Cooking for one (Mark Three)

caronc

Good afternoon everyone, 
After a misty and very icy start it's turned into a lovely crisp day. Still blooming cold but lovely to see some sunshine 
I thoroughly enjoyed our roast chicken dinner yesterday, it's been ages since I cooked a 'proper' roast and it really hit the spot. I'll probably not cook another now until the festive bird. Although only a small chook there's plenty left for dinner tonight - chicken fried rice. Another thing I've not had for a while! My son will be in charge as I have a virtual meeting this evening. Tomorrow I'll make stock from the carcass and then a pot of chicken and leek soup for lunches. Lunch today was crackers with ham and Brie and grapes. 

Brambling

snap on the lunch Caronc minus the ham   i found the last of the opened brie in the back of the fridge, just enough for lunch with oat cakes and grapes, I brought a beetroot and horseradish chutney from M&S which went nicely with it.  Not sure about dinner yet, i have a long hair appointment at 5pm today (cut, colour, highlights) i worked through lunch to finish a hour early and as I'm parking at my sister's by the time i grab a cuppa and hopefully a baked goodie from my nephew when I pick up the car I may end up with toast and marmalade before bed    I could take a HM RM out of the freezer for didn't fancy anything when I rummaged.  I may have a cuppa and a slice of courgette cake from my freezer at 4pm 

Farway both cheese stalls in the farmers market were out of Brighton Blue and I know at least one of them picks it up directly from the producer, if I CBA i would check in W8itrose as they sometimes sale local produce but currently have no wish to hit the SMs

Due to office politics and I may be being a little bit bl**dy minded I have booked holiday from the 16th to the 4th Jan to use up all but 5 days which I can 'legally' carry over.  We were ask if we could carry over all O/S days a couple of months ago rather than taking it by a senior manager but he didn't confirm with HR until the end of last week and they have said no, I decided it doesn't suit me to be paid for them (told you I was being Bl**dy minded  ) I had queried at the time would HR allow it and was told it wouldn't be a problem.  TBH although there is nothing I can do with the time I need a break from the project we have been working on before I hit the gin and an opportunity to do the pre-christmas clean and finish the decluttering I started at the beginning of the first lockdown.  My sister will also be off as she works with children so if it's dry I'll drag her off for a few walks

Farway

Frosty start to the day, sunny in parts though

I popped out for some bananas + salady bits, Co-op out of bl00dy bananas again so I'll have to do without as I CBA to traipse around looking for them

Brambling, thanks for checking on the Brighton Blue, seems like it's as scarce as Co-op bananas

Don't blame you for taking long paid hols.

Maybe I'm wrong or perhaps it was just the firms I worked for, but I thought cash in lieu of hols was not allowed? Something to do with work life balance stuff, take a break & not be a workaholic, or even worse pressured by bully bosses to plod on without holidays

Lunch was cheese & salady sarnie

Dinner, Ice£and veg lasagne, with extra cheese on top, I'm going to try some  of their hash browns with it, in the AF this time

caronc

Good afternoon everyone, 
Happy hair cut Brambling ✂️✂️, that sounds like a good break to look forward. No point in cashing out your hols if you don't have to.
Wet and cold here, not quiet as baltic as it has been but not so you'd really notice. Virtual agm went well after a couple of technical blips at the start. Later this afternoon I'll get the reports finalised and fingers crossed get the accounts submitted to the regulator. 
The chicken fried rice was delicious and there were some LOs that I made into a quick soup for lunch. Pasta with  sausage meat balls and HM tomato sauce for dinner this evening. The chook carcass has been turned into stock but I probably won't make soup with it this week as we have fish soup on the meal plan for tomorrow. Much as I love HM chicken broth both sound a bit too much lol. 

Brambling

Farway said:.

