Simplifying Life

2cats1kid

OK, who has stolen my daughter?

I think I posted about our chat about consumerism and how real soon now we are going to struggle even more to make the world's resources stretch to everyone and how it was well received. Well I think it has hit home.

Bearing in mind that I have a pre-teen who likes her burgers and chips, and would eat processed muck till it poured out of her ears given half a chance, when she asked what was for dinner last night and I said lentil burgers I expected at least a moan and was braced for a full blown strop. But instead I got ..

.. "Yaaayyyy!!!"

I nearly had to go and lie down from the shock. And on top of that she cleared her plate without a murmur.

Now what healthy and world-friendly meal can I try her with next?

mary43

2cats - sounds like she's learning by example..........hope it carries on.
Best we've managed to do with the do we look after is the oldest one telling me off for leaving a light on (I was literally out of the room for seconds.........lol) Then he goes off leaving his tele blaring out...........so just when I thought I was getting somewhere, having explained fuel increases, environment etc. I'm back to square one.
Ex foster lad called yesterday to do some gardening for us and is really worried about the price of electricity...........he's on a card meter and doesn't know how to find out how to get a cheaper rate..........must admit I'm at a loss there so might ask on the Gas & Elec. board for him.

OH's stomach tons better today and we've both caught up on the lack of sleep so feel just a bit more human.
Must get mums birthday card done today along with get well card for my friend and apart from yet more washing (where does it come from?) that'll be it for today.

2cats1kid

Well I was going to follow your example, Mary, and start making Christmas cards. I have a load of Christmas stuff that I bought to scrapbook last Christmas, and then didn't take any photos!

I went to the Christmas cupboard to stocktake what I already had, and found loads of HM cards that I'd forgotten I'd done. Actually I can vaguely remember, as I was given a load of shaped brads, and as I really don't like shaped brads (I stick to round or square ones) I thought about what to do with all the star ones. So I got all the Christmas paper scraps I had in my scrap bag, and did Christmas tree cards with the stars on the top. So I am set for this Christmas already! Still don't know what to do with all my spare Christmas stash, though..... Remind me not to buy any this year!

Charis

2cats1kid wrote: »

Now what healthy and world-friendly meal can I try her with next?

How about Rhonda's chickpea burgers? If you don't fancy burgers again, they could be rolled into 'sausages'. I haven't tried them yet but the comments left were very favourable. http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2008/07/chick-pea-burgers-and-pickles.html
On Rhonda's right hand side bar is a link that takes you to all her cookery recipes (it's just under her pic).

Charis

PS would you like to share the lentil burger recipe? I bought loads of pulses for emergency stores but can't think of anything very original to do with them.

2cats1kid

Oh, Charis, they sound worth a try. Yes, I think I might do sausages instead, but even picky madam might give them a go.

The lentil burgers are as follows. Stupidly I missed the "serves 8" bit, but so far they have served 6 more than amply, and there is another portion or two in the freezer, so that looks about right.

1lb/450g green-brown lentils
1.5pt/850ml hot water
4oz/110g butter or margarine
2 finely chopped onions
2 crushed cloves of garlic
2 finely chopped carrots
1 large/2 small green peppers chopped small
1 tsp cayenne pepper (I used chilli powder)
1/2 tsp mace (that's half, not 1 to 2 LOL)
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
4 tsp tomato puree
salt and pepper

to coat
1 beaten egg
dry fine breadcrumbs
oil for shallow frying

Wash the lentils and put them in a saucepan. Add the hot water and bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for about an hour or until all the liquid has been absorbed and lentils are soft. (*** I added extra water as it looked like it was boiling dry and the mixture ended up way too wet, so beware ***)

Soften the onion, garlic and carrot in the butter in a frying pan. Add the peppers and give it another few minutes.

Season the lentils and mash them up, but not too smooth. Mix in the veg, herbs and spices and tomato puree, then divide the mixture into 24 and shape into patties.

Dip in beaten egg, then into breadcrumbs and then shallow fry to golden.

It could be that I added extra water, but I would chill these before frying, as they didn't have much structural stability LOL. I might be inclined to add a beaten egg to the mix to help it hold together. I served them with a home made tomato sauce and it was yummy.

