eat straight away because I have two nights when I don't have to cook per week its a lot easier for me to plan ahead.

Tonight for example I will have from my freezer a portion of chilli with some fresh made rice
Tomorrow I shall be down at Gatwick awaiting my DGS coming home from Germany so dinner will be probably something on toast before I go and perhaps an omelette when I get home ,depending on if his flights on time.

Friday night will be probably fishcakes from the freezer HM about a month ago with some steamed veg.

Saturday night is my treat night and I make usually steak or chicken with a salad and have a yogurt pudding to follow.

I do try to change stuff around depending on what I am doing that evening

Last night I was out at quiz night and we get a supper included in the price (£2.00) a bargain it was two sausages and a few chips well worth £2.00

I only use my main oven when I am batch cooking or baking for my grandchildren
I use my 'Moska all the time,its quick ,cheap and easy to wash out

I also use my slow cooker overnight to cook casseroles etc or a chicken which can be portioned up and the stock saved for making soups with

I think because I enjoy fruit and veg I guess I spend about a third of my budget on fresh F & V and less on meat I like veggie food as well and a veggie curry or lasagne is just as nice as a meaty one.Changing your menu around even when cooking for one gives you so much scope for innovation I think ,and I do try to cook something totally different at least once a week.

Jackieboy

PasturesNew wrote: »

But your freezer is then full, or close to, once you've done that 1-3x. A family can, say, make a whole second lasagne and freeze it - they only have to open the door once and remove it for it to be gone... a single person with, say, 6 portions, has to open the door 6x to finally see the end of it.

A freezer has very slow turnover in a single household if it's filled with "batch cooking" of any sort... leaving no room for the essential fish fingers

I don't know why you'd cook for 6 if you're on your own. If you cook enough for 4 you can have 1 portion that night, another a couple of days later (well, I do) and freeze the spare 2.

If you just do that once a week you can have a decent range of meals available at short notice.

lollipopsarah

Who remembers Blazing Saddles - the campfire scene? Beans, beans, good for the heart etc.
I'm having jackets for tonight with salad and a quiche - lovely.
Sometime (maybe once a month) I just do scrambled eggs on B&B as a meat free meal.
Enjoy what you fancy in moderation, it's so much better than a ready meal.
xx

suki1964

arbrighton wrote: »

Fermenting is processing. Sorry.

Then the latest thoughts are that fermented foods are good for stomach flora so we should be eating more yoghurt , pickled cabbage etc

arbrighton

suki1964 wrote: »

Then the latest thoughts are that fermented foods are good for stomach flora so we should be eating more yoghurt , pickled cabbage etc

I like to breathe clean air at night so won't be subjecting husband to that!!