Old Style vs the USDA head-to-head challenge...

thriftlady_2

Elderflowers will be hanging from a tree -not necessarily a big one but a tree not a flower on a stalk. I think you may have picked cow parsley or similar Weezl This is elder.

In_Search_Of_Me

aww thanks thrifty two thngs - ca you do anything with cow parsley & is it bad for you? Weezl wouldnt stop trying it (just in case it had miraculously morphed into elder flower?!!) - you are of course right but may I say that a couple of things came from this! Weezl & I had a good bonding session, a lovely afternoon in the country, we bumped into a friend in the garden centre & I got a hug (always a good thing!) plus I can say without any shadow of a doubt that I never had this much fun shopping & never laughed so much doing so!

weezl74

:rotfl:sorry bout the gloves. I reckon (tho I had to guess the amounts a bit! what weight of dried mushrooms is 2 tablespoons!?) it's 84p a serving, not including the pasta.:money:I bet it's gorgeous!

Like a stuck pig! I barely squeaked.:D

getting sorted sarah and shaz, I don't mind you asking at all. Yes, there are some reasons for the challenge other than the obsessive and competitive nature of weezl .

6 years ago, Me and Mr Weezl bought a house:T. He was on a very good wage at that point, and we liked the house and fancied a project, and were glad the bank would lend us so much money for it.:D

The job was not really sustainable (lots of nights and weekend working as well as day shifts, and hugely stressful.) The project house had also turned out to have 'dry rot' and all sorts of other nasties requiring £32000 extra spending on it.:eek:

We've always had lodgers, 3 at the moment, but it has been 5 at a time! To help us with our big mortgage. I work in a job which takes a 3 hr commute 3 times a week. the other days I'm thankfully nearer. This is not really sustainable either.

We are managing at the moment, but when our excellent fixed rate deal ends in 2 years, if the bank rates continue as predicted we'll be another £350 a month down.:eek:

So we've been trying to take action. And this is part of it.

Sorry for the long explaining, wish you hadn't asked now eh?;)

Weezl x

weezl74

ooooh hiya thriftlady, I thought of you the other day, when I saw this was on on tuesday BBC2 at 9pm:

'First Morgan Spurlock gorged on McDonald's for the film Super Size Me; then Giles Coren and Sue Perkins attempted a week on the food of a century ago in Edwardian Supersize Me. Now the pair embark on a whole series of period diets, starting with a trip back to 1941 for the dreary, beige, ration-book menu of the war years. They get on famously as a wartime husband and wife living in a 1930s semi, but Coren's whole act is to make himself obnoxious - and he succeeds. Whether stuffing his face, burping, stealing others' grub or putting paraffin in the cake mixture, he tips the programme over from a good natured romp into something that starts to feel like it's mocking the past. But there's good, solid fare here, too. Very solid - from potato sandwiches to carrot fudge via "skilly" (grated carrot and oatmeal soup) and "mock crab" (margarine, dried eggs, vinegar, cheese and salad cream - yuk). But wait for the real shocker: the 1940s diet was healthier than ours.'

Looks interesting eh?

Did you do the 'mock crab?'

The cow parsley was not very yummy I have to say! Thanks for the pics!

Weezl x

In_Search_Of_Me

yess weezl it was delicious much t my surprise & I was initially somewhat tentative in trying the nettles but I can confirm they didnt sting when cooked although do look a bit hairy! Plus they are sooo good for you its definately sommat I'll do again! Diet prog looks intersting weezl! I love those progs where people go back in time - there was a good one recentlyish here (coalhouse) which I loved! Rid of the trappings of modern life & they were all better off for it and the kids had a great time - except for when they had to kill the chicken which was awful! Make you want to go live in a caravan!

thriftlady_2

weezl74 wrote: »

ooooh hiya thriftlady, I thought of you the other day, when I saw this was on on tuesday BBC2 at 9pm:

'First Morgan Spurlock gorged on McDonald's for the film Super Size Me; then Giles Coren and Sue Perkins attempted a week on the food of a century ago in Edwardian Supersize Me. Now the pair embark on a whole series of period diets, starting with a trip back to 1941 for the dreary, beige, ration-book menu of the war years. They get on famously as a wartime husband and wife living in a 1930s semi, but Coren's whole act is to make himself obnoxious - and he succeeds. Whether stuffing his face, burping, stealing others' grub or putting paraffin in the cake mixture, he tips the programme over from a good natured romp into something that starts to feel like it's mocking the past. But there's good, solid fare here, too. Very solid - from potato sandwiches to carrot fudge via "skilly" (grated carrot and oatmeal soup) and "mock crab" (margarine, dried eggs, vinegar, cheese and salad cream - yuk). But wait for the real shocker: the 1940s diet was healthier than ours.'

