Cooking for one (Mark Three)

PasturesNew

Brambling wrote: »

PN sorry but your way of cooking spaghetti looks more of a hassle than sticking it in a pan of salted boiling water for 8 or 9 minutes

It's a quantity thing... for a small/CFO portion my way's quicker.

Somebody was about to cook pasta the other week and I said I'd show them my way. They'd already started. They had a pan on the hob, water in the pan and had just started waiting for their water to boil.

I got some of their pasta and my dish and used hot water (machine, not a kettle/boiled)... and I started.

When I'd finished they'd got to the stage where they had their pasta in the saucepan and were waiting for the water to be boiling again.

Also, I used a small dish - which just needed a 2 second rinse/wipe down -v- having a full sized saucepan with a handle to wash up and dry.

Nuking is best for small/tiny quantities, using dishes that are less cumbersome to wash up and taking less time.

PasturesNew

Never heard of it, but its name appeared on my local news website ... The Food Warehouse. Apparently it's part of 1cel4nd and it's bigger and like a cash and carry. I'd expect it to not cater to my small shopping whims and requirements, but there's one opening here next week so I might shuffle over and take a look.

There's a stores map on this page: https://www.thefoodwarehouse.com/store-locator/

Late last night something in my brain niggled me "You've a dentist appointment before Xmas, better check when it is". Then I thought "wonder if it's the 20th"... so had to get up about midnight and check. It was, 10am this morning. Lucky I checked! Went, all OK, but got to go back in a month.

Wednesday2000

I had bad stomach pain last night. Not sure why.

I didn't eat anything for ages so I just had a whole tin of baked beans on two wholemeal toast. Tasted lovely!:)

I'm making a veggie burger in a bun, hash browns, sweetcorn, olives and salad for dinner. I might have some cherry ice cream afterwards.

Brambling

PasturesNew wrote: »

Nuke

JUST cover the strands in boiling water.

Nuke 2 mins, check/stir/splash more water so it all remains just covered.
Repeat 3-4x until it's done. I just test a little bit to see.
Drain, serve.

PasturesNew wrote: »

It's a quantity thing... for a small/CFO portion my way's quicker.
Nuking is best for small/tiny quantities, using dishes that are less cumbersome to wash up and taking less time.

I think we are going to have to agree to disagree on this one PN opening microwave and checking 3 or 4 times is too much faffing around for me I boil just enough water in kettle and cook in my smallest saucepan and whilst pasta is cooking do other stuff, either getting sauce together or catching news headlines.

unrecordings

PasturesNew wrote: »

Never heard of it, but its name appeared on my local news website ... The Food Warehouse. Apparently it's part of 1cel4nd and it's bigger and like a cash and carry. I'd expect it to not cater to my small shopping whims and requirements, but there's one opening here next week so I might shuffle over and take a look.

There's a stores map on this page: https://www.thefoodwarehouse.com/store-locator/

Yep - it is part of Iceland, but not a cash & carry as such - it's a little more like the old Bejams (which eventually turned into Iceland) rather than attempting to be a supermarket. There's no bulk purchasing, so you could just pop in for bar of choc if you wanted to. Ours has bread, cakes, fruit & veg, chilled cabinets (cheese etc) crisps, biscuits, tins, jars, cleaning, little bit of booze all laid out around the edge, then 2-3 aisles of freezers in the middle. Good selection of vegan & vegetarian too

caronc

Good evening everyone,

Glad the NHS got you untangled unrecordings and that the cake was still good when you got back!:)
There's an Iceland Food Warehouse opened in a local town I've not been but is apparently a bigger version of the local Iceland with a wider freezer range.



Good you remembered about your dentist appointment in time PN as I assume like here they charge a not insignificant amount for not turning up.

Tbh I would only nuke pasta if for some reason I couldn't boil it. Quicker or not I much prefer bunging in a pan and doing something else while it cooks. I like the microwave for some things especially steaming veg and starting baked spuds but apart from that only really use it to reheat stuff and warm my bedtime heat pad as I really cba all the stop, starting and stirring. But as with all things CFO it's "different strokes for different folks". I did used to make a mean "steamed" sponge in when the kids were small as them and my ex were big fans of sponge & custard puddings.
"Wonky donkey" obligingly behaved itself while I was at the dentist:) but had a protest kick this afternoon just so I knew it was still there I think:mad:. I've decided draining pasta may not be my most sensible option tonight and it's a baked spud/oven bung in instead. The unmade sauce ingredients will be fine in the fridge overnight so won't be wasted. It's still blooming cold here but marginally less baltic tonight though there were still a lot of icy patches on the pavements when I was out despite it raining quite heavily overnight. I was glad I soup made for a quick, hot, filling lunch when I got home as I was cold & hungry as had not had any breakfast as the tilting can make me a bit _pale_. It will be soup again for lunch tomorrow and then the rest will be portioned and frozen.

unrecordings

caronc wrote: »

Glad the NHS got you untangled unrecordings and that the cake was still good when you got back!:)

Well they did the tangling Mrs Un had to do the untangling. I'm drawing a line under it, because the no matter how I replay it, the only outcome that could have been less worse would involve that much promised £XX billion funding increase in the NHS.
Quarter of cake left.

caronc

unrecordings wrote: »

Well they did the tangling Mrs Un had to do the untangling. I'm drawing a line under it, because the no matter how I replay it, the only outcome that could have been less worse would involve that much promised £XX billion funding increase in the NHS.
Quarter of cake left.

Whoops:o sorry unrecordings I'm glad Mrs Un was able to sort things out. She sounds like a real "good 'un" to have in your corner:D.

unrecordings

caronc wrote: »

Whoops:o sorry unrecordings I'm glad Mrs Un was able to sort things out. She sounds like a real "good 'un" to have in your corner:D.

I now have a debt to pay in Copeland Spode

PasturesNew

I dislike shopping, I'm no good at it... I had two clothing items on my list I'd like to get. I did manage to find/grab both today. Back home I've now discovered both are the wrong size

While I could "get away" with the sizes I've got, ideally they both need to be a size bigger... so I should go out tomorrow and see if they can be swapped.

Hate shopping, nothing ever fits.

One was a pair of bras... spent ages trying to remember if I was a 36C or a 38C in one shop's twin packs.... turns out I'm a 36D (checked label of existing one at home that fits a comfy treat).

Other was a xmas jumper, never had one, thought I should. Spotted one, they were mens... I figured the XS would fit, it kind of does, but I figure a Small would be a better fit for comfort.

I also bought a 5-pack of black ankle socks (£2.50). They're "just socks" and none ever fit, so they'll do. Annoyingly, socks are sold in sizes 12-3 and 4-7. Although I'm a 4 I find 4-7 too large and 12-3 too small... if only they sold 3-5!