Cooking for one (Mark Two)

kiss_me_now9

No breakfast here (I never eat it) and lunch was bought today in the library - pesto twist and an egg sandwich. Dinner tonight will be the other half of the 'shepherds pie' I made last night. I made it with rehydrated soya chunks (£2 for a massive bag from Holland and Barrett which will last me forever; once you get past the dog food texture ) which I've not reheated before so I'm a bit nervous

PasturesNew

I've only just eaten - had the breakfast, but that'll probably be it for today. I can always dip into the freezer for crumpets or toast, but I'd not be cooking a "proper meal" tonight.

This was plenty: https://s33.postimg.org/rzfofre8f/Breakfast500.jpg

kw7t058sw

Need2bthrifty

caronc wrote: »

Oh I love a smiddy loaf - it used to be one of my "go to" bakes. Used one pepped up with extra spice and soaked in some brandy as a Christmas cake one year. It worked really well.:D


I've an assortment of fish scraps and seafood shells currently in the pressure cooker to make stock. I've not got any specific dish in mind but figured the stock would take up less room in the freezer which is filling up with food for the festive period:).

At the moment its cooling on the rack and oh my the smell in the kitchen is going roun my hert like a hairy wurm :rotfl: :rotfl:........ Its taking all my will power not to start cutting into it now, but I'm determined to wait and I'll have a slice with my malty drink before bedtime

Ship some of your stock my way please - I was browsing through the bbcgoodfood website for some inspiration for next weeks meals and thought about a prawn risotto - but I'll just have to make do with chicken or veg stock.

I'm having Stewed Liver, potatoes, brussels & carrots for tea, cant beat a hearty stew IMO

PasturesNew

Need2bthrifty wrote: »

... Smiddy Loaf, basically a boil-n-bake teabread but oh so tasty

I've got my mum's old fruit cake recipe that's done like that.
She got the recipe at work in the 1970s and they'd used the office facilities to photocopy it and laminate it

She didn't make it often.

The last time she made it dad "helped" her - and it went disastrously wrong. There was either no flour added .... or very very little, a fraction of what it needed. Maybe they failed to read the recipe, or had the scales set wrong (Imperial or grams).

Mum was so despondent about it .... so I had to eat a lot of it and tell her it was gorgeous anyway ... as you do.

That was the last cake she, or they, ever baked. We didn't have many cakes though, mum wasn't a baker ... or a cook.

I kept the recipe, it's just 8' from me right now ... as I do intend to make it ... and it's always "soon", but I don't quite get that far.

Farway

I had to search for Smiddy Cake, not something I'd heard of. I hope to give it a go before Christmas, looks easy enough and one to have as an easy quick cake fix

Just a pot of tea and a choccy digestive for breakfast

Very dull & misty here, popped into town, saw my first reindeer & sleigh lights on a roof. You may not be surprised to hear that such things are not for Farway Towers

Having decided on dinner I bought some stuffing mix, With Christmas coming the Smart Price ones are now on the bottom shelf, in the nearly invisible corner, but I found them, bought two packets before they suddenly vanish, leaving only the posh expensive ones

Lunch was use it up time. The very last of the frozen fish fingers, in a 3 finger sarnie. Later was the last bacon rasher in a 1 rasher 1/2 sarnie

Whilst freezer diving I found opened pack of sweet potato chips, must have been on offer sometime as it is not something I normally buy. Yet more stuff to use up, luckily not many in it so one meal should see the back of them

Dinner tonight is one of my HM roast chicken portions, defrosting on the kitchen top, with more freezer clear outs of roast spuds and some obnoxious Aunt B yorkies. With steamed frozen mixed veg, I am trying the chunky ones from W/rose this time. Plus of course the SP stuffing

Would have included fresh broccoli but it was squidgy once I got it out, into the bin with the BBQ sausage rolls

Need2bthrifty

PasturesNew wrote: »

I've got my mum's old fruit cake recipe that's done like that.
She got the recipe at work in the 1970s and they'd used the office facilities to photocopy it and laminate it

The recipe I have is in my mothers handwriting on good old blue Basild0n B0nd writing paper - she probably got at the WRI, she was always baking something.

wort

Gosh a lot of post to read through.!
I'm one of 7 children, and I'm close to my family, so don't have lots of friends as I do everything with sisters or brother, I do have 5 girls at work who are good friends, and 2 that I used to work with who are around 10 years older, that I meet with 3 to 4 times a year.

I have a combined microwave and convection oven so I rarely put my big oven on.

I went to aldi and got the leeks on super six. So have just made leek and potato soup, that will go in the freezer. As I also made broccoli and black sticks blue cheese soup, that I'll have for lunch the next few days. If I can keep my hand off it it tastes yum.

Tea tonight is salmon fillet with mash and the portion of layered veg from Sunday that I saved. So peas,corn,broccoli and carrot.
Also picked up some gluten free mince pies from aldi, much cheaper than tesco but don't think they're as deep.

moneyistooshorttomention

Scratch lunch today (toast and hummus, followed by yogurt and fruit). Can foresee dinner also being scratch - baked potatoes with cheese again I think and salad.

CBA CBA CBA - about the only thing I CBA to do right now is go and kill the first electrician that did work on my house:mad::mad: - or, to be more accurate, it turns out part did it and even left it in a state where I could well have got an electric shock (probably would have:eek:) at some point in the future. Looks like I may have just "cheated death" again for the second time in my life to my knowledge:cool:

There will be wine tonight - and more wine - at the thought of this and the extra bill I've got en route to what I anticipated having:mad:. It's either that or head into my bed/pull the bedclothes over my head to muffle it and scream loudly.....

wort

Oh Money that sounds terrible, thank goodness you're alright.
I was shopping with my niece today and she bought a bigger slow cooker. So she says I can try the smaller one see if I make use of it.
So I may need some help with recipes, how much to put in ,and what can go in it!! Or if you know any handy websites.

PasturesNew

wort wrote: »

...Or if you know any handy websites.

There's an MSE post with recipes on - at least you start by knowing they're British with UK ingredients.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=1332010#post1332010

Massive/long list with links to the recipes as posted over the years. If you can't find 2-3 things on there you might as well hand it back