A Simpler Life 2018

SmlSave

Dukkah is also lovely as a coating for chicken when you pan fry - really moreish!

phizzimum

What a fantastic thread this is!

I look forward to going back and reading it from the start

Hopefully it will inspire me too

Cottage_Economy

All this talk of hummus is making me starving, but I must hang on until dinner. For some reason today I feel like I could win a pie-eating contest, I'm that desperate to eat all the time. :rotfl: Must be hormones.

Started on the paper mountain a few nights ago. Stuff lying everywhere in piles. I have a set of filing drawers so no excuse for the stuff lying around everywhere. Managed to do a fast top level sort into categories and put that in the drawers so at least I know where to go to look for something. Now I just have to take it drawer by drawer and sort into years and then months. Hopefully by the end of February I will have all the previous 4 years sorted to go in the loft (I have to do a text return every year so keep all of my household receipts in case of an audit) leaving just the current year out. Managed to throw out a box of paper to be burnt.

Also experimenting with a scanning app. I want to scan my household receipts and then get rid of the majority of them. Decided to leave previous years as paper and start with January this year, and it's going ok. It wasn't that hard to do, as 2-3 receipts fitted onto one scan.

Thinking I might do a similar thing with some of my magazines. I have quite a few upstairs, usually because I have spotted one article I want to keep. That's a task for another month though.

Only doing one new habit a month.

Oh, and a confession...when I looked under the bed in the spare room for more paperwork I found a fruit tray with six parfait jars ranging from 0.5L to 2L. And to think I wasted time traipsing round the shops looking for them.

System

What are everybody's best recipe for HM gravy? I am trying to go GF in my new quest for a simpler life & I want to make my own gravy, as have to confess I have always used the instant stuff. Any tips? Vegetarian and meat options.

Cottage_Economy

ploppy57 wrote: »

What are everybody's best recipe for HM gravy? I am trying to go GF in my new quest for a simpler life & I want to make my own gravy, as have to confess I have always used the instant stuff. Any tips? Vegetarian and meat options.

I've been gluten-free for three years now and I make it from scratch. We usually only do gravy with the roast dinner once a week, so I drain the fat off that and use it plus veg water (or stock if I have some in the fridge), half a Knorr stock pot (if needed, sometimes a good flavoursome joint won't need it) and some cornstarch to thicken.

Gave up on instant GF gravy mixes. Always tasted gritty and seemed to take ages to cook properly.

On the rare occasion I make gravy during the week I just use the liquid, stock pot and cornstarch. Lidl has the stock pots cheaply sometimes so I stock up when they're cheap, as oppose to £1.50 - £2 in Sainsbugs.

System

Cottage_Economy wrote: »

I've been gluten-free for three years now and I make it from scratch. We usually only do gravy with the roast dinner once a week, so I drain the fat off that and use it plus veg water (or stock if I have some in the fridge), half a Knorr stock pot (if needed, sometimes a good flavoursome joint won't need it) and some cornstarch to thicken.

Gave up on instant GF gravy mixes. Always tasted gritty and seemed to take ages to cook properly.

On the rare occasion I make gravy during the week I just use the liquid, stock pot and cornstarch. Lidl has the stock pots cheaply sometimes so I stock up when they're cheap, as oppose to £1.50 - £2 in Sainsbugs.

Thanks for that.

Cottage_Economy

ploppy57 wrote: »

Thanks for that.

I used to use Tesco value cubes as they were GF, until the day I found out the hard way they had changed the formulation and started putting in barley.

Had used them for years with no ill effect until that fateful day.

Learnt my lesson. Check the ingredients every single time, even if I've used something for yonks.

xhosa9

Spider_In_The_Bath wrote: »

Just another hummus idea. I don't like tahini so I make hummus with peanut butter instead. There are a few different recipes online for how to make it this way. Not low calorie though

Can I please ask about dukkah? I have just looked it up to see how it is made. How would you eat it - as a topping, or seasoning? Thanks

I often use it on soups, cream cheese on crackers, sandwiches, salads - anything that needs a pep up. Also good the traditional way- good quality bread dipped in EV olive oil then dipped in the dukkah.

maryb

Bisto powder (not granules) used to be GF and I mix it with cornflour when I'm cooking GF (as it's too strong on its own) But as you say, they change the formula from time to times on basics so I can't swear to it now - my packet is ancient

Another alternative is Marigold bouillon powder mixed with cornflour and then add a drop or two of old fashioned gravy browning - I still see that in supermarkets. It's basically just caramel

jackyann

My standard gravy is to gently fry a finely chopped onion in rapeseed oil, when golden I add cornflour and let it sit off the heat for a bit. Then I add a splash of red wine (or Martini Rosso or own brand equivalent), then make up to gravy consistency with Marigold stock. I tend to leave the onion bits in, but sieving it makes a nice smooth gravy.
This gravy is frozen in portions and suits the vegetarians who drift in and out of my kitchen. It is also useful, if a bit pressed when doing a conventional roast, I heat it up and simply decant the meat juices into it.
The great Elizabeth Luard does claim that the best way to get a really nice brown gravy is to pour some tea into it.