Cooking for one (Mark Three)

PasturesNew

Yesterday I served one of the portions of YS chicken pie with some instant mash, stuffing mix and gravy.

Did an early morning trip to 4ldi, only went in so I had "enough food" if the weather's going to be awful for 2-3 days.

I emerged with a 4-pack of oven bottom muffins, box of eggs, a tin of mushy peas, punnet of YS plum tomatoes and a bag of jelly babies, 4-pack of egg custard tarts, bottle of brown sauce,

Then it was off to Sainsbobs. I noticed their 15 packs of eggs were reduced from £1.45 to £1.25 (new price, not a YS), but I get bigger ones from 4ldi/L1dl and I already have 10+4. I emerged with a pack of fruit jellies and a loaf of their sliced white (55p, but the date is 16 August, so a week's worth).

Breakfast was 2 scrambled eggs on 2 toast - and I'm already half way through the jelly babies and jelly sweets. I'm still finding that eating these sorts of sweets makes me nod off!

Just woke up, groggy - and it tipped it down for 10 minutes; sun's out again now.

I got a portion of the chicken pie from the freezer and that's defrosting. I can't decide if it'll be mash/stuffing with that, or mash/stuffing/peas. I've really bought the peas to eat with the fish I bought/froze last week, so opening those peas ties me into having that fish within 2 days of opening the tin.

Re Peas: It used to be that marrowfat/processed peas were the cheaper option. I noticed in 4ldi that their regular tinned garden peas were 25p, with a new cheaper tin at 21p on the shelves alongside - and the processed ones were 27p. Mushy peas were 19p, so I bought mushy peas although I wanted marrowfat.

Farway

Decided, it's nuked Iceland mash for dinner nowthat PN's rain has arrived here. I'll probably have some baked beans with them, could have peas but beans will be easier option

Brambling

It's strange that the jellied sweets make you nod off PN you would have thought they would keep you awake with the instant sugar rush:) I know when I've done the midnight 13 mile walks for the hospice they have loads of sweets at the half way point to keep you going

Wednesday you obviously need the sleep maybe now it's cooler your body is catching up

I worked from home today so haven't eaten breakfast or lunch just grazed as i've worked, I went up to the garage during a long lunch break. I've eaten a banana, apple, 2 apricots, cereal bar and 2 plums and drank loads of tea so i think a early dinner will be required

I need to use up some large portobello mushrooms and the last small amount of the gammon so will probably stuff them with the gammon, courgette and other veg and maybe some rice and will sprinkle a little cheese on top or open some feta, i'll see where the mood takes me when i open the fridge :think:

No rain here yet today, in fact it's been very warm. It was due to get wet and windy (no i haven't had beans) from 3pm but it's just getting very dark out there now so I'm assuming it's about to arrive. I'm meant to be meeting my friend tomorrow in Chichester we are currently dithering on whether to meet up because of the weather she lives on the coast near your part of the world Farway and I think it's forecasted to be worst than here. I never drive to Chichester and there is currently engineering works on my route so ......

PasturesNew

Egg Custard Tarts. Over the last week or so I've decided that my "little bought dessert treat" to head for in shops will henceforth be egg custard tarts instead of little cheesecakes.

The reason is simple.... you get 3 cheesecakes for about £1, or 4 egg custard tarts for 85p. So, on the basis that it doesn't really matter to me which I have, I'll go for the cheaper one that gives me more portions

I LOVE proper cheesecake, but CFO it can't be made (too large/have to eat the entire thing), so the tiny pots have been a compromise (get 3 individual ones rather than a full-sized serves 4-6 pack). But they're not all that great in all honesty.

So it's over to egg custard tarts for me from now on.

I've just boiled four eggs and made two rounds of egg/cucumber sandwiches. Ate one round and wrapped the second lot in the fridge. Remaining two hard boiled eggs are also in the fridge. That Sainsbobs' 55p bread's nice and bouncy.

Of course, what I did was "forgot" I was defrosting the chicken pie, so I'll have to cook/eat that later on tonight... but it's early yet, so no worries about fitting it in.

