Cooking for one (Mark Two)

Farway

Another manky weather day, very gloomy out

Just a cuppa for breakfast, and by coincidence talking on here about storage canisters, round or otherwise. I knocked a round, earthenware one off an eye level shelf, it bounced off the worktop and smashed on the floor.
One less bit of clutter anyway

After the clean up I went mad in Lild on way to volunteering
YS smoked salmon, YS sliced cooked beef, both with okish use by dates
Plus my tin of evaporated milk, part way to making rice pud in slow cooker. No pudding rice available so will get that from somewhere else
Plus I fancied beans on toast tonight, so bougt some of Lild own beans, never had them, but at 23p a tin worth a try. I normally use 4sdas

Lunch was the other PB baguette, with some of the YS sliced beef + horseradish

Dinner is expected to be beans on toast, with fried eggs on top, and the last of the LO bacon rashers. Easy, tasty and just right for this murky day

AndyCF wrote: »

Regarding food I did a search on my 'fave online' and they obviously have Organic Carrots so I've added to my favourites to remind myself. Unfortunately there's no roasting carrots that I can see, although its the 'search' I think as I'm almost sure there was some kind of 'roasting veg' fresh tray or something..

Andy, they will not be marked as roasting carrots, S/ms have not got wise to that one yet, unlike baking spuds. Just ordinary carrots, but the larger one are better for flavour when roasted, the roasting seems to concentrate the sweetness, with maybe a bit of caramelising chucked in. I roast them in olive oil, but guess any you have to hand will do

gt568

PasturesNew wrote: »

Because most people DON'T actually "like" cooking, especially if you're a bit poor and gadgetless.

Once again with the sweeping generalisations. I forgot you speak for all of us. :doh:

PasturesNew

I had a list of random food that could be bought - but suddenly really fancied hot sausage rolls for tea. So I was off

There were no reductions on anything, at all, anywhere in 4ldi or L1dl.

Stocked up on some things - and pre-bought some things that I might wish I had for Xmas.

Regular stocks: sugar, jar of coffee, 4 litres of fizzy pop, 1 tin of tomatoes, honey/nut cornflakes.

Xmas stocks: 200g mixed nuts (nut roast ideas of grandeur), stuffing mix, chicken Bisto.

I also picked up some chocolate own brand angel delight, but not the orange juice to go with that.

Also bought a bag of jelly sweeties.

And the oven just pinged.... so hot sausage rolls are imminently to be served chez moi

PasturesNew

gt568 wrote: »

Once again with the sweeping generalisations. I forgot you speak for all of us. :doh:

Once again with the mis-reading, I said "most", not "all"

gt568

PasturesNew wrote: »

Once again with the mis-reading, I said "most", not "all"

Where is your factual evidence that poor and gadgetless people don't enjoy cooking? I fit both catagories and love cooking. Even for one.

moneyistooshorttomention

Very late lunch (if you can call it that). Having toast with nut butter with fruit to follow.

There'll be scratch dinner of some description in a couple of hours time - and wine/more wine.

Can you piece that together into the electrician doing the checking of my house has got a good way further round the house - and found the electrics are a good deal worse than he first thought. Many of the electric wires-that-should-have-been-removed are 1970s:eek::eek::eek:. There are several sockets without earth wires on them (even some of the new ones). He hasnt finished yet. His verdict - cost-wise/hassle-wise = you don't want to know. It's so bad that he's going to sort the missing earths to sockets (hopefully - but cant be 100% sure I'm going to be able to use some of them again). He tells me there isn't very good odds at all I'll get through the rest of my life without major hassle and major expense (particularly in view of the fact the house has been finished - so I thought - and replastered/new kitchen/etc). I won't be getting the first electrician back under the NIC/EIC scheme - I don't trust myself as to how I'd act if he were under my roof again. Second electrician is just going to be paid whatever-it-takes to get things passably sorted - so the house doesnt electrocute me.

The rest of the news is he has found two other tradespeople didnt do their jobs properly either.....:wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::eek:

I had wine at what should have been lunchtime. I have further wine chilling. I am now looking for a new tradesperson - this time of the "hit squad" variety (am not so sure I'm joking.....).

For 2 pins and a decent-size Premium Bond win....I think you can guess what I'd do right now. It involves googling RightMove again and about £400,000 minus whatever I could sell this house for pretty much.

AndyCF

PasturesNew wrote: »

The reality is: anything can go into a pie - and as they come in tins you can see how it's not a bad idea, if you like the tinned goods in their own right. It wouldn't be for me.

Oh I agree. I think the 'content of the tin' was the offputting thing as on occasion I like the 'beef stew' tins, so "to me" one of those would be good. I think its 'each to their own' , just the curious 'mixup' of the 'All Day' thing was more an eye opener really , to be fair it was a bit different I guess.

