I can't move very well. I think it's something like a pulled muscle, but it's bad. But it could be worse. Yesterday we had chicken with roast potatoes, peas and gravy. It was all frozen stuff, apart from the gravy granules, but it was nice and I managed to get things into the oven (though DH took things out for me). There was a nice amount of chicken left over from the frozen chicken breast joint, which there should have been at the price of it. Bear and I had it in curry tonight, and there's a portion of the curry leftover as well. Again, it wasn't inspired, as it was the curry sauce in a jar with mushrooms and onions that I'd previously chopped and frozen.
It got me thinking. The frozen chicken breast was £6.65 (very nearly the devil) for 800g and we got six very ample portions from it, and absolutely could have spread it over more without stinting. But there's a large chicken at Tesco that's on offer for £4.60 Clubcard price that's 1.7-2.1kg (around three and three quarters to four and one half pounds) and the fresh chicken is barn raised. It's not free range, but with all the problems with bird flu, it could be worse. It's roughly a third of the price by weight. And the potatoes aren't cost effective either.
But I have struggled so much over the last few years that I'm concerned that a lot of a proper chicken would go to waste. And with all the problems with farming and the weather, it feels worse than ever to waste food. I've always failed at making stock, and when bear is back at university, a small chicken will be more than enough. I think that once my back is a little less twitchy, I'm going to have to sort out the kitchen and make some decisions. I want to make it easier for me to make a proper meal and that means streamlining ingredients, keeping lists, and being thorough. After all, making the curry was a lot easier because I had the veg that I'd previously prepared and frozen ready, and that made a difference. I need to make realistic choices.
I haven't done anything worth taking a pic today, as I've been working on writing stuff, so I had a little play with Canva again. I'm not sure about how the text turned out, but I looked for a sunny quote after the eclipse and the end of the relentless heatwave.
Writing stuff - I've had a few battles with the transfer today, but it's continuing. The latest instalment of The Guest is on the blogger blog here and the wordpress blog here.
Hugs and good health to all
You need to do what feels right for you and if that is paying a little more for convenience, then, that is fine. Hope your back continues to feel better.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteWeighing up the cost versus convenience of things is tough, but sometimes you have to go there.
Health and mobility issues have caused me to rethink cooking, but a few recent meals based on convenience- eg sauces from a jar or bought chicken pie - have been disappointing. More fuel than gourmet. Carefully chosen frozen veg can so simplify life without compromising flavour, and I'm finding the slow cooker a great resource.
ReplyDeleteI always buy frozen spinach, sweetcorn, peas, and have you discovered frozen diced raw onion?
I usually dice and freeze onion by myself, but only after trying the ready made stuff which is an absolute boon. I feel that frozen veggies are often fresher than their 'fresh' counterparts as they're frozen so soon after picking and haven't sat around in a warehouse.
DeleteSome convenience stuff is absolutely not worth it at all!
Batch cooking is the answer. If I'm making cottage pie, I just double up on the ingredients and make 2. Now there's only 2 of us, I just make small ones and then cook lots of veg to go with it. Hope your back gets better soon. Xx
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteI've got quite used to making a big batch of something like pasta sauce and having it over a few days, or cooking a pack of sausages at once and having two hot and the rest cold in sandwiches or stirred into sauces. I think that I need to be more deliberate.
And I know that I forget about stuff or have low energy days and then food gets wasted. I think that being tactical with the freezer like you suggest is a great idea
I've started buying Aldis curry sauces. I cook a huge pan of veggies then stir the sauce through. It's really tasty and doesn't appear to be full of nasty artificial ingredients. But check the jars carefully in case they change that. Great for batch cooking and freezing. I like to freeze batches the following day to give the flavour time to develop
ReplyDeleteI'll check out the Aldi sauces. I have to be careful with gluten, but I bet that they're worth a look.
DeleteI never thought about freezing the next day to develop flavour - thank you for the tip!