Cooking for one (Mark Three)

caronc

Glad wrote: »

I need some advice, I've got a large post of green soup on the go, broccolli, cabbage, leeks, peas, courgette and lentils, it will make 5 portions but I can't decide wether to add coconut milk or single cream to it?

Probably far too late but I'd go with cream:)

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Glad - Let us know how the soup goes with the addition.

As I've got some leeks and potatoes to use up - so conclusion was I'll make leek and potato soup for dinner tonight then. With a bit of sourdough bread and a "Parmesan" equivalent from current cookbook that will do me. So the recipe I'm going to be using for that soup includes "cream or fromage frais". Cue for me thinking - "I could try using a bit of Oatly oat "cream" instead of the cream and wondering how it would be.

Lunch - cba. So mixed cereal of healthy granola and some Shredded Wheat cereal with kiwi fruit and apple. Followed by sourdough bread.

Caron - I had a checkback at the website re walking - and it wasn't my maths in the event. It was me taking it that they'd written it correctly - and they hadnt. So I'd taken it dead literally - but "they wuz wrong" to put it the way they did.:cool:

Tossing up whether to make tofu from soymilk I've got in and, to date, have found recipes for doing so with storebought soya milk and using lemon juice (which I have in), rather than nigari (which I don't have in/couldn't buy here anyway).

If anyone has a nice clear well-written recipe for making tofu from soymilk and lemon juice - do tell. At the moment I'm there thinking "Neither of those recipes has been written very well - and I'm going to have to cobble both of them together and hope it works". One just says a "carton of soya milk" - but it's an American recipe and their cartons could be a different size to our cartons and then isnt very specific about the heating of the milk. The other recipe was also faulty.

So - if anyone has a well-written such recipe - do tell.

I hate vague "instructions" ( unless they are mine of course :rotfl::rotfl:)

It's absolutely pouring here:(.

Chicken & veggies have done their thing in the SC so will make soup tomorrow.:) My sister popped round for a cuppa and a catch up and apart from that I've been happily selecting my bedding plants for this year. They should start arriving from the end of March as I like to get them from plug plants and grow them on myself, though it does mean the conservatory gets taken over for six weeks or so....;)

Glad

I did go with cream caron

I'm planning to make a thai curry tomorrow so that will have the coconut milk in

I ordered the organic single cream with my veg box

I'm thinking maybe I could list my box contents here each week and see if anyone has any great ideas

caronc

Glad wrote: »

I did go with cream caron

I'm planning to make a thai curry tomorrow so that will have the coconut milk in

I ordered the organic single cream with my veg box

I'm thinking maybe I could list my box contents here each week and see if anyone has any great ideas

Good choice;)

Re the veg box, yes I'm sure you'll get lots of ideas, looking forward to seeing what you get in your box:)

Farway

Glad, I would have gone for cream as well, always improves meals, similar principle applies to pie crusts

Lunch expanded, I scoffed all 6 of the mini sausage rolls = 2 normal ones I reckon. Not the nicest ones, had gristly bits in them, only bought them because YS & W/rose. Never again

Then had a crisp sandwich:o

Dinner was really CBA, even though I have big pot of HM soup I CBA to heat it up, had a cheese sarnie instead, with CaronC inspired onion vinegar soaked celery. Very nice, crunchy but not too sharp & vinegary. Will repeat, hopefully not all night long:)

Fall back extra is chunk of bread pud if hungry later

I have really fancied a bowl of puffed wheat lately but do not have any in, or bought any for over 20 years at a guess. Trouble is I already have bran flake stuff & pseudo weetabix and one more pack of cereal will just add to the maybe use it sometime cupboard:( That's CFO for you

caronc

Farway wrote: »

Dinner was really CBA, even though I have big pot of HM soup I CBA to heat it up, had a cheese sarnie instead, with CaronC inspired onion vinegar soaked celery. Very nice, crunchy but not too sharp & vinegary. Will repeat, hopefully not all night long:)

Glad you enjoyed it, you never see pickled celery here in the shops, not sure why as I've bought it in France & Spain. Still it's very easy to make and very :money:

PasturesNew

Breakfast was a cooked 2 slices of toast, half a tin of beans, 2 scrambled eggs.