PasturesNew wrote: »

I've always fancied a pie maker .... but I'd want one that makes a single pie, the choice is 2 singles, or a family pie. The trouble with a pie maker is you do then have to think about where the fillings are coming from and for a single you're rarely going to have sufficient "leftovers" to turn into a pie so you are having to "start with nothing" to work out what's going in it.

It is not an item I have really looked at although in a similar vein to you if I was 'shopping' for one, I'd want one that let me made a single sensible size pie.

Farway wrote: »

Another manky weather day, very gloomy out

Just a cuppa for breakfast, and by coincidence talking on here about storage canisters, round or otherwise. I knocked a round, earthenware one off an eye level shelf, it bounced off the worktop and smashed on the floor.
One less bit of clutter anyway

Its gloomy here today too.
I occasionally knock the kitchen roll off the worktop too, it stands vertically on a clean plastic sheet. If I'm lucky it will land on the (dead) cooker top, If I'm not its the floor at the next stop. I do keep meaning to buy a holder for it or make one and fix it to the cupboard door or something. I think I'm waiting for one to appear on offer at the local place.

Farway wrote: »

Andy, they will not be marked as roasting carrots, S/ms have not got wise to that one yet, unlike baking spuds. Just ordinary carrots, but the larger one are better for flavour when roasted, the roasting seems to concentrate the sweetness, with maybe a bit of caramelising chucked in. I roast them in olive oil, but guess any you have to hand will do

Thank you. I will keep an eye out. I have decided to order the bag of frozen baby carrots for now as it seems quite good value for its size, the reviews are generally positive too but that is next weeks shop or the week after depending on various things. Its 'on the list' anyway.

PasturesNew wrote: »

I had a list of random food that could be bought - but suddenly really fancied hot sausage rolls for tea. So I was off

What I have noted about sausage rolls either frozen or more likely fresh "ready to eat" , it varies wildly on if they give zapper instructions or just oven only, despite them being about the same product. I have seen the same item in different size packs from one place, one with oven/micro and one with just oven instructions. , I cannot really work out why some do and some do not, especially as they are "ready to eat" so it cannot be a concern about appearance.

That does remind me of yet another 'best way to..' question I must pose in a new thread of its own at some point too.

I don't mind them cold if its just a 'snack on a plate' thing especially the small ones but I do like them nicely heated up as they then go quite well with a few other pieces on the plate if practical too. I must admit I do like a bit of gravy on them, just tiny splash though.

[Deleted User]

oh money, I am so sorry about all that hastle, when all you want is to be comforable and safe in your own home. You don`t deserve it, all that bad luck and I know wine is calling you but be strong, you know what I mean. It sounds to me that you are out of love with your home but maybe if everything else is ok, then it is something that can be put right, over time

Unless a house is a new build with full guarantee, then any house could be a money pit, so yes there is a great attraction in a new house and they all have to be highly insulated these days, to a very good standard and cheaper to run, albeit smaller, as long as there is room for a small conservatory, in the future

moneyistooshorttomention

I've had it explained to me what "putting right" would involve.

It boils down to:
- around £2,000
- all sorts of channelling in my newly-replastered and newly-decorated walls
- new kitchen units being removed from the wall
- followed by hassle and expense of replastering again and redecorating again and putting kitchen units back on the walls again

to return to what I thought was "status quo ante".

"Fallen out of love" with the house Kittie? I was never in love with it...:cool:

The one consolation I have is that I've made some good friends since coming here - and much amusement was had over last few days with comments from someone else about how another person was "watching out for me" and had clearly decided I'm a friend.

So that's something (and not to be sniffed at I know) - but I'd still move back if I had the money to do so.

One thing re your own prospective house move - and if you end up buying a doer-upper - then I would advise lots of googling in advance of settling on a house and figuring out what specific major jobs might need doing and trying to suss out suitable tradespeople in advance to do this and giving them a VERY detailed description indeed (VERY VERY) about how you are taking it for granted things will be done. Then still keep a darn good eye on them as they do it....

I was certainly feeling very conscious as the bad news came rolling in today that my father did his best to "protect me" and keep an eye on tradespeople when I bought my starter house all those years back. That coupled with I didnt plan on keeping it very long anyway. Fast forward to now - and he's not available to do that for variety of reasons and I do/did? plan on keeping this house and I'm realising just how much my father was trying to "protect me" from the worst tradespeople back when and any problems they created werent going to bother me nearly as much as in a forever home house. I did think "Kittie may be in a similar position - ie had a husband there to think things through with/protect her from the worst - and no longer has". Learn from my experience - and be aware of what it can be like for a woman on her own - we have to protect ourselves.

[Deleted User]

We could do with a skills swap site, women and men. We have loads of skills between us but it is a bit like divide and rule on our own, swimming against the current

Even if I got a new house, I would use a snagging company. That job was not fit for purpose money. Unless you paid cash then you have legal rights, small claims court? Not hard to do but you need evidence, photos, certificates etc. We did small claims over a botched job here and we won, didn`t have to go to court, the judge decides based on the evidence