Cooking for one (Mark Three)

PasturesNew

I had bread cluttering up the freezer to use up... and tomatoes going wrinkly .... and an unopened pint of milk with one day to go .... and some cheese that's going a bit hard.

So I am half way through making a savoury BB Pud. Toms, mixed herbs, cheese. It's at the "resting in the fridge" stage.

Beans will go with that....

I've still got enough milk to make two more ... and enough cheese to make four more ... and enough tomatoes to make one more ...

But this one should be two smallish portions or a piggy "just eat it all/get rid of it" portion. Won't fancy it again.

I started out to make a sausage/tomato one, but changed my mind half way through

EDIT: Well, I ate (half) that... and as nice as it was I don't fancy the second half. Maybe I will tomorrow...

Some things one's happy to eat repeatedly day after day to get through it all ... and some things are nice, but you don't want it again for a couple of months.

caronc

Good evening everyone,



If it's any help Farway my Dad was told to thoroughly cook any brassicas to help his tummy problems.
Savoury B&B pud sounds good PN, I'm completely with you as mainly with the exception of soup for lunch to eat the same thing day after day especially for my main meal. Sometimes I'll just vary it a bit re different veg or carb and that's ok. I think it stems back to when I didn't have a freezer and if I made it I had to eat it for days...
I got my porch scrubbed out and my front windows washed with left me thoroughly pooped for the afternoon. I also managed in the process to stave my pinkie:mad: and despite a good soak in iced water is very sore & swollen tonight:(. I'll tubigrip it overnight so I don't wiggle it in my sleep and wake myself up.
I spent some idling time on my new (to me ) phone and accidently managed to call my son umpteen times via WhatsApp :o, cue a somewhat panicked call from him to see if was ok. I never phone him at work so he assumed something was up:eek:. He did see the funny side though.....:o:o:rotfl:

Dinner tonight is a bit of a use up of mushrooms, spring onions, the end of a bag of ikea meatballs all cooked in the remaining beans from last night with mash. The weather has closed in again so I'm happy looking for comfort food in a bowl and cba making anything that needs too much prep. At least the house isn't freezing tonight as I've made sure all the windows are closed:D.

Brambling

:rotfl::rotfl: re the WhatsApp Caronc my mum once phoned me at 7.30am calling me by my Aunts name when I corrected her, she was indignant that I was staying with my Aunt and hadn't told her :cool: because she was hard of hearing it took a while to persuade her that as my Aunt and I shared the same initial it was more likely she had pressed the wrong speed dial button, she then said I don't want you and hung up :rotfl:

Good way of using up of odds and sods PN

I'm having problems getting back into the swing of CFO after not having to for two weeks and feeling carp hasn't helped as my appetite hasn't been great either I did go to work today and was asked why was I there :cool: didn't help that I've gone deaf again in one ear so had to keep asking my boss to repeat things :rotfl: I did get told that my boss had picked up a piece of work I usually do and had some major issues with it (his boss told me that ) I told them both I would remind them at my annual review in January :rotfl: it seems he now understands why I do a lot of swearing at the beginning of each month :rotfl:

Lunch was chicken soup, I'll have the last portion tomorrow and dinner was an omelette. Like many of us I eat and repeat not always the next day sometimes every other day especially during the winter when I batch cook more, sometimes it's easier to eat it two or three times than fit LOs in the freezer :rotfl:

caronc

Brambling wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl: re the WhatsApp Caronc my mum once phoned me at 7.30am calling me by my Aunts name when I corrected her, she was indignant that I was staying with my Aunt and hadn't told her :cool: because she was hard of hearing it took a while to persuade her that as my Aunt and I shared the same initial it was more likely she had pressed the wrong speed dial button, she then said I don't want you and hung up :rotfl:

My Dad does that loads when he's pressed the wrong number on his speed dial :rotfl::rotfl:
How rubbish that you are still feeling carp, it's bad enough going back to work after a break without feeling ill as well <<hug>>

flubberyzing

Morning!

I'm feeling desperate for a walk today, having not gotten out of the house at all yesterday. Yet it's currently raining... I'm not that desperate! Hopefully it'll clear in the next few hours.
I had bacon, eggs, broccoli and mash for dinner yesterday. I will probably repeat the meal today. Especially as the broccoli wasn't in the best shape. If I can have a good lot of it today, I might just catch the bulk of it before it turns.

I like the sound of your steak Faraway! I also love a steak, but hardly ever buy them because they always seem expensive. Although I've never really looked at the cost in Lidl, so will do next week.
I have a lovely marinade that I do on mine that I stole and butchered from Jamie Oliver. I try and put it on at the very least the morning of the day I'm eating it, but preferably, I do it the night before. I'm happy to drop the recipe here if anyone wants it.