Looks interesting eh?

Did you do the 'mock crab?'

The cow parsley was not very yummy I have to say! Thanks for the pics!

Weezl x

Sounds like you and In Search Of Me had a riot;) I'm not sure you can eat cow parsley, but it is similar in appearance to hemlock which you shouldn't eat :eek: so, it's best to avoid it.

Yes I saw that piece in the RT and thought I'd have a look. I'm a bit apprehensive though as I loathe any kind of reality TV and it does sound a bit gimmicky. I'm interested in what they have to say about the health aspects of it all though. I suspect that a wartime diet was healthier simply because there was less to eat and that's the key apparently -eating less generally.

I'm enjoying your challenge -just off to catch up;)

No, I didn't try mock crab which I think was basically cheese and vinegar.

getting-sorted-sarah

weezl74 wrote: »

getting sorted sarah and shaz, I don't mind you asking at all. Yes, there are some reasons for the challenge other than the obsessive and competitive nature of weezl .

Sorry for the long explaining, wish you hadn't asked now eh?;)

Weezl x

Not at all - thanks for sharing, and well done you for stretching, no point in playing it safe, huh?

In_Search_Of_Me

Evening!! Forgot to ak Mrs W was the recipe alot more expensive due to porchini mushrooms? Just curious!
Also wanted to know the recipe for the nettle munchy things you made - so many pages to post through & unsure if its on here? May have a go at that next lol!! Hope youve had a good day...:)
Here is posibly an alternative way for you to get "milk" from existing stores & almo make tofu...thought it may alo appeal to your experimental nature!!
http://www.selfsufficientish.com/soyamilk.htm
and a good one for Mr Weezle (I have demijohns with stopper, steriliser etc if you want to have a go!!)!
http://www.selfsufficientish.com/strongernettlebeer.htm

ceridwen

ceridwen wrote: »

Other thoughts - we must all be overlooking a lot of foodstuff - because we havent really been thinking of it in that way. Hence - yesterday I used the broccoli stalk (peeled and fine chopped), as well as the florets. Previously - I took up an idea from another O.S.er to use the outer leaves of cauliflower as part of stirfry ingredients (about half of them were good enough for this purpose).

I have bought myself a nasturtium - amongst other food plants - and I guess a lot of people wouldnt think of a nasturtium, for instance, as being edible. I've added the flowers to salad before now - and I gather the leaves are also edible. Then again - people might have sunflowers in their garden and not thought of gathering their seeds to eat. I gather the method to prepare them is:

- grind the seeds in a seed mill and then place in cold water. The shells will float to the top and can be skimmed off with a slotted spoon.

- A less efficient alternative is to put a small amount of seeds into the bowl of an electric mixer, pulsing the mixture on and off a few times for a few seconds each time, till the shells separate, but not too many seeds are crushed. Then plunge the seeds into cold water, as described above to separate them from the shells.

At least some melon seeds are edible too I gather - though I havent tried them yet. Watermelon seeds for instance. I read that one sundries the seeds (or could use a dehydrator I guess). Then bake them and salt them. One doesnt eat the seed itself - but breaks it open with your teeth and eats the inside (the same method of eating as with unprepared sunflower seeds then:D ). Apparently pumpkin seeds are also edible - though I dont know how they would be prepared.

A useful site is:

http://www.fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/recipe.cgi?r=162041

Well - re my post above that I made - I have just trundled into the Casaubon's Book blog and found her 19 May entry "Farmer-Hunter-Gatherer" on the same theme. You might like to cast your eye over:

http://sharonastyk.com/

weezl74

Another great link ceridwen, thanks.

I really agree ewith the bamboo shoots story.

I raved on about our nettle gathering to someone yesterday '2 carrier bags full! And they taste like spinach, and so healthy!'

'So just buy spinach' she said.

It would've cost us £7 to buy equivalent weight of fresh spinach. The spinach would have travelled vastly more food miles, and been packaged in non-degradeable plastic. It would have gone into the pockets of Wal-mart.

I preferred our way!

JeniD, at last some carbs research (I will also add potato and couscous asap) I've been a little busy, and this is due to continue til after the bank holiday!

Really hope pasting this table doesn't b*^***%^r up the formatting...

[FONT=&quot][/FONT]edit: ah, it did!:o

anyone know how to paste a word or excel table into a message?


ISOM the porcini mushrooms were half the total cost (if you used 10 grammes) so another tasty alternative would certainly be worth considering!;)

Love Weezl x