Cooking for one (Mark Three)

Wednesday2000

The rice seemed to do the trick as I feel a lot better.

My husband said "You sound absolutely terrible" when I called him to tell him.:rotfl: Cheers.:D

AndyCF - yes, I find dry crackers good as well and I sometimes have a cup of vegetable bouillon with it.

unrecordings wrote: »

This might help to pin down the problem common ingredient (and/or find a product that omits it)

https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/4831/smpc

Yikes! I think next time I'm feeling unwell I will stick to hot lemon drinks and paracetamol!

Farway

Forgot to say, I find "quite times" are similar to Unrecording's, Tue - Thurs before 1100 seems to fit around here.

Suits me as I'm retired so no work to get to, and the L's trip is just after 8, and the others would mainly be before 10

The soup & crust went well for lunch
Gammon now cooked, out & cooling. I think it will be with HM skin on chips, plus fried eggs. Still wet & manky out so it's right weather, knocked the ham salad idea on head anyway

I fancied something sweet, so made some banana cookies. No sugar used, just relying on natural banana sweetness. They are also now cooling and awaiting sampling;)

AndyCF wrote: »

@caronc / @farway : Thank you both for your advice and thoughts regarding voluntary works. I would pass a CRB or other similar such checks without any concern.

When I looked a few years ago into part time nursing home work one place had the cheek to want a valid cert -before- giving me an interview. It was when I looked into this and realised that it was not transferable , it was pointless as I would of been in effect 'paying for an interview' ! Needless to say I did not take this one any further.

The others I looked at although they wanted (in most cases) me to fork out for a cert, they would refund its cost after six months. My own view is it ought to be refunded out of the first or at a push second months salary but each to their own. Generally those wanting a new job funds are tight and the 50 to 70 (I'm guessing here) cost of the cert is a big chunk relatively especially if its not returned within a sane time period (six months is not sane!) I may look into this 'work area' again as I do not mind nights/evening work, I actually prefer it to early mornings anyway.

Asking the potential volunteer to pay for CRB check is a bit cheeky IMO, we pay for our volunteers ones even though we are a charity. All our volunteers are unpaid so to expect them to fork out money just to give their time is really pushing it
We do informal chat / interview first though so potential problems can be found there simply by asking and telling them we will check

I know we have had volunteers come to us because some places put formal interviews and all sorts of barriers in the way of people who really only want to help, luckily we are small & local so not following some remote head office HR rules

unrecordings

unrecordings wrote: »

Ramen this evening for me as it was full on fish & chips for tea last night, and a cooked breakfast. Only problem is that I can't be bothered to venture outside to collect some leaves & herbs as my knees hurt - but that might change later

Had a cup of tea and ventured out in the end for half an hour & got some nice bits & pieces: kale, lettuce, hairy bittercress, tarragon, celery, lovage, malabar spinach, beetroot, carrot, nasturtiums, chard & garlic chives so we're sorted:j

PasturesNew

Today I finally plucked up the courage to use a gas hob for the first time ever. Twisted a knob, could hear gas, it was sparking, nothing happened. So I tried another knob and one ignited but was some "simmering" hob bit as it was small/weak flamed. So then I tried the first one again and it didn't light up and then I tried another and it lit up and the flame was "good enough"....

So I knocked up a 2 egg cheese omelette, served with chips. Utterly gorgeous, immaculate/perfect... but eyes bigger than my belly so I struggled towards the end

I am petrified of hobs/ovens .... but, as this isn't "my house" I'm trying to force myself to use them because if the whole house catches fire it's not my house/problem. It's not my cooking that'd catch fire, I have fears over electrics, broken wires, hidden inadequate cables hidden behind walls and weakening/loose unseen.....

Brambling

Evening all

Well done PN I know it's not something you like to do, especially seeing as its gas I used gas for the first time in 30 years on holiday and had problems remembering how to use it

Andy I think they changed the rules so you only have to have one CRB check rather than one for each job, I'm sure my sis who has three part time jobs all involving children has just the one certificate and I think a ref number to use, Farway ?

