Cooking for one (Mark Three)

CRANKY40

Hello all,

I've had a chaotic couple of weeks combining the HT deciding he had no friends (which involved entertaining/going out with the friends that he did have) and a weekend away.

The HT has decided to make an effort to try a broader range of food - I made him come food shopping with me this morning to see if we could find more things for him to eat. We also went through a few recipe books for ideas. Consequently, today my breakfast - toast with peanut butter and lunch of pasta salad were CFO but dinner which was home made pizza which was CF2.

Wednesday2000 wrote: »

I had vegan cream cheese and crackers for breakfast.

Could you tell me which cream cheese you used please Wednesday? The search here for dairy free and edible cream cheese has been a long one.

Wednesday2000

CRANKY40 wrote: »

Could you tell me which cream cheese you used please Wednesday? The search here for dairy free and edible cream cheese has been a long one.

It was the Sainsbury's Deliciously Free From Original Coconut Based alternative To Soft Cheese.

I like it but I haven't tasted dairy cream cheese in a long time as I went vegan in 2006!:D

CRANKY40

Thank you Wednesday. I haven't tried that one as their grated coconut based cheese alternative smelled so nasty I put it straight in the bin. We have used the Koko one but only Waitrose sell it and the nearest Waitrose to here is roughly 19 miles away - a long way to go for cream cheese. Sainsbugs on the other hand is a 7 minute walk from my house

PasturesNew

CRANKY40 wrote: »

...

Friends are over-rated

Better to have none than the wrong ones.

In the main, most are "wrong".



I've none. Yes that's sad, but I don't get coerced into doing stuff I don't want to and hating it Nor do I have to "pretend to be like them" and try to learn the correct social cues/words (and still run the risk of getting them wrong).

Having pressure put upon you to be "like everybody else" is very tiring/wearing, causing withdrawal and sadness.

"Friends" often have hidden agendas....

Friend: I have to go to town to get XYZ want to come?
You: Yes.
What actually happens: You're dragged shop to shop while they're shopping, this wasn't what you bought into at all.... and there appears to be no end. They made out it was to get one item, from a known shop and that was it, maybe a little casual look round, now they're on some mission for a new outfit they never mentioned.

Friend: I'm walking to dog to the park, want to come?
You: Yes.
What actually happens is: You somehow end up in a pub, that you didn't have the money for, or wish to be in .... and then they meet others and want to stay .... and/or there's another pub involved... and you don't want to be in this one either.... then you plod home eventually, vowing to never go out again. They made out it was a stroll there/back, it wasn't, it was them wanting to trawl around local pubs perchance to get invites to something happening at the weekend and they're using you for "company"/a shield while they do that, to appear more interesting to others as they obviously are "popular" as they have "other mates" (you).



Good friends are good..... but rare. Most can spot you're a pushover from 10 miles and make a beeline if/when they bother at all.

caronc

Good evening everyone,
Your chickpea salad sounds delicious Wednesday, just the thing for a hot day.:)
Glad the HT is going to try a broader range of food Cranky, even if it is just a few things at first that sounds like a big step for you both.:)
I think it depends on your friends PN, I have a fairly small but close group of them and some broader aquaintances that I only meet for coffee once or twice a year. Most I've known for a long, long time but some I've got close to relatively more recently mainly though work but still 10 years plus. I wouldn't be without them and they've been a real source of strength and encouragement to me when life went pear-shaped healthwise a few years ago and previously to that when my marriage broke down.:D I've absolutely no time for folk who want the friendship to be on their terms and have dropped many over the years where that has been the case.:cool:
It's been a lovely day here, not as hot as yesterday so lovely outdoors though I did retreat for a few hours when the sun was at it's peak when it was too hot to garden and there was no shade to lurk in.
I got a fair bit done today, emptied various hanging and wall baskets and potted up my winter pansies. I also potted on a SM thyme bought but not used by my elder so when he visited a few weeks ago that had well truly grown out of it's wee plastic pot. No veg picking today apart from a cue 1/2 of which was used for lunch.

