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Cooking for one

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  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698
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    I decanted the curry into old marge tubs to cool and shoved them in the fridge. It made 3 fairly ungenerous portions, but probably the same as you'd get in a meal for one. It was 410 grams of chicken and one pouch of sauce; I spooned out the chunks and counted them and it's ended up as 8 chunks per portion... which is what I'd expect from a reasonable ready meal, which seem to typically have 7 pieces.

    Then I realised I had used the last of my basmati earlier in the week. I didn't think I'd want rice so soon again, so hadn't got it as a high priority to buy.

    I probably don't intend to freeze any of these 3 portions.
  • SunnyGirl
    SunnyGirl Posts: 2,639 Forumite
    Just having a ruminate while it's quiet at work and wondering about singlies 'go to' food....


    PN seems to go to beans, potatoes and bread.


    I go to eggs usually and make omelettes, scrambled etc.


    We all go to crumpets and toast ;)


    What is everyone's favourite 'go to' food when they CBA or are feeling a bit poorly etc? Thought it might give me some ideas instead of eggs. Or beans as they used to be the kids go to food so not something I eat loads of now :)
  • lessonlearned
    lessonlearned Posts: 13,337
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    edited 15 July 2017 at 2:01PM
    Well I'm done for.......just top coated six dining chairs. THankfully I'm done.....

    I.still need to do the book case, tv unit and coffee table but they can wait. Think the dining chairs are likely to be the worst job, all those fiddly Turned legs and carved stretchers. The other pieces of furniture are plain and simple so should be much easier.

    I am absolutely "jiggered" as we say round here so tonight's dinner will have to be quick and easy. Oven fish and chips, bung in the oven, job done.

    But first a late lunch - cheese and ham omelette. Lots of protein.

    Go to snacks? .

    I can't do crumpets.........Unfortunately I have to avoid all grains so all breads, cakes, biscuits , crackers, pasta, rice etc for snacks or quick fixes are right out.

    My go to snacks are an omelette, nuts, seeds, fruit, dark chocolate. I shouldn't really eat anything from the nightshade family either but I find I can manage the occasional serving of potato so a few chips will be ok tonight.
  • Farway
    Farway Posts: 13,116
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    I intend to get some more of the Heck sausages while they are on offer in Waitrose. I noticed this morning that they are on offer in Sainsbobs as well, but are 50p a pack more.

    I noticed same in Asda, £2.50. Which justifies my assertion that sometimes Waitrose is cheaper, but not often I admit

    Caronc, runner envy with knobs on :p, I have just finished making 6 jars of Runner bean chutney, nice and easy, from here
    Just need to wait a month or more to try it. But while oiking out the empty jars I found about 6 jars of 2013 vintage apple chutney. Looks like a HM chutney fest coming on

    I think I follow the not TBFO if reasonably priced, and I can & do eat a whole melon or pineapple over a few days. I bought a pineapple from Lidl a few years back, and it came with handy picture guide of how to cut it up.

    Seems the mistake we make is thinking it has to be in rings, like out of a tin. Top & tail it, then slice it vertically like an orange, lay a slice flat, trim edge off, and slice hard core off, either eat as a big slice or go posh and cut in chunks. Rest keeps fine in fridge, on a plate unless you fancy wiping juice from fridge interior

    No breakfast, then into town, just bread run really, but did buy a YS Aunt Bessies rice pud packet. Seems easy and I will never make one from scratch, easy as it is, because I do not have rice in and see no reason to buy a pack then only use a bit and have uncooked rice hanging around forever. Loose rice is TBFO for me

    Lunch continued the attack on chutney mountain, with cheese in a sarnie

    Dinner is uncertain. I did take some LO cooked chicken out of the freezer, but later bought a YS beef mince pie in Asda. So one of them will be part of my something with steamed pointy cabbage, home grown courgette, and runners, with granule gravy

    I may just get round to picking the blackberries & red currants for a pud at long last
    Eight out of ten owners who expressed a preference said their cats preferred other peoples gardens
  • Need2bthrifty
    Need2bthrifty Posts: 1,450
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    edited 15 July 2017 at 3:10PM
    Hi Folks, I'm CFO 90% of the time and hope you don't mind me dipping into your discussions.

