Cooking for one

pollyanna_26

PN I do admire your attitude to food . I tend to overthink too much these days and often end up eating something stupid . Started today with my proper porridge but at some point this afternoon found myself working my way through a large part of a box of after eights :eek:very annoyed at myself now as I feel pretty sick and not at all fancying proper food . I notice many of you use slow cookers I had one a few years ago and never took to it so passed it on to one of the offspring who uses it all the time with great success . I have a long overdue kitchen renovation to sort - since 2001:D Life kept getting in the way .I'm considering trying again with the slow cookers to compensate for the lack of oven during the work .
I recall McC testing a Crockpot brand for the reviews she does but don't recall how she went on with it , quite a while ago for this foggy brain and I read many reviews by her due to her honest and helpful opinions . Anyone here have one ? or failing that McC if you pop in .
I,ve been catching up on some of my favourite blogs and had a why didn't I think of that moment . Soup with dumplings in - I've been making soups all my life and love homemade dumplings with white pepper and homegrown chopped parsley but never thought of adding them to soup . As the daughter of a chef I feel quite mortified , still never too old to learn .
MTSTM Wishing you well with the kitchen , hopefully all will go to plan .
polly

Whoknowskt89

Well done on the bargains!

Last night's spicy pasta turned out to have another few portions left but was feeling lazy so nuked it and had it with tortillas for a deconstructed nachos dinner... Must decide what to do with it tomorrow now! Any ideas guys?

caronc

pollyanna_26 wrote: »

PN I do admire your attitude to food . I tend to overthink too much these days and often end up eating something stupid . Started today with my proper porridge but at some point this afternoon found myself working my way through a large part of a box of after eights :eek:very annoyed at myself now as I feel pretty sick and not at all fancying proper food . I notice many of you use slow cookers I had one a few years ago and never took to it so passed it on to one of the offspring who uses it all the time with great success . I have a long overdue kitchen renovation to sort - since 2001:D Life kept getting in the way .I'm considering trying again with the slow cookers to compensate for the lack of oven during the work .
I recall McC testing a Crockpot brand for the reviews she does but don't recall how she went on with it , quite a while ago for this foggy brain and I read many reviews by her due to her honest and helpful opinions . Anyone here have one ? or failing that McC if you pop in .
I,ve been catching up on some of my favourite blogs and had a why didn't I think of that moment . Soup with dumplings in - I've been making soups all my life and love homemade dumplings with white pepper and homegrown chopped parsley but never thought of adding them to soup . As the daughter of a chef I feel quite mortified , still never too old to learn .
MTSTM Wishing you well with the kitchen , hopefully all will go to plan .
polly

I like my slow cookers for some things but never quite got the joy of turning it on the morning to have 12 hours later when I got home always think things ended up tasty the same The dish in the slow cooker has been a revelation to me so I think they'll be getting a bit more use. I've 3 a very large Morphy Richards which gets used only rarely now and two 3.5l ones (an oval and a round one - I find the oval more useful) and they are cheapy Argos cookworks ones and do a decent job. I'de certainly replace the oval one when it dies:)

Whoknowskt89 wrote: »

Well done on the bargains!

Last night's spicy pasta turned out to have another few portions left but was feeling lazy so nuked it and had it with tortillas for a deconstructed nachos dinner... Must decide what to do with it tomorrow now! Any ideas guys?

A sort of spicy minestrone soup?:)

PasturesNew

pollyanna_26 wrote: »

Soup with dumplings in - I've been making soups all my life and love homemade dumplings with white pepper and homegrown chopped parsley but never thought of adding them to soup . As the daughter of a chef I feel quite mortified , still never too old to learn .

I start with wanting dumplings - at worst I'll just make 2-3 in some gravy. Next step up is to open a tin of soup and float them in that to cook. Next step up is to actually have a stew with them. I rarely get to "stew &" because "gravy granules &" is quicker And, to be honest ... I couldn't give a stuff for the rest of the food, it's the dumplings I'm after

I keep/freeze my leftover slow cooker gravies to use JUST to make dumplings in something. It's a great way to use it up if you feel the SC's made too much gravy. Turn that gravy into the liquid to cook dumplings in. Call that soup ... and nothing's wasted.

pollyanna_26

Caronc the one I had was an oval morphy richards stainless steel which looked lovely but after a few attempts I was getting the everything tastes the same thing too . I'd chosen it as it didn't have a nonstick coating , not a fan of nonstick and plastic myself . The one McC reviewed had a proper inner pot if I remember correctly and that appealed to me . I wish I didn't have such a rubbish memory it drives me mad . Like Meatloaf I remember everything - even the 60s but never have the finer details when I need them . May bite the bullet and search Amazon for the review I recall . I swear I will never eat another after eight again , I'm craving something savoury but too sick to chance it . Sugar rushes do not agree with me .
polly

PasturesNew

caronc wrote: »

I like my slow cookers for some things but never quite got the joy of turning it on the morning to have 12 hours later when I got home always think things ended up tasty the same

I think they've been mis-sold for that purpose. Most things take 4-6 hours.... I see them as something to put on when you're around, so you can take it out when it's ready/done.

