Cooking for one (Mark Three)

flubberyzing

I'm now home from helping my ex-student teacher set up her new classroom. There wasn't actually that much that needed doing, so we mostly just sat and chatted, then we went out for lunch! We went to Frankie and Bennys and had a £7.99 main course from the lunch menu. Plus a drink, came to £11, which I didn't think was too bad.

Went to collect the car from the garage... Said they tried to call me... But my phone never rang! It passed, but there are some advisorys… I've booked it back in for next Wednesday to get those taken care of.

Dinner won't be anything much... I'm full from lunch still. Perhaps a bowl of cereal and some fruit later on.

moneyistooshorttomention

The mushroom stroganoff wasnt bad actually - sorta halfway between "diet food" and "ordinary food". Took a leaf out of Caron's book and thought "What can I add for more flavour?" and chucked in a bit of mustard powder, bit of sweet paprika and fish-free Worcester sauce and it was okay actually - though I forgot to add salt and pepper.

Eaten with couscous and steamed spinach and with a dollop of that "sour cream" made from silk tofu with it. Don't know whether anyone else would think that was "real" sour cream or no - the jury is out on that but it wasn't bad. Shall do that again - if only because silk tofu isnt being sold in this area yet - so I have rather a noticeable number of cartons (as that was the way it came - on buying it from Amazon).

Seem to have pretty much got my head round "Serve things on 1970s size plates to have a 1970s size figure" - so using the pasta plates I bought recently (as they're about 1970s size). Seems to work pretty well as a "mind trick":)

caronc

Farway wrote: »

Now parsley is something I never use, I'm sure it is useful stuff but most of my cooking is quite plain fare. I've grown it, but only "because I can" and the seed heads are loved by bees.

Now I have to seek out my mint for the new spuds, it's buried somewhere under the mad dahlias:(

I tend to use parsley in traditional dishes like lentil soup, parsley sauce, fishcakes etc. We always had a patch in the garden when I was growing up so it was added to loads of things.

PasturesNew wrote: »

Spent a lot of time cutting back the big fat brambles again... near the end of those now - but not digging out the root (too hard/CBA). Ground is now "shabby looking" but no longer lethal. Had to do it, the man who sells castles like mine will be taking photos tomorrow... I doubt he'll take a photo of that part of the extensive estate, but it did look a bl00dy mess before.

No idea what I'll eat later.

Sensible decision re the bramble roots, a mega job and even them they seem to reappear if you miss even the tiniest spot. As long as it's tidy it will be new owner's problem, they might be happy to be like me and have a patch and use the fruit:)


Glad the stroganoff went well MTSTM and your car got through it's MOT flubberyzing


It turned into a sunny afternoon reasonably warm as long as you were in the sunshine but chilly in the shade. I got the bottom of the flower garden tidied up and it's looning much better. Rearranged the pots that are still going strong so it doesn't look too bare.:)
"Operation Parsley" has been completed:D, I did end up using the mini chopper as there was just too much to contemplate chopping by hand. I was careful and have manage to avoid turning into sludge:cool:. I've frozen just over 150g of stalks and just over 400g of heads which would have cost me a whopping £12.65:eek: if I had bought the equivalent weight from Tesco so definitely worth the effort as it was free. I definitely think I'll be having another bash at growing some next year.:)
My Dad appeared this afternoon bearing half a sourdough loaf, he popped into the new bakery after having their bread at mine yesterday. They were sold out of the rye so just had the "standard" sourdough which comes in two sizes- huge and double huge. My Dad being my Dad bought the ginormous one and then realised when he got home he would struggle to eat it.:rotfl:I'm not complaining but my bit is huge (almost 1kg) so I'll need to freeze a bit as I still have the end of the rye one left and it too nice (and too expensive) to waste. I'll see how motivated I am tomorrow and I might make a savoury bread & butter pudding with the end of the rye one.
Tonight is a one pot bung in with a vaguely Spanish theme involving chorizo, onions, peppers, green beans, mushrooms and rice. I shall try to resist having some bread with it:).

moneyistooshorttomention

'Morning all...

Just my luck - nice enough weather out there to tempt me out exploring/going for a walk and I'm scheduled to go off to some voluntary work. Oh well....

Today - started with wondering what that tofu "sour cream" would be like on porridge. Answer - I'll try that again.

Lunch - one of the things I only eat if on a diet is canned spaghetti on toast. Though I know it ain't organic - and tomatoes are something I only ever buy the organic version of:cool:. Thinks - better take a leaf outa Caron's book again and this time I'll throw in everything I can think of to add flavour (so I guess that's mustard powder, garlic powder, onion powder then).

Dinner - the other half of that mushroom stroganoff with some "filler" food or other (maybe rice).

Must try and think what else one can use silk tofu for - any ideas? Offhand - I'm just thinking of beating some up/shoving in a variety of fruit/sprinkling with cinnamon and nutmeg and having as a pudding sorta thing. I could do with other ideas if anyone has any:)

caronc

Good morning everyone,

Can't think of anything pudding wise for the silken tofu MTSTM
It's back to rainy again though I'm hoping it dries up later.
It's "payday" so need to do my finances and pay a couplr of bills.
Tesco order arrives later as I'm runnnig short of various basics.
I think a savoury bread pudding will be made up later though I might leave it to soak overnight and cook it tomorrow.

I was planning to have butternut squash & blackbean chilli from the freezer but I'm not sure if I fancy it. I'll see what I think later.

caronc

Finances done, virtual pots updated and bills paid, time for a much needed cuppa I think.:)
Lunch is going to be toasted sourdough with corned beef & pickle. I'll have some celery and cherry toms with it and probably a peach and some cherries afterwards:).
I'm still undecided about tonight though I'm tempted to "liberate" the elderly HM pasty and have it with wedges & beans. While I've got the oven on I can bake the savoury bread pudding so I'm going to prep before lunch so it can have a good soak. I prefer to bake it and let it completely cool as I find it holds together much better and heats up fine in the microwave.

PasturesNew

I've two sausage rolls, or I could make a sausage sandwich, or I could make a very late cooked breakfast of eggs, beans, sausages, hash browns. See how I feel in 2-3 hours.

PasturesNew

caronc wrote: »

...savoury bread pudding ...

That's been on my list to get round to for about 10 years :0

Whenever I think of it I'm out of 1-2 essential ingredients, so it's always just a passing thought. I rarely have bread AND milk AND eggs in the house at the same time.... it's the milk that's rarely bought at all.

What flavour's yours?

caronc

PasturesNew wrote: »

That's been on my list to get round to for about 10 years :0

Whenever I think of it I'm out of 1-2 essential ingredients, so it's always just a passing thought. I rarely have bread AND milk AND eggs in the house at the same time.... it's the milk that's rarely bought at all.

What flavour's yours?

Basically anything needing used up :rotfl:
Mushrooms, peppers, spring onion, chopped bacon, cherry toms and cheese:D

Southern-Girl

caronc wrote: »

Basically anything needing used up :rotfl:
Mushrooms, peppers, spring onion, chopped bacon, cherry toms and cheese:D

This sounds amazing! I've never heard of a savoury one. How do you make it, please? (and cook it )