Cooking for one (Mark Three)

moneyistooshorttomention

On the kitchen equipment front - you can tell it's "winter in West Wales" - as I'm catching-up with various indoor things.

So more tweaking on the kitchen front and I've discovered that bowl food is obviously a good idea for dieting - as one is more limited as to what amount of food can go in a bowl than on a plate. Those glass prepping containers I'm in the process of getting - with the way that those Amazon reviews often say "3 cup size is big enough for a meal" (though there are the odd few people that say it's too small) or the 3.5 cup size (which darn nearly everyone says is big enough for a meal).

I've translated that into = 3 cups is enough for a meal and low height medium-ish size bowls are 3 cups worth and so that will be an instant "ready reckoner" as to whether I feel my meals are correct size portions that will work better than small plates. "Cups" meaning British measuring cups.

Chopping board - and, for many years, I used to just thoughtlessly buy those standard large size ones and find them rather awkward to store etc. Until a friend here bought me a "tourist" small size chopping board. Being a "tourist gimmick" thing it lasted about two seconds. But it told me that a small size chopping board is a much more practical idea (at least for singles). So I bought myself two decent quality small size ones and I've got one that is 8" x 6" and the other is 10" x 5.5" and somehow they work out much better. Better in operation and I don't feel I have to stash them with my trays - as they are small enough to just prop up on the worksurface against the wall. Main advantage though is I haven't got blimmin' great chopping boards that I wash and then wonder how to prop them on the draining board to dry afterwards - as they fit well into a dish drainer rack.

caronc

Good morning everyone,

Oh I'm the complete opposite Money I hate small chopping boards, I have a range of sizes and I don't mind the room they take up. My favourite is one my then flat mate made from a piece of mahogany salvaged from an old window sill from a house that he was working on. It's 30+ years old and bit battered but it stands up to anything!

The first lot of logshave arrived and my son will stack them this weekend.

It's still blowing a hooley so another day of not straying for me. It's "pay day" for me so time to pay bills and sort out my budgets, I also want to do some housework so the day will pass quickly enough I'm sure.
Assuming it comes in my grocery order I'm having pizza tonight. Lunch will be soup from the freezer with some crackers and brie.

nanny_beach

batch cook, label,freeze, most folk have a freezer of some sort, and microwave. I keep plastic containers from takeaways, cream,colslaw., there are 2 of us, but I usually do actually cook for one, because Hubby eats meat, I dont!Get a slo cooker, they are magic.

PasturesNew

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

....one is more limited as to what amount of food can go in a bowl than on a plate....

That's partly why I do it - there's no urgency to fill the plate - and food in a bowl "looks more" and looks more inviting!

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Chopping board - .... a small size chopping board is a much more practical idea (at least for singles).

I used to just use a plate to chop; I don't chop fiercely, it was just something to stand the food on. I've a couple of tiny plastic "coasters" that I use if I'm just topping, say, 5-6 cherry tomatoes to go into a sandwich.

For "chopping boards" that need to be bigger, where I'm chopping a pepper, or an onion, I picked up a "pack of 5" plastic chopping mats some years ago, different colours for different types of food but I ignore that as it's not relevant for my purposes. I do intend to get "a nice attractive glass board" at some point, about 10"x6" or so ... when I stumble across one and it's sub £3... in the meantime there's no need.

PasturesNew

Two clashing events and moods today ... won't be eating until about 2ish - so I'll probably "pick something small and tasty" up while I'm out ... who knows... maybe sausage rolls It needs to be snack sized... not meal sized.

It's my annual event, when one would ideally be dossing on the sofa scoffing chocolates and crisps ... but I have a viewing occurring slap bang in the middle of the day... so my birthday treat has been cleaning two loos, two sinks, hand scrubbing three floors, tidying up, wiping down, putting away ... and it'll culminate in a finale of "go to the tip with the bin stuff". *sighs*

This evening I've a curry booked... yes, out, sitting at a table It won't be a grand affair, just one course is expected... and then a wander round the local town's festive offerings.

EDIT: And as I posted that the phone rang.... viewing might be about an hour earlier ... so now awaiting a possible 2nd phone call, as he's about to phone the viewer to try to rearrange them....

caronc

Happy birthday PN:bdaycake:

PasturesNew

Erly bail out call received... so 20 minutes to do the final "put away", that includes dismantling the whole PC and tucking it all away etc.... so, off out. Tip run, cashpoint, a few bits/bobs of food shopping to kill time.... back later when I can "eat something" and know what I had

If all else fails, my snack will be a couple of toasted mini peshwari naans of the vacuum packed variety from L1dl as I forgot I'd bought a pack of those the other day

Wednesday2000

All I have had is some pink grapefruit juice so far. I think I will have baked beans on toast when I get back from my walk.:cool:

Novice_investor101 wrote: »

Tonight's tea went as planned. Pasta bake defrosted fine -

I think that is what I will make later today.:)

Brambling wrote: »

Will done on the weight loss Wednesday sometimes the only benefit from being ill is a loss of appetite

Very true!:D

PasturesNew wrote: »

It's my annual event, when one would ideally be dossing on the sofa scoffing chocolates and crisps ... but I have a viewing occurring slap bang in the middle of the day... so my birthday treat has been cleaning two loos, two sinks, hand scrubbing three floors, tidying up, wiping down, putting away ... and it'll culminate in a finale of "go to the tip with the bin stuff". *sighs*

This evening I've a curry booked... yes, out, sitting at a table It won't be a grand affair, just one course is expected... and then a wander round the local town's festive offerings.

Happy Birthday!:)

moneyistooshorttomention

Pastures - I doubt you'd like glass chopping boards. My mother bought one and I don't think she thought much of it - so passed it onto me.

I didn't think much of it either - as I find them very "noisy" to chop on and I believe they blunt chopping knives anyway. So I passed it on in turn.....

Happy Birthday too....

PasturesNew

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Pastures - I doubt you'd like glass chopping boards....

Cheers for that... yes, the noise would irritate me. And it's glass. As a rule I prefer unbreakable items I eat a lot of snacks etc from plastic picnic plates, I drink from plastic beakers, I use the plastic chopping mats.... I am super careful, but prefer to use things I know won't break/smash.