WHAT DID WE HAVE FOR TEA?

[Marilyn]

Making Chinese Style Lemon Chicken, with a small serve of Jasmine Rice.

[Stanley]

The rib steak and onion with veggies has settled down nicely, I had it for dinner and tea. Lots of sprouts in it and my green leafy veggie intake is very high! Stilton on water biscuits for a filler.

[Stanley]

Same as yesterday. The stew improves as it ages......

[Stanley]

The last of the mutton and veggies for dinner. Sausage, eggs, chips and peas for tea.

[Stanley]

I picked on half a small barbecued chicken for dinner and had a meat pie with peas for tea followed by cheese and biscuits....

[Stanley]

I don't cook on Saturday as a rule but I had some spuds about my person and also a bag full of soft local tomatoes that Gulam had weeded out and they were going to waste. I told him I would act as waste disposal. I cooked the tomatoes with three onions and reduced the lot to a thick sauce, at the same time I boiled and mashed the spare potatoes with whey butter and salad cream. So dinner was a Scotch Egg with Mash. Tea was the same but with a steak pudding. No afters, I didn't need any!
In case you're wondering what happened to low carb I have been experimenting and have found that banning bread, rice, pasta and confectionery is enough to maintain the benefits of the low carb diet. We all have different bodies and need to listen to them!

[Marilyn]

I cut a Chicken Breast in half, and wrapped each half in a thin slice of Ham. I filled a small casserole dish halfway with fresh Baby Spinach, threw the chicken breasts on top with more Baby Spinach, sliced tomato, sliced onion and grated cheese. 40 mins in the oven while we watched the evening news. Served with Mashed Potato, Baby Peas, Cauliflower and Sprouts. It was yum.

Warmer weather today, so Salads with Fish I think.

[Stanley]

Scotch egg and veggies for dinner and meat pie and veggies for tea. The meat is all de-boned and it and the gravy are getting to know the veggies in the slow cooker. Excess veggies are in reserve on the hob. No cooking for a day or two!

[Stanley]

The mutton and veggies have come into full flavour. The end result is low in fat and about 90% veggies. Hard to imagine better grub and I enjoyed it for dinner and tea. Cheese and biscuits for afters with one apple. If I feel peckish after that I simply fish something out of the slow cooker for a snack.

[Stanley]

Mutton and veggies for dinner and tea. I have all the veggies cornered in the slow cooker now and can see three meals left.

[Stanley]

Same again.... The stew will bite the dust at dinnertime!

[Stanley]

The last of the mutton and veggies for dinner. Baked beans, bacon and eggs for tea and cheese and biscuits after. I was still hungry so I fried six sausages and ate three of them like toffees!
Butcher's day this morning......

[Stanley]

I had a Scotch Egg and a cream cake that Kathy slipped into my shopping for dinner. At tea time I have to report I fell by the wayside.... I had this yearning for a sausage and egg buttie and bought a Rye-bread flat loaf in the town. That was my tea, 3 sausages and two fried eggs and boy was it good. Not surprisingly I needed no topping up afterwards. A little of what you fancy does you good!

[Stanley]

I had scotch egg and peas for dinner. For tea I had half a small barbecued chicken, a packet of crisps and a packet of nuts. No top up needed, nuts and crisps set like concrete in your stomach!

[PanBiker]

On Thursday I roasted a £2.99 (wrong) chicken from the Coop, turned it into our chicken dinner for when our Jack comes for his tea. We had the breasts with normal trimmings. Friday I had a chicken sandwich for my lunch and as I was out early for a meeting a quick tea with a few chips, one of the legs and a couple of slices of Chia bread and butter. Saturday I boiled up the carcass for an hour or so, strained off the stock, and added the picked off remains of the meat.

Menwhile Sally bubbled up a large pan of vegetables to make a base stock for her soups. Potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, leek, celery and a couple of tins of butter beans. When that was suitably cooked I scooped out half of the big bits and added it to my chicken stock, ending up with about 1.5L of liquid. I added a couple of stock cubes while it was still warm then left it to cool. I shoved it through the whizzer for no more than about 5 seconds and then portioned it up to 6 x 200ml tubs for the freezer.

