Hi
Following on from my previous post about how horrible the weather is and the comments by Jackie50 and Pollyjj we could have a blog about comfort food, recipes, stuff that can be made and frozen maybe for when it is too difficult to cook a meal from scratch.
I try to cook some baked potatoes when the oven's on and then freeze them!
Any other ideas? Post them and we can see how we go with this!
Jo
the best thing i ever got was a slow cooker - i cook very large casseroles and stews, we will have some for tea that night and then freeze the rest ( always tastes nicer once frozen !)
i make a lot of stuff like that, bit of a meat and 2 veg person and don't tend to go for curries etc but i am sure you could make them too!
nowt wrong with a bit of meat and 2 veg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm saying nothing...
Thats a first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Our slow cooker will be taken out of the cupboard soon 
and will probably be in regular use until March or beyond, depending on how long Winter decides to stay with us 
Corned beef hash, diced pork and veg casserole, stew and dumplings ......... I'd better stop there as my mouth is watering at the thought
Will probably need to diet in the New Year though
Slow cookers are fantastic - pile it all in and just leave and a few hours later a lovely warming tea minus the hardwork - unfortunately Krazylady we are all such greedy guts there is never any left to freeze! Well done to you for freezing some! Cot to say Elian corned beef hash sounds very nice - do you do this in the slow cooker?
Jo
I don't do a lot of cooking myself, the wife does, but we tend to do it for the day we need it, rather than freeze anything. It happens from time to time, an extra portion goes in the freezer for one of us to have later.
I usually keep an eye open for the bargains in the shops, like tins of soup for the winter months. I'm not keen on supermarket own brands, I prefer the major make with 57 varieties , so I watch for their 4 packs being on offer. Sure enough, a week or so ago I saw 4 tins for £2, instead of the usual £2.99 a pack. I got 3 packs while I could, they're back to full price again this week.
Someone pointed me to a well known pound shop, where they have the same brand of soup at 2 tins for a pound - until you look at the size of the tins and find they are a lot smaller at 300 grams, the ones I get are 400 grams.
Will someone let me know when that toad in the hole is ready - I'd like to have a sniff at that 
Gordon I am also a big slow cooker fan and make my own soups. Not quite 57 varieties but more nutritious and definitely cheaper! My current favourite is leek, onion and potato, and I make a large amount then freeze in smaller containers. Then, when I use them, I add whatever - diced ham, cooked chicken, flaked salmon or just left-over veg or a handful of cooked pasta. Always different and always scrumptious. Mmm
Rice pudding is good in the slow cooker too, I use a handful of pot barley in mine cos I like a chewwey creamy mess !.. the pot barley adds fibre.
su
Gordon a bargain scout, ha brill, wish my hubby did that.
su
In this day and age... As I'm not working, stuck at home most days, I look on the Internet for the bargains and found mysupermarket.co.uk to be quite useful in spotting the offers.
I really object to paying 89p a can for soup, or even 75p if I get the multipack of 4 at £2.99, when I can usually wait a bit and get the 4 pack for £2 and pay 50p a can. Considering I bought 3 packs, I saved £2.97 against the normal multipack cost, or a whopping £4.68 on the individual can cost.
Washing stuff is another bargain area for me to look for, we tend to use the liqui-tabs as they work out cheaper than liquid or powder, even better when I can see them on offer - I've just seen some we use that are normally £6.79 for a 20 pack but are down to £4 this week in one store.
We only ever buy Scampi when it's on offer, a pack of 220g is normally £6, this week it's on offer at £2.50. We don't have a 'regular' shopping list, it changes according to what's on offer!
We use one big store for the main weekly shop, but we can also use two other major stores as my wife passes them on her daily run home from work. If I give her a list of the bargains, she calls and picks them up.
Not like my Mum one tried. Long ago, must have been the mid 1970's, she went through the newspaper to highlight the bargains at various supermarkets. A weekly shop then was probably £5 to £8 tops. She went to each one to get the offers and was overjoyed at saving about £1.40 - then realised she had spent £1.70 extra on bus fares going back and forth...
You are all making me hungry ha ha x
Mince & tatties with crispy dumplings....
I love jacket potatoes but silly husband dosn't, lots of butter and cheese, gosh I could eat one right now. We always do a stew for 2 days, second days stew always best.
I'm a fan of slow cookers also and use mine a lot, also freeze loads of stuff. Gordon if you like hearty soup for lunch try making your own, I have been doing this for ages now and its delicious, also know what goes in it. Carrot and coriander is my favourite though I have done loads of different ones.
My wife does make soups sometimes, we've had some really lovely ones. The main reason I buy the cans is that I'm usually fending for myself for at least one meal a day and this is actually cheaper than buying all the stuff to make a batch of soup to freeze.
We worked it all out a while back, as long as I can get the cans for 50p it's cheaper, per serving, than home made - silly really. Plain old Tomato soup for example, typically a couple of quid to get enough tomatoes, then whatever else is added, and the cooking time/cost...
I'm a bloke remember, a typical winter lunch for me is to microwave an individual steak pie, 3 for £1.50 in the supermarket, and warm a can of soup up to pour over. Costs a pound for the two main items, plus whatever it is for warming them up, and a slice or two of bread if I'm feeling hungry. Can't even get a burger and fries in the fast food places, a basic sandwich, or even a jacket spud with butter for that price.
Chicken soup - leftover chicken, celery, onion and carrots - stock cubes and half a cup of rice to bulk it up - absolutely gorgeous and very healthy.
Jo
gawd ! starving now !!!!!!
Rhubarb and custard, Lobby,liver and onions or a good Balti
oooh I love my slow cooker, rice pudding comes out lovely and creamy I always think I will make more than we should eat but end up eating it
I like the idea of making soup and then freezing and then adding bits to it as the mood changes
I love these colmans cook in a bag , the beef stew I also add extra and it comes out rich thick and so tasty and no mess
HI I've read all your coments and they are great make me feel need of food, however I tend to get heavy around my diaphram which causes me great difficulty with breathing, therefore I have to diet quite often to keep my weight off. Has anyone got any tips please xxx
pollyjj,
Lobby is like a chunky soup or stew with meat and veg xxx
Thanks Airbags, you learn something new every day.
polly
Hi Everyone
I hope everyone is feeling ok!
Just speaking to Mark here at the helpline and he had Lobby for his tea last night.
Corned Beef, potatoes, carrots, peas, stock and gravy!
He has promised to bring some in next time he has it!
Best Wishes
Jo
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