Cooking for one (Mark Two)

Wednesday2000

PasturesNew wrote: »

I've never had a smoothie - the idea doesn't appeal. I imagine a stringy texture, with the occasional long string of "unidnetifiable green stuff" slurping down one's chin where it didn't break up. Ewwww.

I don't have a food processor.

Milkshake is the closest I can bear, texture wise, to what any fruit/veg smoothie might be like.

I thought the same when I first read about green smoothies, but when you do it with the right amounts it often tastes like a very thick banana milkshake.

Frozen bananas! That was what I was doing wrong as well, just using normal banana. I used to cut them up and freeze them in tubs in the freezer first. You inadvertently reminded me PN.:p

PasturesNew

I always love the idea that you can make a cake from a black banana.

Hold up there .... a cake. So I have to take 12p of black banana ... and add to it another £1 of ingredients, many of which are just fat and sugar, then use power (at a cost) to produce a cake, then wash up the dishes (using water and power) .... and then eat a whole cake ..... just so I don't "waste" a 12p banana. A cake that probably has 1000-2000 calories in it.

Sometimes .... what you can do with XYZ simply doesn't make sense when you break it down.

My best advice for using up an old banana is: next time you're cooking a curry .... lob it in, mushed up. It'll add sweetness and you won't see it in there.

[Deleted User]

yay I`m back, did 6 miles because my weatherstation was reading 8.9. Brimful ditches and a few bits of ice on some waterlogged fields. I can tell when I have done some proper exercise ie my cycling clothes need a wash. I did a bit of thinking on the way round, concerning stupid nibble buys.

Why am I eating them? why did I freeze them? just to spread the eating out, I didn`t really enjoy them anyway. Bag of mini mince pies are opened and in the bin, similar with the tasteless speculas. If I had not opened them then they would have been re-homed. That leaves stollen cubes but much better ingredients and one will satisfy me

DW on and soup in the pan, just in case I didn`t fancy soup later, it will make me eat it

Farway

Back from town, a few YS veg bargains, parsnips 5p bag of 4, niceish cauli 20p, plus not a bargain, organic full cream milk for my first bash at yoghurt making, and a thermometer for milk temperature. It does cost money to save money:( But cost is not the only criteria I go by, taste and ingredients also count

Nearly came a cropper on some ice, just managed to steady myself with quick plonk of my stick. Took a lot more care after that, had a vision of me like a beetle on it's back in a deserted car park:o

Back home, lunch was turkey, mayo & lettuce sandwich, with 2 mini mince pies to follow

First bash at Yoghurt made and now in it's heater thingy for it says at least 10 hours for first culture

Then trifle construction time, stale stollen in, jelly and my new tin of mixed fruit. Topped it up with instant custard & a banana after lunch, now setting it the fridge

I had intended more roast type meal tonight, but not that hungry now so I may join PN in turkey & chips. I expect a large spoon size hole will appear in the trifle

Mrapji, I seem to remember way back grapefruit were sprinkled with brown sugar & bunged under the grill and the sugar caramelised. I never had one like that, not a grape fruit fan

I had to Google speculas, another thing I've never had, or maybe I have and called them as biscuits?

PasturesNew

kittie wrote: »

Bag of mini mince pies are opened and in the bin, similar with the tasteless speculas. If I had not opened them then they would have been re-homed. That leaves stollen cubes but much better ingredients and one will satisfy me

I have never heard of speculas.... if asked I'd have said it's the thing a gynae wields!!!

Mini mince pies binned...???? Have you no heart? You can turn those into all sorts of desserts by adding even more fat/butter/chocolate and flour to them and baking them and calling them by a cakey name!

PasturesNew

Farway wrote: »

I expect a large spoon size hole will appear in the trifle

Ah! Cheers for the reminder.... off to spoon the trifle, so to speak. After this, the following portion will be the "eat from the bowl" variety as there's no point wasting a bowl on the last portion.

I'll retain the empty bowl.... for when I make my own.

moneyistooshorttomention

Kittie - Do you want to know just how many years I've had a Green Life food processor? Errr....I've forgotten - but its quite a few by now:o

Do you want to know just how often I've used it to date? The answer is "Don't ask! Ahem....I still havent ever used it yet":o:o:o

On my list of things to do in 2018 it starts with springcleaning room by room and then goes onto trying out various new goods (including that one) that I've used little if at all (and then making A Decision on each of them).

Followed by the odds and ends of "paint retouching - courtesy of one workman:mad:" and paint splashes removal - courtesy of another workman:mad:. As both those jobs are sodders (ie sodding things I shouldnt have to do) then I have an acute suspicion I may never waste my time doing them....and the retouching gets done when redecorating is Actually Due again anyway (ie 10 years time) and the paint splashes being outside the house may be when the garden gets ripped-up and revamped (gawd knows when I'll have the money time).

What did you use your Green Life processor for - ie besides juices? Trying hard not to think how much it cost me:eek: - and so I really ought to get some use from it.

monnagran

Just had to jump in here with my grapefruit story. I had a friend some time ago who was a trained chef. She really was an inspired cook, so much so that her MIL, a slightly batty but very uppercrust lady, asked her advice on a starter for a dinner party she was giving. She had thought of grilled grapefruit, could my friend tell her how to do them.

Friend told that it was very easy, you just put the grapefruit under the hot grill for a few minutes until lightly toasted. "And," she added, "you can pop a cherry on top to make it look a bit special."

Come the dinner party, friend was electrified when the guests were presented with a blackened ball rolling about on a plate, she hadn't thought it necessary to instruct her MIL to cut the grapefruit in half.
However, each blackened ball was duly adorned with a cherry perilously balanced on its top.

Hollyharvey

Afternoon everyone

I’ve been reading through the past couple of days to catch up on how all of your Christmas food went, and how you are getting on with eating leftovers.

My Christmas plans went out of the window. I passed out on Christmas Day morning with a slow and irregular heartbeat and spent from then until yesterday evening having Christmas courtesy of my local hospital. It certainly wasn’t the Christmas I had planned.

A friend froze everything that she could for me and most other bits and pieces are either very long dated or will keep. I would have had all of the Christmas food over this New Year weekend, but I’m spending those few days with my brother and family so I’m going to have Christmas at the end of January (well the food anyhow).

On the plus side, I don’t have any leftovers to worry about .

Tonight I’m having part of what I had planned for the Christmas period, I’ve got moussaka, but out of the freezer and a trifle. It was easy enough to put a trifle together. Instead of sponge fingers I’ve used some madeira cake in the bottom and put some frozen raspberries in the jelly, then the usual custard and whipped cream on the top. I’m looking forward to this trifle .

I had some porridge for breakfast and then a tuna mayo sandwich for lunch.

Mr_Costcutter

monnagran wrote: »

Just had to jump in here with my grapefruit story. I had a friend some time ago who was a trained chef. She really was an inspired cook, so much so that her MIL, a slightly batty but very uppercrust lady, asked her advice on a starter for a dinner party she was giving. She had thought of grilled grapefruit, could my friend tell her how to do them.

Friend told that it was very easy, you just put the grapefruit under the hot grill for a few minutes until lightly toasted. "And," she added, "you can pop a cherry on top to make it look a bit special."

Come the dinner party, friend was electrified when the guests were presented with a blackened ball rolling about on a plate, she hadn't thought it necessary to instruct her MIL to cut the grapefruit in half.
However, each blackened ball was duly adorned with a cherry perilously balanced on its top.

I was just lurking and noticed your post . Haven't laughed so much for a long time - thanks for sharing