    Caronc - I'm a bit like you, if its something I really like or enjoy and there is no tinned/frozen version that suits, TBFO doesn't apply. I try and get around it in as many different ways as possible. I know many people don't like to mix sweet and savoury but I love it and regularly use up peaches, pineapple, melon as part of my salad lunches, - I find they go particularly well with the smoked ham and spicy salami I buy from Lid!

    Sunnygirl - my favourite "go to" food has to be soup and I usually have some hm in the freezer but always have a tin of tomato in the cupboard - takes me back to my childhood when a bowl of that with a slice of doughy loaf made everything all better.

    I've been doing a bit of searching this afternoon because along with trying to keep costs down I am trying to change my menu planning a bit and incorporate more meat-free dishes into my plan.

    At the moment I probably have 1 fish/seafood dish, 1 veggie dish and 5 meat-based dishes per week and feel thats still a bit top heavy meat-wise so I'm looking for inspiration to redress the balance. I thought about eggs, but I often have them for breakfast or lunch so dont want to be eating them twice in a day.

    I bought some dried black beans and intend cooking and freezing them in batches to use in a variety of dishes, so that's a start to increasing my meat-free meals.

    So my question is how do you balance out the need to "use up" whats there and provide a reasonable variety in what you are eating.
  • Hollyharvey
    Hollyharvey Posts: 1,939
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    Hello welcome Need2bthrify :hello:


    SunnyGirl My favourite 'go to' food is also eggs or if I'm really feeling ill a tin of rice pudding (eaten with a tea spoon out of the tin cold), tin or custard, tin of baked beans and sausages or ravioli on toast. The tins are all kept in in case I am too ill to do anything else, they are not things that I would normally eat or fancy.
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698
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    So my question is how do you balance out the need to "use up" whats there and provide a reasonable variety in what you are eating.

    I think if anybody seriously wanted to do that they'd have to go super OCD over menu planning, probably working on tight "cycles" of the type of food to eat over 1-2 months, so what you've got can be mixed/matched.

    Either that or having 2-3 freezers and liking eating the same things.

    But then you lose the "what I fancy" excitement of it all :)

    There can be no one answer as everybody has different budgets, different likes/dislikes, different shops available to them and differing sized houses/freezers to store stuff. Then toss in whether somebody actually LIKES cooking at all and/or whether they "can't be bothered, 'just for me'". Then there are weirdos like me ... I can't actually use ovens/hobs as they scare me :)

    I work on the basis of: Keep it cheap/aim for under £1/day; keep it fast/simple; so long as you eat something it's a job done. :)
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698
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    I popped out to 4ldi - intending to pick up a bag of basmati - but somehow my eye got caught by long grain rice and I thought "Haven't bought/eaten that for about 5 years" and thought I'd give it a whirl, see if it's as lack lustre as I remember :)

    I also picked up a bag of basmati, but then put it back as I don't really have the space for it and if I have it in the house and the other rice is minging I'll put off eating all that....

    For tea I'll make some long grain rice and serve that with one of the portions of chicken curry I slow cooked this morning.

    I also grabbed a 15p tin of spaghetti hoops - great on toast if you splash a bit of balsamic at it to stop it being so bland. With/without cheese depending on whether any's grated and/or if I CBA to grate more :)
  • caronc
    caronc Posts: 8,059
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    Well I'm done for.......just top coated six dining chairs. THankfully I'm done.....

    I.still need to do the book case, tv unit and coffee table but they can wait. Think the dining chairs are likely to be the worst job, all those fiddly Turned legs and carved stretchers. The other pieces of furniture are plain and simple so should be much easier.

