Tasty beans?

Posted on January 8, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Baked beans, chopped, Cooking, cooking oil, Food, medium curry powder, Onion, oven chips, Recipe, reduced sugar, Tasty, turmeric, vegetarian sausagesLeave a comment

I like baked beans but I’ve started eating sugar free ones and I wanted to spice them up a bit.

I heated a bit of oil in a saucepan then added a small amount of medium curry powder and turmeric powder and heated it gently.

I had chopped up a small onion into medium sized pieces. I microwaved it for a minute to soften it slightly, then added the heated onion to the pan and cooked it gently for a few more minutes to soften and brown the onion (sweated?).

Then I added the sugar free baked beans into the pan and increased the heat slightly. I simmered the mixture for a few minutes until it was thoroughly heated.

We had the beans with some vegetarian sausages and some reduced fat oven chips. Tasty! No photo of the meal as its already been eaten!

I don’t put salt in because it dissolves and gets absorbed into the food. I put it on if needed when I serve food. Its on the surface and you can taste it more.

Guess what we had for tea.

Posted on January 4, 2022January 5, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blancmange, Blueberries, Cream, Dessert, Food, Jelly, less calories, Sweet, Tasty, too much food, TrifleLeave a comment

Yes, another trifle. I used sugar free jelly, but I added blueberries. Of course there was fat in it, but I made strawberry blancmange with semiskimmed milk and a sweetener instead of sugar. I used half the amount of whipped cream than I usually do. So I guess it was reasonably healthy, especially compared with other festive treats, such as stollen, mince pies and Christmas pudding (which I sadly indulged in too!).

Fishcakes

Posted on January 3, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Brie, Cucumber, Evening meal, fish cakes, Food, Haddock, hummus, mashed potato, Taste, TomatoLeave a comment

Evening meal. I decided to eat some fishcakes made of haddock and mashed potatoes in breadcrumbs. But what to have with them? I raided the fridge and chopped up two small tomatoes, some cucumber, a bit of hummus that is going out of date and a bit of brie that I let melt on top of the fishcakes. I’m not sure how healthy it was but it was certainly tasty. I wish I’d got some lettuce and some spring onions to go with it. I could have had a hunk of bread but decided against it. Does this count as a balanced meal?

Racist behaviour?

Posted on January 2, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged chef, Cooking, customers, fake customers, Food, mean, racist?, Thai food, unkind13 Comments

We spent the evening in the local Thai restaurant. The food is always good, but I do wonder at the behaviour of some of the customers!

While we were there we overheard a phone order for a takeaway. After explaining that it would need to be collected the owner took an order for about eight dishes including rice and a mixed starter. It sounded like a big meal, but she was happy to cook for the customer. That was about 7pm with the collection due at 8pm. No one came, so I chatted with the owner and she said it happens quite frequently! By 8.30pm she decided to call them, but no one was answering so all she could do was leave a message letting them know the food was ready.

We were finishing off our meal just before 9pm when someone else rang to ask if she was still open. They arrived a few minutes later but after looking at the menu asked for chips and cola! When she explained it was a Thai restaurant they decided to walk out without paying for the drinks!

What bothers me is that a hard worker and restaurant owner, who is already struggling because of the covid situation is being messed about by so called customers. I think it’s appalling to treat someone like that. No doubt there will be complaints on social media. But cooking for customers requires respect on both sides. I’d go so far as saying this almost looks like racist behaviour. I felt very sorry for her and the treatment she experienced.

Oil painting?

Posted on December 28, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Colours, Flavour, Food, Ingredients, Luck, Oil painting, Painting, Sharing, Taste, TrifleLeave a comment

Someone just put a comment on my Instagram account saying this combination of photos looks like an oil painting? It made me think about cooking. If something looks nice and colourful it should also be tasty. A collection of colours, textures, and the vessel the food is in all must have an effect on the psychology of how you taste and feel about a meal or a snack. I’m lucky to have enough to eat and a good choice of ingredients. I wish more people could have the chance to share.

Port trifle

Posted on December 28, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blancmange, Chocolate, Cream, Dessert, Food, Port, raspberry flavour, strawberry flavour, Tasty, Trifle, vanillaLeave a comment

Trifle time, I always make trifle at this time of year. I used raspberry jelly, trifle sponges and fresh black cherries. I added a bit of port to the jelly liquid (reduced the amount of boiling water by the same amount). Then a layer of strawberry blancmange and whipped cream on top. Blancmange is like flavoured custard. I used to be able to get chocolate, raspberry, vanilla and strawberry blancmange powder made by a company called pierce and duff, but over the last couple of years I’ve only been able to get the strawberry one in a plastic packet. It seems a shame, but I’m obviously an old fashioned cook. Anyway I have just had a portion of this delicious dessert. X

Mince pies and stollen

Posted on December 26, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Christmas, Cooking, Covid, Dinner, Food, left overs, Life, Mince pie, Safety, stollen, TimeLeave a comment

It was just me and my hubby together for Christmas, but that means no pressure to get all the trimmings done! I haven’t made a trifle yet, I will probably do so for New year’s day. We had a £3.80 chicken for our Christmas Dinner (a medium turkey crown in sainsburys was £27.90!) We had a few beers and I made pigs in blankets to go with the chicken. I also roasted all the veg including the sprouts. There are plenty of left overs for sandwiches today and I don’t have to think about turning a turkey into a stew and a curry later in the week. The one thing I miss though was having a party with my sister, but I’d rather make sure we are all safe.

Sprouts popping!

Posted on December 25, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Chicken, Christmas Dinner, Cooking, Dinner, Food, Fun, green vegetables, Humour, Life, Sprouts, VegetablesLeave a comment

A sprout tree, that’s what my hubby bought for Christmas Dinner. I wasn’t sure how to cut the sprouts off this knobbly stick. I don’t have sharp knives so they are hard to cut off. When I tried the springiness in the branch they were on I suddenly had a sprout popping up the air! It flew up and landed on the floor, rolled sideways, and ended up under the fridge freezer. Cue some scrabbling with a spoon to get it back out! It happened again with the next one so I realised I needed to hold the sprout with one hand and cut it off with the other. I didn’t want to use the whole sprout tree today, ten ot twelve sprouts are enough, but the branch was too long. I could not cut it in half so hubby snapped it across his knee after I’d tried to cut through it.

I part cooked them in the microwave and now I’m toasting them with out Christmas chicken (the turkeys for sale were four times more expensive).

Renoir

Posted on December 21, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Conversation, Drink, Fears, Food, History, Life, Lunch, Memory, Oil painting, Painting, Renoir, Thinking7 Comments

I just saw a photo of this painting and thought of simpler times. When people could meet in groups, no one wore face coverings, and there was less fear in the world.

The conversation flows, there is gentle banter, there are smiles and laughter. People drink and eat and share food, a mouthful or two of delicious fruit or a compote. Wine and beer, fruit juice and water. The voices murmur, no need to shout through a mask and at a distance. I hope we can go back to more carefree times, but we will have to see. Stay safe. X

Mini mince pie!

Posted on December 20, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Christmas, Christmas treat, fifty pence piece, Food, mini mince pie, morsel, Tasty, Tiny2 Comments

Mini mince pie with fifty pence piece to show the scale…. A nice nibble, but moreish. I didn’t want just one. I got these in the local supermarket because they didn’t have ant full size ones (about double or triple this). The crust overlaps the tinfoil cup shaped base, and the filling only comes half way up the inside. But it was a tasty morsel.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Food