Cooking for one

Tiddlywinks

I can recommend Sosmix instead of Quorn stuff BUT only the original blend not the one in health shops.

I get mine from here:

http://www.alternativestores.com/vegan-vegetarian-shopping/protoveg-sosmix-1kg-bag.html

It's dry and you just add water to reconstitute and can add spices, onion, tomato etc to it.

I love making rissoles with it - very 1970s I know.

The packs tend to have about an 8 month use-by date so a pack is great to have in for grabbing a quick sausage or some meat balls or whatever.

PasturesNew

purpleybat wrote: »

.... 'ready meals' and shuffle them into his freezer...

That freezer sounds bigger than mine. Also, it depends what else is in a freezer. If it's just a space for boxed ready meals to be put into then it's different to managing space where there are also other things, like endless bags of frozen veg and chips + bread/muffins/crumpets and any random bargains picked up at the shop.

monnagran

PN: We're missing a trick here. What about Pot Noodles? I bet the rich nutters would pay us handsomely to pour the hot water into the cardboard cup and give it a stir. It would save them no end of trouble.

Just give me a call when you have found suitable premises. I've heard that Mayfair would be a good place to start.

Must stop this now. The men in white coats are a-knocking at the door and I must hide under the bed.
Thanks for the fun.

x

PasturesNew

monnagran wrote: »

PN: We're missing a trick here. What about Pot Noodles? I bet the rich nutters would pay us handsomely to pour the hot water into the cardboard cup and give it a stir. It would save them no end of trouble.

Just give me a call when you have found suitable premises. I've heard that Mayfair would be a good place to start.

Must stop this now. The men in white coats are a-knocking at the door and I must hide under the bed.
Thanks for the fun.

x

In my first job I used to get a Curry Pot Noodle for lunch every day.

Then they got pricey and I've not bothered with them for 10-15 years.

But the other day I discovered some Golden Wonder Chip Shop Curry ones at 25p, so I tried one... mmm. So I've bought another two and had one ... my cupboard contains one GWPN.

Just shout out of the window "Organic Free Range Hand Reared Artisan Beef only at this address" and they'll think they got the wrong place and shuffle off to some coffee shop where they'll draw the Beard of Your Choice in the froth for just £25 a mug!

PasturesNew

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

...

Sounds like too big a bag for me to get through, in less than about 2-3 years.

I tend to avoid "Sandal wearing hippy shops" because, as you mentioned, the 1970s was when all this funny stuff became "the rage" and the sort of people who were hippies weren't the sort of people you'd choose to mix with as "they were funny sorts"

The issue to consider with anything always comes down to the rate at which you can actually eat it, without feeling as if it's the ONLY thing you ever eat.



Many things are nice, if we can choose to have them, occasionally. One of the issues of cooking for one is you end up eating fewer and fewer things because you have to get through the stuff you've got ... and you have to gauge fairly accurately how you'll actually manage to get round to eating a new item.

I bet I could go a year on what's in my cupboards .... I just don't ever fancy any of it.

caronc

My word pop away for a bit and at least one new business venture is being created - a different take on "Pie "n"mash" shops can't see why it shouldn't be a huge success shall wait for the apperance on Dragon's Den
I do like to cook from scratch but ain't snobby or cheffy about what I cook or eat (best not mention I have a Sous vide machine LOL )- if it tastes good then no reason not to make/nuke it. Love corned beef hash, has to have well fried onions and peas stirred through and plenty of HP on top for me. Quick and easy stuff has it's place as do high-end dishes neither of which I'd want to eat every day.
I've realised I need to get myself some smaller pyrex casseroles, the ones I have are more suitable for family amounts than just me. One thing I've used more off since I became a solo household is the foil trays in lids that you get pound shops etc. I find they are ideal for one person and a good shape to freeze but they can be tricky to get cooked stuff out of, though I do quite often just eat it out of the foil

PasturesNew

caronc wrote: »

I've realised I need to get myself some smaller pyrex casseroles, the ones I have are more suitable for family amounts than just me.

I swear by Pyrex jugs. They're the perfect size for what "trendy, exposure-seeking, fashionistas and Le Creuset owning food bloggers" now call "mug cooking", which is in fact food we've all been nuking for years, but in sensible quantities in a Pyrex jug. We never ponced about with little mugs in the 1980s, when a hearty portion can be cooked more cleanly in a bigger jug!

