WHAT DID WE HAVE FOR TEA?

[Stanley]

Meat pie, pease pudding, veggies and tomato for dinner. The same for tea but with a Pasty.
The stove is still lit so this morning I have put the cider gravy from the ham hock in the pease pudding and put it on the stove. It will be good stuff after a boil-up!

[Stanley]

I started the day by boiling a pan full of carrots and grilling three sausages and two tomatoes. Dinner was pease pudding, carrots, tomatoes and one sausage. Tea was the same but with chopped hock ham. I don't know why but ham from the hock is always tastier.....

[Stanley]

Must remember to make less pease pudding next time..... That and the carrots was the basis for tea with two sausages, fried tomato and egg. Dinner was two small haslet butties.

[Stanley]

Two small ham hock butties for dinner and the last of the ham plus pease pudding and the last of the carrots for tea. I am getting the pease pudding into a corner! One of the disadvantages of being a singleton is that you have to work hard at avoiding waste and keeping the fridge empty once a week! Mind you, there are advantages as well.....

[Stanley]

I'm happy to report that I killed the pease pudding yesterday! I had half a bowl plus well fried tomatoes and two eggs for dinner and it was so good I had exactly the same for tea!

[Marilyn]

Salmon for us tonight.

[Marilyn]

Cleaned out the veg bin and cooked what I had ( pumpkin, spinach, onion, tomato, ) - added cheese, herbs and breadcrumbs and stuffed some capsicums. They will go in the oven later with Scalloped Potatoes and I've also made some Beef Croquetes to accompany. (Dinner is "stuck in the 70s" tonight!)

[Stanley]

I had a couple of oven bottoms with tomato for dinner and at tea time I was feeling hungry so I had three oven bottoms with fried smoked haddock, poached egg and horse radish. I regret to say I was still hungry so I had another oven bottom later with peanut butter!

Maz sent a pic of her capsicums.....

[Stanley]

Two small fried smoked haddock butties for dinner. A Cornish Pasty and baked beans for tea.

[Stanley]

I had two small pressed beef butties for dinner. Went veggie shopping and got carrots, parsnips and Cauliflower (Nice heads and back to 69p.) I boiled these up and steamed the cauli on top, then mashed the carrots and parsnips with olive oil, a bit of pepper and a dash of vinegar. Instead of eating the cauliflower on its own I cut it up and mixed it in with the mash. Tasted lovely and just a shade undercooked so it crunches. Had a bowl of this for tea with a steak pudding on top.
I've put a lamb shank on to cook this morning on a bed of fresh mint leaves..... It's had a partial cook on the hob and is now in the pan in a very slow oven.....

[Stanley]

Pork and apple burgers with well-fried tomatoes in two oven bottoms for dinner. When the lamb shank was cooked I de-boned it, left what little fat there was on it, put some Oxo and water with the thick gravy in the pan and brought it to the boil with a bit of flour in it. Lovely gravy and the chopped up lamb mixed in. Half of that was a base under a filling of Carrots, parsnips and Cauliflower for tea. One bowl of the same left over and in the fridge for tonight's tea. There was a little bit of the veggie mixture left over so I had that for afters.....

[Stanley]

Unusually for me, I was hungry yesterday morning. I had to go the the Cathedral of Choice for some milk and I got some Jordan's Muesli, the sort that is entirely natural with no added sugar or salt. I had half a bowl and really enjoyed it, years since I had muesli.... I had one cheese and tomato butty at dinnertime and for tea I had the small bowl of lamb shank and veggies left from yesterday. I tipped up with a peanut butter butty on another treat, the Burgen Linseed and Soya loaf. It's really good stuff!
At dinnertime I took Ian's advice and bought a 3.5litre Swan slow cooker at the sweetshop on the Town Square (£30. Support local shops!). I've charged it up this morning with 4 very small mutton chops from the new sheep Kathy delivered last Friday on a bed of onions and tomato with olive oil and vinegar. Two chopped parsnips and a sweet potato to fill it up, a glass of water and the usual salt and pepper. It's sat there on low and by this afternoon I shall have my first evidence of how well I am doing. I have a folded tea towel on the glass lid to give it a bit more insulation.... Exciting stuff!

[Wendyf]

The Burgen loaves are very tasty and lower in carbs than most other bread...better for you than your small oven bottoms!

[PanBiker]

I hope I'm not trying to teach an old dog new tricks but regarding your new slow cooker. I always pre-heat the cooker on high while I am preparing what is to go in. I normally assemble the contents in a pan such as browning off meat, adding the onions and a bit of stock. Bring it all up to a bubble then shove it in the slow cooker, pop the lid on and forget. Mine only has two settings, low and high, I start on high then reduce to low. You will not need any extra insulation so the tea towel is redundant.

[LizG]

Home made Thai curry here tonight.

[Marilyn]

Good old Tuna Mornay....knocked in to a cocked hat when son sent me a photo of his yummy home delivered Pizza.

[Stanley]

Two oven bottoms with a poached egg on each for dinner. Tea was a bowl of mutton stew out of the slow cooker. One and a half bowls in bowls in the fridge.
The slow cooker is very good. It did exactly what it says on the tin. I didn't brown anything or precook the onions, just built the load up in the crock and then switched it on low and left it. I fished the chops out half an hour before tea, de-boned them, popped the meat back in and topped the crock up with frozen peas. Lovely stew. Very pleased and from what I could see on the monitor it uses very little leccy. I like it!

[LizG]

Spirulised zucchini with an lime and avocado dressing, topped with chicken and then toasted pine nuts. It's called using up what's in the fridge and cupboards before we head north in the caravan on Friday. It's way too cold here, top of 13 today.

[Marilyn]

Have a lovely escape. How long are you escaping for?

Chicken Schnitzel tonight ( Schnitties...is that another Australianism?)

[Stanley]

It's warmer than that at night here at the moment Liz.
One poached egg on a single oven bottom for dinner. I had the half bowl of mutton stew for tea topped up with slow cooked veggies I did today.
Cooking veggies slowly.... The big advantage I find is that you can cook veggies (Yesterday it was Leek, carrots, swede, parsnip and peas) in minimum water and retain that when they are cooked. This means that you can treat the liquid as a gravy, flavour it, and instead of draining off valuable nutrients after cooking, preserve all the flavour and value of the gravy. This compensates partly for the damage you do to vitamins and some other nutrients by cooking.
And yes, in my enthusiasm for the slow cooker I have too many veggies! I am bringing them back up to a slow simmer and will freeze three bowls for my meals over the next couple of days.... I am really pleased with the cooker..... Thanks to all of you for bringing the advantages to my attention!

[LizG]

Have a lovely escape. How long are you escaping for?

We are planning on about 6 weeks at this stage. Off in the morning. It all depends on the weather, since there's been massive floods around the area we're heading. No plans on where we stay or for how long; apparently it depends on the fishing. I've packed lots of books, DVD's, knitting and hand sewing.

[Stanley]

Had one straight tomato butty on oven bottom for dinner and a bowl of the last of the mutton stew slow cook for tea. Small bowl so I topped up with a peanut butter oven bottom and fruit.

[Marilyn]

The tin lids have arrived (plus dog) and are staying overnight so I'm doing Pasta and Meatballs with a homemade Sauce.
Plus some Cheesy Onion Bread that I made this morning.

[Stanley]

I have put Jack's meat in the slow cooker.... I think it will use less leccy.

[Christian]

Baked potato, cheese and baked beans. Nice easy tea, ready for a Chinese takeaway tonight!