Cooking for one (Mark Two)

Hollyharvey

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

When I had freezer that needed manual defrosting - I just took out the baskets and put them in coolest place I could think of (maybe a shower cubicle floor might be most suitable place for them?).

Yes, I hadn't thought of the shower cubicle floor. In fact it is really cold in the bathroom, even in the summer I often need heat in there, so that's a good idea. I could get as much into the outside freezer and the fridge compartment and keep the door closed. I've got a couple of those insulated bags for carrying frozen foods home from the supermarket and some freezer blocks which I've put into the freezer now. I may try and do it tomorrow evening when it cools down.

Farway

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

The friend mentioned a cookbook I'd not heard of and so....one visit to Amazon later...ahem...and I've got a copy coming through of "Never too late to go vegan". Then I dallied round the site a bit - and there's also a copy of "5:2 Veggie and vegan" heading in my direction.

Is it my age or am I having people trying to "tell me what to do" these days - when the only contexts in which that has happened before are:
- my parents whilst I was a child (errrm...and some attempts to do so subsequently:rotfl:)
- employers

because of getting older?

At my age logic dictates no-one will ever try and "tell me what to do" ever again :T - but there have been some attempts at it recently:shocked::think::huh::huh::huh:

Thought for the day being = is this down to starting to get visibly older? Is it a downside of getting older? I wonder what other late middle age to elderly peoples experiences are of the "people trying to tell you what to do" phenomenon?

Thinks - I wonder what Kittie's thoughts on this are for instance? Wonder what LessonLearned has found on this too?

Money, Lild have a veggie / vegan week starting today, could be handy if one near you

Can't say I've noticed people telling, or trying to tell me what to do, the only person who did try was the ex, which is why she is the ex

I do ask & take advice now I am old enough to know when I do not not know everything, unlike my 15 year old grandson who does know everything of course. Not sure at what age that changes

The meat loaf turned out OK,not magnificent. Trouble is I never have the one I used before recipe to hand, or follow them due to not having a brim full and stock cupboard. Never mind, it will do just fine cold for the next few days

Still a bit of space for a jam butty later if I feel a bit peckish

PS Meg, I think Photobucket changed the rules about linking to images. Some thing about bandwidth flea bay and the like I now use https://postimages.org/

caronc

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl:My mother tells me that bringing me up consisted of an obstacle course of me saying "Why?" and questioning everything and, according to her, my brother was so much easier:cool:

I think I must have pleased the children that were chatting to me this morning then:) - as I'm not a "child" person - but they were all exactly the sort of child I can relate to (ie those very "adult" type children that will have a conversation with you where you can see it's a child you're talking to - but they're talking to you/asking you questions in exactly the same way an adult would). Now that I know how to deal with - and talk back with them in exactly the same way I would with an adult:rotfl:

With my own (by now very elderly) mother I've learnt that she will listen to me sometimes and then she :cool: "has had a good idea" - but I will soon get a flea in my ear if she doesnt want to listen or thinks it all sounds like too much hassle.:rotfl:

I think there might be an element of once one reaches a certain age that some younger people (or even same age people.....grrr) think your brain is no longer capable of thinking through new ideas and maybe adopting them?? I've got news for them personally - I'm watching the youngest generation right now and thinking "Hmm...they have got a point in some of what they are now pushing....time to update my language I use and some of the ways I think". Some of us do try and "keep up" ....

I'm not sure it's just an age thing - I've had it a few times since I had to start using a zimmer, erm there is nothing wrong with my brain thank you very much:mad:

Hollyharvey wrote: »

I've been the opposite, I've eaten loads today for some unknown reason. I've just finished my sausages and mash and had a crumble and custard as well.

I've been picking at things on and off today. As well as breakfast and lunch I've had a crumpet, 2 slices of toast and half a bar of chocolate.

I'm trying to work out how I can defrost two almost full freezers without the food defrosting. I was trying to work out how much from the indoor freezer I can get into the outside freezer, and then how much of what is left will fit into the fridge, or if there is another way. None of my neighbours have got any free space in their freezers either.

I think we all have "hungry" days from time to time. I've never quite cracked the defrosting the freezer when I still have frozen food to deal with and I'm really wary of trying to hurry it along after I accidently bust one trying to dislodge ice. So it was a bath tub full of food covered in a duvet slowly defrosting, stuff farmed out willy nilly while a quick trip to Comet for basically one we could take away there and then and to add insult to injury the both boys had chicken pox! Not the best day I've ever had... That said 20 years later the replacement is still going strong (fingers crossed as it loaded)!

Burgers are defrosted and my son hopes to get here about 8.45 so I'll aim for dinner around 9.15, thankfully we are both late eaters:D.

Does anyone make their own"kievs" using mince? I've never had much success making then from scratch using chicken breast as they always leak but I've made stuffed meatballs before and they've worked. I thought I'd try with turkey mince which I got today, make burger mix with it and wrap it around mozzarella, herbs and garlic, then coat in breadcrumbs and bake any tips folks? Most of the ones you buy are reformed chicken so I can't see why turkey mince wouldn't work if I squish it well and make sure it's thoroughly crumbed.

moneyistooshorttomention

Farway - LOL at that comment re "That's why she is the ex":rotfl:.