Hope you're feeling better Wednesday I'm lucky as my sore throat and raised glands didn't come to anything

One of my working from home Saturdays today but not too bad, I worked a couple of hours 12-2 and then again 5-7 and everything went smoothly I spent the morning in the kitchen after sorting the fridge I made a batch of vegetable and bean soup (adding a tin of mixed beans in tomato sauce) and a little bacon, I may add some of the gammon when I cook it :think: mashed a couple of old potatoes which I may freeze or do bubble and squeak on Monday with gammon, cooked some new potatoes which are also in the fridge for air fried chips and then cooked plums, apples, blackberries and red currants which may make my breakfast porridge . And then chopped up the pineapple I brought YS yesterday as well as prepping the veg for a stir fry for dinner

Lunch was the LO chicken thigh from yesterday and some cooked fruit (not together). Dinner was a large beef and veg stir fry with just veg and beef cooked with ginger, garlic and chilli

AndyCF

Evening all

@Wednesday2000 good to know you're a bit better now.

I had a thought earlier again about the instant cup-soup. If you or anyone else had any input on this idea I'd be pleased:

Instead of getting the instant veg soup cup things, grab a pack of veg stock cubes, use half to possibly one (too much?) in a mug, then you have a quick veg base. Simply then via another mug+bit of water a few small veg bits, as in say a teaspoons worth of peas/sweetcorn etc. Once hot, add to mug stock.

Instant 'extra veg' mug soup ? , I can see this working as long as only a few tiny bits of veg are added, otherwise you're making a bowl soup in effect. I mean literally add about ten pea's etc etc simply to erm 'tart up' the plain veggie stock. No different to drinking the xox beef one I suppose.

@Farway that job where they wanted it in advance was a min-wage paid one assistant at a care home for elderly. Still exceptionally cheeky to want one before an interview though! I can see why they might want one before starting work but that's different. Even the unpleasant 'advisor' in JobCentre (just about) agreed it was not quite 'correct to expect to 'pay for an interview' as I put it to him. He did not really have an answer anyway. This was about 2014/2015 if I remember correctly. This was when they sort of in my opinion at least almost forced unsuitable choices onto you. It may of changed a bit now.

Perhaps unsurprisingly said vacancy stayed unfilled for a while when I looked again I recall a few weeks later!

@unrecordings, sounds like you got the 'full set' of goodies. :T


@PN that's good to read in a way that you at least tried it out. For what little it means I don't like electric hobs I do have one of those twin 'hotplate' things but its a 70's or 80's item for emergencies only. The fact it keeps getting hotter when its turned off for a few minutes it seems due to the ceramic plate things is disturbing, at least with the gas I know what control I have. To be fair to myself the older 'electric ring' type things I'd probably be OK with aside from the electricity bill.

Each to their own though. Perhaps some kind of erm "halfway compromise" like one of the GF type grill things or an airfryer might be something for the future ? The airy fryer may be the way to go if you do not have one. It is on my ever expanding list, I recall saying that about a year ago too, its still there it will eventually happen!

I use a candle lighter for my gas hob, just looks like a cigarette lighter with a stalk on it. The electric spark you have to press a button for but its never really worked properly and now its not plugged in either due to no socket for it anymore. Previous cooker about 20 years ago had a couple of large D batteries in for the same, that was actually very reliable all-in-all.


@Brambling I'll try to double check the rules again to see if they have changed. I think it can be 'set' to apply to differing places as you say but I think if and I'm likely wrong here: If you worked at "company A" for two months then left and moved to "company B" you'd have to pay for a new one. I don't know if they have some expiry date on them but that would be silly as all they really say as I understand it is "this person passes the checks as of this moment in time" , to be honest a bit like a car's M.O.T really (few exceptions on boring things I won't go into) its really only 'accurate there and then'

Your veg+bean soups sound excellent too.


Slightly off topic again sorry but it is food related, has anyone seen that 'snackmasters' on TV the other night ? It was CH4. I missed it last week and this week although I think its repeated. Basically they try to 'replicate' a product from scratch. Last week was kitty-kat choc bars and this weeks was monstery munch crisps. Next one is some kind of burger. It does look like it is possibly worth a watch, for inspiration / ideas "I can use that to do xyz with" perhaps.


