Cooking for one (Mark Two)

moneyistooshorttomention

PasturesNew wrote: »

I do wish I'd "married well" .... some really rich bugg4h....so I could have what I want, when I wanted it .... sorted by servants.

Errrm...yep...I had that chance back when - but chose not to basically. A snag I've realised there would be to that one would be getting "traded in for a newer model" - ie younger etc etc woman - would count as quite high risk imo.

Actually - by now - I've rather come to the conclusion that for women probably the best bet for the "long term" would be a man that gets on well with/respects his mother and you find that said mother has very much the same outlook on life/values as you personally have. Chances are that means the son has absorbed "your" values/attitude on life and, if she's 'trained' him to do housework as well - then that's gotta be good news.

It's okay I'm grinning to myself about that one - as my best friend (of very longstanding) would be described perfectly by that statement - as would the son of hers that I went out with many years back for a while. You can now guess that she didnt waste much time in telling me when he got divorced recently:rotfl::rotfl:. Yep...my best friend is about as subtle as a brick sometimes - not:rotfl::rotfl: - as it's blindingly obvious she's "entertaining hopes" now...

PasturesNew

Farway wrote: »

... I spotted a recipe for toad in the hole, and now I fancy it. Looks easy and I have some frozen bangers, plus flour etc, I never have a lot of success with TIH but this one uses fizzy water in the batter, and I actually have some of that. Could be tomorrow's dinner with steamed veg. Or just sausage sarnie if it fails, again

In short: It's easy peasy - and you can't go wrong .... BUT ....

You do need "the right sized dish" .... that's where mine are currently wrong, I've not got the right sized dish for the quantity of batter I'm making and what I want to get out of it. Mine cook/rise OK, but I don't get what I'd like because my dish is the wrong size/shape for my Yorkie desires.

I've always found: they just rise and cook ..... but how they do that depends on the dish material/shape/length/width ... and how much batter you're pouring in. Many dishes will work ... but which ones... what've you got ... how much are you trying to cook?

I say the "until smoking" and "super hot fat" parts of instructions are mostly a red herring ..... it's all about that dish.

Post a photo of your dishes - tell me how much milk you'll be using - and I'll tell you which dish would be best

caronc

VelvetFreak wrote: »

Anyone got some ideas for cheap/lazy type foods that can be whipped up quickly when exhausted after work? I'm not really into batch cooking and freezing stuff as I find it really unappealing once it's reheated.

Lately I have been buying pre-made ravioli and keeping it in the freezer and making sure I have pasta sauce on hand to go with it. Not the healthiest thing, but better than giving in and getting takeaway.

Hi Velvet Freak, I find batch cooking some things work really well, have tried freezing portions of mash, browned mince, tomato sauce, white sauce etc.? That way you've not committed to a specific dish but some of the time-consuming elements are covered. I find these days things I pop on a tray and bake are great, I can do something else while it's cooking. I do prefer to cook from scratch but find things like microwave rice, instant noodles etc. invaluable. Let us know the type of food you like to eat and I'm sure we can come up with some suggestions.:)

Farway wrote: »

Reading through the Waitrose paper I spotted a recipe for toad in the hole, and now I fancy it. Looks easy and I have some frozen bangers, plus flour etc, I never have a lot of success with TIH but this one uses fizzy water in the batter, and I actually have some of that. Could be tomorrow's dinner with steamed veg. Or just sausage sarnie if it fails, again

Two ways I think to go about this either make a big one as per recipe and portion or make a number of wee ones and freeze the surplus saves trying to scale down the recipe. I used to make individual ones with 2 bangers for the kids using the oven proof trays some ready meals come in so something that size would work. You want the batter to half fill the dish. The key is to make sure the fat is smoking hot - a bit like Yorkshire puddings, don't overfill and don't open the oven door for at least 15 mins (wee ones) or 25mins for a big one;). If you go with wee ones, they can be frozen uncooked (and then cooked from frozen) though these don't rise quite as much.

Good evening everyone,

Holly - mustard chicken sounds fab could I have the recipe please?:)

I think I'm getting back into cooking mode now the gardening season is coming to end. My year seems to divide into 2 halves, I either cook a lot or garden a lot:D.

My lamb shank is cooked so it'll get popped in the fridge once it's cooled and finish it tomorrow. The fishpie did as I expected and gave in total 2.5 portions so the full portion has been frozen and the half one was had for lunch. Tonight I'm having chicken wings, corn cob and roasted courgette so an easy dinner. While the oven is on I'm going to bake some cauliflower cheese as I've sauce left from making fishpie and I like it was lamb so I'll nuke some of that tomorrow and the rest I'll either freeze, have for lunch on Monday or turn into soup:). I've turkey mince in the fridge so that needs portioned up and I think I'll use some to make a keema(mince) curry with the lurking aubergine and some spinach & peas. I also need to do something with a load of ripe tomatoes so I think tomorrow will be a kitchen day:).

poppystar

Farway wrote: »

If CFO, then really whatever you fancy, there are no rules or guilt trips involved.