For lunch I had the remainder of that curry I made on Thursday... with some basmati rice - and, once it was half cooked I thought "that's not enough rice", so lobbed two hash browns on too.

Large quantities of chocolates were consumed, bag completely empty.

I then randomly wondered what's in the tiny bottom drawer of the freezer, so peeked - there was a pack of frozen crumpets dated 22 Dec, so I took 3 out to defrost (3 because they've welded together) .... later I'll toast one or two ... with a bit of chocolate spread probably.

I stayed in all day. Cold out there and I've nothing to go out for, so would just end up in shops to get out of the cold and come home with clutter I don't need.

moneyistooshorttomention

I duly added some Oatly "cream" to my leek and potato soup and think it probably came over much the same as if I'd added dairy cream to it.

Though I do have a huge weakness for grated cheese generously put on top of soups...so may not be the worlds most aware person about how soup would taste otherwise:rotfl:

So - this time - I've still got the major part of a jar of "Nutty Parm" I made up from current cookbook. This being a concoction basically of nuts/nutritional yeast/etc. So I chucked a spoonful of that on top of the soup - and thought "Now that was rather nice - solved that little issue there then as to what to have instead of cheese:)".

Your comment about the sausage rolls Farway had me thinking "Now if I had a microwave - I'd be experimenting in a very different direction to normal". Courtesy of having thought "Ach! Can't be....." about some stuff I've been reading at a few points on t'Internet re nanotechnology being shoved into some of our food (and I must admit those lengths of stuff that looked like string in chicken McNuggets did look odd). Cue for several people have put stuff into their microwaves and put suitable cover on it (including a grape cut in half) and then waiting for it to "flash and flare" unexpectedly - which it shouldnt they say - but it did and they're saying the "flashes" are nanotechnology and not the food itself. These were American sites...and I tend to think their food is even worse than British food...'tis true.

Followed by me reading a Guardian article of couple of years back - that they are indeed after adding that and all to our food (on top of chemicals, pesticides, g*netically-m*dified, irradiated, plastic in fish...Old Uncle Tom Cobley and all......). One does wonder what the powers-that-be eat themselves (ie after allowing all the mucking-around that happens to the food most people eat)..:cool:. At a guess - many of them own rather more land-they-could-grow-their-own on than many of us do (even if only in the form of decent size gardens) and, of course, buying everything possible organic.

Glad

cream in the soup was a good choice as was the lentils which I added for extra cals/protein, they gave it some texture after I blended it, 3 portions in the freezer and 2 in the fridge

dinner was the same as last night, a little chicken with onion, peas and carrots in a sauce made from cream cheese and veg stock, served with cauliflower rice

I've also oven roasted a butternut squash and some carrots whilst they were still fresh and I'll either add them to my lunchboxes or have with dinners in the week

Oh and just popped a few beetroot in the slow cooker to cook overnight

off to google nanotechnology now

mcculloch29

My appetite has been down again, so I made brie and salami toasties in the toastie maker. This one uses 400g loaf-sized slices to make four toasties at a time. I have a much older one that uses standard sized bread.
The two toasties were heavenly. Brie and salami from Lidl.

Some ginger nuts with a cuppa and that's been it, really. Lots to drink, coffee and hot blackcurrant.
I have a meal out planned for Wednesday, so hopefully my appetite will pick up before then. If not, it's a kid's portion, methinks.

[Deleted User]

change of breakfast today, very much nicer, Stewed apple plus bottled gooseberries topped with hulled hemp, few walnuts, yummy, tasty, lower calorie hm granola, topped with natural yoghurt. At last I have found the perfect breakfast, for me and am still getting my oats, although not so many. I will be putting the granola recipe into my precious blue recipe book and next time will make a blue book recipe to use up egg yolks, gold cake.

Salad with beans for lunch and rm casserole made yesterday for high tea

I hope the appetite comes back soon Mcculoch