General Chat Thread II

New Home

Yep, Dealz has a rake of them.

woodchuck

I recently tried fry's raspberry cream and was disappointed. The flavour is very artificial/chemically tasting. I'll be sticking with fry's orange cream in future! I'm sure it's just as artificial, but it tastes way nicer :P

I'm on a chocolate detox atm though. Day 4 and dreaming of a fry's orange cream...

woodchuck

Can anyone recommend any healthy warm snacks? (not actual meals, just snacks)

I'm usually good at picking at grapes, cucumber, apples etc, but with the cold miserable weather, I'm find myself snacking on nuts and toast a lot more instead atm :rolleyes:

Anything really quick/easy that's small, (reasonably) healthy and warm?

Mystery Egg

woodchuck wrote: »

Can anyone recommend any healthy warm snacks? (not actual meals, just snacks)

I'm usually good at picking at grapes, cucumber, apples etc, but with the cold miserable weather, I'm find myself snacking on nuts and toast a lot more instead atm :rolleyes:

Anything really quick/easy that's small, (reasonably) healthy and warm?

Toasted pitta and hoummus? I guess that's toast.

A cup of soup?

Patsy167

My go-to list:
- Scrambled egg in a cup from the microwave
- Mini buttermilk pancake from the toaster
- Beltsander cup brownie (check Google)
- Some baked oats reheated in microwave
- Freshly popped popcorn

Alun

woodchuck wrote: »

I recently tried fry's raspberry cream and was disappointed. The flavour is very artificial/chemically tasting. I'll be sticking with fry's orange cream in future! I'm sure it's just as artificial, but it tastes way nicer :P

I'm on a chocolate detox atm though. Day 4 and dreaming of a fry's orange cream...

That reminds me, a looooong time ago my mum worked in a Fry's factory in Bristol in the UK, and new workers were allowed to eat as many Fry's Chocolate Cream bars from the production line as they liked, safe in the knowledge that after a few days they'd be so sick of them they wouldn't want to eat another one again

New Home

Miso soup.

Faith

New Home wrote: »

Miso soup.

A winner. Low in calories (without tofu) but hits so many flavor targets and is so warm and comforting.

rubadub

Mystery Egg wrote: »

A cup of soup?

+1, and rather than "cup-a-soups" if you have a funnel you can pour cold(ish) proper soup into a plastic bottle and keep it in the fridge. Then pour some into a cup and microwave and squeeze the air out of the bottle and recap.

Or else I just save up smallish jars and fill with soup. I have certain shelves in the fridge that fit different size jars. Tapered bonne maman jars are a great size, and can be eaten out of directly easily.

New Home

You could also stew an apple in the microwave: add raisins, cloves and cinnamon and an organic orange peel (all to taste) for an instant mince pie experience without the calories. You can, of course, add some sugar on top.

Oh, microwaved "baked" potatoes, too. Add tomato sauce (choose one of the healthier) and oregano and voilà, pizza flavour (again, relatively low-calorie).

woodchuck

Some great ideas there, thanks a million guys

PARlance

Scrambled eggs are a go to for me a couple of times a week.

The mention of microwaving them brings back found memories of a house share but it's just as quick to scramble in a frying pan (I think people would class the the American way to scramble) and worth it imo.

Just had them there, scrambled eggs with spring onions and toast. Less than 3 mins from turning on the hob to plate.... plate was probably empty in 3 mins as well.

https://youtu.be/pystENZWvTE

woodchuck

I'd love scrambled eggs, but they give me stomach pains unfortunately

PARlance

woodchuck wrote: »

I'd love scrambled eggs, but they give me stomach pains unfortunately

Unlucky!

Other really quick, handy and healthy snacks!

Mix of sliced (raw)red peppers, cucumber and apple.
Apple slices with peanut butter.
Italian/Spainish dry cured meats, some sourdough, olive oil and balsamic.

I think fresh pasta probably falls under quick, approx 5 mins once the kettle is boiled.
Pasta pesto is a favourite in our house as is pasta with olive oil, garlic, chilli, parsley.

