Cooking for one (Mark Two)

PasturesNew

caronc wrote: »

I'm going to take the brave step of clearing out my spice cupboard later :eek: I dread to think what might be lurking and how old it might be .

I kind of started the other week, when I realised I had 3 jars of "garlic somethings" that had started life as powder and were now just a dried up solid block....and probably had been for 2 years.

I then got rid of those and made a list. I've written the list down on the PC....

I then compared the list of what I've got against what the nut roast needs and added another 2-3 things to the list that I need to get ...



I still need ginger and sage, although I'll skip the sage as I'm not making breadcrumbs, but using a packet mix of sage/onion so that'll "have enough" this time, unless I randomly buy some in the next fortnight. I only need ½ teaspoon.

The fact is, whatever you've got - if you open any recipe there'll be something you don't have

karcher

I've just had a huge chunk of baguette, buttered and filled with coleslaw and crisps. Then went back for seconds

elona

I just had some crisps and then lots of tea and some buttered toast.

I have a ready made meal in the freezer for tonight if I don't feel like cooking and some mushrooms to use up so either a mushroom omelette or sausage, egg and mushrooms for later.

AndyCF

Dishes: I'm still on the lookout for a glass (as I have seen one ceramic, eventually) type small 'pot' for the microwave. I'm after something 'soup sized' similar to the plastic ones but glass, with a vented lid.

The vented lid is the problem. I looked at various casserole type containers I saw but they are too large.

The brown ceramic 'pot' thing was the nearest I could sensibly see, available from a couple of places.


Food wise: Well I had a lovely lunch with the 'famous pasty maker' large sausage roll I'd been hoarding for a few days, a little gravy on it and then I covered it in a small mix of mashed potato with sweetcorn. It might sound a bit odd but I really enjoyed it.

Otherwise I made a tiny boo-boo, I grabbed what I thought (in a slightly mindless 'autopilot' state) was a small/half size fruity loaf, as they are not too easy to get locally you have to be quick! I did not really look at it till later, then I noticed it is actually a "Cinnamon and Raisin" one. No idea what that will be like, I'll have to try it later/tomorrow to find out. hmm.

[Deleted User]

I did my spices 7 years ago and had a complete re-think about their storage, I was getting fed up of bending into low cupboards and rummaging. I bought lined aluminium screw top pots from ebay after measuring the internals of a top drawer near the hob. I took out all the spices/herbs/ cooking powders that I wanted to keep and made labels for every one, to go on the lid of the new boxes. Red for hotter spices, green for herbs, white for ordinary powders. That method meant that I could just stand and pick up what I needed. A month ago I thinned it down, getting rid of hot stuff that I never used. It works brilliantly. I do keep a few spares in a different place eg whole nutmegs

I have eaten well for a few days again, phew, I thought I was well and truly on the slippery slope. Digestive system flora have re-established and everything is normal. I am still ploughing my way through the weetabix protein, should take another 10 days. I am now bothering to make a veg juice every day, today was simply carrots, celery, cavolo nero and a bit of lemon flesh. Lemon made it taste much better

Mid morning half a piece of toast and some sliced jarlsberg. Lunch cold cooked turkey sausage and brown sauce for taste, baked roasted parsnips, brocolli. One piece of cake, nigellas bundt, love it and one piece satisfies. Later berry compote and sojade yogurt and just 2 halves of sd with a scraping of peanut butter

Waitrose delivery in 4 days and I am trying to think of anything I need to add, I change the list almost every day, apart from the gin

Farway

poppystar wrote: »

I know it's not CFO but am so anxious - it's forecast to be -10 here tonight and below -5 for over 12 hours. I've never experienced it that bad before but when we had the last really, really bad winter all the outside pipes froze and one inside one. Will have the heating on low (although I now have a condensing boiler which if what I've read is true may itself stop in the cold) but the bathroom and kitchen have 2.5 outside walls and are north and the heating only ever takes the chill off.

