WHAT DID WE HAVE FOR TEA?

[Stanley]

I had a bowl of curried chicken to finish it off for dinner and then at teatime I had the last of the roast ham and Kathy's loaf to clear them up as well. I probably ate a bit too much but waste not want not, these things have to be cleared up before you can move on to whatever you fancy next!

[Stanley]

Still working on the principle, "what needs eating?" I surveyed the piste yesterday and decided it was bacon tomatoes and spuds. I put some vinegar and olive oil in one of my CI stew pots, Lined it with bacon with two sliced tomatoes on top and then topped the lot with sliced potato. On to the stove and leave it to argue with itself. For dinner I had two oven bottoms with the casserole as a filling and for tea, just had what was left on its own. I got the munchies later on and had two oven bottoms with 3nut butter on. For today I can allow myself a dip in the wrap-up in the freezer.....

[Stanley]

One of the goodies in the wrap-up was a pack of ten 'pigs in blankets'. I put them in a cast iron pan on top of some vinegar and olive oil, added the usual suspects and a drop of water and topped the whole lot with freshly fried chips and later some peas. By dinner time it was all thoroughly cooked and smelling lovely! I had two oven bottoms for dinner with the casserole as a filling and a small helping neat for tea. There is some left over.... Never cooked them like this before but it worked, very tasty!

[Stanley]

When I went to the butcher's yesterday Kathy gave me a half pint of single cream that would be out of date before it was sold. I got a jar of good mincemeat from the supermarket and made some of my cream pastry, I popped it in the fridge and let it rest all day and in the afternoon after my sleep I built the biggest mincemeat pasty in the world! Looks a bit rough because the pastry was slightly too moist and you couldn't handle it properly. No matter, I cooked it and finished up with this.
I had two oven bottoms for dinner with pigs in blankets and veg as filling. There was some gravy and veg left over to I brought it to the boil and had it for tea with a teak pudding. Then I cut the ragged edges off the pasty, split the remainder in two and put them into plastic bags. I had the trimmings for pudding after half a bowl of steak pudding and gravy. To be honest I ate too much! And mincemeat isn't the best thing for me of course but oh it was lovely! I shall ration myself today and be very strict about having only one slice of pasty a day until it is gone. You have to have a treat every now and again!

[Marilyn]

You have been enjoying yourself, Stanley.
Cooked the kids the "full monty" English Breakfast this morning, to sustain them on their trip home to the city (got absolutely no help with the dishes afterward but that is normal behaviour for them).
We are just waiting for them to depart. D is dying to get the vacuum cleaner out and suck up all the dog hair...then we must do a shop to restock depleted stores.
( I am ignoring their sheets and towels for now, hoping a new washing machine materialises next week...)

[Stanley]

You're right Maz.... And the trouble is it is so good I can't leave it alone. I had pressed beef and coleslaw on two oven bottoms for dinner and for tea had nothing but a small helping of mincemeat pasty. Very filling so less damage to my weight that way! It really is quite lovely....

[Marilyn]

I've just thrown a lot of half eaten rubbish out of the fridge...not our half eaten rubbish but theirs.
One big difference I find between us and the next generation is just how much they can eat (and the rubbish content of the food they eat). Not that they are overweight, but I could never eat like they do even in my youth.
It's a freak of nature that they can put away such calories...which is why the remnants are now gone from my fridge...cos I know that just opening and closing the door will waft the weight on to me. (and the volume of soft drink they consume is frightening. We never drink soft drink - never had it as kids - that was "party" drink.)
When people ate like that years ago, the question of intestinal worms would be raised.
Back to normal fridge content now. I should be safe!
(I bet they called in at a Bakery on the way home and had a two course lunch). Oh half their luck...I am just jealous as well as being metabolically different!

I managed to get them out for one walk, but they would only do a short one. I was hoping to get them on a long walk along the cliff tops...but they would have none of it.

[Stanley]

Everyone is allowed to go to hell in their own way Maz but I'm afraid that habits like that will catch up on them in time and they will pile the weight on..... I hate throwing food away but would have done exactly the same as you.....

