General Chat

During the week, I cook tea for OH and me and, on three nights, for Fred's mate as well. Then,on Saturday,Fred's mate is here again but OH cooks and they have meat so I will have a meat free pie or a veggie kiev or something similar.

I was doing the Tesco order this week and was keen to take advantage of any money saving offers, which may surprise you! There were some veggie pies available but you needed to buy six of them to make the saving and I considered that to be too many for me to eat because i might go off them after eating so many and they would be wasted.

Why it had never happened before, I do not know but I had what must have been a flash of inspiration. Why not serve pies to them?

I have been known to do them a Fray Bentos and have a veggie one myself but have never, before, even thought to serve a veggie pie to them.

Even at my lowest point I would drag myself into the kitchen and concoct something nourishing when all I needed do was to pop three pies in, peel some spuds and open a tin of peas. Why could I not have thought of it then?

Hindsight's a wonderful thing! :-D

Not so much hindsight as inspiration.

Since hubby passed I have gone right off cooking

Seems a waste of time and electric to put the oven on to cook one piece of chicken

I used to buy chicken in different sauces for us and do veg in the steamer but these chicken are for two people and can't be separated

So I eat mostly Salad with cold protein like ham or fish or cooked chicken

When grandson stay with me I,m afraid he has cold too or a microwave chicken korma. I do cook on a Friday when we have steamed smoked fish with potatoes and peas and parsley sauce which we both enjoy

Have to say grandson enjoys his food and isn't worried about what he is fed
We eat out too that he enjoys. Me too!! Saves me cooking and we can eat and walk away

Im sure they will enjoy the veggie pies Sharron. You don't need to be a vegetarian to enjoy them. I would just serve them up and say nothing and see if any what reaction they give.


Florence in the hebrides ;-)

Why not try serving them a veg curry.

I have been widowed 16 years and still cook from scratch everything I eat including veggie meals.

Love food freshly prepared.

Shirley, you can get chicken fillets. They are smaller than breast. If there's too many in the packet, freeze for another day.
Alternatively cook what you'd have previously calculated for 2 and freeze half.

Are you getting enough carbohydrate if you're eating a lot of salad? Jacket potatoes cooked in the microwave are quick & easy to do. Crisp up in an oven if you have the time.

Even a confirmed omnivore can quite like so called vegetarian dishes. :-D

Shirley ......

to follow on from what DET said above, I lived alone for almost a year when OH was working in another country, and cooked for myself.

I used to make meals from scratch and freeze the extra for another day. I would cook up a batch of stew once or twice a month, usually enough for 4 or 6 people. I'd put single portions into freezer containers and pop them into my quite small freezer part of the fridge. I even found a recipe for a "base" recipe for stew using 2 or 3 lbs of beef, and then freezing batches. The recipe then gave ideas for adding different spices etc to each batch so you could have a different stew next time. I made that a couple of times while he was away because the variations were all delicious!

I'd also do the same with shepherd's pie and fish pie.

You can also buy a small roast, have one meal from it, then slice the rest and freeze the slices in one or two person portions.

You can make mashed potatoes, rice or spaghetti in the amount you would do for 2 or 3, and freeze the extra in single portions


I might add that we do all the above when we cook even now ......... freezing in portions for 1 or 2 people.

I currently have sliced roast lamb, sliced roast turkey, a couple of packets of home-made mashed potatoes, same for rice, 2 containers of single portion stew, and a single portion of fish pie in the freezer. ............. that's in addition to bought frozen peas and some frozen french fries that I had in there for when OH was out for dinner quite regularly. Those are oven-cooked chips which are quite tasty.

You really should try to eat a little better ....... we care for you, you know!

My daughter bought me a small size slow cooker for last Christmas

I started right by buying some chicken and diced beef and did several casseroles and divided them into portions and froze

She also told me about the individual veg portions that cook in the micro in 5 mins

I do have jacket potato too with my salad with a protein

I do sometimes have one of the casseroles with veg but to be honest I often don't bother

I shouid eat better I do know but I can't be bothered :-(

It is difficult when you're by yourself. So easy to slip into bad habits. At least you're trying and do have a varied diet. <3

Shirley, you could cook a big batch of savoury mince in your slow cooker with as many vegetables added as you like (onions, carrots, chopped mushrooms, tomatoes, peas etc) then freeze in portions. Defrost and heat in microwave with rice, pasta, jacket potatoes etc. You could defrost two for when your grandson visits.

Sharron, couldn't you freeze the extra veggie pies?

Lizx

Liz, that's what I do!
Cook mince forever in a slow cooker - but not with vegetables only lentils, then freeze it,
I don't have a microwave - mine blew up, and I realised I probably used it once a month, so didn't bother getting a new one, so my mince is put in foil containers.
One will probably do me for two meals.
Children come, I defrost one or two containers, put it all in one container, mash some potato - and a lovely cottage pie.

My mum loves her small slow cooker, or like you've all suggested she cooks more than she needs and freezes it. I do the same for the family but on a bigger scale always enough stew or chilli etc for more than one meal.

I even freeze left-over spaghetti and rice!

Put spaghetti into a freezer container, cover with water, put the lid on and put in the freezer. When you want to use it ................ put the container into hot water in the sink until you can remove the frozen block. Put that block in a colander or sieve, run hot water from the tap over it until the ice has gone, then pour boiling water over the spaghetti, and it should be hot enough to eat. Repeat the boiling water if it isn't.

If I make meat sauce from scratch, I freeze both left-over spaghetti and left-over meat sauce (in separate containers) so we have at least 1 more future meal

We learnt about freezing rice from a Japanese room-mate that my daughter had in her last year at university ............. make up extra rice every time you cook it. Package the extra in packets in clear plastic wrap (Saran or Glad Wrap is what I use), put into freezer bag, and freeze, When you want to use it, remove the plastic wrap and put the rice into a microwave-able container, add 1 or 2 tbsp cold water, and microwave. Use the defrost button if you have one, or just keep zapping it until it is hot ...... add more cold water if it appears to be drying out.


Last night we had lemony pork stir-fry .............. pork, rice and lemon peel were all from the freezer. I took the pork out the previous evening and thawed it in the fridge.

Cooking the pork stir-fry took about 10 minutes total (OH chopped veggies for me), the rice took about 5 minutes to defrost and then heat up in the microwave. Dinner took about 20 minutes to cook, it could have been done in 10 minutes if I had been more organized!

I have enough left over to re-heat for lunch today.

I always have bacon in the freezer, trick with that is to use a long piece of plastic wrap, 2 slices bacon, roll in wrap, 2 more slices, wrap, and so on ........ then you only have to separate 2 slices when using it. I cook it from frozen, although it does spit a bit because of the ice.

OH is out tonight, and I think I'm going to make scrambled eggs and bacon. Only other decision ............ eggs on toast or I have some frozen (commercial) french fries in the freezer that really need eating :-D