They've got a handle, so easy to get in/out of the nuker - especially where puddings are involved and you need to turn them upside down in the bowl.

It's my favourite and most useful kitchen dish because it's so flexible and can be used for other tasks. I've got two as I'd hate to ever be without one ... and going to get a third because two's not enough in case one breaks....

I do all my nuked puddings in it, make up stuffing, cook/eat rice pudding - and can also be put into a slow cooker to cook a dessert alongside a stew

I use regular coffee mugs for cooking peas and making instant custard as a jug's too big for that.

Old pro me .... Ms Heath Robinson. Why have 5 expensive matching dishes, when a £2 glass jug will do

[Deleted User]

I have a collection of the brown earthen ware single oval shaped dishes that I have picked up from boot sales over the years for around 20p each these are freezer -to-microwave-to-table and then only one dish to wash and reuse, or failing that Poundland do packets of 10 take away rectangular plastic boxes that are great for freezing and stacking single portions in the freezer they are also wash and reuse .

I try to steer clear of Lakeland as they are far too pricey for my liking.I do have a good collection of lock'lock boxes that I got in a JL sale a few years ago which are great for stashing stuff in as well.

I'm still imagining the instant mash and brown slurry meal !!! think I'll pass on that one

Nice to see my adopted DD Nelski posting ,hope you are still enjoying the red medicinal vino collapsio Nels :):)

JackieO xx

Nelski

caronc wrote: »

My word pop away for a bit and at least one new business venture is being created - a different take on "Pie "n"mash" shops can't see why it shouldn't be a huge success shall wait for the apperance on Dragon's Den
I do like to cook from scratch but ain't snobby or cheffy about what I cook or eat (best not mention I have a Sous vide machine LOL )- if it tastes good then no reason not to make/nuke it. Love corned beef hash, has to have well fried onions and peas stirred through and plenty of HP on top for me. Quick and easy stuff has it's place as do high-end dishes neither of which I'd want to eat every day.
I've realised I need to get myself some smaller pyrex casseroles, the ones I have are more suitable for family amounts than just me. One thing I've used more off since I became a solo household is the foil trays in lids that you get pound shops etc. I find they are ideal for one person and a good shape to freeze but they can be tricky to get cooked stuff out of, though I do quite often just eat it out of the foil

I bought a lot of the foil trays and some of the plastic ones you get from a chinese takeaway (i have a costco card ) Problem is they just take up too much room so most of what I freeze now I freeze flat in a ziploc bag then stack them all up

I also think I could live a good few months from my stock PN if not a year and bar a few sneaky buys that will no doubt happen that is what I intend to do so watch this space to see how long it lasts. I am lucky in that i get to eat out quite a bit with work so dont really suffer the boredom thing and to be honest I have so many different things in the white box I just need to keep varying meals.

PasturesNew

JackieO wrote: »

Poundland do packets of 10 take away rectangular plastic boxes that are great for freezing and stacking single portions in the freezer they are also wash and reuse .

They're packs of 8 at the moment, I was eyeing them up the other day.

I bought 8 about 4 years ago and mine are all in daily use, for everything. I love using them in the fridge as they make food stackable yet viewable and you can move things around without any spills or wastage - nothing's ever falling out of half wrapped packs.

I had started using those some years ago when some takeaways would sometimes use them, but they were a bit annoying as they were all different sizes, so difficult to get the right lid. Then I bought the "8 the same in a pack" for £1 and binned the old/stained takeaway ones.

Since then I've accumulated 2-3 takeaway plastic boxes that don't match the other 8, so now when I wash them up I fit the lid on those ones and keep the base with the lid - with the "8 the same" I just stack the bases and I know all the lids in the stack of lids fit

Although I do use them in the freezer sometimes, it's rare as I can't spare the "wasted space" they can cause. So it's a balance between "in a nice plastic tub -or- wrapped tight in a bag as you're short on space"

I use the takeaway tubs to reheat some foods in the microwave too. I store mash in them, then nuke it in them the next day, for example.

For cheese, I buy a pack, say 350-400 grams, and I open it and slice it into four pieces that fit into my "turn the handle round" grater. I then put three pieces of cheese back in the bag and back in the fridge and I grate one into the lidded boxes and keep cheese in that. I cut the cheese all in one go into four as I might as well do that as cut one chunk off - and I know the rest of the slices can just be grabbed and grated as they fit into the grater and I don't have to use a knife and dirty it just to cut another slice off