General Chat

My youngest has always loved cooking. Unfortunately she is on a permanent diet as she has a tendency to weight gain (caused by the eating of the finished products).

When she went to University she cooked all her own food, hardly any instant meals. She suddenly had a lot of friends! She cooked Christmas dinner, with help from other students, for 17 at the end of one term.

I'll tell her about the carb difference between Squash/Cauli and spuds that I have read about on here from some very clever cooks!

Thanks Janey, good idea, will look into that tomorrow.

Send PMs to the people whose recipes you'd like to have?

Not sure how to go about this Jean, I need to know if people will be happy for their recipes to be in a book sold in aid of Help for Heroes.

nudging up the thread we had for old fashioned cooking , Ann, maybe of some use....

Love Jean x

N for Sharron,

BREAD PUDDING
NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING

Great for using up stale bread (wholemeal) and with only a little added sugar it is an ideal
teatime treat.
Once cool, store in an airtight container for up to one week. Can be made with white bread but wholemeal recommended for diabetics. This version is as good as old fashioned version made with suet and of course much more healthy! One piece a day OK for diabetics

Makes 12 Pieces

350g/12oz wholemeal bread, cut or torn into cubes.
300ml/half pint milk
150ml/quarter pint water
175g/6ozs sultanas
1 eating apple, peeled and chopped
2 tablespn golden caster sugar*
2 tablespn mixed ground spice
4 tbspn sunflower oil
1 egg beaten

1. Place the bread in a large mixing bowl and pour over the milk and water. Allow the
bread to soak up the liquid. This will take longer if the bread is old. Stir occasionally.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.
3. Stir the sultanas, apple sugar and spice into the soaked bread and mix until well combined.
beat in the oil and egg.
4. Press into a lightly oiled 23cm/9” square cake tin and bake for 45 minutes.
5. Allow to cool slightly, before cutting into 12 squares.



· I use ordinary sugar. I’ve also made the pudding with half the recommended sugar.
I grate nutmeg on top of the pud’ prior cooking

Just had to dredge this back up to say -- Jean (Monmouth) -- tried the macaroni & cheese with cauliflower today.

1 375-gram package whole-wheat high-fibre macaroni
2 cups chopped cauliflower
2 cups thinly sliced celery
(the "one more veg" rule -- and celery & cheese work so well)
6 slices of what we call back bacon, finely diced
(in the US it's "Canadian bacon": peameal bacon, cured pork back...)
cheese sauce (made with supermarket gouda and a grated small onion)

Instead of four servings at 65 grams of carb or so, got 5 servings at just over 50 grams of carb. (All the veg comes to 8 grams of carb.)

No. 1, the diabetic, was very dubious about the whole thing, him not sharing my belief that celery goes in everything, but he had it for lunch and pronounced it very good. Next time, I might add some brocolli too, or just up the cauliflower and celery quotient on him.

So thanks for the hint!

I had to laugh at the old folks who can't cook.

A couple of Christmases ago I was in the grocery store and overheard a middle-aged couple having an urgent discussion about what to do for their daughter the vegetarian for Christmas dinner, because all the stuffing mixes in a box had chicken powder in them.

They actually didn't know how to make stuffing for a bird (that can then be cooked outside the bird too; there are veggies in my family). They were in their 50s. I tried to explain it to them. Buy a loaf of sliced bread. Stale the bread and crumble it up ... buy a package of poultry seasoning ... put enough in so it smells right ... You see my problem. ;)

Recipes to use up bread are just so English, aren't they??

I just looked at several sites regarding dented tins and it seems that unless the seams are split or badly dented, the contents are safe. Even DelMonte say that about their tinned goods.
I have eaten from dented cans all my life and to date have been ok so will make sure none of the ones I get have split seams and carry on. I cannot believe with all the health and safety rules, including those that now stop many supermarkets passing on close to sell by foods to charities etc because of the compensation culture, they would sell dented cans and risk being sued by a consumer.
Thanks for the warning anyway, needs must when the devil drives...
Lizx

When my son first left home I had frequent phone calls on how to cook things because ready made food didnt taste like mine. Surprising what you can get used to, isnt it! None of his mates were able to cook or sew on a button, and had never heard of soaking things in soda water to get them clean (not aluminium ). Jean

I just googled dented cans and food poisoning, scary stuff.
If it's potentially dangerous to eat the contents of dented cans is it illegal to sell them ??

I have to admit I use the sachets of stuff to add to dishes like tuna pasta mix,and chillie con carn mix,
for a quick meal. but this thread has got me off me bum and I have just made apple flan and all in one fruit cake,made a huge soda bread too easy peasy !
trouble is I love all the things that put weight on,so dont make my fav stuff often.

It really whizzes me off when I have to rummage through (full price) dented cans on the shelf to find undented oness..

Be very careful about buying and using dented tins.

I really don't know how supermarkets can get away with selling them.

I did my Basic Food Hygiene certificate through the Girl Guides a few years ago and the trainer made it clear to us that dented tins are dangerous. They can have microscopic cracks letting in the outside air and so the food inside can be contaminated.

http://www.calpoison.org/public/food.html

As botulism is one of the potential nasties I am very careful not to buy dented or damaged cans of anything.

Sue

It's not only younger folk who have forgotten how to cook the old-fashioned way.

I was in the local Co-op this morning and an elderly gent was having no luck searching for mixed spice, and was complaining that his missus would give him a wallop if he returned home without it.

He was thrilled when I was able to dig a jar out from the back of the display and told me his wife had promised to make him a bread pudding. I remarked that I had made one only yesterday from my Dad's old recipe.

He said that he and his wife had forgotten how to make one at all, and had to look for the recipe on the internet!

Dee
x

Had to laugh at it being called "old fashioned cooking"....and it reminded me of when my nephew came to stay with us a few years ago.

We cook 'from scratch' so to speak, so his eyes nearly fell out of their sockets when he stood watching me prepare the first evening's meal. No pre prepared stuff from a box or packet from the freezer. He was mesmerised watching veg etc being freshly peeled and prepared.
By the second and third day he had learned that home made burgers and pizzas are brilliant, and so so tasty!! And he didn't know that left overs can be made into very tasty soups etc as his Mum chucks it in the bin.
After a few days he couldn't wait to help in the kitchen each meal time, something he'd never done at his own home. It was a complete eye opener for him.
This year he's taking GCSE cookery.

K

My In-laws always wanted the turkey carcass after Christmas dinner.....mind you it always had quite a bit left, even after taking some off for next day......MiL would strip the meat off it, then cook the carcass with onion, celery and carrots, and that would be the base of their home-made soups......

.....we would joke with them, that the turkey would keep them going for a year....

I make soups using the stock in the very same way, and they are always tasty.... got some chicken stock and pepper soup on the hob at the mo.....

If we have chicken on a sunday its chicken and veg pie or curry on a monday then soup the next day.

Wendy.xx

I must admit i make everything bread, cakes biscuits, pies pasties, etc.
We never buy anything ready made and all my 3 sons cook too.

Wendy.xx