Cooking for one (Mark Three)

[Deleted User]

Prepped for chicken breast in spicey to be baked in oven and at same time some cooked rice and onion baked. Courgettes and some runner beans (not my fav but were given to me) to go with it. Chicken chunks and pasta tomorrow. The good thing about CFO is if it does not turn out as expected (yesterdays beef mince with pasta ended up as lentil curry and pasta) at least it is usually only 1 meal and only us.

Wednesday2000

AndyCF wrote: »

What I used to like doing at one point was once the potato (or two if they were small) were ready was to open then up as per normal, then scoop a tiny bit of potato out, as in (depending on potato size!) about a third of the content, leaving a good two thirds "outer" , I'd then fill the middle with hot mincemeat+gravy mix and then attempt to put a bit of the potato back in to 'fill' it back.

Bit difficult to explain in words!

This seemed to have a benefit of not only flavouring the potato nicely a few minutes later when it was ready to be served with something like a few garden peas or other but also seemed to help keep it warmer too for longer. :T

Daresay for the non-meat eaters something like the veggie/quorn type mince would work just as well perhaps.

Hmm, I might try that with veggie mince!:T

unrecordings wrote: »

I'm currently in a bit of tangle with a brain tumour (have been for over three years, so the combination of disability, chemo appetite, steroid appetite & fatigue has curtailed things somewhat, but Mrs Un is always there to rustle up the chilli I'd planned to make, or whatever (within reason). The interesting thing is I spent 50 years being left handed, now that side of my body doesn't work properly, I've almost naturally become right handed (it took over six months for dominance to assert itself). So that's me. I hope to amuse & inform with my dietary choices and technique

Sorry to read that.xx

pattypan4 wrote: »

Does anyone on their own here actually set a table place for eating?

It's funny as I was thinking about this subject yesterday. My Grandmother moved into a much smaller retirement house when my Grandad got dementia and it was about the size of my house now. She always set the table for every meal even though it was a fold out table and quite annoying to do each time.

I eat from my desk or on my lap all the time as I don't even have a dining table!:o:D

AndyCF

Bit of a multi-quote session here sorry.

Before I go into that, I've had some sweetcorn/peas (separate items not a 'combi tin') and a blob of mash for lunch.

I've been out locally and grabbed a couple of tins of those infamous meatballs+gravy as I've not had any for a year or so. I have a vague idea of warming them up and then mixing in some sliced (warmed up) new potato slices/cubes with them, possibly add a few pea's to the mix too. That is tomorrow or Monday's meal plan.

EDIT... Realised I forgot to grab some ChicPeas I meant to 'try' as well, they were 29p too Much cheapness for the tin size. Reasonable brand too. I'll get them tomorrow.


On with the quotes (sorry!) , I'll try to put what each is about though for clarity.

In regard to 'random mince inside baked potato's'

Wednesday2000 wrote: »

Hmm, I might try that with veggie mince!:T

I Would be interested to know what you think, its such a silly simple idea. Only tip really I have is to ensure you leave a decent-ish sized ring/rim of potato on the outside, so you only fill at most a golf-ball sized hole or less depending on said spud size. Just seems to both keep it warm ( a constant problem I find I know I should probably warm plates up a bit) and neatly flavour the potato as it soaks into it a bit, but without ruining it either. Honest it does work 100 times better than I had any right to expect!

unrecordings wrote: »

Like a rustic shepherds pie crossed with a tarte tatin ?
So a tarte tati (if you've a soft spot for Monsieuer Hulot - a kind of French Mr Bean created in the 1950's by Jacques Tati)

I had to Google that to find out what it was! , well sort of but you fill in the potato afterwards, so its more or a less a 'hidden filling' , hopefully that makes a bit more sense than my usual rambling. :rotfl:

Wednesday2000 wrote: »

I eat from my desk or on my lap all the time as I don't even have a dining table!:o:D

Me either, no table! Well I have a table but its a bit too low for that as its an old Argie 'coffee' type table thing.

I was considering one of those food trays actually, the lap type ones not the ones with the legs that sit either side of the cushion, just a regular rectangular tray. I did note the ones at BM when they had them in had a bit of padding underneath which was good to prevent heat soak into legs and the tray itself also had some vague anti-slip coating on it which was sensible to stop plates sliding about, something a normal £1 tray from a bargian place might do.