I also made a batch of passatta from the toms I roasted on Sunday. I decided my hands really weren't up for rubbing them through a fine sieve and went for the more rustic option of using my hands to take the skins off and squeeze out the flesh out before blitzing the resulting pulp. I'd seen it done that way on the TV and it worked really well though definitely only for folk that don't mind getting their hands in about stuff. I got just over 750mls of passatta which I've split between two tubs a larger one for batch cooking and a more CFO-sized one. They're both in the freezer now.:)
Lunch was a salad using up the last of the tinned artichokes and opened feta. Tonight it's tagliatelle with a creamy salmon & green veg sauce which should use up most of what remains of the tub of creme fraiche.:)

pattypan4

PN, yes with spots on


Been busy for days, active physical stuff, aching and tired so food was just that, whatever I could find and thank goodness for my soups and ready meals and lttle pots of ambrosia custard. Almond butter and a sprinkle of sauerkraut on top tastes very nice on ryvita and nowt wrong with a whole tomato and a peach and a bowl of raspberries and strawberries with LO cream and a chunk of nice chocolate and not to mention that I opened a pack of lidl ginger butter biscuits today and there are none left for tomorrow. Sigh, oh well I have burnt the calories


At least I prep my breakfast, just muesli soaked in milk. Got to cope with horrible joint aches now, will disappear in a few days. Its a shame that as we get older, we know more about how to do things but the body protests

CRANKY40

PN I've explained to him that the people that he's at school with are just people that he knows due to timing and the requirement to all be in the same place at the same time. I've said that once he leaves he'll be lucky to keep in touch with more than two or three. He has joined a gaming group playing Dungeons and Dragons on a Thursday evening and he's told me that he understands what I meant now as the people that he games with feel more like real friends.

I have two very close friends and I'm also very good friends with my sister despite our parents best attempts to make sure we weren't. I did have a couple more friends but they're no longer with us - three if you count my husband as I was widowed when I was 42. I like being on my own a lot so a busy circle of friends wouldn't suit me.

In other news the HT tasted a bit of bread that had been dipped in egg yolk this morning and said that it was OK. Yesterday I put some slivers of red pepper and spring onion on one of his pizza slices and he ate that too. Slowly, slowly..... Todays's breakfast was egg on toast for me and a bacon butty for him, he'll have lunch later but I'll be working so I'll have some fruit before I go. Dinner is yet to be decided on. It depends how much energy I have left when I finish work which is four hours in a hot kitchen.

PasturesNew

Scorchio here today. I have to sign my house contract today; there's absolutely no talk whatsoever of exchange, but my agent said the bottom of the chain now has their mortgage in place and suggested I made an appointment/signed so it's ready to go, so I did.

I had a big breakfast, so I don't feel hungry while out and end up in a bakery.... I had a toasted crust of bread, baked beans, scrambled eggs.

Not much edible food in the cupboards that I fancy, on edge due to the potential success/failure of the house sale... I might pop into 1-2 food shops while I'm out to see if anything catches my eye that is either a ready meal or something quick/easy that is a meal that doesn't produce leftovers or 2nd portions. God only knows what I might see and what I might fancy if I see something.

caronc

Good morning everyone,
Fingers crossed PN that all goes smoothly:).
It's dry and sunnyish here just now but there are lots of black clouds round about so I think the forecast for showers this afternoon is correct.
Domestics for me this morning as I want to change my bed and generally tidy/clean my bedroom. If it stays dry I might wash the back windows. Depending on what the weather does later I'll either garden or do some cooking. I want to make Pastitsio (aka Greek lasgne/pasta bake) for dinner tomorrow which like lasagne it's a bit of a multi step job so easiest done over a couple of days. Lunch today will be a blt as I have a couple of rashers needing used up. Tonight it's refried beans from the freezer with stir fried veg and a fried egg, I'll probably have a pitta with it as it's only a small portion of beans.

PasturesNew

The weather changed, it's overcast now. This area's not going to get the month's rain in 3 hours the DM is predicting as their little map shows that's the top right hand corner of England.

Had to walk through a CoOp as the car park's behind it - saw the YS stuff, nothing of note. A chicken chow mein, £2.75 reduced to £1.95 is hardly going to lure me in.... could make one 4-5x the size for 1/2 of that price.

I CBA to get the food shopping I "need" (out of margarine, could do with bread). Popped into £land and, instead, emerged with 10 packs of doritos (two 5-packs of two flavours) + bag of choccies + 9-pack of dark choc/mint kit kats

Lunch has so far been a pack of doritos.

EDIT: Having said that, it's just started raining here, the "hammering down" sort. I'm sure it'll pass.