Cooking for one (Mark Three)

Brambling

I can see where they were coming from now Money just not then We had very little money when we were growing up, my dad grew a lot of the fruit and most of the veg we ate which would then fill the plate, it was hunt the meat sometimes, mum could stretch a joint of meat. They also had my older siblings when there was still rationing and like so many of their generation still had that mentality of nothing could be wasted. Unfortunately I have memories of sitting in front of a plate with cold over cooked white cabbage for an hour, I was as stubborn as my dad and I still can't eat cooked white cabbage :eek:

There were the standard stodgy food fillers eg dumplings to stretch a stew, crumbles etc they didn't have the awareness we have today of what's unhealthy just the need to ensure your children didn't go hungry. We won't go into the discussions we all had with my mum in later years over the evils of frying everything :rotfl:

I left home at 18 so I suppose it just goes to show how things we are taught as a child can become ingrained until she died she considered it her role to feed her family even when none of us needed it I was recently joking with my niece how she would wear you down to eventually agreeing to 'just a very small piece of puddling' and then give you a big portion in a large bowl to try and trick you :rotfl:

flubberyzing

Morning CFO'ers!

A bit of an overcast start here, but I think it looks as if it might come nicer later on.
My Mum is also of the school of thought of "just fill them up". She'll say herself that she's not interested in cooking, and just did it to keep us kids and dad alive!

Plan for today is to take a trip up to the retail park. There's a few bits I need from Boots and the pound shop. And mum wants me to have a go at doing some photo enlargements for her on the machines in Boots.

Dinner today will probably be curry.

moneyistooshorttomention

Very true one's attitude is often heavily influenced by upbringing in some respects.

I've not forgotten someone I knew (in my own agegroup) once commented to me how she knew the reason for the fact she would take any food in front of her and then eat it fast was because she came from a large poor family. With that - she said there was never as much food on the table as everyone wanted there to be and so "You learnt to eat what you had fast - so you could try and take a bit more before anyone else got it - so you got enough to eat":(

I guess one of the reasons I'm considered a slow eater is because - whatever else can be said about my mothers cooking - there was enough and I didnt have to worry I'd still be hungry. So I could take my time about eating. So - at least there wasnt a shortage of food available and I wasnt pressurised to "finish it up".

Plan for today - I'll pop down and see a friend in a moment. She's demanding to know exact details of just how much I've spent during my home visit LOL (after her initial reaction of "OMG" when I texted her).

caronc

Good morning everyone,
I'm sure my Mum despaired at times at keeping a growing family adequately fed with the budget she had, she sure could do a lot with not very much though there was a lot of starchy fillers to bulk things out. I have mainly fond memories of food growing up and was never hungry but used to hanker for a bit more choice and variety. I'm sure my tendency to have over full freezers & cupboards stems from that.:o
From this evening I'll be in "Mum-mode" for the next few days making sure everyone if fed & watered:rotfl:.
HM burgers with wedges, corn cobettes, onion rings and coleslaw tonight, hopefully that will satisfy hungry travellers and I'll make sure some beers are chilled:D.

I probably won't be about much until Tuesday so hope everyone has a good weekend.:)

Farway

Dull & cold day, but into L's on route to volunteering, a good day in there today
One YS free range chicken, just perfect small CFO size, should get at least 4 meals out of it
Fresh beetroot on offer, 59 a bunch, I love freshly cooked beetroot, went into the trolley
And, jackpot, the XXL rump steak packs are back in my store. One pack of them, long dated & they are individually vacuum packed so will freeze just fine
In the end it was over £17 spent in there, but that is at least 10 meals so reasonable IMO

Then I was given some rhubarb by a client at the volunteering, that's one crumble sorted over the next few days

Lunch was last of the YS ham slice, with salad in a sandwich

I've popped the YS chicken in the oven, so dinner is another roast one I think, but with added hot beetroot, and just had a thought, I can bung some beets in and roast them in the same oven:j

I won't add a crumble in there at the same time, too risky with my cooking skills:o

flubberyzing wrote: »

My Mum is also of the school of thought of "just fill them up". She'll say herself that she's not interested in cooking, and just did it to keep us kids and dad alive!

Our mum's must have read the same book, mine was a hopeless cook, hated it, plus it was rationing which must have made it even harder
We were told to clear the plate, one reason being people had literally died in convoys to put some of it on there. It became habitual & normal

Nice smell of chicken seeping through the house now, looking forward to that, not had roast chicken for a ages, my last attempt at chicken you may recall resulted in flies laying eggs on the defrosting leg:eek:

PasturesNew

I've been glued to the PC house hunting, which is a long-winded and arduous task....