Charis

Thanks 2cats. I'll give them a go. I don't have any mace and my lentils are 'red' (bright orange actually) so I'll add them to my next online shop. Chilli powder is a lot hotter than cayenne pepper but DS the fussy eater loves chilli so I'll try it too.

I've got the online shop off to a fine art now. I keep a pad in the kitchen for things we use up or other things we fancy, then transfer them to a list in 'Notepad' that I keep on the computer desktop and update regularly. When it's time for an online shop (usually once a fortnight) I cut and paste the whole lot into the 'express shop' facility, go through the list in the usual way, flick through the special offers & bogofs page in case I am missing anything I would normally buy, then get the whole lot delivered to the back (kitchen) door. Any lazier and the delivery man would have to cook it for me :rotfl:

That way I don't get tempted to pick up goodies on the way round the store, I don't have to both do the shop and put it all away in the same morning (the logistics of storage are getting complicated with rotating all the reserve supplies). I save time and petrol, which is worth more to me than the delivery charge. My poor old mum used to have to drag everything back half a mile in a shopping trolley.

No wonder I was thinner then. :rolleyes:

2cats1kid

Mace tastes a lot like nutmeg (it's the outer casing of nutmeg) so you could use nutmeg instead. And we are so used to hot and spicy we barely noticed the chilli powder! I'm sure red lentils would be fine - I used red ones in lentil burgers I used to cook when DD was tiny.

I tend to add things to my basket as I think of them, then only book a slot when I have enough in the basket to warrant it, although we do normally put in an order most weeks. Last couple of times it has been a 10 day gap though, as I'm well stocked up and haven't needed as much.

Ellidee

Charis I was wondering if it's atTesco's you do your online shop ? Just that I believe there are codes on a forum on here for free delivery & offers like £5 off a £50 shop. HTH (Haven't done an online food shop yet myself).

ceridwen

Think my simplifying will consist of lots of country walks - as often as I can manage it. Partly out of pure pragmatic reasons - foraging for wildfood (gotta get my money's worth from last week's foraging course - am now going round with half an eye permanently open for free food).

Also - helping at the "calming" level - with all the alarming news at present and the personal stuff like we're "under attack" at work now in my job in every way they can think of...am beginning to lose track of just how many ways our employer is trying to cut costs at OUR expense. At very personal level - upset mother again telling me "your father is going downhill fast" at the moment...so will have to investigate further on that this weekend.

Its something I find enviable to come across people who take the attitude of "Life's a challenge - and I love a challenge". I tend to look at them in wide-eyed amazement - and rather envy them for feeling that way.

So....this weekend will include checking-out my father again and walks..

Could that be where the phrase "silver lining to every cloud" might come in - worry - so walks - so lose weight....and I need to do a bit of that. Well....according to people on my wild food course last week - I apparently come over as a country person anyways.....despite my urban living.....so: walks it is....

Charis

Ellidee wrote: »

Charis I was wondering if it's atTesco's you do your online shop ? Just that I believe there are codes on a forum on here for free delivery & offers like £5 off a £50 shop. HTH (Haven't done an online food shop yet myself).

Thank you for the thought. Yes I do shop at Tesco, have tried Sainsbury (expensive) and Asda (not bad but not as familiar as the products in Tesco, as we don't have an Asda in our town) I'm rather wary of using the vouchers from this forum because a while ago someone was posting codes given for a refund and shouldn't have been. Much was made of it when it was found out. Tesco can check of course because they know exactly what I have spent in their store (and probably, since I have their credit card, everywhere I don't use cash :cool:)

I do get the odd code from Tesco for free delivery but otherwise go for the cheapest delivery during daylight hours (as my freezer is in the garage).
For a time I was popping to Somerfield for bits because their bogofs are good but I was paying pennies more for everything else and it soon adds up. I am trying to develop a system of playing them at their own games (get only bogofs I want, time deliveries for the cheapest, keep a price list to check their 'special' offers). I like one I read on the list earlier, which advised finding out when they mark things down but that wouldn't work for me as I like to be home cooking the dinner by then and once home I stay home.