Cooking for one

caronc

Ames wrote: »

I keep thinking about making soup. Waitrose do nice sounding soup packs which seem a good place to start, but I don't know what you actually do with them - do you just stick them in a pan with a lid on for an hour or so, or do you have to keep stirring? I've never even seen it made, so don't have a clue.

Yes probably - just add some stock (stock cubes) and it should be fine

Can you freeze mash then? I used to like it, but because of pain in my hands and wrists I haven't bothered in years. It seems a bit of a waste of time and effort on a good day to get one potato and mash it. Could I prepare potatoes in other ways and freeze them, too? I'd love to do roasties when I manage a joint, but again, the effort seems too much for just one.

Sorry for the questions, you don't have to answer!

Yes I make a big pot of mash and freeze in portions I can't be faffed in doing it for one or two portions - quick microwave and it's good to go:) Also frozen mash is reasonably cheap and pretty decent if mashing is too painful and PN uses instant though I'm not so keen

I also cook extra wedges and roasties and they are always fine 15-20 mins in the oven frozen no different really from buying frozen versions. Proper baked spuds also freeze well - again a quick microwave, (can you tell I like my spuds )

karcher

Ames wrote: »

Thanks for the welcome! I've been lurking for a week or so. In the past when I've ventured in to Old Style I've left feeling totally inadequate. Especially around batch cooking and freezing - I don't really like sloppy food, not enough to have dozens of portions of mince based 32 ingredient slow cooker masterpieces carefully labelled and organised in the freezer. Somebody said on this thread a few days ago that they feel the same way, which is what made me decide to post...

You aren't alone...hence this thread

caronc

karcher wrote: »

Shop bought Cheese and Onion Pasty, coleslaw and beans for dinner tonight

I won't answer the door when the 10/10 'experts' come knocking and put a black cross on my door

Like any cold caller just ignore LOL

Nelski

karcher wrote: »

Shop bought Cheese and Onion Pasty, coleslaw and beans for dinner tonight

I won't answer the door when the 10/10 'experts' come knocking and put a black cross on my door

grief no ...dont you have one of the door stickers ....no smug marrieds, no preachy foodys and defo nobody who can manage 10 a day :rotfl:

:wave: hey lovelies

back home after working away and can safely say my count is verging on low to zero

last night I ordered sweet and sour pork ... 0/10
(remind me are we counting wine cos if we are I had 2 of those ...guessing no )
breakfast I had an apple .....well I took an apple which is still in my bag
beans :j:j:j:j I got a portion with bacon and toast
lunch a tuna sandwich with a slice of cucumber in ...Im having that so 1/10
just back from a long journey so naturally its crackers cheese and baileys 0/10

I clearly do much better at home but at my course today I asked the question how many managed 5 every day never mind 10 and out of 80 people not one person put their hand up. Says a lot ...10 is unreasonable for us normal people who enjoy beige food

I may eat my apple later though that will help

PasturesNew

karcher wrote: »

Shop bought Cheese and Onion Pasty, coleslaw and beans for dinner tonight

I won't answer the door when the 10/10 'experts' come knocking and put a black cross on my door

When Aldi first opened up close to me, at first they got their stock control in a mess as they over-stocked as they didn't know what they'd need... and I managed to pick up a fat fistful of their 39p ch/on pasties RRP 39p for 30% off - and, while not the best in culinary excellence, for the price they are a real little belly filling treat, especially when served with mash and beans

I see Lidl also do one at this price point, but not tried theirs yet.

Catwhisker

As I am sure you are all desperate to discover the fate of the last portion of jambalaya.....I took it into work for lunch.

Today:
Toast and marmalade
Satsuma
Large handful of nuts and raisins
Leftover jambalaya
Slice of chocolate cake (as it was someone's birthday at work)
Beans on toast

Think there's almost 5/10 there, don't think I ever get close to 10. It's like the 8 glasses of water thing. I rarely drink water unless the weather is really hot or I'm hungover. I do drink plenty of tea though

PasturesNew

Ames wrote: »

I keep thinking about making soup. Waitrose do nice sounding soup packs which seem a good place to start, but I don't know what you actually do with them - do you just stick them in a pan with a lid on for an hour or so, or do you have to keep stirring? I've never even seen it made, so don't have a clue.

I've never bought a posh soup - for cheap/cans of soup I nuke them for 2-3 minutes, stirring every minute.

I like to pick up the odd can of "nice sounding" soup here and there, chunky ones. Chunky soups are an instant meal in a tin, I figure they're "a bit like stew" in that way.

If you use a hob though I'd stick it in the saucepan and hover over it, stirring occasionally, waiting to see the bubbles of it boiling. Once the big bubbles appear, turn it right down as far as possible and simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring every minute or so.