The other "trick" is to leave out any actual flavours - just cook "the stuff" ... then add in the nice flavours when you get home and leave it to do its thing with those for a final hour. Flavours do get killed with overcooking.

caronc wrote: »

The dish in the slow cooker has been a revelation to me so I think they'll be getting a bit more use. I've 3 a very large Morphy Richards which gets used only rarely now and two 3.5l ones (an oval and a round one - I find the oval more useful) and they are cheapy Argos cookworks ones and do a decent job. I'de certainly replace the oval one when it dies:)

I took quite awhile to think about the size/shape/sort I wanted. I wanted a cheap one (mine has no auto, so I do have to turn it from Hi to Low). I bought a 3.5L for one person because smaller would struggle to get a lot of minimum can/pack sizes fitted in them. I got an oval one "in case" I ever wanted to cook "something long" - and I used it to cook a turkey breast for Xmas, which was an 800 gram frozen one in a rectangular foil tray. I took it out of the tray and lobbed it on top of stuff. Last year I did it Xmas Eve as I wasn't sure how long it needed; this year I'll do it fresh on the day and give it 4-4½ hours from defrosted.

caronc

PasturesNew wrote: »

I start with wanting dumplings - at worst I'll just make 2-3 in some gravy. Next step up is to open a tin of soup and float them in that to cook. Next step up is to actually have a stew with them. I rarely get to "stew &" because "gravy granules &" is quicker And, to be honest ... I couldn't give a stuff for the rest of the food, it's the dumplings I'm after


I keep/freeze my leftover slow cooker gravies to use JUST to make dumplings in something. It's a great way to use it up if you feel the SC's made too much gravy. Turn that gravy into the liquid to cook dumplings in. Call that soup ... and nothing's wasted.

What a good idea for spare gravy thanks

pollyanna_26 wrote: »

Caronc the one I had was an oval morphy richards stainless steel which looked lovely but after a few attempts I was getting the everything tastes the same thing too . I'd chosen it as it didn't have a nonstick coating , not a fan of nonstick and plastic myself . The one McC reviewed had a proper inner pot if I remember correctly and that appealed to me . I wish I didn't have such a rubbish memory it drives me mad . Like Meatloaf I remember everything - even the 60s but never have the finer details when I need them . May bite the bullet and search Amazon for the review I recall . I swear I will never eat another after eight again , I'm craving something savoury but too sick to chance it . Sugar rushes do not agree with me .
polly

Mine all have removable ceramic inserts also not a non-stick fan. I give mine a soak every so often in vinegar/water then rinse well otherwise I think you get a bit of a lingering taste

PasturesNew wrote: »

I think they've been mis-sold for that purpose. Most things take 4-6 hours.... I see them as something to put on when you're around, so you can take it out when it's ready/done.

The other "trick" is to leave out any actual flavours - just cook "the stuff" ... then add in the nice flavours when you get home and leave it to do its thing with those for a final hour. Flavours do get killed with overcooking.


I took quite awhile to think about the size/shape/sort I wanted. I wanted a cheap one (mine has no auto, so I do have to turn it from Hi to Low). I bought a 3.5L for one person because smaller would struggle to get a lot of minimum can/pack sizes fitted in them. I got an oval one "in case" I ever wanted to cook "something long" - and I used it to cook a turkey breast for Xmas, which was an 800 gram frozen one in a rectangular foil tray. I took it out of the tray and lobbed it on top of stuff. Last year I did it Xmas Eve as I wasn't sure how long it needed; this year I'll do it fresh on the day and give it 4-4½ hours from defrosted.

Apart from chicken etc. stock which I'll leave overnight I agree 6 hours max. Mine to need the manual switch from high to low. I cook a whole chicken sometimes and 5 hours max and it's done it would be so mushy if on all day:cool:

karcher

Slow cookers have never appealed to me...leaving something to cook for 8 - 10 hours just seems a tadge excessive and also not very economical/energy efficient. But I know little about them and have never used one so more than willing to be corrected/educated

PasturesNew

I feel I should add, re my shopping. Those were full priced products.

I don't choose what I buy, I choose the type of thing I want, then I look at the cheapest two, then I decide if I like the look of one of those cheapest two. I walk in knowing I want bread, I don't choose nice loaves, or read the labels - I find the own brand 36p loaf and that's it, that's bread.
Crumpets - I want the cheapest, not the Warburtons lovely looking ones or their super looking giant crumpets.... that's all marketing. Crumpets 35p/6.

The three pizzas were in one box, from memory £2.49 (so 83p each); the other three items are from their cheap frozen range.

If I'd "chosen" the products that appealed to me most I could've easily spent 4x that and still walked out with three pizzas, three ready meals, a loaf and some crumpets.... but I despise the fact that, in all honesty, even if I did buy the most expensive products they had I'd probably not really notice much difference at all - and might not even like them as much!

PasturesNew

karcher wrote: »

Slow cookers have never appealed to me...leaving something to cook for 8 - 10 hours just seems a tadge excessive and also not very economical/energy efficient. But I know little about them and have never used one so more than willing to be corrected/educated

Mathematically it still works for most things.

Compare a 2 hour casserole in a 7kW oven with 8 hours in a slow cooker at 100watts as it's on Low and not High.

If electricity costs 20p/unit (figure for illustration purposes only), the 2 hour casserole in the oven would cost £2.80. You could say "Ah, but the oven flicks on/off as it reaches temperature" - so does the slow cooker. So halve that. £1.40.

In the slow cooker, 8 hours at 100 watts uses 800watts = 16p. I don't even need to factor in the "half power as it goes on/off"

It's a potential saving of £1 each time.

It's difficult to put a price on it as electricity prices vary, cooking methods vary (e.g. 45 minutes stove top might be an option), oven/hob power levels vary, some people have gas ovens... etc etc.