Cooking for one (Mark Three)

Brambling

Lunch sounds good Flubberyzing I'm just back from town and debating between a late lunch or piece of fruit and early dinner.

Family & friends know I'm honest when shopping so I do get dragged to shops when a second honest opinion is required. Depending who I'm shopping with depends on how I am I can range between PN and Money on the honest opinion scale . I learnt in my late teens most people don't react well if you tell them once they're wearing an outfit that it's not right for them :rotfl: I have been known to suggest to one of my sisters that a different top would work better before going out. But if I didn't know different I would say she was colour blind, I once collected her off a train wearing a bright pink skirt, mustard colour tee shirt and rust colour jacket :eek:

Popped the car to K Fit this morning as a bulb had gone and the low tyre pressure came on yesterday morning. When I went to collect it there was no charge , it seems the bulb had popped out so they put it back and added pressure and checked the tyres but as I was a previous customer no charge, I didn't mention my garage had replaced the last tyres during the service. It made up for the cost of my hair appointment

Farway

Sort of back to routine, but the tum is playing up again, skipped breakfast & have put the soaked porridge in fridge, could be nuked anytime I fancy it

Dull day, but went into town, need druggy type shops for tum stuff, Boots, Savers & Superdrug all used, I can now pop pills for a bit until my Dr appointment Tuesday.
Getting a bit peed off with tum now, but at least the camera came out clear. It has been suggested could be some sort of food intolerance which has cropped up, could be worse, the camera could have been awful result

Didn't fancy lunch due to tum, so cracked on & cleared 3 pots of runners, tried to save ladybirds & their larvae as I went. Think I rescued most of them

Feeling a bit more like food now, but no idea what, something easy, could zap the porridge, but more likely a fried egg sarnie, real sick bed food, not;)

Brambling wrote: »

Farway I know Wimborne very well, did you get caught on the bypass, I've spent many an hour sitting there :rotfl

No, this time we were lucky, maybe 'cos mid afternoon mid week, we were in the usual rubbish near Ringwood of course. The app I used for navigation did warn of accident & long delays on A31, but it must have cleared because we weren't diverted

Brambling

Farway wrote: »

Sort of back to routine, but the tum is playing up again, skipped breakfast & have put the soaked porridge in fridge, could be nuked anytime I fancy it

No, this time we were lucky, maybe 'cos mid afternoon mid week, we were in the usual rubbish near Ringwood of course. The app I used for navigation did warn of accident & long delays on A31, but it must have cleared because we weren't diverted

I was going to say write a food diary Farway, but you already have on here hope tum settles by tomorrow

I'm going down to Dorset next weekend :eek: I've already said I'm not driving down on Saturday so will be leaving early Sunday morning. Last time I travelled down on a Saturday during the summer we came off the M27 and all we could see was a line of tail lights up the hill of the A31, a 2 hour trip took over 4 we were almost late for a family wedding.

Money I have found with SW recipes that they can be a little bland and need a little extra herbs or spices. They had just finished green and red when I went, not sure how it works with Bread etc for vegetarians. It used to be a third of the plate veg which didn't include potatoes or sweetcorn not sure about peas. Basically common sense of limited sugar, fat and alcohol

Dinner was a Chinese type chicken dish with pak choi and peppers served with rice

moneyistooshorttomention

Yep...you're right on the "bland" Brambling - I must make up a container of some general mixed flavouring thing from my latest cookbooks. I can't think there will be many extra calories from the bit of nutritional yeast that's in it.

I did the Slimming World back before they decided to make some extra money by re-inventing it (whoops - errrm...that would be before they decided they "hadnt got it quite right and altered it rather for our benefit";);)).

The original plan (Green version) allows for unlimited potatoes, pasta, bananas, rice and eggs - so that was one reason it worked for me. I got thoroughly bored by it - but at least I wasnt hungry. On that note - I'd better get some rice cooked up in my slowcooker. If desperation strikes for food - then I can always mix some cold rice with fat-free yogurt and lots of fresh fruit.