caronc

Good evening everyone,
And still it rains.....
It did dry up for brief spells this afternoon, enough to let me do a bin run but the torrential showers were never far away. The sky is now like lead again and it was battering down again a few minutes ago.
I've had a reasonably productive though manly sedentary day which has appeased the wonky donkey a good bit. I finally got through to British Gas and had a surprisingly straightforward conversation re my Home Care cover which is up for renewal later this month - I threatened to leave and they reduced it a figure I was happily surprised with:D. After that I sat at the kitchen counter and diced loads of veg which are now simmering away with some jarred roasted peppers, tinned toms, sundried toms (my son's fiancee brings them back from Greece where a big bag only costs a few Euros:)), garlic and lots of herbs. I'll blitz it in a bit to make a smoothish sauce. I also did a meal plan for the next week that is more flexible re garden veg but should use up some bits lurking in the fridge. Balance permitting I hope to sort out my freezers which have become very jumbled which means there appears to be much less space then there should be. I'm hoping to need the room for surplus garden produce and a good stash of HM passatta.:D It is a big job though and I'll then need to revamp my inventory lists which I'm sure have got a [STRIKE]lot[/STRIKE] tad out of date between myself being forgetful and the kids not updating them. Until earlier this year I had a system where like was stored with like but that's all gone to pot..... I hope if I get this done to have the double height top shelf in my fridge/freezer clear or a near as dammit;). I've decided that any UFOs that I can't definitely identify are going rather than "defrost and see" but fingers crossed there wont be any as I'm much better at labelling things these days (or so I think:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:).
Lunch was a ham, mustard mayo & lettuce sarnie, with cue sticks, tomatoes, a peach and a large very ripe but very tasty Kiwi fruit ( I had juice everywhere:o). Meatballs with HM veg sauce and spaghetti tonight for dinner. I'll cook two portion of meatballs in sauce and freeze one but the rest of the sauce I'll portion and freeze to keep my options open with using it up.

Brambling

Mmmmm Custard tarts my cake of choice as long as the pastry isn't too thick the problem is four are only a little more expensive than two :cool: so my :money: head fights with my diet head and I don't buy any unless I see two YS

Rain has definitely set in here and the draft cat is sitting on the door step waiting for it to stop and won't come in

We had decided to brave the weather to go to Chichester tomorrow after all we don't do much walking around but my friend has been called in to work . At least it got me out of working . A day pottering in doors catching up on some jobs I think

I'm not sure why I left such a small amount of gammon yesterday but I chopped it up with odds and sods of veg (a lot of courgette :rotfl:) and saute until soft, the mushrooms were lined with pesto then the veg and then some mozzarella and roasted with asparagus there's enough left for lunch tomorrow. When the oven was on I roasted some cauliflower which needed using with a chilli, sesame oil, soy, ginger, garlic, honey sauce (veggie version of buffalo wings :cool:). I think i should have spaced the florets better so not as crisp as I liked. So I'll have some with lunch and the rest for tomorrow dinner with some green veg.

Like you Caronc my lists are a [STRIKE]little[/STRIKE] out of date so one of my jobs is a sort through the freezer and a meal plan for next week

caronc

Brambling wrote: »

Like you Caronc my lists are a [STRIKE]little[/STRIKE] out of date so one of my jobs is a sort through the freezer and a meal plan for next week

I'm glad I'm not alone both in the freezer mayhem and having lots of courgettes.....;)
Veg/tom/roasted pepper sauce was lovely and a definite Vit C boost, a conservative estimate is that there were 14 portions of veg in it and it's made 5 portions:). I used to make "hidden" veg sauce all the time when the kids were small and hit that age of being "funny" about veg but loved HM tom sauce (and all my sneaky variations) but I seldom make it these days but probably should more often.

Brambling

caronc wrote: »

I used to make "hidden" veg sauce all the time when the kids were small and hit that age of being "funny" about veg but loved HM tom sauce (and all my sneaky variations) but I seldom make it these days but probably should more often.

One of my sisters still does this and my BIL is 75 :cool: there is also a lot of blending some of the soup which contains the veg he doesn't like eg sweet potatoes and adding back the chunks of veg he will eat :rotfl:

PasturesNew

Last night I had a "nasty pie event". Chomping through it, there was a "funny bit", probably the end of the white/wobbly parson's nose. Put me RIGHT off it, but it was food so I had to "grow up" ... and trotted through to the kitchen and picked out all the remaining meat. So tea was: pie crust, instant mash, stuffing, gravy.

Now dreading that final chicken pie portion. I might just cook it and remove the chicken before attempting to eat the pie. I'll never buy another chicken pie from 4ldi ever again. They get ONE chance with me and "funny bits".

PasturesNew

Brambling wrote: »

... the problem is four are only a little more expensive than two :cool: so my :money: head fights with my diet head and I don't buy any unless I see two YS

This is the trouble with CFO, pack size -v- price.

In Sainsbobs a bag of five doughnuts was 65p (now 75p) - yet a single doughnut (same ones just not bagged behind the scenes) is 30p (now 35p).

So you either go without, or buy/eat five.... meaning you usually go without.

It's just such a rip off, being a CFO and buying food for one.

1 = 30p/35p
1-of-5 = 13p/15p.

It's not FAIR!