Cooking for one

PasturesNew

meg72 wrote: »

YAY will have an Asda and Aldi within a few minutes walk.

I dream of living near an Asda! I was happy when we got an A1di, which I visit often to try to discover what they actually have and how the shop works.

By "how the shop works" I mean where they put the "short term non food stuff/offers". I haven't worked out yet where "new in" is, but once it's not doing well I think they put it just by the entrance - and when they're shifting it along it goes near the freezers with a reduced price. Then stuff gets put near the exit ... and, finally, it's reduced close to the exit. I guess there's no set rule as items for sale will have differing sizes and stock quantities... but I like to understand the stock movements and timescales so I can "wait it out" for some items being reduced.

There's currently a kitchen table, £49, reduced to £39 by the door - that's not shifting well .... it's been by the door for 2 weeks. If it were round I might've snapped one up.... or not. I really need a round table of a specific width and drop leaf

For food I think I've been disappointed by A1di's range. I think they spend too long now inventing new things to sell, posher things, so you can't get to like something and know they'll keep selling it ... and with their "posher ranges" that's halved the shelf space for "bargain bucket price foods" which is how they started.

mcculloch29 wrote: »

Farmfoods are the national equivalent that is similar.

I'd never have called Farmfoods "national". Maybe "has more stores"....

The nearest Farmfoods to me right now is 20 miles away, in another county. They don't have one in my county at all.

meg72

mcculloch29 wrote: »

I am the jammiest of jammy persons when it comes to second-hand cook-books. I've just had an absolutely pristine, as new copy of The Glasgow Cook Book delivered for the princely sum of 1p plus postage.

This follows hot on the heels of my Maw Broon's Cookbook which arrived in the same condition for the same price.
I've given both books five star reviews; if you fancy a copy yourself, I hope you can find them for the same price.

Edit: Brilliant news on the Aldi, meg72! I couldn't manage without my Aldi and Heron Foods. Heron haven't made it as far south as Shropshire yet, but perhaps one day. Farmfoods are the national equivalent that is similar.

Well done on the Cook books. We do have a Heron in Shropshire, its in Wellington I get my cooking bacon fro there, loved the 2 for 1.49 offer but its finished now. Its a 45 in bus ride for me to get there so when I go I stock up. Also try to make a day of it and visit as any CS as I can and the market.

mcculloch29

meg72 wrote: »

Well done on the Cook books. We do have a Heron in Shropshire, its in Wellington I get my cooking bacon fro there, loved the 2 for 1.49 offer but its finished now. Its a 45 in bus ride for me to get there so when I go I stock up. Also try to make a day of it and visit as any CS as I can and the market.

I sit corrected with some happiness for you! Have you seen the Heron Bargains thread that I started?
It's mostly me that contributes . I loved the bacon offer too, stocked up the freezer when it was on but have used those up now. The £1 for 907g offer is still marvellous, and half the price that this amount of bacon was a couple of years ago.

Doom_and_Gloom

Doom_and_Gloom wrote: »

Oh I have to admit that sounds good, kinda like baked potato skins. Also yes about the washing up. May not be a single in the home sence but less washing up always a bonus - no dishwasher so all by hand.

Caronc - the idea for the potatoes on the shepherdless pie really worked, so yum.
So not to waste the oven just being on for shepherdless pie I made cherry and coconut flapjacks. Need to find space in the freezer for 14 flapjacks, 2 will stay in the fridge.

One annoying thing about doing shepherdless pie is that I bought parsnips to go in it. A 750g bag for 70p. I have 590g left; it's a good thing they last ages in the fridge. It isn't the same without them in my view so was a must. Also somehow I have 100g of the potatoes left over and will have a small portion of shepherdless pie after today! Didn't think that would happen so left overs have materialized.

Breakfast - coffee.
Lunch - (will be) fruit.
Dinner - (will be) shepherdless pie.

That's the plan at the moment. May have snacks or more for lunch, not sure yet. Will have a mooch later. At the moment still having coffee.