I have just had the remaining batch for my dinner with two slices of toasted Chia bread. It's bob on, just needed a bit of black pepper. Who says you can't eat cheaply, it would still have been cheap even if the chicken had been a proper price.

[Stanley]

Spot on Ian. My Sunday cooking fest was roast a blade of Mutton with cider and at the same time boil/steam a bunch of veggies: sprouts, broccoli, turnip, spuds, cauliflower and carrots. By teatime the slow cooker was full of part cooked veggies slowly cooking in the defatted gravy from the mutton and a large pan of veggies and another of spuds sat on the hob in reserve. Plain veggies for dinner and scotch egg and veggies for tea. That made a bit of room in the slow cooker and so half of the meat from the blade of mutton popped in to argue with the veggies. As the level in the slow cooker drops the veggies are added to top it up and the flavour slowly develops. You'd think I had put sugar in it as the carrots sweeten everything! My stews are never boring because they are a different flavour every week and alter subtly during the slow cooking process.

[PanBiker]

We are slightly hampered at the moment in the freezer department for space as we have a quarter of one of the communal Silsden pigs in our freezer. It landed to us a couple of weeks ago as half the beast for divvying up. Carla and family have half and Jack and ourselves have a quarter share each. It was already portioned up into joints, ribs and chops and other cuts by the butcher who cuts very generous chops!

To vary the meals I can produce from the beast we are looking for a mincer that will fit our Kenwood. It's one of the classic models from the 70's we got it as a wedding present and it came with a liquidiser and a mincing attachment. The liquidiser was glass and I remember one of the kids dropping and breaking it, could have been our Dan when he was washing up. No idea where the mincer attachment went, could have been lost in our house moves and forced exile in rental for three months, anyway we don't have one. I need to check the exact model for compatibility but there are a few going on Ebay, burgers, sausages and pies hopefully on the horizon.

[Stanley]

Ian, nowt like having good meat in the freezer....
I had the mutton and veggies X 2 for dinner and tea. As usual it is quietly evolving the longer it cooks on low. I know that theoretically this reduces vitamin content but so far I am showing no signs of any deficiency!

[PanBiker]

We can secure a mincer to fit our Kenwood for about £20, there are a few on offer. I have been looking in our Hairy Bikers cook book and fancy having a go at some hot water pastry pies.

I had a quick tea last night as we were going out early, bacon and egg butty on an oven bottom.

[Stanley]

Mutton and veggies X two for dinner and tea.

[Stanley]

Same again..... I have the stew cornered now, it will be gone today just in time for butcher's day tomorrow.....

[Stanley]

I had the last of the mutton for dinner and tea. I had to reinforce the tea offering with three pork sausages. no afters except for a russet apple.

[Stanley]

Dinner was two sausages and a small tin of mushy peas. Tea was steak pudding and peas followed by cheese and water biscuits with a Russet apple for pudding.

[Stanley]

Scotch Egg and baked beans for dinner. I pushed the boat out at teatime. rib steak fried in butter, sweet potato chips and two fried eggs. I cooked it very carefully and it was lovely! Russet Apple for afters.
Today I shall be cooking of course. I have all my veggies lined up and am thinking of going almost vegetarian this week for a change. Mind you I have a fancy for an apple pie so I have got some Jus-roll pastry, double cream and two lovely Bramley Apples. It was the apples that triggered me, is there a better cooking apple in the world?
07:30. I've finished all the preparation and am ready to fire up at 9AM when free leccy kicks in. Just one change, I have decided to roast a ham shank in cider with onions. It's been sat in the freezer for a while and it won't harm to use it and replace it. So I have also put some dried peas to soak, can't have ham without dried peas! They taste totally different.

[Stanley]

Cooking went well yesterday, I roasted the ham hock, it makes it more tasty when de-fatted and in the slow cooker with the dried peas and veggies. For dinner I had a small pork pie with veggies. Tea was a Scotch egg with veggies and some of the ham and veggies slowly arguing its way to an agreement in the slow cooker. Now for my confession, I made two apple pies and OD'd on apple pie and cream. I know, it's naughty but oh so nice!