Cooking for one (Mark Two)

caronc

PasturesNew wrote: »

a fat pile of really stodgy lasagne, cooked for you in a works' canteen, where they cut into a HUGE one and you get a big fat square that stands in its own right and is about 4" high.

Oh "old skool" lasagne served with chips and peas or garlic bread & salad if you were being "healthy" hard to beat. (or macaroni cheese served in a similiar wodge)

Ended up with beef stew & mash both from the freezer, must make more stew at some point so I can indulge in some dumplings;)

PasturesNew

caronc wrote: »

Oh "old skool" lasagne served with chips and peas or garlic bread & salad if you were being "healthy" hard to beat. (or macaroni cheese served in a similiar wodge)

Ended up with beef stew & mash both from the freezer, must make more stew at some point so I can indulge in some dumplings;)

There's something wonderfully satisfying about standing in a canteen queue, slowly edging towards those VAST trays of good hot food, knowing that in a few moments they'll scoop up a HUGE portion of piping hot food for you - and, if you're lucky, you then get to scoop chips and beans on the side

A portion cut from a VAST tray .... a slice cut from a BIG pie ... before your very eyes is ALWAYS 100x better than a little "one person portion" in a little dish or tray. I think that's why I like the idea of carvery meals - VAST trays of food you just spoon out, pile up and eat! I don't eat out more than 1x a year; had a pub meal the other night. Pie/chips, but it was an individual pie which, while nice, lacked the excitement that a slice from a HUGE pie brings.

All beef stew is good .... another thing I never get round to... but it's perpetually on the list. I look at beef cubes all the time - but I've always got "other food that needs using up first". All that perpetually lurking "food that needs to be used up" gets in the way of actual free choice.

caronc

PasturesNew wrote: »

There's something wonderfully satisfying about standing in a canteen queue, slowly edging towards those VAST trays of good hot food, knowing that in a few moments they'll scoop up a HUGE portion of piping hot food for you - and, if you're lucky, you then get to scoop chips and beans on the side

A portion cut from a VAST tray .... a slice cut from a BIG pie ... before your very eyes is ALWAYS 100x better than a little "one person portion" in a little dish or tray. I think that's why I like the idea of carvery meals - VAST trays of food you just spoon out, pile up and eat! I don't eat out more than 1x a year; had a pub meal the other night. Pie/chips, but it was an individual pie which, while nice, lacked the excitement that a slice from a HUGE pie brings.

All beef stew is good .... another thing I never get round to... but it's perpetually on the list. I look at beef cubes all the time - but I've always got "other food that needs using up first". All that perpetually lurking "food that needs to be used up" gets in the way of actual free choice.

When I was young my Mum had a p/t job on a Saturday morning, us kids usually got packed off to the pictures depending if my Dad was working or not. On days we were, we used get treated to lunch afterwards, the local Littlewoods had a canteen-style restaurant and I well remember standing with my tray for lunch and the lovely sense of anticipation. Choices were limited and always involved chips and peas or beans with "something dished in a wodge from a big tray" followed by some kind of sickly mousse-type dessert in a little metal dish with a glace cherry or piece of mandarin on the top. Fond memories:D

PasturesNew

I think this is where more CFOs lose the "joy for food" - there are fewer opportunities to see a VAST dish of food hit the table and being able to dip in and shovel some out. As a CFO you're portion controlling in minute detail most food as you're preparing it.

No "Joy of the Ladle"; no "Anticipation of the cut".

When you slice up a quiche before you heat your portion ... it's not the same as a whole quiche hitting the table and being sliced before your eyes, all hot and steaming.

moneyistooshorttomention

My "anticipation button" is hit personally when I spot a large buffet table that's actually got healthy food on for once (ie not sandwiches made with Mothers Pride type bread and minute amounts of salad or fresh fruit available etc).

Nope - all obviously nice healthy food (best of all with a tag by each plate listing exactly what's in each item - so its easy for me to avoid meat/fish, anything with sugar in, etc).

Once in a while I have such a buffet table in front of me - and everything is healthy (nothing with sugar/white flour/etc in) and vegetarian and interesting and with labels by each plate with ingredients and a few things I've not tried yet. Cue for me going along and taking a spoonful of this thing I've not tried yet, that thing I've not tried yet, something I know I have tried and is a particular favourite I dont often get because its too much trouble/expense and, of course, lots of different salads and fresh fruit.

I've got my next anticipated social meal out this weekend and it will be a buffet. I know it will be vegetarian - so that's one tick. But I also know that a high proportion of the food will probably be sweet (sugar at that for the sweetener) and/or bought readymade from a supermarket. Also know that there will be home-made punch - but the person making it has a tendency to "double dip" when making it - and so that's out too. So I'll be taking my own food and drink with me - as chances are there will be very little of it I can eat:(

Back in my "activist (ie political animal) days" I always knew what to expect at the various events with food. At Labour Party/trade union events - there would probably be nothing I could eat (those Mothers Pride bread type sandwiches etc etc and nothing I would ever buy myself without reserving a hospital bed for myself some years down the line first). At CND events on the other hand - wholefood/vegetarian/whew - I can have a meals worth and time to tuck in and wonder if there would be any leftovers people were invited to take away with them. Come to think of it - the jumble sales I helped at were much the same. At the Labour Party ones - there was nothing whatsoever I wanted and it probably would have looked "worn" if there had been. At the CND ones - I've landed up buying half a dozen different items (better-quality/more my taste/not obviously "worn"/etc).

PasturesNew

I think my life is lacking a hot, cooked breakfast, so today I'll probably start with hash browns, scrambled eggs and beans.

EDIT: I changed my mind - ended up with cheese & beans on a crust from the loaf.

moneyistooshorttomention

You can tell how food-oriented I am by the fact I'm still tossing around the thought in my mind of whether to have a day out in a bigger place where I know there is a cafe serving healthy food and there's an item on the menu I've been waiting to try at some point for some months now and that's only shown up in Britain within the last few years. I'm definitely going to make it there at some point - the question is whether its today, next week, whenever....

poppystar

I think food always tastes better when there are other people at the table.

The number of times I've repeated a dish enjoyed with others or even bought the same deli buffet things to dip into that I've had with friends……….and it just tastes totally different, less full of flavour when on my own plate at home.

Wednesday2000

I had a lovely lie-in today as I had my flu jab yesterday. I didn't get any flu-like symptoms but I think it must have made me feel knackered this morning.

I felt hungry when I woke up so I had a brunch of potato waffles in toast with ketchup and two cups of tea.:)

I'm having a mango and orange smoothie later as I have loads of fruit.

Not sure about anything else yet.

Farway

PasturesNew wrote: »

I think my life is lacking a hot, cooked breakfast, so today I'll probably start with hash browns, scrambled eggs and beans.

I sometimes have that thought, and one day I will just do it and have another one in Morries, always looks nice and they used to do a veggie version which I liked, last time was a few years back in Oldham for a wedding, cheaper & better than overpriced hotel breakfast

Back to CFO, very windy today, with rain in the wind, a stew & dumplings day except not in this house

Only YS bargain was huge bag of bananas for 10p, some a bit blackish, but I don't mind that, could be sliced bananas, yoghurt & honey for a few days

Lunch was posher than normal, smoked salmon, cream cheese + salady sarnie

Dinner just suits the weather for once, the YS Lidl chilli CC, looking forward to that

I bought the SR flour during my mooching, and made this when I got home, the slice you see has now been scoffed