Fortunately, my mum doesn't have a smart phone yet. She usually uses her landline to call me if she wants me. If she uses her mobile, my first thought it "what's she done now?!" She did actually phone me on Monday on her mobile, to tell me she was at the market looking at a stall of books, and did I want any!! :rotfl:

Farway

Had a struggle getting up, too warm & comfy in my pit this morning, rain overnight, now dull & cool. Hooray, I planned comfort food today

Breakfast usual porridge / banana combo

Then into assemble the beef thingy, I decided to do it on the stove top & not slow cooker. Somehow slow cooker stuff always taste much the same, not nasty, just similar tasting

I'm into use ups for some of the stew, found a small tin of BBE 2016 black eyed beans, yep, in they'll go. Plus LO chopped toms from last weeks pizza fail, in they went. Manky spuds from Costcutter? some chucked & some in the pot
The YS beef chunks were mostly fine, not too fatty at all, but I always check meat over & remove any excess fat / sinew before I cook it, old habits

It is now simmering on the stove, luckily I've a gas stove with a low simmer ring, ideal for stew. I'll turn off and reheat later
Later this afternoon the last of my HM dumpling mix will be use up for the final push.
Just wish I had some pickled red cabbage but I don't & I'm not going out just to buy some, let them eat pickled beetroot

Caron, the more I hear the more it seems your dad & I are tum soul mates. My boiled cabbage was as exciting as it sounds:( The rest of the meal was fine though

flubberyzing, Lidl is worth a look at their meat, as with most shops you can't just grab & hope it's OK, and it is British meat despite being a German owned shop
I'd love to try out your marinade, would you mind posting it here please? I've still got three rump steaks left:)

PN, savoury B & B pud, I liked my one, and sounds like yours was a good one. I'm storing stale bread at the moment for B & B part Mark II sometime next week

flubberyzing

Jamie Oliver steak marinade - butchered by flubberyzing

1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs red wine or red wine vinegar
2 tbs tomato ketchup
1 teaspoon garlic
1 teaspoon basil
a pinch of pepper

That'll give you enough marinade for one steak. I'll then douse the steak in it as it cooks. Let me know if you try it! It creates a really rich, savoury taste.


The weather has come better here, almost a few glimpses of blue sky. My walk consisted of a stroll around Waitrose and had a look at the prices of a few things.
Then I toured the garden centre. I found a book mum might like for Christmas in their little book shop, so added it to a list on Amazon for future reference.
They are getting their artificial Christmas trees out on display already! They've had Christmas cards and wrapping paper there for a few weeks already. There were a few men screwing tables together for the various Christmasy displays. I can't help but think this is ridiculously premature! Christmas is still way over 3 months away!


Had a little look at their charity bookcase on the way out. It's owned by Macmillan and it's a £1 donation for a book, or swap it for one of yours. I was very pleased to spot a book I've been thinking about buying for ages, but never quite getting around to! Was happy to give my £1, when it would have cost me £8 in the shops!

PasturesNew

I've starved so far today since because I know that savoury BB Pud is in the fridge waiting to be eaten.... and so I was "stuck" - can't really eat anything else, don't really fancy that - so putting off the inevitable time when I do get round to re-heating it... in a bit. Will serve with beans, as I've got those open.

Farway

flubberyzing wrote: »

Jamie Oliver steak marinade - butchered by flubberyzing

1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs red wine or red wine vinegar
2 tbs tomato ketchup
1 teaspoon garlic
1 teaspoon basil
a pinch of pepper

That'll give you enough marinade for one steak. I'll then douse the steak in it as it cooks. Let me know if you try it! It creates a really rich, savoury taste.

Thanks for posting, I'll have to butcher it again & omit the garlic:D


Lunch was a cheese & onion sandwich, at least no LO onion, I put that in the simmering stew, plus added two Oxo cubes and had a taster, it's missing "something" I can't quite fathom out what as yet


Just have to add the tin of beans & dumplings now, plus whatever it is that's missing, maybe if I make the dumplings herby it will seep into the stew? Don't want to bung taste stuff in randomly in case I get it wrong and can't press reset

PasturesNew

Farway wrote: »

... had a taster, it's missing "something" I can't quite fathom out what as yet

...

It always makes me laugh when the telly chefs say "taste it - and adjust ..." and I think you might not have a clue what's missing, just that "something is"

You need to have a wide experience of spices/tastes/ingredients to be able to taste something and know what it needs

Beans on toast though ... you can't go wrong

I had my 2nd piece of the Savoury BB Pud and beans... passable. Didn't fancy it, so was disinterested in eating it, but it had to be eaten.

I rarely remember to line the baking tin with foil .... and end up looking at the dirty dish thinking "should've lined that, now look how hard that'll be to wash clean again".