Cooking for one (Mark Three)

flubberyzing

I'd also echo the call to be careful with the rice. It might well have been in a reheated state when it was served at the wedding... I'm not sure I'd want to eat rice on what would be its third heating. Just be cautious!

Last nights enchiladas I made for my sister worked out well. I actually preferred them with the mushroom, rather than the bell pepper that is recommended. They cooked down well with the onion, and complemented, rather than over shadowed, the meat. Plus I wasn't left with loads of leftovers this time!

Tonight I'm having my half term holiday treat of going to the chip shop for my tea! I only let myself go once a month at a maximum. It costs me £8 for everything I like, which is cheap as takeaways go, but still feels a lot for a single meal. Tonight is the last night of half term where I'm actually at home/the chippy is open. I'm away Friday/Saturday night, and my chippy is closed on Sundays.

For breakfast I had 2 pears, and a bite of banana (it tasted "off", so I chucked the rest). I'll have a coffee in a bit, but will then try and rein myself in on the snacks, so I'm good and hungry for chips later on.

PasturesNew

I dislike my kitchen/cupboards/sockets. Where they are located, in my mind, makes most of the kitchen unusable.

e.g. Base Cupboard 1: look at the back and there's a gap at the top of the back board. There, you can see the red gas isolator switch to turn off gas to the hob. There's also a couple of sockets there, for plugging built in appliances in. This, to me, means that the top shelf can't be used for much as those essential services/emergency switch offs need to be accessible.

Ditto base Cupboard 2: There are plugs in there, presumably for the built in cooker and the cooker hood?

There is a panel on the kitchen wall to isolate those sockets, but I find that and the sockets "a bit scarey", I like to see a socket/plug alongside what it's for

It seems, to me, that nobody "designs" kitchens at all. What they do is just cobble together a number of single base units that'll fit in the space and call that designed/fitted....

Got to pop out in a bit, walking to somewhere as it's only half a mile - will pop into L1dl on the way back and get sausage rolls. Sausage rolls for lunch today

I have food to use up, for some reason I'd bulk-bought about six tins of 4ldi 20p creamed rice... so I ate one of those the other day and I had a tin of that yesterday. Yesterday I also finished off the open jar of mango chutney (that's taken 4-5 years).... so three items fewer to eventually pack/take, or bin or put into storage when I move.

No house on the horizon to move to ... looks like I'll be one of those "homeless" types, stuff in storage and dotting about from short-term let to short-term let looking for a house to buy Hopefully ... er, still 4-5-8 weeks to worry about that.

Wednesday2000

Baked beans on toast for brekkie today.:)

Yesterday was so miserable, felt like autumn!:eek: It seems much nicer today.

dan958

Tried making some chili con carne yesterday for the first time without a ready made sauce, about 8 portions was made. I bulked out the beef with carrots and lentils, as well as the usual kidney beans, onions, bell peppers, garlic, tinned tomatoes.

It didnt have much flavour though, and the recipe I used only called for cumin and chili powder (as well as salt and pepper). This recipe also called for bulking out the meat with carrots and lentils. I even added a bit of cayanne. I could taste the slight heat, but just not much else. May try adding some sriracha when I reheat the individual containers I made up to see if that improves it.

caronc

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

I thought it was pretty standard to have a control panel that links all the appliances. Mine has a separate switch for the dishwasher, cooker, fridge etc etc so it easy to switch them off If needed.

If only - my system is fully compliant with regs and I can isolate the kitchen sockets ring at the mains if I needed.

dan958 wrote: »

Tried making some chili con carne yesterday for the first time without a ready made sauce, about 8 portions was made. I bulked out the beef with carrots and lentils, as well as the usual kidney beans, onions, bell peppers, garlic, tinned tomatoes.

It didnt have much flavour though, and the recipe I used only called for cumin and chili powder (as well as salt and pepper). This recipe also called for bulking out the meat with carrots and lentils. I even added a bit of cayanne. I could taste the slight heat, but just not much else. May try adding some sriracha when I reheat the individual containers I made up to see if that improves it.

I find lentils soak up spice/seasoning so always add more if I'm using them.


Good morning everyone,

I'll look forward to your report on the weed wand Brambling:)

Wet and grey again here so another day of not venturing out. I have a long "to do" so shan't weary.
Bacon & avocado on toasted sourdough with a mug of HM mushroom soup for lunch today. Tandoori chicken, roast veg and a baked spud for dinner this evening.

purpleybat

dan958 wrote: »

It didnt have much flavour though, and the recipe I used only called for cumin and chili powder (as well as salt and pepper). This recipe also called for bulking out the meat with carrots and lentils. I even added a bit of cayanne. I could taste the slight heat, but just not much else. May try adding some sriracha when I reheat the individual containers I made up to see if that improves it.

