OneGuyFromBarlick

Because of a lack of fruit and vegetable ‘Pickers’, due to the pandemic, our fruit and veg prices are set to rise 7 to 29%.

That's going to happen here as well Cath, the cause here is mainly Brexit. The Eoropean pickers are not being allowed into the UK. Smart move eh?

I cooked more sausages, caramelised onion this time, and am still enjoying the combination of sausage, fried egg, tomato and onion and veggies for dinner and tea.

A couple of weeks ago Sally got some ham hock trimmings from our butcher Nathan. They were £1.00 for a bag full of lean meat, we chucked them in the freezer. This week she retrieved them and shoved them in the slow cooker with a chopped up onion and a stock cube. She cooked cubed potatoes and a leek to create a thick stew then combined a spoonful of each and we put a pastry crust on to make a pie which we had for tea on Tuesday with mushy peas.

We whizzed the leek and potato stew up into a thick soup which we had yesterday for lunch with my hand baked Chia and Sunflower seed bread. We froze three more portions of the soup. Yesterdays tea was the remains of the ham and potatoes with suet dumplings on top and baked in the oven.

So two days grub with spare in the freezer for £1 worth of ham a leek, an onion and a few spuds. Winter warming grub.

Tonight it will be baked potato with corned beef and bean chilli with a bit of cheese on the top for me. Sally has a veggie chilli to go with hers.

You're right Ian. Ham hock is very under rated and the meat is always sweeter than the ham itself.

I used to get ham hocks, when Steve Hirst had the butchers on Newtown, and made pea and ham soup. Not done that in a while so might have to revive it. I did have to initially simmer the hocks for about 20 minutes, drain off the water and then start the simmering process again. It reduced the saltiness of the meat, much more appealing to my taste.

Always has been the recommended first step Kev but the low salt content of the wet cure nowadays is nowhere near as salty, I just bring the water to boiling point then ditch it. No need for any longer. (But don't use salt when cooking until you are sure you need it!)
Yesterday I had exactly the same as the two days before but all is finished now, Veggies, sausages and tomato and onion relish. Shopping this morning and butcher delivers this evening, I shall survive.

Eggs and bacon for breakfast and tea.....
(I had some bacon that needed using..... )

Pork pie and veggies for breakfast. Tea was the cabbage and onion and spiced chicken wings with tomatoes and veggies. A glorious tasty mixture and it will get repeated today!

"Tea was the cabbage and onion and spiced chicken wings with tomatoes and veggies. A glorious tasty mixture and it will get repeated today!"
It did, X two for breakfast and tea. Improving with age!

"cabbage and onion and spiced chicken wings with tomatoes and veggies".
Same again but this was the last of it. I cooked a fresh lot of veggies and six flavoured sausage. We shall not starve!

The cabbage and bacon thingy was a menu item from 'Come Dine With Me' yesterday. Presented as an ethnic dish by a Serbian woman. She put champagne in too which I thought a bit over the top.

Trust the Serbs David! Nice to know we are in fashion but putting Champagne in sounds a bit excessive to me as well.
Let's see if my black pudding and tomatoes hits the air waves!

Perhaps she reads this site, and wanted to add a touch of glamour to it. She didn't win though.

Black pudding, fried tomatoes and eggs for breakfast. Battered Cod fillet and veggies with peas for tea.

Sausage and veggies for breakfast and tea.

Sausage and veggies but fish, chips and mushy peas from Town Square courtesy of Susan and Mick who visited for the first time in about six weeks. Lovely!

Breakfast was the rest of my fish chips and peas from the night before. It was a big fish! Tea was sausage and veggies.

Sausage and veggies X two for breakfast and tea.

It will be Lamb Kleftico for me, I need to pop out for a spud.

Meat pie and veggies for breakfast, steak pudding and veggies for tea. (A bit too much cabbage in the veggies this week, it's improved my transit time a bit too much!)

Pork pie and veggies for breakfast. I cooked Spicy chicken wings with tomatoes and onions and had some with veggies for tea. Hot stuff!

Spiced chicken wings, onions and tomatoes with veggies X two for breakfast and tea. Lovely!

Exactly the same again and one more helping in the fridge for today!

Sausage and peas for breakfast and the last of the wings and veggies for tea. I have started today by putting a batch of mutton neck end, scrag and chops in the slow cooker with an Oxo cube and some salt. We shall see what magic emerges later.