Beans on toast is fine, as are ready meals for one, some are much better quality / value than others

Thank you for the timely reminder:) Still feeling quite out of sorts so resorted to a ready meal tonight and was on a huge guilt trip….. bad food, too much salt, too expensive. Then I read your post and just sat and enjoyed it - felling a little better from having a square meal (well, round actually:D) rather than the picking I've done for the past two days.

Hollyharvey

Farway wrote: »

That chicken sounds lovely. How "easy" is easy please?

It was lovely, I really enjoyed it and will make it again.

It was fairly easy:
Mozarella (I used a small ball torn up)
Grated strong cheddar (I just used what I thought when mixed with the mozarella would be enough to stuff the chicken breast).

Mix the cheese together (you could just use cheddar or any cheese really, whatever you fancy or have hanging around).

I then added wholegrain mustard, adding a teaspoon at a time until I was happy with the taste.

Slit the chicken breast and stuff with the cheese/mustard mixture and then I wrapped it in a couple of slices of smoked streaky bacon (could be any bacon that you have in or like). This will keep the filling in the chicken when cooking.

Cook at 180c fan oven (I think that is gas 6) I cooked it for 25 minutes.

Hollyharvey

caronc wrote: »

Holly - mustard chicken sounds fab could I have the recipe please?:)

I think I'm getting back into cooking mode now ...

Sorry caron I had already posted the recipe before I read this post, I'm not ignoring you

I'm starting to get back into cooking mode as well now. I think it's the change in weather/season.

PasturesNew

I randomly left the house and headed West.... was going to pop into Waitrose for a look, but at £2 to park, I drove out again

Parked round the corner on the street, having carefully inspected the signage, thinking "indian takeaway", saw a menu and they wanted £15, so walked the other way and found a menu that said £7. That's my kind of place. In, ordered a curry and a naan .... sat for 20 minutes ..... left there with an indian, came home and scoffed it

Not all of it. But I didn't skimp by splitting it in half, but I've still got some of the rice, the curry and a bit of naan for tomorrow.



EDIT: Went back .... decided to polish the whole lot off ....even if it hurts

EDIT 2: Phew... not finished it.... it hurts.... so I'll take a rest, then nuke it hot again in half an hour again and keep going....

EDIT 3: Finished! Utterly stuffed though....phew.

Hollyharvey

PasturesNew wrote: »

I randomly left the house and headed West.... was going to pop into Waitrose for a look, but at £2 to park, I drove out again

Parked round the corner on the street, having carefully inspected the signage, thinking "indian takeaway", saw a menu and they wanted £15, so walked the other way and found a menu that said £7. That's my kind of place. In, ordered a curry and a naan .... sat for 20 minutes ..... left there with an indian, came home and scoffed it

Not all of it. But I didn't skimp by splitting it in half, but I've still got some of the rice, the curry and a bit of naan for tomorrow.



EDIT: Went back .... decided to polish the whole lot off ....even if it hurts

EDIT 2: Phew... not finished it.... it hurts.... so I'll take a rest, then nuke it hot again in half an hour again and keep going....

You got one . It sounds like you are enjoying it.

caronc

Hollyharvey wrote: »

Sorry caron I had already posted the recipe before I read this post, I'm not ignoring you

I'm starting to get back into cooking mode as well now. I think it's the change in weather/season.

Didn't think for one moment you were recipe looks lovely - cheese. mustard and bacon always a brilliant combination:D

poppystar wrote: »

Thank you for the timely reminder:) Still feeling quite out of sorts so resorted to a ready meal tonight and was on a huge guilt trip….. bad food, too much salt, too expensive. Then I read your post and just sat and enjoyed it - felling a little better from having a square meal (well, round actually:D) rather than the picking I've done for the past two days.

PasturesNew wrote: »

I randomly left the house and headed West.... was going to pop into Waitrose for a look, but at £2 to park, I drove out again

Parked round the corner on the street, having carefully inspected the signage, thinking "indian takeaway", saw a menu and they wanted £15, so walked the other way and found a menu that said £7. That's my kind of place. In, ordered a curry and a naan .... sat for 20 minutes ..... left there with an indian, came home and scoffed it

Not all of it. But I didn't skimp by splitting it in half, but I've still got some of the rice, the curry and a bit of naan for tomorrow.



EDIT: Went back .... decided to polish the whole lot off ....even if it hurts

EDIT 2: Phew... not finished it.... it hurts.... so I'll take a rest, then nuke it hot again in half an hour again and keep going....

Sometimes a ready meal or a takeaway are just what you need/want. It is the weekend after all:D

PasturesNew

Breakfast has been a bit of choccy brownie and some tortilla chips