I know, I know that I'm far luckier than the original occupants of my Victorian abode but it's scary and these houses were't built for warmth but for workers

Any advice from those of you in the frozen north v welcome:o

Not frozen North, but the bit that freezes & stops a condensing boiler is the end of the condensate drain pipe. Often this is run outside and takes the odd drip in to a drain, it is this that freezes & blocks the pipe, which triggers a safety cut out. But sometimes, like mine, the condensate drain pipe is plumbed directly into the inside drains, like the sink for instance

Either way, not a problem, hair dryer for the first and no problems with he second

It must have been cold here, my heating cut in during the night on it's low temp setting. I have it set around 10c during it's "off" times. So nice & warm when I got up. Still frost on the roofs, and I have over ridden the timer to ON

Lid's mooch this morning, more of stocking up, got another pack of the diced steak on offer, curry is tempting, if not I think I will freeze it for another day
Another block of cheese, just in case, and a jar of honey likewise

Lunch was last of yesterday's tuna / mayo with sliced tom / lettuce in a sarnie

Dinner, bit unsure. I think I will go for the last frozen Moroccan style lamb pie. Just to make a bit of freezer space should I ever find a turkey breast to fit in the space

[Deleted User]

about a month ago I was lucky enough to snaffle a good sized stollen slab y/s to 9p at Morrisons I divided it up into 6 good sized chunks and froze it.

Last night I had a yen for something different so had got a piece out and defrosted it. 10 seconds in the microwave and it was warm and soft and smelt lovely (the marzipan had become like a very soft buttery texture)

I cut it in half sideways opened it up dribbled some grape jelly over it and a squirt of cream on top and it was delicious my bit of stollen cake I worked out cost me about a penny halfpenny with the grape jelly and a squirt of cream at most 4p in total

Very yummy and perfect for supper with my hot chocolate I went to bed warm,fed and slept like a top . No doubt why some food is called 'comfort food' probably not the healthiest snack, but at my age I fell I can have the occasional treat :):)

PasturesNew

I'll start by announcing a serious overspend .... some things I didn't need and some food that wasn't the cheapest

I entered three doors today:

1] I bought some chocolate/fudge milk I also got some tortilla crisps, eggs, bread rolls.
2] I bought a new plate, 4 latte spoons (to reach the bottom of jars more easily than using a teaspoon) and a cooling rack that I don't "need". I bought the foil takeaway trays, measured them in the shop (by grabbing/using a tape measure from the DIY aisle then returning it) and they're 20cm long - back at home they turn out to be "the perfect size/fit". I'd run out of small freezer bags, so got a random roll of those. They had NO little silicone moulds of Xmas thingies, I must've missed the boat there.
3] The celery I need for the nut roast, 6 sausage rolls, 4 litres of regular fizzy pop, I've a stockpile of that now, a bottle of own brand fizzy grape juice, a bag of mixed fruit (aspirations/delusions of baking). 2 packs of the beef, to go into the freezer. A "30% reduced" shepherd's pie, which are a whopping £1.89 now at full price! I (overpaid) £1.38 for it. Had that for lunch, with the last of the beans I opened 3-4 days ago. It was tasty.

L1dl had no hash browns - and no label/space for them, they must've been dispensed with to make room for party snacks

No idea what I'll eat later... maybe those sausage rolls will call my name, or maybe I'll make a fish finger butty with a bread roll.

Farway

Now I want nuked stollen

moneyistooshorttomention

Spices/herbs - yep....some organisation there - as they are now divided into one fridge door shelf with savoury ones on and another fridge door shelf with sweet ones on.

Gradually getting hold of suitable jars to keep them in. I can see they're going to be a bit of a mish-mash of smaller kilner jars and repurposed suitable food ones - as I buy my spices/herbs loose by the ounce (well - equivalent thereof in metric) and so they usually won't fit into repurposed supermarket spice containers.

Got some roasted chickpeas cooling down that I've just done as part of "contribution to Christmas-y snacks at Christmas-y event". First time I've done them - but easy enough (canned chickpeas/olive oil/salt/pepper/paprika). Part of my "working out what things I can take to eat to events" that I will eat and others will like as well.