Maybe I'm wrong or perhaps it was just the firms I worked for, but I thought cash in lieu of hols was not allowed? Something to do with work life balance stuff, take a break & not be a workaholic, or even worse pressured by bully bosses to plod on without holidays

I think they told HR it wasn't holiday but days in lieu for weekend work, which some of it was but not all.  TBH I'm tired so I'll take the long break 🙂

I popped out at 7.30pm to redirect a card put in the wrong door and there was already a hard layer of frost on the car and it was a little slippery underfoot, I will definitely notice the benefit of WFH in the morning ❄️🥶

Not sure what got into his lordship today other than the devil as he was more like a kitten than a nearly 8 year old, he stole the pen out of my hand when I was trying to write notes whilst on a call and later he managed to whip the mouse out of my hand 🙄 he decided that my monitor was a good place to 'hide' behind whilst carrying out sneak attacks on and off all day 

lunch was between calls, I put some spinach, feta and pine nut filo triangles in the AF with one which was apple and blackberry.  Dinner breaded fish, AF chips and green veg

Farway

Brambling said:

Farway said:.

Maybe I'm wrong or perhaps it was just the firms I worked for, but I thought cash in lieu of hols was not allowed? Something to do with work life balance stuff, take a break & not be a workaholic, or even worse pressured by bully bosses to plod on without holidays

I think they told HR it wasn't holiday but days in lieu for weekend work, which some of it was but not all.  TBH I'm tired so I'll take the long break 🙂

I popped out at 7.30pm to redirect a card put in the wrong door and there was already a hard layer of frost on the car and it was a little slippery underfoot, I will definitely notice the benefit of WFH in the morning ❄️🥶

It was  a  hard frost here when I looked out this morning, ideal for my porridge breakfast

Looking at Carol with the weather it seems UK is upside down this morning , 6 degrees in Scotland, zero in Bournemouth

The frost has blackened the dahlias & begonias so I may pop out & rescue the begonia corms before it gets worse, dahlias will be OK

Last night's hash browns in the AF were good, I like them with a crispy outside and they turned out just like that

Bit stuck for lunch, don't fancy yet another cheese sarnie so could be eggs on toast

Dinner, still on freezer space making, tonight is nuked Ice£and sweet & sour chicken with rice MFO

I've had them before, they're about what you'd expect for a quid but acceptable non the less

caronc

Good morning everyone, 
It may be 6C here but it doesn't feel it though it, it's a damp and grey day here.
The kitchen painting is nearly finished, just some touch ups to do, so operation clear up and scrub out begins (after my cuppa lol). Today I'm tackling under sink and a couple of cupboards to try and make better use of the space and reduce surface clutter. I suspect it may be a work in progress for a few days until I'm happy with it.
Ham & cheese toastie for lunch and HM fish soup /stew with garlic bread for dinner tonight. 

threepenny_bit

Hi everyone. Cold and wet snow here in Alberta today - roads are wet and slushy but fine for driving. The snow is late this winter and we may even have a brown Christmas  (not green as our grass turned brown weeks ago lol), the powder snow is easier to clear away and is the champagne powder one all the skiers prefer. Braising steak and liver in slow cooker for tea. 

threepenny_bit

Brambling said:

lunch was between calls, I put some spinach, feta and pine nut filo triangles in the AF with one which was apple and blackberry.  Dinner breaded fish, AF chips and green veg

do you have one of the stand up AF's Brambling? I have been looking at them with the little drawer type baskets and a rotisseries style basket. They are fairly new here and I still have one of the old T fal ones like a frying pan shape. Looking at getting a new one but cant just decide which type is best. I dont have too much counter top space so no good having a great big thing like a toaster oven.'

Brambling

Threepenny mine is the basket type rather than the actifry type with a paddle, so you give the food a shake or turn it over. I definitely recommend them and for a CFO it saves putting the oven on and I even finish off microwave jacket potatoes in it so they taste like oven baked ones.

last nights frost had disappeared when I looked out this morning and it definitely felt warmer than last night 

lunch was hummus and raw vegetables. Dinner a lazy HM RM lasagna from the freezer