Cooking for one (Mark Three)

caronc

Good evening everyone, 
It's been a lovely sunny day here but not as warm as yesterday and the temperature is now dropping fast. I don't think it will be long before I light the stove. 
I think I've finalised my grocery order but I've a nagging feeling I forgotten something, time will tell.
Tonight's my last CFO night for now as my son returns tomorrow, I suspect over coming months he'll be away more often but still very hard to predict how things will pan out in his sector. Thought I'd make the most of it by abandoning any pretence of cooking anything that can be given a defined name and dinner will be a one pan bung in of brown rice, garlic, lurking green beans & mushrooms, chicken stock powder and IKEA meatballs. It's not the most attractive looking but smells/tastes great and there's no one else to see me slurp it while dunking the last pitta from the freezer and watching some rubbish TV lol. 

justkeepswimmimg

caronc said:

FrankieM said:

justkeepswimmimg said:

Lunch was quiche (portion of a large one from the freezer) and baked beans. Tonight I made pork and black bean tacos 😋. Pork was leftover roast in the freezer, black beans were half a tin I had frozen and tortillas were also from the freezer. Are you noticing a theme? 😂

Hi
I wondered how you freeze the tortillas? I find the pack of 8 far too many to get through at once..

I separate mine with greaseproof paper and freeze flat. 

Yes, separate with greaseproof if I remember/can be bothered 😂, otherwise just separate them from each other (they always seem to be stuck to each other), chuck in freezer and hope for the best...

Frankie, I meal plan each week as that is how I create a shopping list - can’t remember ever doing it any other way and tbh not sure how else I would know what to buy. I try to make it flexible enough to be able to swap days when needed...

Avocado and scrambled eggs on toast for lunch. Just had miso aubergine with stir fried veg and noodles 😋

Busy day but had a 20 minute walk while the aubergine marinated, beautiful day and evening here.

FrankieM

Thanks for all your help

Today was a day of using bits and pieces up before I head off to do the shopping tomorrow.

The too good to go bags were a bit hit and miss

I'll be able to make some meals out of things and separate and freeze other things but given the driving there and back so late in the evening, I'm not sure it's worth doing regularly.

Brambling

I work from a vague menu plan which tends to list the protein but not necessarily what I'm going to do with it unless I want to try a specific meal.  I do have a well stocked store cupboard which gives me flexibility and there's always plenty of veg in the fridge.  It does change sometimes due to left overs or I don't fancy what I've planned, work overruns or something needs using up.  When I go to the office it's next to a big Waitrose with good YS so my lunchtime walk would take me through the shop to cut off the hill and maybe a quick browse at their meat and fish counter on certain days have good reductions which my wallet misses 😐

After 45 minutes in the garden lunchtime lunch was a quick cheese omelette and salad. Dinner was planned to be pork chop but I cba to cook so made a quick cheese sauce and used the LO cauliflower in the fridge to make cauliflower cheese, pork will either be tomorrow's dinner or will freeze, ,there are  two in the pack so one was going in the freezer anyway 

caronc

Good morning everyone, 
I'm just waiting for my shopping to arrive and once it's stashed will crack on with food prep for tomorrow. I need to look out my huge slow cooker for the gammon and hoping it's stashed where I think it is, not something I have much call to use in CFO life but I'm glad I kept it as the joint is too wide for pots and usual slow cooker. 
Cheese salad and crackers for lunch. "Posh" fishfinger & lettuce wraps and HM wedges for dinner. 

Farway

Another sunny day, cool out of the sun

Quick visit to chiropodist, she is now a podiatrist, no idea what the difference is & CBA to find out, she does mornings where i volunteer, so the rates are not daft

Over to the Co-op, mini stock up with salad items now weather has changed, and it never keeps from my one delivery

Typical Co-op, now changed it seems there are self service tills which I never spotted, not that i was looking anyway, one upshot of this is the bananas are now sold "each", not by weight, there was no indication on pricing on the shelf edge, never is so nothing new about that, however they were 25p each , for one banana, looks like the last coop bananas I buy

caronc said:

I think I've finalised my grocery order but I've a nagging feeling I forgotten something, time will tell.