So - I've got the books I bought then and see no reason to change things to their original format. So onto the Green Days version of the original plan then. I can use the recipes to some extent from modern day versions of their magazine - they've started to accept the need to include vegetarian and vegan recipes and a few modern ingredients (but not a lot judging by current issue). I've just got to ignore the "target weights" these days. The women they feature are setting target weights for themselves that are higher than they used to be by around a stone on average and I notice some of them are setting my starting weight as a target weight:eek:. There's just one woman in there that hasnt "changed upwards" her target weight to allow for the "heavier" 21st century and she looks good to me - 9 stone at 5'4" and said to be wearing size 8 clothes.

That extra two stones I've had sitting around on me for a while - so it's not a vast amount - but it is necessary to lose it to get back to 1970s/1980s weight.

Dinner yesterday real haute cuisine (not!) and consisted of Slimming World chips (baked for those not familiar with the concept:rotfl:), baked beans and tomatoes and a couple of hard-boiled eggs.:(

Next social event expected is tomorrow and it's the sort of thing where I expect there'll be a buffet there. I'm guessing it will be sliced factory bread sandwiches and pretty standard type cakes and the like - in other words I'm not going to feel tempted anyway - so that shouldnt be a DOD ("Day Off Diet") for me.

No good trying to tell someone that is a bit foodie and likes to have a bit of social life that she can just do Syns on those days - aint gonna happen LOL. More realistic for me by far will be DODS on those days.

Farway

Morning all, slept all night long, must have been well & truly knackered with the tum. However today I'm fine.
I did just have egg sandwiches yesterday, one was omelette style 'cos the yolk broke as I cracked it into the cup:o.
T'other was good old fried, Over easy, smear of oil/ butter, in a vain attempt to stop yolky dribbles down my T shirt

Breakfast was the long left soaking porridge, with banana, honey & HM yoghurt, thoroughly enjoyed that, plus pot of real leaf tea.

Bit dull weather with a hint of moisture in the air, staying in 'cos I've nothing needed at the shops, plus not 100% sure of tum to risk it just yet
Cleared away the last pot of runners, only the climbing purple French left now, I'm leaving them for 2019 seed stock as they did well this year.
More windfalls collected ready for big stewed apple bash sometime this week

Further meals are unknown at the moment, doubt much cooking will be involved, good thing about CFO, no obligation to cook or prepare

Brambling wrote: »

I was going to say write a food diary Farway, but you already have on here hope tum settles by tomorrow

I'm going down to Dorset next weekend :eek: I've already said I'm not driving down on Saturday so will be leaving early Sunday morning. Last time I travelled down on a Saturday during the summer we came off the M27 and all we could see was a line of tail lights up the hill of the A31, a 2 hour trip took over 4 we were almost late for a family wedding.

Brambling, I know the very spot, a nightmare for years. If not got already I can recommend Waze app, free, on mobile. It warns of holdups ahead, with times of queue, at least forewarned would enable you to think of an alternative before all you can see is brake lights

Money, weight things, I know you have your own books etc, but have you looked at, free, My Fitness Pal? It is US based so somethings are just weird, it uses calorie counting, which is for me, but it does have other things, and forums, which can also be a bit weird, but like MSE, one can pick & choose, non are obligatory. Just a thought

PasturesNew

Went out earlyish (8am) car booting... and as I drove there it started to drizzle. By the time I got to the field many were packing up, I shuffled round but bought nothing, the stalls contained very tatty cr4p in the main.

As I was driving past another one on the way home, called in there (max 20-25 stalls as a rule), but people'd left there too (due to the rain), so just 6 stalls left. Bought nothing.

So then I was a "bit agitated and all at sea"... and I got it into my head to make a "Sunday lunch". Went into a Co-op, but there was no food in there for me to buy ... so off to "A" and I walked out of there with a bag of spuds, mixed frozen veggies, Yorkshires, frozen chicken breasts.

So that meal will be cooked over the coming 3-4 hours in dribs and drabs.

