Cooking for one

moneyistooshorttomention

It is possible to find main meals out for around the £5 mark Pastures - and I know of at least one city (my own) where this is the case. I would imagine other cities have this too?

I have been surprised, on moving here, to find that I have to think in terms of £8-£12 for a "cheap" lunch whilst out and about basically. In the bigger towns here one can have soup/bread roll/tiny bit of cheese for around £5 - but that's all I've come across around here. For something "posher" (ie even if it was "everyday" imo) I'd be at that £8-£12 mark.

At which point I would sympathise and think "If I'm going to be charged that sort of money anyway - then I want something luxury for it".

lessonlearned

Went to my solicitors yesterday. It's in a part of the city where all the legal offices tend to congregate, lots of rich barristers and solicitors. . There is a lovely old pub there, one of the oldest in the city, very picturesque and quaint. It does lunches for £4. Needless to say that's where all the wealthy legal eagles eat their lunch.

I looked at the menu. It was all "proper grub" - not a cheap pasta dish in sight.

Now that I'm living solo And CFO, come the winter when I'm having a city day I shall definitely be eating at this pub again. It used to be a favourite of mine in years gone by. . They have roaring log fires in the winter - so a glass of mulled wine and a substantial lunch and a good book. I'll be there for most of the afternoon. :rotfl:

We are really lucky here we have loads of really nice pubs, bars and restaurants so there's stiff competition for paying customers. Prices are reasonable and the quality is usually very good.

Hollyharvey

lessonlearned wrote: »

Went to my solicitors yesterday. It's in a part of the city where all the legal offices tend to congregate, lots of rich barristers and solicitors. . There is a lovely old pub there, one of the oldest in the city, very picturesque and quaint. It does lunches for £4. Needless to say that's where all the wealthy legal eagles eat their lunch.

I looked at the menu. It was all "proper grub" - not a cheap pasta dish in sight.

Now that I'm living solo And CFO, come the winter when I'm having a city day I shall definitely be eating at this pub again. It used to be a favourite of mine in years gone by. . They have roaring log fires in the winter - so a glass of mulled wine and a substantial lunch and a good book. I'll be there for most of the afternoon. :rotfl:

We are really lucky here we have loads of really nice pubs, bars and restaurants so there's stiff competition for paying customers. Prices are reasonable and the quality is usually very good.

That sounds like a really good well priced menu, and a lovely pub. I really like quaint pubs like that sounds, it will be lovely to go there for lunch in the winter with real log fires, it sounds ideal to me. As a CFO option at those prices, it makes it affordable. even for lawyers

lessonlearned

When my MIL died, FIL used to eat lunch out 3 or 4 times a week. He had his favourite haunts, usually olde worlde pubs. He ate well and I think he enjoyed the company.

On the days he "cooked" it was usually "ping cuisine".

He's now 96 so I don't think it did him any harm. :rotfl:

SunnyGirl

Good evening all.

Well more trauma has unfortunately hit me - yesterday my 13 year old cat came in with a huge bowel prolapse :eek: Cue a trip to the vet and an emergency operation last night (plus an £800 bill but she is fortunately insured so I 'only' had to pay £100) and one very sorry for herself kitty came home this evening.

CFO has been usefully handy today as I have been able to please myself and fit it all in with my vets trip and taking my Dad for his cataract surgery. No breakfast as usual, lunch was eaten at 2.30pm and was 2 slices of toasted seeded bread with avocado mashed onto them with lemon and black pepper and 2 poached eggs on top. It was delish Dinner/supper/whatever has just been a bowl of leek and potato soup from the freezer and a plate of sliced apple and cheese for pud. I have also had a couple of mandarin orange jellies

Reading back through yesterday and today I am another one who has lots of the takeaway plastic containers - from Chinese takeaways when I was working and cash rich but time poor. I also have 6 glass Gu chocolate pots, like ramekins really, that I use for all sorts including a drinking container for the cat.