Actually when I was a carer we had one of those portable height adjustable tables, quite similar to what you see in Hospitals but about half the length. and the edges were rolled up by about 1/4 inch so nothing would roll off that easily! I did mean to try to buy one as it was actually really almost invaluable for putting things on and lowering down/swinging across for him to have his plates on. I used it myself a few times too!


In regard to Potato/Leek soup:

Farway wrote: »

Well worth making Andy, you need a liquidiser, hand held blitzer thingy though to get a smooth soup.

I bung in some cheapo version of Philly cream cheese to give it a lovely creamy texture & taste
Leeks should be appearing soon , coming into season now Autumn's here

Thanks. I did have a vague idea of buying some, but if I could find it, the fresher type as in the chilled translucent type container of it ? Not really sure on this just yet.


Regarding pressure cookers:

pattypan4 wrote: »

Andy I still use a pressure cooker, I have two, one is very shallow with a lid and the other is normal sized. I do still use them and feel safe, not like in the 70s when a load of pea soup ended up on the ceiling. They have a lot of safety devices these days. I think I have too many pans really but I am not letting the pressure cookers go, nor the coloured le creuset dishes, I like looking at the le creuset but my basic pans are stainless steel and are kept in a pan drawer, I use them most of all. I don`t have a slow cooker and only recently have a built in nuker, which I have used only a few times

Brambling wrote: »

AndyCF I've a electric pressure cooker rather than a manual one, like you I remember tales of exploding valves on the old type, I tend to use it instead of my slow cooker. I don't have a soup maker, no room for more gadgets I use a stick blender if I want to blend it

caronc wrote: »

Andy - I use my pressure cooker a fair bit, it's a stove top one so does need an eye keeping on it but they are much safer now. I know lots of folk like them but I always feel soupmakers are a waste of money/space unless you are planning on making an awful lot of soup. A pan and a cheap stick blender produce the same results and are much more versatile. If you don't already have one I'd definitely recommend buying a stick blender, I use mine a lot and it was £6.

I'll just have to say "thanks all" for that, there is a lot for me to digest it seems. Although these days any new or 'good used' one is likely quite safe. I'd not go vintage shopping for a 70's model if I could find one that would be a bit of a folly perhaps for me.

Farway

SC Gammon is cooked and now cooling ready for dinner

Sun came out, bit of pottering, tidied up the strawberries and planted some new ones from SIL's rooted runners

Nibbled on some raspberries, seem to be ripening nicely now, picked last 4 plums, really ripe & juicy. I was just reading article on plums at lunchtime, now they've started fruiting it should get more & more fruit every year. Hope I remember to leave freezer space in 2020

Just been checking Trip advisor, looking for snack stop on A35, the one we often use turned Meh last time and seems it has kept down it's low standards:( Think I've found one, farm shop as well as cream teas:D

unrecordings

AndyCF wrote: »

In regard to 'random mince inside baked potato's'

I had to Google that to find out what it was! , well sort of but you fill in the potato afterwards, so its more or a less a 'hidden filling' , hopefully that makes a bit more sense than my usual rambling.

It was the upside-down-ness of it that made me think of a tarte tatin, in fact now I'm imagining a nice potato based moussaka (aubergine being the devil's food)

Wednesday2000 wrote: »

Sorry to read that.xx

Thanks - in a way I'm quite fortunate, I also made some financially prudent insurance choices twenty odd years ago, so now all I really need to do is keep breathing. Not many people can say that

caronc wrote: »

unrecordings - sounds as though you've had a rough few years. Isn't it amazing how the body adapts to cope with set backs and relearns.