Ooh, awful isn't it? Bit like did I leave the gas on? as you sit on the bus

Lunch was pate on stale bread toast

With the sun & newly stocked salad items I have taken salmon fillet out to defrost & its pan fry that, with salad & either HM chips or maybe boil some baby salad spuds fro dinner

FrankieM

Separated and froze the tgtg items from last night and then headed off to Aldi.

I've stuck to my general plan of the same sort of breakfast  and lunches for the week and then 7 main meals that can be eaten on whatever day I fancy them.

My only real difference to that is bacon and hash browns on a weekend

It seems the meat super 6 on my app and the items in store are a little different so it's meant a change for one of my meals, but no great problem.

I had cereal and a couple of satsumas that I had to use up for breakfast. Lunch was a bit of a tgtg feast - a falafel & hummous wrap and a lemon muffin - then an apple from my super 6 haul.

Tea was the salmon that I've been putting the menu plan for the last 2 months but not eaten. I don't know why cause I really enjoyed it! I cooked it in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper and had it with a mexican rice pouch (those things are game changers) and salad.

caronc

Good evening everyone,
Still haven't worked out if I forgot anything Farway no doubt time will tell, but the essentials and what I need for tomorrow are covered
I do that Frankie , something kicks about on my meal plan for ages and then when I have it wonder why I waited lol!

I found the big slow cooker in the first place I looked  , I think the last time it was used was when we were catering for my elder son's engagement party back in 2018! Gammon has been duly cooked and I've a large tub of glorious stock as a bonus. I'll glaze the joint tomorrow, it's massive though so I'm expecting lots of leftovers but good to get the space back in the freezer. I've prepped as much as I can for tomorrow, the downside of a salad buffet is much of it has to be done on the day. Still the chicken and curry base have been made for coronation chicken and the lentil salad just needs feta and parsley added.  It struck me that the lentil salad is pretty CFO friendly. It's an Ainsley Harriott recipe from his "Barbecue Bible book which serves 8 as part of a buffet but I used to make it for lunch when I was working as it keeps brilliantly and actually is better made well in advance of using. I use green lentils instead of puy and for a vegan option have made it with salted almonds instead of the cheese. Puy lentils with sun-dried tomatoes and feta (whats-for-supper.com)
Probably won't be about tomorrow so have a good weekend everyone.

Brambling

Farway said:

Typical Co-op, now changed it seems there are self service tills which I never spotted, not that i was looking anyway, one upshot of this is the bananas are now sold "each", not by weight, there was no indication on pricing on the shelf edge, never is so nothing new about that, however they were 25p each , for one banana, looks like the last coop bananas I buy  

That's the same as T Express Farway I have been known to get really cross about it especially as you can pick up a bunch of 4 or 5 in W8itrose for approx 50p even their bags of bananas are more expensive than other SMs 

Enjoy your day tomorrow Caronc I hope the weather stays nice for you. I do like lentils as a salad with feta for lunch as well but I don't think of adding sun dried tomatoes so may di that next time 🙂

lunch was a fish finger sandwich with tartare sauce. The pork chops ended up in the freezer as I didn't fancy them so dinner was AF new potato chips with a fried egg and a squirt of tomato ketchup a poor vegetable day today other than spinach in the sandwich and a raw carrot 🙄

justkeepswimmimg

That lentil salad sounds right up my street, I’ve usually got tinned green lentils in stock for salads and love feta and sun dried tomatoes 😋

Used the leftover miso aubergine for lunch in a pitta with some houmous, coriander and spring onion. Made lamb and spinach curry tonight, using leftover roast lamb and leftover passata both from the freezer...obviously there are now leftovers of curry 😂