I don't tend to order pasta in restaurants but do cook it about three times a week in various guises. I really like it.

When I went to Aldi with my parents yesterday I bought the obligatory CFO staple of two packs of crumpets and may well have two later with butter or marmite......

Hollyharvey

SunnyGirl wrote: »

Good evening all.


When I went to Aldi with my parents yesterday I bought the obligatory CFO staple of two packs of crumpets and may well have two later with butter or marmite......

I don't know what us CFOs would do without crumpets. Most of us seem to use them for something quick and easy to eat For me it's also because they store well in the freezer as well and if short on freezer space (like me) they can be wrapped individually in cling film and just slotted in wherever there is a space

caronc

Good morning,
SunnyG- I hope your cat recovers well

Not CFO today and as my son caught two lovely trout yesterday looking forward to a fishy dinner tonight.:D By the time we got ourselves organised it was too late to prep the fish to bbq last night. We still had a BBQ and my sister & nephew came round to join us. Burgers, spatchcock cajun chicken and herbs potatoes were duly grilled and simple salads made. It was lovely to sit outside and enjoy the weather though it did get chilly later on:). There isn't much LO from last night just some bread and chicken which will get easily used up:)

Meals round here vary in price (and quality) but generally you can get a decent main at lunch time or early evening for £5-£7 and not just cheap pasta. That why I thought macaroni at £5.95 was dear when I could get something much more exciting for a similiar price. Chicken milanese & spaghetti I don't see as a cheap pasta dish as the spaghetti/tom sauce element is really just in place of other fillers such as spuds or rice.

moneyistooshorttomention

Darn - you've just reminded me there was some pesto I intended to chuck into last night's dinner and use up the rest of it.

I'm still part way through changing my diet over temporarily from healthy vegetarian to very healthy plant-based for long enough to get shot of the excess weight and minor health problems.

Only meal so far today - breakfast - of usual porridge (this time with flaxseeds/homegrown blackcurrants/strawberry sauce - followed by 2 slices of my homemade bread toasted).

Must must must get more adventurous at breakfast time and not such a creature of habit.

meg72

I don't eat out a lot but sometimes my friend and I treat ourselves and go to a local pub restaurant its part of the Hungry Horse chain. We can get a two course meal off their Golden menu. over 60s, for£4.49, its excellent. Last time we went I had Gammon chips,peas and grilled tomato. and for pudding apple pie and custard. We don't order a drink as its right opposite a lovely park so we take a flask of coffee and sit by the lake and watch the ducks.

They do some deals for under 60s as well like curry and a pint for a fiver two meals for 9.99 etc. a different deal each day.

https://www.hungryhorse.co.uk/food-menu

PasturesNew

Food/prices are very much down to where you live. I am in what most people consider "a pricey area" full of rich retirees and a tourist coastal hot spot. Because people CAN charge more, they will and do. There's lots of "yachty types" and pandering to the champagne quaffers.

Having said that, eating out, on your own, isn't a great experience, so you do compare the cost -v- just eating at home. Given that choice I sometimes take the "budget" of eating out and visit a supermarket to look for "something a bit nicer/pricier than I usually buy" and will then spend the balance of the difference on several days' other food.

It is possible to search for those "national chains" type of places to get something more affordable, there's a Toby Carvery not far from me (but the quality's rubbish as I tried it and one of the veggies tasted of washing up liquid!) - their yorkies are also rank.

I looked at the Hungry Horse link above - there's one "near me" at just a 5 mile round trip.

It's all hit & miss if you're lucky enough to have found a little place.

I have found some peculiar cheap eating places in the past in old churches... some churches have a little kitchen/cafe area (old trestle style and mismatched stuff style, not shiny/bright/modern) - where you're served either by somebody with learning disabilities or they're staffed by Church/WI stalwarts.

You can sometimes get a good "canteen style" dinner in there for about £6.

They are a rare find .... but they are out there somewhere, for some people.