[Marilyn]

Son sat at the dinner table last night and viewed the spread saying " Looks good, but I don't eat Salad, so I will just have X,Y,Z.
Don't eat Salad? ( we LIVE on Salad!)
We are talking Lettuce, tomato, cucumber, fresh mushrooms etc. ( Ye Gods...we eat that for dinner 8 months of the year)

He was raised on Salad...What happened since he left home?

[LizG]

He'd starve at my house!!! You'd be surprised how many ways you can make a salad with cabbage, radishes, spring onions when they come fresh out of the garden.

[Marilyn]

Exactly Liz. I have never met a Salad I didn't like! (Well...so long as they don't contain Garlic)
I'm not big on commercial Salad Dressing...prefer things raw, fresh and unadulterated.

[Wendyf]

We had salmon with a tomato, onion & caper sauce, served with asparagus and steamed cauliflower.....cooked by Col and very tasty indeed. I made a "3 minute chocolate cake" for pudding, cooked in the microwave...(only 2g of carbs per portion!)and served with blueberries, blackberries and a bit of double cream. It's a leap of faith to believe that it's the carbs not the fats that put weight on!

[Wendyf]

Recipe for 3 minute chocolate cake. (Which is more of a pudding really)

Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl:-

1 ounce almond flour, 1 tbsp Cocoa, a qtr teaspoon baking powder, approx 2 tablespoons Stevia or similar to taste(Stevia is a natural sugar substitute with 0 carbs)

Add 1 egg, 2 tablespoons of melted butter and a tablespoon of water and mix well, cover with plastic wrap but make a small slit in the centre then microwave for 1 minute or possibly a bit more till set but still a little moist.

Serve with fruit and cream.

[Stanley]

There's a woman who knows how to run a kitchen! Sat there in front of the stove with a glass of wine while himindoors slaves over a hot cooker.... Respect!
I had pressed beef and coleslaw on two oven bottoms for dinner and the last of the mincemeat pasty for tea. I can move forward now to something different!

[Wendyf]

There's a woman who knows how to run a kitchen! Sat there in front of the stove with a glass of wine while himindoors slaves over a hot cooker.... Respect!
I had pressed beef and coleslaw on two oven bottoms for dinner and the last of the mincemeat pasty for tea. I can move forward now to something different!

Spot on! My turn tonight though, I'm doing a beef stew.

[Stanley]

Built a lamb chop stew yesterday. I fished the chops out at dinnertime and had two oven bottoms with lamb and mint sauce. I left the stew on the stove all afternoon, quietly simmering. I don't know the mechanism but if you do this a magic process takes place and all the flavours combine to become luscious sweetness. So a small bowl pof veggie stew for tea and six small oatcake biscuits with the Proctor's cheddar on them. Not necessary, just pure luxury!

[LizG]

We're having home made hamburgers. My grandson did the chopping and the mixing, Dennis will do the cooking. The best kind of dinner, almost hands off.

[Wendyf]

The beef stew, cooked in a low oven for most of the afternoon, was very tasty indeed served with steamed red cabbage & broccoli.

[Stanley]

The slower the better Wendy. My chop stew is so sweet you'd swear that sugar had been added. Something magic happens when you cook long and slow....
Had chop stew X 2 for dinner and tea, one helping left for today.

[LizG]

Pulled beef, gravy and roast veggies at our house.. I think I will steam some broccolini to go with it. I planted some and it bolted to seed immediately. Since then it's self seeded and is far better than the original planting.

[Wendyf]

King prawn stir fry for us.

[Marilyn]

Set an extra place, please Wendy.
And no garlic...but Chilli is fine!
I am leaving now, and bringing wine.

[Stanley]

In your dreams Maz.... I had the last of the veggie stew for dinner and two oven bottoms for tea with a poached egg on each. I started another stew with a piece of braising steak and a sirloin steak that came in the wrap-up. All on a bed of onions with the usual suspects. Added two tomatoes, a bunch of carrots and three spuds that needed using (Sorry Wendy!), I separated the fat off the gravy overnight and put the gravy back in with a cauliflower divided into florets on top. It's back on the stove cooking very slowly.....

[Stanley]

Had the beef veggie stew for dinner and cold stew on three small oven bottoms for tea.

[Stanley]

Dead easy, veggie stew X two for dinner and tea.... One helping left and butcher's day today. I have discovered a new treat, two Pontefract cakes and a fresh Israeli date chewed together... Lovely taste combination! It's the small treats that count!