Cooking for one (Mark Three)

PasturesNew

For tea I went with the easy option - and nuked a portion of the stew, this time with spaghetti.

It wasn't as good as the first/fresh bowl.... as so often happens. Most food is best "fresh"... few dishes improve with loitering in the fridge.

Oh well.

Brambling

I've had two wheelie bins eaten by the dustcart it's a pain to get a new one for free as they have to check with the bin men first, after the second one in three months I told the council I was getting a complex and was feeling persecuted :rotfl: I have to wheel mine across the road to the grass verge, handles out to the road and they won't empty it if the lid isn't shut :cool: they do end up abandoned sometimes in the road. If I'm not home the wheeliebin fairy aka my neighbour brings it in

Hope the antibiotics kick in soon Sunny, looks like you're too busy to be ill

There was about an inch of snow when I went to bed most of which was gone by the time I got up, the Downs have their uses they seem to steer the snow around us :rotfl: it meant we only had to deal with major road works to get to the Crematorium. It was a nice service with a lot of people, unfortunately I'll have another one soon as the neighbour the other side of me died at the weekend one was 83 the other 86 so good ages.

The IT work problem was finally resolved 6.30pm today it seems our developers finally spoke to the team I suggested they spoke to on Wednesday :mad: who identified the problem in 10 minutes I did remind my boss that :mad: So Monday will be a clean up day trying to sort any issues

Because I had to leave home at 12.00 I skipped breakfast and had scrambled egg on sandwich thins for brunch, dinner will be black bean beef stir fry with noodles there will be enough ingredients to repeat tomorrow which I don't mind

caronc

Good evening everyone,
I'm opposite PN, I prefer soup/stews etc. to have been "matured" in the fridge overnight.:cool::)
Farway - we gave up trying to sort wheelie bins even though they are numbered they always go awol so my neighbours and I have all agreed that as long as we each get a wheelie back after emptying we won't worry about whose it actually is. They come "home" eventually:rotfl::rotfl:

Another day where although the sun shone it never really got much above freezing and as soon as it got dark the frost has come back down. Looks as though tomorrow is to be another cold one and then it's to get a bit milder (and wetter) though we might get some more snow on Monday. I didn't venture into the street as the pavements were treacherous but had a few circuits of my south-facing back garden where the ice had lifted to get some fresh air and try and ignore what think is the beginning of a "wonky" flare up. It was good to get some fresh air for a short while even if my face was numb with the cold when I came back in.:).
Lurking cooked chicken breast was used up in a sandwich for lunch with another mug of leek & tattie soup. The soup was lovely but I'm fed up of it now so will make a pot of a different kind at the beginning of the week and the frozen portions can get used up in the future when I've got a notion for it again.:)
Some spare chipolatas from Christmas cooked in some of the surplus veg/sauce mix from the chicken stew for dinner for dinner while watching TV and as it's Friday a wee glass of red will be consumed.;):D

PasturesNew

I've just realised/discovered.... I've become a little fatty! Suddenly spotted a little pot belly....

I need to stop eating all the sweeties and biscuits.... oh well, it was good while it lasted.

SunnyGirl

Evening all.

Faraway Glad I solved your lunch problem :j Can you share the recipe for fruit loaf please? I used to make the weetabix cake from this forum a lot but a change would be nice.

Wednesday I won't blame you for my ear infection if it clears up quickly :rotfl:

Caron I'm another who thinks that stews, casseroles and things like spag bol improve with a night in the fridge and often deliberately make them the day before.

Brambling Good ages for your neighbours indeed although my parents are 86 and 79 respectively and I'm nowhere prepared for them to go anywhere just yet!

PN You seem to be doing well with reduced peppers Didn't you get a bag last week too?

Thank you for all the get well wishes. I didn't get all my uni work as I just felt too grim but I'll finish it tomorrow.

Lunch was soup and an egg mayo sandwich. I didn't feel like cooking a curry so just heated up a corned beef pasty that my Dad had made and given to me yesterday. I had it with garlic potato wedges and beans and it was lovely. Followed by the remaining portion of crumble and custard

Weather here very cold again and a few flurries of snow this afternoon. I'm already tucked up in bed with radio 4 on

Brambling

Sunny unfortunately both had falls one down the stairs which were contributing factors.

I don't think we're ever prepared to lose our parents

SunnyGirl

Good morning. An unusually early post from me but I went to sleep early and am wide awake now.

Brambling I think you're right about not being ready to lose parents. I thought it'd be an easier thought for me as I lost my husband in 2012 when he was just 52 but that meant that the kids and I became even closer to Mum and Dad, who helped me parent the kids and still mentor and advise them - and me! - now. It's a fact of life though I know.

Caron Glad you're taking it steady atm with an impending wonky attack. Big hugs to you xx

It's still thick with frost outside by the look of it, I'm hopeful that it may all start to melt today but we will see. I'm nipping out for bread, a paper and a prescription for my parents then will come home and snuggle up this afternoon and crack on with uni work then sock production

Lunch is going to be cheese on toast and some soup and dinner will definitely be the chicken curry that didn't get made yesterday.

