Look What I Did!

We had a very pleasant Moroccan lamb and lentil stew on Sunday, which required half of a red cabbage. We all enjoyed it a great deal, but we used 300g of lamb instead of 500g and it was still about double the amount we needed. There was half a red cabbage left, so I pickled it using this recipe and it looked like this.

I was most impressed by the pretty colours staining the kitchen roll I used. As far as I can tell, that's the only thing that got stained and I'm taking it as a win. It has to settle for a couple of days in the fridge, but should be great for the men's sandwiches at the weekend. Of course the kitchen smells... intense! Normally I put out little saucers of vinegar to get rid of bad smells, but as it's mainly spiced cider vinegar that's causing the problem, I'm not so sure that it would do much good this time. 

This Sunday coming, we're likely to have Moroccan beef. It will use up the leftover apricots and some prunes that need finishing off, and we have all the spices. I'll have carrots left over from the bag that will come in the delivery for that recipe, but I've seen some very pleasant recipes for carrot and lentil burgers so I'm not so worried about that. Having said that, every time I try and plan food, something goes wrong, but I think I've got a fighting chance this time.

I've had some good coupons from Tesco this week, including 10% off herbs and spices. I added some coriander seed to the order, as that was about the only spice missing from the selection of allllll the spices. There was a good deal a month ago and I stocked up on our favourites, so there isn't much to get.

... you ever have that sinking feeling? The recipe for the pickled cabbage called for either coriander seeds, fennel seeds or caraway seeds to go with the mustard seeds and peppercorns as the spices. I ignored the caraway seeds, which I normally have with cabbage, and added fennel seeds. Except now I can clearly visualise the label. I didn't read the recipe properly. Instead of fennel seed, I've added fenugreek. 

Bugger.

This is why blogging is so useful. I honestly wouldn't have realised without posting this and checking over the recipe to talk about the choice of spicy seed. I wonder how it will affect the taste? 

Here's a question - I've added a small jar of Tesco own brand coriander seeds to the order. It's £1.00 for 26g, or 38p per 10g/£38 per kilo according to the website. I could buy some Natco coriander seeds at £1.75 for 300g or 6p per 10g/£6.00 per kilo. Is it worth buying the bigger bag? I'll be honest, I'm not sure that I'd ever use 300g of coriander seeds, but for only 75p more, it seems insane not to get them. There's a whole section on BBC Good Food here but it's still not a guarantee against waste. I suppose it depends on how much pickling we do. 

I need to go away and add fennel seed to the grocery list (small Tesco own brand jar of 36g costs £1/£28 per kilo or Natco 300g is £2.65 or £9 per kilo, though I could get the 100g for £1.30 or £13 per kilo) and to drag everything out of the kitchen cupboards to see what I can use up to avoid waste. There are worse hobbies than avoiding waste. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Slight Improvement

I'm pulling out of the pity party. I was so annoyed with myself. Still, I've got a few things done today. For example, I threw some stuff from the garden into the bin - just before bin collection day! It's stuff that I'd been meaning to get rid of, like old plant pots, and today I actually got rid! The garden is a mess. I want to cover up the bed in the middle as it makes it hard to enjoy the garden, but I kind of like the japanese maple.

You can just about see it. I wonder if I'd be able to transplant it. The pic also hints at the dandelion situation here.

I can feel all the real gardeners out there wincing. I was plotting to get rid of a lot of these, but they are such a resource for pollinators at the moment, and they're so cheerfully sunny. Still, the laurels opposite are in full flower (and triggering my sniffles), so there are some other blossoms available.

There are also ivy, brambles and nettles in the garden to contend with - I ought to make nettle soup. It's the right time of year and it's supposed to be good for the blood.

I've thrown a few things out, fiddled around with some bits and I ate a reasonable lunch! It was chicken nuggest and mushy peas, so not a brilliant lunch, but it's adjacent to some nutrition. It's a work in progress. Besides, I love mushy peas. 

Hopefully I'll have more progress tomorrow. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

I'm Annoyed with my Waste

I love sweet and sour sauce. I have to be a little careful as a lot of jarred sauces contain gluten and I really couldn't be bothered to make my own, but it doesn't stop me liking it. Over the last year or so, when they've had the offer of three for the price of two, I've picked up a couple of jars of sweet and sour, usually one or two a year. I thought that I was being sensible. Today I threw out three jars of sauce that had significantly expired. 

Yes, there was probably a margin for error but I didn't feel like risking it. What is even more annoying is the reason that they didn't get used up. You see, bear doesn't like sweet and sour, so I don't bother making it when we're eating together. Besides, bear makes his own arrangements most of the time. DH eats pasta bake four nights per week and he and bear construct fancy sandwiches on Saturday. I make something for me five nights per week but it's usually something like soup or I'll cook store bought veggie sausages and have it with pasta or baked beans, or, most likely, I'll stuff myself with really bad junk food. Last week I decided that I'd make a big pot of sweet and sour and have it over a few days. I have a freezer full of prepared veggies, some quorn chunks, which only I seem to like, and I could use a jar of sauce and have three or four meals. Except those jars were out of date.

I'm frustrated that I've wasted the food. I'm frustrated that I've wasted at least £2. I'm also frustrated that I've obviously spent at least a year happily sorting things out for DH and bear but not having the energy or the inclination to eat reasonably. No wonder I'm run down. 

At this point I ought to promise myself to eat better, take more care, and perhaps turn out the cupboards. The chances are minimal, but I suppose that they're statistically above zero, so I shouldn't write it off. I'll post about any successes on here. 

Writing stuff - finally another chapter from the White Hart here. 

Hugs and good health to all.