oh how disappointing for you.
i used to find a lot of chilli recipes on the bland side for my taste. generally any amount of chilli (whether fresh, crushed dried or powder) i've always found i need to add almost double the amount. also a goodly amount of fresh/dried herbs, tomato puree, splash of vinegar, couple of chunks of dark choc.
a homemade sauce isn't going to be the same as a jar one, i think it just takes your tastebuds time to adjust to new.
also taste before you add more spice to it later, chilli can brew, and you don't want to blow steam from your ears.
i hope its brewed and mellowed nicely for you... a good sprinkling of cheese also helps

Farway

Rained all yesterday, now sunny & a bit "close", woke up early so after breakfast off into town, milk mainly

Found some YS, posh gammon steak in W'rose + posh bacon likewise. And a near death sage plant in Wilko, 25p from £2.50, being resuscitated in a bucket of water at the moment:money:

Lunch was cheese & salady PB baguette

Dinner, think it's the YS gammon steak, frozen hash browns, eggs & mushrooms, maybe a fresh tomato so it's not all fried/grilled?

Brambling wrote: »

I brought a new toy for the garden (before I knew I would be paying for the electrician :cool:) a weed burner which was delivered to my sisters today, my patio, path and gravel area drive me mad and I don't like to use weed killer. I've had the safety lecture from my nephew :rotfl: it doesn't use flames just hot air to kill the weeds and it's electric rather than one with gas canisters so I shouldn't blow myself up I just need to avoid setting light to the fence or worst still the house :eek: :rotfl:

Ah ha, great minds in CFO land again. I've got a gas one, but the canister is AWOL.

Never used it but fancied walking about scorching weed tops. I think they're only meant to singe & wilt them by catching seedlings early before they turn into 5 foot tall thistles

Brambling

I worked from home today, although i like not driving 25 miles a day and the ability to be here for deliveries or electricians or pop a load of washing on, i do miss interacting with people I think it comes from living a lone so only once in a while suits me. The electrician came and switched the circuit for the kitchen back on and every thing worked ok :cool: I put on the kettle and the dish washer and a couple of other things and we chatted for 15 minutes and no problem at all with the electrics, even the program on the dish washer which has been problematic :cool: He can't look at the dishwasher etc only the electrics to see if they're faulty but said if a fault on any of them it could cause the trip to go. As he lives local and his daughters school is a couple of minutes away he said he would come out if it did it again but in the first instance try to unplug the dishwasher and see if that works. He didn't charge and will be back in a couple of weeks to run a check on the house electrics so I can put my mind at rest if nothing else.

Farway the new toy which is still at my sisters is a 'URBNLiving Kinzo 2000w Electric Weed Burner' according to the blurb 'the weeds' internal cells are destroyed by the intensive heat, causing them to wither and die within 24-48 hours' :eek: so I'll use it at the weekend when it's meant to be sunny and see what happens in a couple of weeks.

Dan - I agree with Purpleybat chillies and currys do mature so it might get hotter, jars and packets can have a lot of salt and sugar which give us a different taste, keep experimenting as you're find a recipe which works for you, for eight portions you need to be generous with the chilli

PN sorry you didn't get the house

I had the quiche and salad for lunch which was intended for last night, I cheated and brought shop brought coleslaw, full fat so none of the low fat mayo i use when i make it but i think i still prefer my own no excuse not to make as I have red cabbage and carrots in fridge. The quiche was reduced on the deli counter in W*itrose so a nice deep slice generous slice, not bad for 99p I wouldn't have paid the £2 full price

Dinner I'm not sure about other than it will be chicken thighs fillets I will probably crumb them in spicy breadcrumbs and airfry them as i have LO coleslaw and salad or chips and I can cook enough for LO for lunch tomorrow

caronc

Good evening everyone,
I'm sorry I missed you hadn't got the house PN
Glad you can use your appliances again Brambling, at least you know if it goes again it's one of them and not the circuit/sockets.
It's been a dreary wet day here and although it's supposed to be milder than yesterday it certainly doesn't feel it. I think I'll light the stove in a bit as a jumper, gilet & thick socks aren't banishing the chills. Mind you I've had a fairly sedentary day number crunching both for myself and the out of school group which won't be helping.

Tandoori chicken, roast veg & and garam masala spiced wedges with raita for dinner tonight, knocking a few more bits off of my "use up" list. There will be chicken left to cover further meal over the next couple of days.:)


ETA - realised when I'd dished I'd forgotten to make raita, it was just fine without it:cool:

flubberyzing

No post since 7:30 last night!? Had to scroll right down to the bottom of p1 to find you all!


I enjoyed my takeaway last night... Just had the chips and curry sauce, and then got 2 fishcakes to have for lunch today.
I'm heading off to my mums in Shropshire for the weekend after lunch, and we both decided we'd have our separate hot meals at lunch time, and then just a snacky tea, as there's stuff that needs sorting out for the village fete tomorrow.

I'll just re-heat the fishcakes and do some frozen chips or croquettes on the side, which avoids me having to open any cans. Ideally a half-tin of beans or peas would have been good, but I don't think there's any in the cupboard... I guess I could walk up to the shop... I might. I'll see how I feel in another hour or so.

I won't be able to catch up with you again until Sunday evening/Monday, so have a good weekend, all!