Yup, there's a strange stage in the middle where you just get confused & clumsy. Plus there's some residual stuff like getting up the stairs one step at a time might be done left handed (left footed), but when I've the energy to go two steps I might do it right handed, or vice versa, or I might just get stuck while I figure out who's in charge

So that's my attempt at multi quotes, expect editing throughout the evening, after tea which is: Left over beef keema which used a Patak sauce pot, home grown tomatoes & peppers with extra garlic & ginger (and rice & pittas). It's my first keema, it was almost going to be a chilli, but I had an urge to try the curry pot with beef mince. I'm saving the moussaka idea for next week now

PasturesNew

As somebody who has always lived alone, which would also imply smaller homes... I've never got round to getting a table. I've currently got a "fake table" set up in the kitchen, which was put there to look like a dining table, just for "viewings". It's just a £19 Ikea table whose legs unscrew. They're £16 now. Well worth it for those who might one day want/need a temporary table, or a craft table, or an office table. https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/linnmon-adils-table-white-s29932181/ I picked up a linen tablecloth from a car boot for just £1 and a £1 bowl at another car boot and a collection of fake/realistic looking fruit for £1 from another car boot... so that's just all sitting there "staged" (badly).

They're expensive things when you add it up. You want a table (not just any table, if it's going to clutter up and crowd the space it has to be a nice one), then it needs chairs... then a tablecloth and a tablecloth for "best" and a tablecloth for Xmas. Then placemats, then "for best", then "for Xmas". Then you want better plates (even a full set!), then "for best" plates, then "for Xmas" plates. Ditto cutlery. So now you need a sideboard to keep it all in .... and, each Xmas, you're eyeing up the Xmas tablecloths etc again

Now let's talk about dishes.... some "for best" - ooh and some Xmas ones.

Best not to buy a table in the first place

PasturesNew

Today I've been out and about.

I started by making some sandwiches, which I later decided to leave in the fridge for when I got home.

I then made a second batch of sandwiches, which were "runny egg boiled eggs", served in two rounds of sandwiches. I ate those for breakfast.

I've finished off all the mini Bounty bars.

While out I was in a "funny mood" and thought I'd wander into a shop for some sweeties, ended up in a CoOp but didn't see any - so emerged with a LARGE pack of tortilla chips, which I opened and put into my side compartment of the car and was scoffing as I drove.

Once home I scoffed the two rounds of sandwiches I'd made earlier - and followed those up with the final of the 4-pack of After Eight mousses.

Utterly stuffed really

Wonder why

I've still got a few salted peanuts left and about 1/4 of that pack of tortilla chips.

pattypan4

we always ate at a table when we were two but I hardly ever set a place for one. Its a bit different when the weather is nice and I can sit outside and I sit at a small table.



I came back from a morning out today, took the bus and was dropped off only 2 minutes from the chippie that I had been wanting to try. I succumbed and bought cod and small chips, they were yummy but only a one-off, I cannot be doing with eating oil soaked food and anyway was over £6. I ate my fish and chips at my table because they were messier than my normal food but I had a newspaper in front of me, no-one to talk to


I am shopping tomorrow, re-stocking wit some leafy veg, cream etc

Wednesday2000

unrecordings wrote: »

Thanks - in a way I'm quite fortunate, I also made some financially prudent insurance choices twenty odd years ago, so now all I really need to do is keep breathing. Not many people can say that

Good for you.xx

When my husband got cancer a few years it was a depressing conversation with the insurance people as his type of cancer wasn't covered by our policy. Luckily, he is okay now, well, he has to have another scan this week so I shouldn't tempt fate.

PasturesNew wrote: »

followed those up with the final of the 4-pack of After Eight mousses.

Ooh yummy!:A

Brambling

Evening all

I have a table but I only eat from it when I'm feeding others otherwise I eat from my lap . Currently my sewing machine is sitting on it. A lot of newer houses don't have the room for a table and chairs anymore

Farway you're just miss the Dorset show which is on this weekend. We used to stop at the services on the A35 at Bridport, couple of miles before Chideock which looks like a porta cabin but served a very good bacon sandwich or bacon, egg and chips.

I went to a introduction to Tai Chi workshop this afternoon, it was only a couple of hours but I think I'll go to his weekly classes to give it ago, he seems patient so should be able to cope with my lack of coordination :cool: my sister came to so we walked from hers to get in some walking as well

Feeling my age today my niece turned 50 I have a very early memory of the letter arriving over breakfast saying she had arrived 7 weeks early with a black and white photo I was 5

Because I had to leave at 1pm no lunch today just some fruit and Greek yoghurt for brunch. Dinner was crispy smoked tofu with peanut and coconut sauce, rice, green beans and spinach. Caronc I followed your cooking instructions for the tofu . Enough LO for another dinner. Combination of yesterday and today's LO is slightly throwing out the meal plan as usual