Cooking for one (Mark Two)

PasturesNew

Washing up - it never ends....

Because of the (possibly almost unique) way I wash up, my kitchen always has washing up lurking at some stage of its evolution.

Say I start from empty and cook something. Dishes will either go "into soak until I've enough in there to do the washing up", or some dishes will sit beside the sink (e.g. a plate where I just had a slice of toast) until I do the washing up.

I'll usually do the washing up when I've something in the microwave or mini oven, so I've a spare 5-10 minutes.... so then it's washed up, but now it's on the drainer, draining.

The next stage is that once it's "pretty much dry" I'll move it from the drainer onto a "drying mat" beside the drainer, to fully finish off.

At this point I might therefore have: a stack beside the sink, items in soak, items in the drainer, items on the drying mat.... so I'll put away the items on the draining mat; the items in the drainer move to the drying mat; the washing up gets done and is then in the drainer .... and as I do the washing up while waiting for something to cook, within 5 minutes it means I've eaten something new and take my plate/cutlery through to the kitchen to await washing up!

poppystar

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

So - if these tortillas work out - then I could start with taking tortillas and some home-made hummus. If they don't work out and for any times thereafter - what sort of savoury things (of the healthy/modern/vegetarian or vegan variety) would people fancy at something like that?

I think take what you would eat - then at least there is something you like.

These things are so hit and miss if people don't coordinate. Last time I went to similar I had what I thought was a brainwave of sushi. Sadly the same brainwave hit others and I have never seen so much sushi in one place at one time…..of course this also led to a slight competitive element that I was never going to win:(

wort

Oh PN, that seems exhausting! I have to say that's why I do mine straight away, if I know there will be a lot, if I've used pans etc. Then I have the washing up water in ready. If I've just had a plate and knife they're scrubbed under hot tap with scourer with w up liquid on.
I do tend to leave draining, but when I go back in kitchen I put away,with towel in hand incase of any wet blobs.!!
I did the pizzas they're in freezer, just waiting on dgson arriving from school it's absolutely bucketing down here now. The poor boy will be soaked!

Farway

poppystar wrote: »

I think take what you would eat - then at least there is something you like.

A second for that suggestion or you may find yourself going hungry judging by some of your previous comments about buffets

All this talk of non sandwiches lunches has set me thinking something on toast for lunchtimes, trouble is my "on toast" is often cheese, so I may as well just have cheese sarnie as per usual. No doubt something will pop in my head sometime, now I fancy the mushrooms as per Caron

Woke up to rain again, stopped now but more due later, at least all plant watering no longer required until April probably

Nothing YS in Asda, had to get a lettuce, I have found the Lild ones are poor value compared to other SMs, may be a few pennies less but the ones I get from there always seem to have slashes in the leaves where the picker has lopped off the roots, and then I finish up chucking half of it away

Lunch was more of the cheese salad sandwich, just too easy

Dinner is use up the YS ham / tom tartlets, BBE 17th, I think I will have them with a salad for a bit of green nutrition, chips & beans would be tastier but I there has been a lack of veggie items just lately

caronc

Good afternoon everyone,

MTSTM - I'd certainly go with things you know you'll eat. I can't see why the tortillas wouldn't work so fingers crossed. Certainly dips with tortilla, bits of pitta, veg sticks always seem well received. What about a vegan pate? At a "do" I was at once with a large proportion of vegan food the host had made lentil crisps which were really tasty, she said they were easy to make and were baked not fried.:) Would it be an opportunity to use up some of the lurking food stuffs you no longer eat?;)

The "something" on toast end up being mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and an egg cooked in the tomato/mushroom juices it was lovely. I always find a hot lunch more satisfying than a cold wise even though the food quantity/calories is pretty much what I'd be having in a sarnie:D.

Most of the passatta has been frozen and I've been sensible and froze it in 200ml ish amounts which is more CFO suited than a bagful (of which I already have quite a few). I really could do with more small size tubs. I like the "lock and lock" type but they can be quite pricey.

wort

Caronc I've had clip style storage from B and M. I think home bargains do as well.

Yogurt with seeds and raspberries, was eaten after lunch and dinner.

caronc

wort wrote: »

Caronc I've had clip style storage from B and M. I think home bargains do as well.

Thanks - I'll ask my son to have a look

PasturesNew

Starving. No idea what to eat though .... will probably go with scrambled eggs on toast to use up some of the frozen loaf (don't like to buy a new/fresh one until the one in the freezer's finished) ... I buy a maximum of 2 loaves/month. I'm going to be using the bread up in other ways soon though ... as I get fed up of having frozen bread in the freezer When there's a loaf in the freezer there's no fresh bread for sandwiches - as cheap bread, frozen, doesn't defrost consistently/well enough for a satisfying sandwich.

My head is nagging "toad/hole" but I need "the perfect dish" to make that properly. The perfect dish needs to be mulled over and it's not a size/shape I've currently got. I was sure using an old FB pie tin would work well and I kept one .... but have "lost" it somewhere, maybe I tidied it away ....

Weather's on the turn. Toad/hole will definitely get cooked a few times in the coming month.

caronc

Good morning everyone,
Another drab day though brightening up a little now. Shopping just delivered and only £18 this week which is good for me and should see me through to next Friday:). Only bought one thing for the freezer - a bag of spinach as there is less than a portion left in the current bag and it is something I use frequently. Sorting out the freezers has really helped my mind set:D.
Last night's meatballs ended up making three portions as the mini burgers were thicker than I thought so gave me 12 smallish meatballs in total so two portions for the freezer. While I was chopping veg for the sauce last night I also chopped and froze three peppers that were lurking in the veg drawer as they would have gone iffy if left much longer.
I thought I wasn't CFO this weekend but my son is not now coming up until next weekend so I need to have a think about what I fancy mealswise.
Lunch today is going to be a tongue & cucumber sarnie but I'm not sure about later:).

poppystar

caronc wrote: »

Good morning everyone,
Another drab day though brightening up a little now. Shopping just delivered and only £18 this week which is good for me and should see me through to next Friday:). .

Is that a supermarket delivery? If so who is it that delivers without a minimum charge? I haven't found one that let's me checkout less than £40.

Brightening up here but so, so damp in the air still.