PasturesNew

I am the proud owner of TWO 830g blocks of L1dl Super Weekend extra mature cheddar cheese. £2.39 instead of £3.99 (£2.88/Kg)

SunnyGirl wrote: »

PN You seem to be doing well with reduced peppers Didn't you get a bag last week too?

Well, yes and no. I did get a bag last week.... found a way to eat two ... and sliced/froze the remaining three on Thursday.... thinking "Ha, thank god that's got rid of those sitting there mocking me".... so these five will probably end up being sliced/frozen in 1-2 days' time.

The thing is .... a pepper's good, but only if you were making something that used it. When your life is perpetually eating food based around "things you have to eat/use up" which is dictated to by "what I picked up that was reduced", you've actually removed ALL choice from your diet.... which is a bummer.

Farway

Last night's dinner went horribly wrong. The HM, frozen, cooked, chicken lump turned out to be a bit bloody right inside:eek:

I'd obviously eaten the rest of the chick months ago before I froze this bit, so no doubt would've survived but didn't chance it, in the bin:(
So it was baked spud, tin of beans + grated cheese for dinner
With HM fruit cake making up for binned chicken:D

PasturesNew wrote: »

I am the proud owner of TWO 830g blocks of L1dl Super Weekend extra mature cheddar cheese. £2.39 instead of £3.99 (£2.88/Kg)

SNAP!

Woke early, lack of milk nagging me so trundled to L's for milk & hope for cheese, success. loads left:j, Maybe because mine did not have the offer price on shelf edge? Scanned correct offer OK at till with hawk eyes peeled just in case
I did have plan B of olive oil offer, but none of that about, I'm happy to have the cheese

Must be getting very old, the girl on the till looked about 12 years old;)

Breakfast was porridge, using the UHT emergency milk, tasted just fine in there, with yoghurt, honey & banana. Now I've fresh milk in again I'll use remains of UHT for porridge only

Lunch, probably cheese on toast, just fancy that, with piccalilli

Dinner, due to last night's fail, and offer Savoy cabbage in L's this morning, decided with full on roast
Pork chop defrosting, the roast will be mix of frozen & fresh, and if I remember frozen yorkies

SG, fruit loaf recipe, comes via Bunty who recently died age 97, it was published pre war in Daily Express so tried & tested

From my one go it seems very forgiving, I had to add extra milk to make it "beatable" using electric whisk, plus I used less sugar, they did have very sweet teeth back then, I used mixed fruit, veg oil & full fat milk

Mine took around 1.5 hours gas 3, I used one of Jane Asher's loaf tin liners in my bread tin, so much easier in the CBA kitchen

Pre heat your fan over to 150C, Gas 3. Lightly butter a 2 lb loaf tin and line with parchment, coming up over the long sides to help you lift it out. If you use a smaller, e.g. 1½lb tin, then you may need to increase the baking time as it will be deeper.
Place all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl in the following order:
8 oz SR flour [or wholemeal with 2 tsp baking powder]
4 oz of any sugar - caster or brown
12 oz mixed fruits and nuts to you own taste
[eg currants, sultanas, apricots, cherries, prunes and nuts]
2 eggs
4 oz melted butter or sunflower oil
¼ teas mixed spice
¼ teas nutmeg
Bare teacupful of milk
pinch salt
vanilla or almond extract

Notes: In the 1940s, they would have used whole milk, or buttermilk. Add extra spice if you wish. If using prunes, chop, but do not add until the end. A good for using up the half packets or tubs of fruit and nuts.

The original recipe told you to beat for 5 mins. Maggie tells me that with an electric mixer, beat for about 2 mins. If using wholemeal leave the batter for an extra 5 mins before placing in your tin and you may need a little more milk.

Place the mix into your prepared tin and bake for about an hour, maybe 5 mins more, until a fine skewer comes out clean. Cool and enjoy!

The cake is a great keeper, if wrapped in foil or in an airtight tin.
Note 2: I used caster sugar, sunflower oil, chopped apricots, chopped dates, cherries, sultanas, a little peel and some chopped toasted hazelnuts.
===========================
Hope it works for you

caronc

Good morning everyone,

Hope you are feeling a bit better SG.

Snap Farway - that's virtually the same recipe I have for fruit loaf that came from my Mum/Gran. :DOnly difference is mine says some diced cooked carrot can be used in place of some of the fruit though I've never tried that. It may well have came from the same source:cool::). Shame re the chook but sensible to bin it!
Cold & frosty again today and I'm still wonky so wont be venturing far. It's supposed to be another cold one tonight and then get a bit milder. I think I'll start having a think about what I want in the garden this year won't be long until it's seed sowing time:D.
Must be cheese on toast day in CFO land as that's what I've decided to have for lunch too:D. Not sure about dinner tonight possibly fish & wedges or I might use up the last portion of southern fried chicken,