Settled on a quick soup earlier in the end, did not really feel like doing much else. Does mean I have a decent veg selection as well as some meat** to use tomorrow though now. :T

**As in either a mini pot of meat paste or a small tin (sorry) of that 'bacon-grill' luncheon type stuff. Its actually quite nice, honest.

unrecordings

AndyCF wrote: »

@unrecordings, sounds like you got the 'full set' of goodies.

Yup, plus some stuff from the fridge (padron pepper, carrot, shallot, cauliflower..) I also tend to graze when I'm making ramen, so usually a very healthy light meal - although this time I was test driving a new bowl approx 10"x 2" deep (£4 from Matalan) and overfilled it resulting in far too much. Ham was/is honey roast so Cat wasn't interested

AndyCF wrote: »

has anyone seen that 'snackmasters' on TV the other night ? It was CH4. I missed it last week and this week although I think its repeated. Basically they try to 'replicate' a product from scratch. Last week was kitty-kat choc bars and this weeks was monstery munch crisps. Next one is some kind of burger. It does look like it is possibly worth a watch, for inspiration / ideas "I can use that to do xyz with" perhaps.

I love it, though it could easily get boring so might not last long. The basic premise is not so much the Masterchef invention test, but take a classic snack, and try to exactly recreate it using the knowledge & skill of a pair of super competitive chefs pitted against each other

Brambling

AndyCF wrote: »

@Brambling I'll try to double check the rules again to see if they have changed. I think it can be 'set' to apply to differing places as you say but I think if and I'm likely wrong here: If you worked at "company A" for two months then left and moved to "company B" you'd have to pay for a new one. I don't know if they have some expiry date on them but that would be silly as all they really say as I understand it is "this person passes the checks as of this moment in time" , to be honest a bit like a car's M.O.T really (few exceptions on boring things I won't go into) its really only 'accurate there and then' .

You're right they are only as valid for the day they were created, but I believe now as it relates to you it is portable so you give the new company your code and they check it, I know when my sister got her last job they were happy she had her CRB as it meant they didn't have to wait until she got one. When they first came out you needed one for every role for example one for each paying job and one for any volunteering work (scouts etc) but they had to change as it didn't work and there were long delays in getting one

I'm not sure how nutritious or filling half a stock cube with 10 peas in would be, but I don't drink cuppa soups either so each to his own

PasturesNew

It's cold, it's damp, it's a bit blowy.

I think a cooked breakfast will be eaten shortly. Hash browns, sausages, beans, scrambled eggs. That's the plan, but if I CBA or think of something else that can change even if I've already got things out from the cupboard.

It can be a bit annoying to cook in a shared kitchen as you're super-conscious of what's where/what needs washing up etc as you're cooking. Just the other day I cooked my cooked breakfast and had washed up and left the clean dishes just draining until I'd eaten, then the LL appeared and after 2-3 minutes was mithering about who had left the dishes/whose were they? And I was half way through eating my meal and had to say they were mine.... it "grates". Glad I don't have to live forever in any form of shared housing....

Wednesday2000

I've had PB with crackers and green tea so far today.

I have the leftover rice, veg and tofu in the fridge so I will make a curry later as I have red onions, carrots and peppers coming in the shopping.

It's so nice now the weather is chillier that I can enjoy hot food and hot drinks more.

Farway wrote: »

Asking the potential volunteer to pay for CRB check is a bit cheeky IMO, we pay for our volunteers ones even though we are a charity. All our volunteers are unpaid so to expect them to fork out money just to give their time is really pushing it
We do informal chat / interview first though so potential problems can be found there simply by asking and telling them we will check

Yes, I would have thought that was unusual. I have volunteered before with vulnerable adults and the charity paid for the CRB check.

Brambling wrote: »

Hope you're feeling better Wednesday I'm lucky as my sore throat and raised glands didn't come to anything

I do, thanks. Glad you feel okay now too.:A

AndyCF wrote: »

@Wednesday2000 good to know you're a bit better now.

Thanks.:)