So today I had two sausage rolls for lunch ... and I've another two in the oven right now for an early tea

Brambling

caronc wrote: »

Good morning everyone,
I'm sure my Mum despaired at times at keeping a growing family adequately fed with the budget she had, she sure could do a lot with not very much though there was a lot of starchy fillers to bulk things out. I have mainly fond memories of food growing up and was never hungry but used to hanker for a bit more choice and variety. I'm sure my tendency to have over full freezers & cupboards stems from that.:o

I probably won't be about much until Tuesday so hope everyone has a good weekend.:

That just about describes my childhood too Caronc when there was a little bit of extra money there were little treats like a Lardy cake from the bakery or I can remember dad buying mum a cream meringue, unfortunately she could cook poor vegetables to death and there could be 5 on a plate :eek:, no al dente veg allowed in our house we were convinced the sprouts went on with the turkey :rotfl:

3.30am this morning I woke up and in that half asleep moment decided someone was in the house shining a torch :eek: there wasn't and the rational part of my brain knew that but I would have loved to have been able to send someone else downstairs to check when I looked out the window there was a van leaving the Close and my neighbours security light was on, so I'm assuming it was the van lights through the curtains that woke me. I ended up with all my upstairs lights on just in case there was someone downstairs! But I wasn't going down there :rotfl:. Silly I know but real palpitations for a bit until I was completely awake and then I couldn't get back to sleep I'm blaming it on indigestion following the pizza and the murders in my book :rotfl:

Lunch was crustless quiche and salad again with some YS cherries. I decided the quiche needed to go so I grabbed the last of it for dinner on its own, may need to pick at some fruit before bed

Enjoy your weekend with your son Caronc and your house hunting PN

moneyistooshorttomention

Not necessarily silly Brambling - re the lights next door episode. I've had a few incidents in my last house and one of them was being woken up by an almighty bang in the middle of the night - caused by someone trying to "break in" next door.

You can imagine just how nervous that made me feel:eek: and there was no way I was going to open my front door and check out what the noise had been until the next day - at which point I duly rang the police.

I guess there was a funny side to it - the way the thief attempted to break in was one involving rather a lot of physical strength. So - when the police turned up on my doorstep asking about it a second time and it was clear they'd really come on a "suss the neighbour out - in case they were the one that did this" visit and I could see they were looking me up and down and instantly dismissing that idea (as small as I am it was quite clear, at one glance, I wouldnt have had the physical strength for the method used).

Mind you - there were a few "incidents" of one description or another in that house and it was all contributing to why I felt I had to sell it (whether I could afford to move or no) and it was unnerving to know that I was there on my own when they happened.

flubberyzing

Morning all,

Nice and sunny out there today, but a bit of a chill in the shade. I was up shortly after 8 and went down the street to Waitrose for my Saturday treat and the free coffee. Nearly went out without any cash though! Which would have been embarrassing!
Breakfast has been the coffee... Not good, but only do that on the weekends.
Lunch... I don't know! I'll see what I want nearer the time.
Dinner will be pizza in front of a film or Netflix. I've been enjoying 'Anne With An E' on there lately, but nearly at the end of it. It's based on the 'Anne of Green Gables' story. I went to Prince Edward Island, where the story is set, getting on for 20 years ago now. A lovely part of the world.

Sorry about your early wake up call Brambling! It's one of the downsides of living alone isn't it? I was in a house, before my current flat, and every little noise in the night used to set me off! I actually feel much more secure in my flat than I ever did in a house. Even though it can be noisier, there's that sense of more locked doors between me and the street!
Although it annoys me a lot when some neighbours in the block leave the external doors propped open for whatever reason. It vastly reduces the security of the whole property! So, unless I can see someone obviously loading or unloading something, I make a point of shutting them.

Farway

Same here as Brambling, sunny but chilly, ideal breakfast today of porridge, but had it with chopped apple for a change, plus usual yoghurt & honey

Last night's roast was tasty as I'd hoped, the beetroot I baked in tin foil in the end, got two little 'uns left over for snacking. Plenty of chicken left for more meals

The rhubarb has been stewed, just needs a crumble topping & it's ready to go, probably with yoghurt but maybe I'll get a tin of custard out if I can find one lurking.
I do not organise my cupboards, fridge or freezer, stuff goes in wherever it will fit:o

Planning ahead, I've set to record Bramwell which starts on Dave this afternoon, I liked it first time round and will be ideal mega watch on a wet winter day

Lunch, not sure, maybe some thing on toast?

Dinner, very likely to be LO beef stew, with dumplings, should really be a salad because I've loads of lettuce, but don't fancy it today