Farway

Afternoon folks

Sun out at last and more runners planted

The living salads I use as cut & come again, my punnet is at present in the conservatory, I had toyed with idea of splitting it into maybe two large pots, but at 25p the CBA is at max again

I keep getting Farm Foods leaflets through my door, but nearest is over 5 miles away, and I would have to drive past Morrison's or Lidl, Asda, Waitrose, Iceland etc, so not really that bothered to even try it out as the prices for what I would buy seem very similar to the shops I would have driven past to get there, plus one reviewer mentions the rude staff lurking within

This morning was zero breakfast but had a fly bikkie mid morning

It was Lidl walk round this morning, nothing of worth at all, came away with two exciting 750ml bottles of thick bleach, living life in the fast lane here

Thus lunch was BLT sarnie, again and due to Lidl let down it was freezer diving time for dinner choice. Already decided it was whatever with salad, and settled on salmon fillet, learning from my last poor effort it is now defrosting, probably either lightly fry ir or just nuke it and be done

Possibly with frozen chips again, really should be baked spud but not got any suitable, only little new ones ex Lidl offer

mcculloch29

I had Jocasta's lentils and anchovies leftovers for a very late lunch with some hm oat and linseed bread (from a Wright's mix on Specialbuy at Aldi). The lentils, from yesterday, tasted even better as leftovers. Consequently I am not in the slightest bit hungry now.
I have rte bits and pieces such as yogurts for a light snack later, should I need one.

PasturesNew

Farway wrote: »

...really should be baked spud but not got any suitable, only little new ones ex Lidl offer

It's one of the silent curses of the singlies... always got the wrong spuds

A family can buy a bag of 2.5Kg and use them in two meals... so they can have 2-3 sorts in if they wish to. A single with 2.5Kg of spuds is looking at 8-10 meals... with no desire to buy in another variety until this current lot have gone.

So you often either go without something, or do it with the wrong spuds and just accept it's not as "perfect" as it could've been if more choice had been available to you

caronc

Good afternoon everyone

mcculloch29 great buy I hope you enjoy it. I might just need to get another copy as mine was "borrowed" by my elder son some years ago.......

Doom_and_Gloom glad the sliced spuds worked:)

Farway how many squillions of runners are you planting LOL;)

I got an expected gift this afternoon of a bag of assorted link sausages, 2 slices of lorne, 2 slices of haggis and 2 slices of black pudding from my Dad.:) He had got a meat order to stock up on his favourites and taken advantage of a mixed sausage selection of 84 sausages for £16.00. Their bangers are really good quality so an excellent buy and he's in sausage heaven:D. So tonight I'm going use a couple of beef and tomato ones to make a sort of casserole with onion, spuds, carrot and mushrooms. Although it's been lovely and sunny here today the temperature has only reached 12 degrees so I'm looking forward to a warming bowl. Hopefully that should be the last of the frosts over until the autumn as it is to get more overcast over the next few days so if it stays dry I hope to get my courgettes planted out over the next few days. I need some space in my conservatory so I can pot on my tomatoes and chillies. That said I'm hoping my son will fix a pane in my greenhouse this weekend so I can get it cleaned out and up an running:)

PasturesNew

Final bread roll from the pack of four... really enjoyed those! (A1di pack of 4 large white rolls). You can fill them and they're big enough to cut into half... better value than buying smaller rolls and then making two as one's not enough... probably fewer calories and a higher filling:bread ratio too if I worked it out.

Used up the last bit of grated cheese... got a new/spare pack in the fridge though, I like to always have a pack of cheese in the fridge. Filled the roll with about 6 cherry tomatoes and that bit of cheese.



At lunchtime I had: scotch egg, spud salad, tomatoes, grated cheese, the last of the pickled beetroot and some crisps

caronc

PasturesNew wrote: »

At lunchtime I had: scotch egg, spud salad, tomatoes, grated cheese, the last of the pickled beetroot and some crisps

That sounds like just my kind of lunch