Well I guess that might have been the lesser of two evils - compared to her trying to "feed you an idea into your head" and persuade you it was "Your idea in the first place - :T:T - clever man :cool::rotfl:". I admit to sheer astonishment watching some women trying that on their male partner and wonder if said partner really does come to believe it was their idea in the first place. Personally - I'd rather give my view straight out of what I think/have them give their view straight out of what they think and hope that we can agree what to do.

Errrm....wonders if that is a more traditionally "male" way of doing things?

**************

Caron - ooh...sympathies with that. Guess it's the "Does she take sugar?" syndrome. It must be tempting to just turn round sometimes, smile sweetly and say "Yes - thank you. I do take sugar - the same as I've always done" and if I got a blank look back (as you probably will - as many of them won't have heard about the origin of that phrase) tell them in a couple of short sentences what it means, followed by "You will talk to ME about me in future. Thank you". Firm sweet smile and determined look in eye.

meg72

Farway wrote: »

Money, Lild have a veggie / vegan week starting today, could be handy if one near you

Can't say I've noticed people telling, or trying to tell me what to do, the only person who did try was the ex, which is why she is the ex

I do ask & take advice now I am old enough to know when I do not not know everything, unlike my 15 year old grandson who does know everything of course. Not sure at what age that changes

The meat loaf turned out OK,not magnificent. Trouble is I never have the one I used before recipe to hand, or follow them due to not having a brim full and stock cupboard. Never mind, it will do just fine cold for the next few days

Still a bit of space for a jam butty later if I feel a bit peckish

PS Meg, I think Photobucket changed the rules about linking to images. Some thing about bandwidth flea bay and the like I now use https://postimages.org/

Thank you for that have just used it to post the pic of cheese sticks. So easy compared to Photobucket.

caronc

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Caron - ooh...sympathies with that. Guess it's the "Does she take sugar?" syndrome. It must be tempting to just turn round sometimes, smile sweetly and say "Yes - thank you. I do take sugar - the same as I've always done" and if I got a blank look back (as you probably will - as many of them won't have heard about the origin of that phrase) tell them in a couple of short sentences what it means, followed by "You will talk to ME about me in future. Thank you". Firm sweet smile and determined look in eye.

Don't worry - as they say "I don't miss and hit the wall" in my response when it happens......

[Deleted User]

just a small soaked muesli so far, was awake a lot last night, stayed in bed in the dark but I have worked out why and its to do with blue light. I am knitting or reading most of the evening with a bright reading light, led. Its a purpose reading light and is very bright. I don`t want to stop doing this, or what else would I do? so I have ordered overglasses that block blue light and can be worn indoors better late than never. Its the melatonin, I have enough outdoor light during the day, so its the evening light that I need to mend. I believe that will work, otherwise I am going to be working by candlelight

no clue about what to eat today but do fancy a cooked meal but its got to be simple as I have things to do

moneyistooshorttomention

caronc wrote: »

Don't worry - as they say "I don't miss and hit the wall" in my response when it happens......

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:. I've just added another phrase to my vocabulary. I'd never heard that one before:)

Ooh....I would be interested in hearing one or two of the rejoinders you've made when someone tried "telling you what to do". Do tell - any I might like to borrow:)

caronc

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:. I've just added another phrase to my vocabulary. I'd never heard that one before:)

Ooh....I would be interested in hearing one or two of the rejoinders you've made when someone tried "telling you what to do". Do tell - any I might like to borrow:)

Usually the "look" is enough, but I find "I beg your pardon" or "I'm more than capable"said very haughtily but politely usually works. :rotfl:Don't get me wrong I am always very grateful when folk offer me physical assistance if I need it and I'm sincere in thanking them:)

PasturesNew

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

.... hot water boiled up and poured into bowls to put in freezer/ replaced frequently to hurry the process up. ...

My top tip: While this seems most sensible, it actually is faffy.
What I did was to save empty margarine tubs and fill those with the water.

They're lightweight, you can move them round easier as ice melts and you want to "nudge" them, square sides means you can have 2-3 in a row if you want ... lobbing in empties if you've got a spot where the ice is dripping.

Nothing to drop/break, water doesn't "slosh about" so much as it does in bowls.... so safer. Easier to keep/store 6-8 empties than to find/have enough bowls of the right sort/size to use.

As for what to do with frozen food .... in the end, I just had 1-2 small items - so I popped those into a cool bag and put the cool bag in the fridge. But I had tiny amounts to deal with, not vast quantities.

Defrosting only took me 1 hour when I did it the other week - it's not a day-long activity .... so cool bags in a cool place. Wrap them in newspaper, use an old duvet .... it's only going to be a max of 2 hours from when you take them out of the freezer to when the freezer's re-frozen cold enough to pop them back in.