    .
    I'm jiggered just thinking about doing all that - though satisying to get it done :D
    Farway wrote: »

    Caronc, runner envy with knobs on :p, I have just finished making 6 jars of Runner bean chutney, nice and easy, from here
    Just need to wait a month or more to try it. But while oiking out the empty jars I found about 6 jars of 2013 vintage apple chutney. Looks like a HM chutney fest coming on
    You're showing off now ;):D. You can't beat vintage chutney, I'm working my way through a batch of 2014 apple, plum, onion and 5 spice it's lovely :D
    Hi Folks, I'm CFO 90% of the time and hope you don't mind me dipping into your discussions.

    Caronc - I'm a bit like you, if its something I really like or enjoy and there is no tinned/frozen version that suits, TBFO doesn't apply. I try and get around it in as many different ways as possible. I know many people don't like to mix sweet and savoury but I love it and regularly use up peaches, pineapple, melon as part of my salad lunches, - I find they go particularly well with the smoked ham and spicy salami I buy from Lid!

    Sunnygirl - my favourite "go to" food has to be soup and I usually have some hm in the freezer but always have a tin of tomato in the cupboard - takes me back to my childhood when a bowl of that with a slice of doughy loaf made everything all better.

    I've been doing a bit of searching this afternoon because along with trying to keep costs down I am trying to change my menu planning a bit and incorporate more meat-free dishes into my plan.

    At the moment I probably have 1 fish/seafood dish, 1 veggie dish and 5 meat-based dishes per week and feel thats still a bit top heavy meat-wise so I'm looking for inspiration to redress the balance. I thought about eggs, but I often have them for breakfast or lunch so dont want to be eating them twice in a day.

    I bought some dried black beans and intend cooking and freezing them in batches to use in a variety of dishes, so that's a start to increasing my meat-free meals.

    So my question is how do you balance out the need to "use up" whats there and provide a reasonable variety in what you are eating.

    Welcome Need2bthrifty:), I'm not sure I've quite got there balance wise re using up as it's a bit of a scramble at times to decide what to do with something that needs something done with it that day. I do hate repetitive eating though (the curse of CFOing) and consequently either eat things that are sort of stand alone or batch cook and freeze most.

    SunnyG - I hope !!!!!cat is on the mend now. Re the "go to foods", apart from the standard eggs, toast, crumpets my "go to" tends to be something I bung on a tray in the oven e.g. fish or chicken thighs + a baked spud or wedges + roasted or nuked veg. This works well for me when I have spells where standing is an issue and I can vary it enough combination wise not to get fed up with it:).

    I checked the mango and it definitely needed using today as it was just on the verge of going over. So it's been blended with some greek yoghurt, lime juice and honey and popped in the freezer in small dishes for a quick treat as and when I fancy.:)
  • moneyistooshorttomention
    moneyistooshorttomention Posts: 17,940 Forumite
    edited 15 July 2017 at 5:06PM
    I've just had to pick a load of plums off a tree in my garden - as I discovered the local birds are making themselves so much at home they've been treating it like a free snack bar.

    Talk about confidence on their part - by now they'll even come and sit on the tree when I'm actually by it and try to get another little fruit snack:cool:

    So I've picked the vast majority. Some of them not quite ripe enough yet - and those ones are stuck on trays on my windowsill in the hope they'll finish ripening.

    So - I've got loads of "ripe enough" ones - I have a feeling I'm going to be eating a load of stewed plums over the next few weeks somehow (and attempting bottling some of them again - minus sugar - as I don't use sugar).

    Must get and do that stirfry I decided on for dinner......

    *****************

    Go to food-wise = well....I find it quite handy to chop up loads of suitable veg. including onions and do a tray of roasted vegetables. Can be eaten with couscous or potato wedges for instance. That stirfry I have in mind is another one.
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