Cooking for one (Mark Three) 13 January 2018 at 8:48AM edited 13 January 2018 at 8:51AM in Old Style MoneySaving 13.9K replies 887.8K views

threepenny_bit

Hello everyone from a chilly but sunny Canada. Have been reading and running every day and glad to see the boiler and chimney sweeping went well Caronc. Reminded me to get the furnace serviced so have made an appointment - thanks!  Not much cooking this week as we are trying to use up leftovers and odds and ends from the fridge. Our  monthly fruit and vegetable box arrives today and it is always a mystery as to what we get - it is put together by local businesses and no 2 months are the same. We always get basics with a few added bits which are interesting - last month we got 2 courgettes the size of a rolling pin and three times as fat, the month before we got lots of beetroot and before that squash. Just depends on what there is a surplus of.  

Brambling

Hi geminilady I'm not sure if the cat will miss me when I finally go back to the office or appreciate having the house to himself 🤔 he wasn't allowed on the table but I gave up by April on that 🙄 luckily my work calls are vocal only although he has joined me on personal zoom calls, I'm told it's disconcerting to have my voice and all you can see is his face

are you sure they weren't marrows threepenny_bit 😁 I grew some courgette that size, they hide under the leaves. 

I seem to have killed my shredder 🥺 TBH I think I did it last time I used it, I usually take the paperwork to work so I've been collecting it for months, it shreds about 3 inches than stops and makes a lot of noise whilst doing nothing, in trying to fix it I made a mess of the floor before giving up.  I've been told curry's recycle some small electrical goods so after lockdown may ask our local store if they do as it will be less painful than a hour queuing at the tip.

Lunch was falafels which have been lurking in he freezer with salad, dinner was also from the freezer stuffed pepper and beef tomato with rice, vegetables and feta. 

Edit - I seemed to have blue text 🤔 not something I know how to do 🙄

Loanranger21

Brambling, have you tried spraying a little oil directly onto the cutters in your shredder? They need oiling periodically. I use a bit of spray cooking oil. Worth a try?

caronc

Good morning everyone
👋three-penny bit from a very cold and murky Scotland
Good suggestion Loanranger21 I was going to suggest a spray of WD40
I'm pooch sitting again today, he's no bother at all and he's developed into a proper cheeky chappie. 
Lots of admin to do today as I need to check I have everything I need for the school club virtual audit meeting tomorrow. That should keep me out of mischief. Apart from that I've not much planned though need to finalise my Tesco order that is due tomorrow.
Toastie for lunch I think and tonight we are having cheese omelettes, mushrooms, beans and AF chips. 

Farway

'morning, Brambling some shredders have a reverse function to unblock jams, mostly not the cheapo ones though

Dull & murky here as well, spits of rain in the wind, still manged my amble round the block though

threepenny_bit said:

Hello everyone from a chilly but sunny Canada. Have been reading and running every day and glad to see the boiler and chimney sweeping went well Caronc. Reminded me to get the furnace serviced so have made an appointment - thanks! 

Gasp , that sounds like serious heating, I now have images of ship's boiler rooms with sturdy stokers shovelling coal in

The salmon fillet last night from @sda Extra Special range was excellent, farmed Scottish

I'll get that again, better still on offer 3 packs [2 fillets per pack] for a tenner is £1.66 a fillet

I made up the offer with a chicken, cook in bag, unfortunately not FR, just can't find on line SM FR but maybe not looked hard enough

However it looks a reasonable size, BBE is the 1st so maybe the weekend roast?

Lunch will be HG apple with cheese + crackers

Dinner, not sure yet

Update, dinner decided, it's Morries MFO frozen liver, bacon & mash.

Need something hearty in me this weather

threepenny_bit

Ha ha Faraway - no ships boiler room! Just looks like a double size immersion heater with a large metal box next to it to be honest. It is in the basement and in its own cupboard so you never see it ... except I also have my freezer in there as it is a big cupboard haha! 

Loanranger21

I think the whole of north America refers to their central heating boilers as furnaces. Ours in the uk are about the size of a wall mounted kitchen cupboard.  

Brambling

Thanks for the oil suggestion for the shredder but unfortunately it didn't work  it does have a reverse function which works great it's just the shredding bit it's failing on 🙄  I may recycle the basket as a bin for the small bedroom as it's a black mesh ( MSE 😁)  and look out for another one, not urgent but as my return to the office is unknown I don't really want to stock pile more stuff here.

Late finish to tonight after  7.30pm and we had lunch on the run, it wouldn't have been that late but a senior colleague kept saying she didn't need us to help her finish stuff and she did 🙄 in the end I went into the process document she was working from and took tasks and handed some to another team member and the manager, we were on a Teams call so she knew what I was doing.  She doesn't like to delegate but I had visions of finishing midnight as we were waiting for her 🙄 

lunch was a portion of ratatouille from the freezer with grated cheese on top.  Dinner was pan fried sea bass fillets, new potatoes, French beans and broad beans

threepenny_bit

Loanranger21 said:

I think the whole of north America refers to their central heating boilers as furnaces. Ours in the uk are about the size of a wall mounted kitchen cupboard.  

Ha ha yes I think you are right! I am originally from England and we emigrated to Canada a while back. We had a little potterton boiler in our kitchen in Surrey and growing up the central heating boiler was a baxi Bermuda boiler behind the gas fire. 

caronc

Good morning everyone, 
When I moved to this house we had a Baxi boiler behind the fire. It was great and I was sad to see it go when it became difficult to get parts for it.
Cold and grey here though dry.
Tesco has just been and I'm enjoying a quiet cuppa before I need to gather my braincells for the school club audit. I think I have everything needed so fingers crossed it goes smoothly.
I thoroughly enjoyed my cheese omelette yesterday something I must make more often.
Lunch will be a quick sarnie when I get a chance for a break and dinner tonight is tbc, possibly a posh fish finger sandwich or similar.