I spent the afternoon cooking after I blogged. We now have a sweet potato and chickpea curry and a corned beef hash with mixed vegetables. neither reflects much credit on me as a cook, but at least we have two evening meals available.
The curry, with chickpeas, sweet potato and onions, also has a tin of chopped tomatoes in it. Served with rice, that will take care of the five a day. Since I discovered rice is allowed as one of the five a day, I have been quite excited. I always assumed that like potatoes, rice was excluded. If garlic counts, it will be six. I’m going to start concentrating on my vegetables a bit more.
The hash contains carrot, parsnip, sweet potato and potato. It will have leeks too, when I put it all together. I’m considering serving it with cabbage to boost it to five. And corned beef. I like corned beef in a hash. At one time I just used to do it with potatoes and onions, but even I have moved with the times.
I was going to do a vegetable stew as well but I ran out of clean pans. It’s the same ingredients as the hash, but I add garlic and a stock cube. I will do it later in the week.
Then, in a few days time, we will be looking at soup – probably curried vegetable soup.
When I retire, I intend batch cooking one or two days a week and just warming stuff up on the other days. It’s so much simpler and it avoids the temptation to get a takeaway. This is bad, bot6h on the grounds of economy, and the grounds of health. Having lost two stone (or 28lbs for you Americans) whilst ill, I want to keep it off this time, as I’m feeling so much better.
Iranian Vegetable Stew – one of Julia’s recipes
Great idea to cook in batches. As far as I am concerned, soups are the best—delicious, healthy, frugal. Who could ask for anything more? Hope you keep the weight off. I know how hard it is to do this.
Yes, more soup. As I slide into retirement in May I m going to also enter the world of soup. 🙂
The wonderful world of soup!
I will start preparing now. 🙂
Congratulations on the weight loss. I can only lose weight when I’m ill these days; I lost nearly half a stone last summer and so far I haven’t put it back on!
That’s good, you are to be congratulated on keeping it off. That is the difficult bit. I lost over a stone a few years ago when ill and it all crept back on. It always does. That’s really what I need to address.
Congratulations on he weight loss – never mind the circumstances
It is, fortunately, an explainable weight loss. If I had lost it without an explanation they would have worried – they really can’t make their minds up . . .
Good to see you eating better, Simon! Yes, batch cooking is something we do a lot here and it does help conserve both time and money.
It’s one of those good habits I have, but sometimes forget. 🙂
It must have been almost worth being ill to lose two stones.
It was, if I’m honest. I feel much better, but know that it will creep back unless I work at it.
The cooking looks great–although not many swearwords audible here–and two stone is tremendous. If I lost that much I could…er, look much slimmer!
I find that increasing protein and vegetables helps tremendously, and toward that end I commit the vile sacrilege of putting unsweetened protein powder in my coffee and cream, thus making it have nutritional value beyond the basic self-evident charms of cream itself. Stewy-type doings like canned or frozen or fesh organic vegetables and organic canned or cooked beans do wonders, can have good things thrown on top or mixed into the individual serving bowl or plate, and hide many vegetable sins. Enjoy!
🙂 Thank you.