I half defrosted the chicken (hot water & microwave) then dropped it into the SC (small/lonely looking on its own in there).... and put the SC on high - so I'll turn that down in a bit.

I'll peel/cook/mash some of the spuds .... and I'll make some stuffing.

Lunch, whatever time it arrives, will be: chicken breast, mashed spuds, stuffing, yorkshires, carrots/cauliflower/peas/broccoli. I'll toss some gravy in its general direction too.

I was disappointed "A" don't sell medium Yorkshires at the moment, maybe they only do that in the winter. They had some nice sounding veg, that included some green beans, but that was very pricey compared to the bog standard veg mix.

EDIT: OMG that was gorgeous All eaten now.

moneyistooshorttomention

One Slimming World lunch later - so baked beans on toast, a banana, an orange.

Minus side to doing this now (2018):
- now in area with much smaller choice of food to buy

Plus side to doing this now (rather than 2004 - which I see is when I did before):
- I've got a home computer now and so can readily google things
- I don't have to do a job - so don't have to think "You gotta be kidding" if I check out a possible recipe and then find it takes an hour or so to do. That doesnt matter for a retired person.
- Lots of fruit from my garden to snack on (fruit being Free Food).

Useful hack I've just discovered and...hey...it really does work. I've just checked it out. That being I'm going to instantly be able to work out which of my jeans/trousers I can now fit back into without having to try them on (or any new ones I decide to buy). A YouTuber demonstrated picking up a pair of jeans and draping the waist of them around one's neck from the back and seeing if both sides of the waistline meet in front of one's mid-throat (mens Adams Apple area). If it meets = they are the right size. If there's a gap and the two sides don't meet = too small. If the sides overlap noticeably = they're too big.

Stuff I never knew and a useful tip. Farway - I would imagine it works for men as well?

PasturesNew

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

.... picking up a pair of jeans and draping the waist of them around one's neck from the back and seeing if both sides of the waistline meet in front of one's mid-throat (mens Adams Apple area). If it meets = they are the right size. If there's a gap and the two sides don't meet = too small. If the sides overlap noticeably = they're too big.

I had to try this .... with the jeans I'm wearing.... they overlapped, so "too big" ... which is about right as I didn't have to undo them to remove them or put them back on

I'm big chested, so to see if tops would fit me, I get hold of them by the seam in the armpit, then hold it across my chest from armpit to armpit - if the top's never going to get round my chest it's obvious at that point, so no need to try it on. If it's "tight" then I'd have to think about the style/shape and whether it's worth it as it'll be tight across the boobs (so probably look funny) ...

Farway

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

.

Useful hack I've just discovered and...hey...it really does work. I've just checked it out. That being I'm going to instantly be able to work out which of my jeans/trousers I can now fit back into without having to try them on (or any new ones I decide to buy). A YouTuber demonstrated picking up a pair of jeans and draping the waist of them around one's neck from the back and seeing if both sides of the waistline meet in front of one's mid-throat (mens Adams Apple area). If it meets = they are the right size. If there's a gap and the two sides don't meet = too small. If the sides overlap noticeably = they're too big.

Stuff I never knew and a useful tip. Farway - I would imagine it works for men as well?

Well, had to try it, used a pair I know fits, yep works.
But, am I missing something here? I always just hold them by the side seams at the waist, drape round belly from front, if side seams come halfway round your waist, they'll fit.

Of course men stuff is measured sensibly, using inches and not some magic size number and thus just look at the label & choose size, which could help explain why bloke shopping takes 10 minutes max from entering shop to leaving it, including a queue at the till & a visit to the loo

Lunch was BF ham & salady sandwich

Dinner, the egg sandwich looks tempting again, because it never upset my tum and is quick & easy

moneyistooshorttomention

Farway - I'm guessing the average woman has a bigger backside (comparatively speaking) than the average man?? Your sizing trick doesnt seem to work for me - but this one does.

Having said that - my hips are same sort of size as bust and my backside is a pretty flat one.