Cooking for one (Mark Three)

caronc

Good morning everyone,
Hope lurgies and tums are better today, great that your gout has eased a bit Farway.
Weather has eased a bit this morning and DS2 has headed with Hector for a long walk with his Dad, DS1 and DIL-to-be.
I don't "do" Hogmanay but looking forward to the family coming tomorrow for dinner, games and few cocktails.
Lots of prep to do today, a steak and sausage pie has been requested however I'm not that fussed on them nor is DS2 so I'm making a pork wellington as well. DS2 will help with the veg prep when he returns. For some reason regardless of what we are having cauliflower cheese is a must as a side on New Year's Day.
Chicken wings, salad and baked spuds tonight.
Probably won't get the chance to post tomorrow so all the best for 2023 everyone. 

Wednesday2000

I do feel better Brambling, unfortunately my brother doesn't feel better so the night out tonight is cancelled. Boo.

It is shockingly horrible weather out there anyway. I just braved it to Tesco to buy wine and chocolate as it will be another night in on the sofa for me!

One of my new year resolutions is to cook more at home as I have been having far too many takeaways this year. I might make something from scratch tomorrow. I used to go on Pinterest a few times a week and get recipes to follow on there so I might start doing that again.:)

Brambling

Wednesday2000 said:

I do feel better Brambling, unfortunately my brother doesn't feel better so the night out tonight is cancelled. Boo.

That's a shame I know you were looking forward to it

i was planning to pop into town today but didn't need anything enough to brave the wind and rain ☔️ 

Lunch was a cheese scone from the freezer with a tomato salad. I went around my sister for dinner tonight and we let my nephew beat us at board games tonight 🙄 which is the norm.  I came home about 10.30pm as either my sister and I planned to stay up until midnight but I'm still up as I cough when I lay down.  My nephew was lacking stamina as he was late in last night and the cat they are looking after woke him at 6am 

Happy NewYear everyone may 2023  provide all you need 

caronc

Happy New Year everyone, hope 2023 is a good one. 

Farway

Happy New Year everyone, not that I saw it in but was woken by the bangs and flashes at midnight, here's hoping 2023 goes smoothly, my gout is easing so that's a good start, hope the lurgy & other ailments are also easing or fading anyway

Overcast but dry this morning, I may even plant some hyacinth bulbs later if rain keeps away

I'm going to try & clear out some of my freezer horde before I get more in this year, far too much still from Christmas, smoked salmon for instance frozen but not used, ditto mackerel pate, packs of bacon and last summer's stewed apples

Today, meals are more use ups

Lunch, clear out the streaky in a BLT

Dinner, eat the last of the LO turkey curry, which turned out very well BTW using the Essentials range cheapo curry sauce plus added veggies

Wednesday2000

Happy New Year.

I went for a walk on the beach today and it was surprisingly busy. The man in the shop on the way home said it was a tradition for people around here to walk on the beach on the first day of the new year. The cafes were open and had queues. I was hungry, but I ignored them as one of my resolutions is to eat out less. I made myself a toastie when I got home instead!

Wednesday2000

I tried a lentil, tomato and coconut soup recipe by Nigel Slater that I saw in The Guardian. It was delicious. I was supposed to put in lao gan ma, but as I had no idea what that is and was unlikely to find it on the first day of the year i just used chilli powder, paprika in the soup and then sprinkled some Cornish chilli sea salt on top after cooking.

Nigel Slater’s recipes for lentil, tomato and coconut soup, and for clementine and lemon tarts | Food | The Guardian

Brambling

Thanks for the recipe Wednesday, I'm always on the look out for new soups to try. I've never heard of Lao gan ma either

Today was a lot drier than yesterday 🙂 not  that I went out as I'm still coughing 😐

I'm  ashamed to say that  my fridge tidy produced a very soggy courgette, aubergine and red pepper which needed composting 😬 I hate wasting food and if I had felt better would have rehomed when I wasn't cooking.  Determined to use up my veg I did some cooking today if not eating it! I made a big batch (8 portions now in freezer) of root veg mash in the pressure cooker with carrots, parsnips, turnips, swede and celeriac. Then I made a vegetable, bean and peanut butter 'stew' very tasty but again popped into the freezer (5 portions of that) runner beans and tenderstem broccoli have been cooked and if I don't fancy it I'll freezer them as well.  I may have to do something with potatoes tomorrow to freeze? Luckily red cabbage lasts forever 🙂

lunch was the last cheese scone from the freezer, I realised I do like them defrosted/rewarded in the airfryer as they go lovely and toasted on the edges.  I didn't fancy what I had cooked for dinner so had scrambled egg on a toasted half muffin followed by a banana in Greek yogurt 

caronc

Good morning everyone,
Lovely and sunny here this morning with a hard frost. It's still below freezing outdoors.
We had a great day yesterday, I cooked my little socks off but all the food worked well. Quite a bit of leftovers which I expected after making both a pork wellington and a steak pie. Today I'll get the fridge sorted out and see what I can make for future meals. The sweeties finally got opened though the cheese remains untouched.
Today will be spent putting the place back to rights after the holidays. As long as it looks tidy by tonight I'll catch up with cleaning this week.
DS1 and DIL-to-be headed back to Glasgow a short while ago as DS1 is meeting mates at a pub to watch the Old Firm game.
As DS2's office in in England he's back to work tomorrow whereas most other places won't reopen up here until Wednesday.
Leftovers in various guises for lunch and dinner.

Farway

Back to sunshine today, ideal for beach walking W2000. We always used to walk along the prom on New Year's Day, weather permitting, along with hundreds of like-minded folks

But this year my highlight is changing the bedding, but I did plant some hyacinth bulbs and the daffs are starting to poke up, so plenty to look forward to in 2023

Fridge is looking very spacious now the Christmas stuff is getting used up, the use up what I have will continue for a few more days yet, I may even cancel my regular Asda slot next week & just get bits & bobs from Mark's or Home B's which are very close to each other

I want to look in Home B's this week for garden things, like compost, so may as well get other items while I'm there

Lunch, maybe eggs on toast?

Dinner, use up Parsley Box RM beef Stew. This is part of an offer I took up about a year back and need to get Used By end Jan. The meals are OK but pricey for what they are and for me a tin of say beef stew would be just as useful, maybe cheaper & more convenient