The method/thinking is: it's soup - it will already be "cooked" - your job is simply to reheat it without it burning. It won't kill you, even cold, as it's soup .... so all you're after is something that's warm/hot enough for your personal preference. But leave it to boil and/or don't stir it and it WILL stick to the bottom, burn, taste funny.

Ames wrote: »

Can you freeze mash then?

You can - but you also have to be careful as it can defrost to be a bit wet and sloppy. This is where a packet of instant mash in the cupboard could help to sop some of that up.

If you manage to cook the right sort of potatoes, to the right consistency, then freeze them you might get a good result ... but you might have a few trial/error moments when you think "blimey this is rank".

Ames wrote: »

It seems a bit of a waste of time and effort on a good day to get one potato and mash it.

Once mashed, if you seal it in a plastic box and shove it in the fridge, it'll still be good for 3-4 days at least.

I've always been rather good at mashing potatoes - they've been my staple food for donkeys' years, so I've never seen mashing real spuds to be too hard... what IS hard is getting through a whole bag

I nuke spuds - peeled and unpeeled - whole and sliced. You can nuke a whole spud in the nuker, then cut it in half and peel the outside and mash the innards with a fork.

Ames wrote: »

Could I prepare potatoes in other ways and freeze them, too? I'd love to do roasties when I manage a joint, but again, the effort seems too much for just one.

Roasties will freeze better than mash. Just cook them as usual, until they are VERY NEARLY the colour you want. Cool, freeze individually (on a tray) for an hour or so ... then bung them into bags - that way you hope they won't end up as one big clump.

To reheat, shove in a hot oven for 10-20 minutes depending on the oven temperature and how many and how big they are. Bit of trial and error and you'll be there.

Ames wrote: »

1] is good enough, but would be perfect for me if the mash was mixed with grated cheese. That's the only benefit of 2] to my mind.

I might/might not bung cheese in too, depends how I feel.

Ames wrote: »

But I'm funny about mixing food anyway, even if I had 2] I'd split them back out on the plate and eat the mash and then the mince. I tend to eat things in a strict order - my ex once as a joke brought me a meal in three parts, something like mash then greens then meat. I didn't see it as a joke, it was perfect for me!

ASD?

I can be funny about food mixes - some things I'm fine with, others I wish people wouldn't mess with. I've such a long list of things I don't eat that any mixtures run the risk of containing 3-4 things I don't eat. I also like to be able to see what I'm eating and poke it around and about to check it.

PasturesNew

Catwhisker wrote: »

I rarely drink water

I'm funny about water.... if I think about it, I think of all those old pipes it's gone through to get to me

And some water can taste funny.

Here, too, I dislike what's in the water - earlier today I had to do the ritual scraping out of the inside of the kettle. All the base and elements get coated in a layer of sand, which hardens.

NewShadow

Nelski wrote: »

I clearly do much better at home but at my course today I asked the question how many managed 5 every day never mind 10 and out of 80 people not one person put their hand up. Says a lot ...10 is unreasonable for us normal people who enjoy beige food

Not only 'normal' diets - I'm eating veggie (not 'normal' for me) atm and just don't see how I could eat 10 a day if I wanted to.

Today was an unusually varied day, and even then - shredded BN squash in an omelette = 1, half a pack of microsteam veg in curry sauce = 2, maybe a combined portion of sweetcorn and peas in fried rice = 3, mixed roast veg = maybe enough to cover no's 4 & 5, if I'm generous.

To double my F&V intake you'd have to double my food intake. Not sure if that's going to solve the problem they're aiming for...

NewShadow

Ames wrote: »

I keep thinking about making soup. Waitrose do nice sounding soup packs which seem a good place to start, but I don't know what you actually do with them - do you just stick them in a pan with a lid on for an hour or so, or do you have to keep stirring? I've never even seen it made, so don't have a clue.

Do you mean something like this:



Which needs a handful (only a handful per portion - it grows) cooking for a few hours WITH your choice of stock and veggies or chucking into a stew/casserole right at the start to thicken it.

Or like this:



Where you basically just follow the instructions - soften veg, add grains and stock, simmer for 20 mins or so, and blitz to soup.

Blog that might be interesting re the pro's and cons/methods of the veg pack - http://www.soupisfood.com/2016/11/13/waitrose-root-vegetable-and-kale-soup-mix/

The only difference between the two is the veg bag is semi prepared - with the dry grains you need to pick veg and proportions to suit - more flexibility but less security of outcome.

I agree a tin is easier/shelf stable, but this could work out cheaper per portion and would allow you control over the final taste - plus possibly some satisfaction over having actually 'made it'.

HTH.