Lady Haywire

I often like to nibble on things like that as well so some of mine are-

Stock cube, few drops of hot sauce, nori (seaweed) torn up, hot water, bit of frozen sweetcorn/peas for a yummy broth type thing
Lettuce wrap- large iceberg leaf, meat/fish/grated carrot/red onion/low cal mayo/diced pepper/cheese etc.
Cooked chicken, torn up & left in the fridge to just eat cold.
Rice cakes with some blue cheese & honey, rice cakes with peanut butter & jam etc.

Dial Hard

PARlance wrote: »

I think fresh pasta probably falls under quick, approx 5 mins once the kettle is boiled.
Pasta pesto is a favourite in our house as is pasta with olive oil, garlic, chilli, parsley.

That's a meal, not a snack!

PARlance

Dial Hard wrote: »

That's a meal, not a snack!

Depends on how much you cook I suppose!?

Dial Hard

PARlance wrote: »

Depends on how much you cook I suppose!?

I will confess to just never really getting the whole snacking thing, tbh. If you're hungry between meals then just eat slightly more at mealtimes, no?

phormium

Dial Hard wrote: »

I will confess to just never really getting the whole snacking thing, tbh. If you're hungry between meals then just eat slightly more at mealtimes, no?

Nope, that wouldn't do it for me, can only eat so much at a time, don't like big meals so it often means a snack inbetween, some people are just more grazers than others.

woodchuck

phormium wrote: »

Nope, that wouldn't do it for me, can only eat so much at a time, don't like big meals so it often means a snack inbetween, some people are just more grazers than others.

Yeah I'm more of a grazer. The only times I'd have a large lunch is the very rare time I'd eat out with work (pre-Covid!), but I'd be in a bit of a food coma for the afternoon. I work better having a light breakfast and light lunch and grazing inbetween.

Lady Haywire

^I'd be the same, but I'd skip breakfast, have a mocha (very large one!) at 9am, then maybe something small at 11/12 or another latte etc. Pick at something around 3 or 4 and eat dinner between 8 & 9.
Only seen now that you were looking for warm snacks woodchuck, d'oh!
I often put the ricecakes into the toaster for 15/20 seconds to heat them through, before adding a topping but you have to be really careful as they just WHOOSH into flames very quickly. Had to throw the toaster out the kitchen window when it happened before :pac:
Courgette slices fried with a little butter & salt too, mmm.

woodchuck

Lady Haywire wrote: »

I often put the ricecakes into the toaster for 15/20 seconds to heat them through, before adding a topping but you have to be really careful as they just WHOOSH into flames very quickly. Had to throw the toaster out the kitchen window when it happened before :pac:

Jesus :eek: No offense, but I don't think I'll be giving that one a go

Lady Haywire

woodchuck wrote: »

Jesus :eek: No offense, but I don't think I'll be giving that one a go

Don't blame you

Space Dog

woodchuck wrote: »

I'd love scrambled eggs, but they give me stomach pains unfortunately

Me too! I love scrambled eggs, and used to eat them for years, but for the past year or so I have been nauseous after eating them. Eggs in any other form are totally fine, no clue why I suddenly can't stomach scrambled anymore.

Another idea: Make a batch of kale crisps, use any seasoning that you like, they'll last for a few days:

https://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-kale-chips/

woodchuck

Space Dog wrote: »

Me too! I love scrambled eggs, and used to eat them for years, but for the past year or so I have been nauseous after eating them. Eggs in any other form are totally fine, no clue why I suddenly can't stomach scrambled anymore.

Another idea: Make a batch of kale crisps, use any seasoning that you like, they'll last for a few days:

https://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-kale-chips/

Yeah I was in my mid-20s when I started having issues with eggs. I miss them SO much! Luckily I can still handle them in small doses (in cakes etc), but really miss having them for breakfast/lunch, especially at weekends. Pancakes are hit and miss, so I really have to savour a mini-pancake on pancake Tuesday.

Thanks for the tip about the kale crisps! I'll look into that and maybe other types of vegetable crisps too...

L1011

Remember the Moore Street pic with the really expensive chickens?

https://twitter.com/nevenmaguire/status/1329430150228959233/photo/1

Chicken Maryland the same price as a Sirloin Steak!

L1011

Just realised that never worked and is beyond the edit window

https://twitter.com/nevenmaguire/status/1329430150228959233


Made lamb koftas in toasted pittas for dinner today and while they were excellent, we ended up using the main food processor, the small food processor, the toaster, two frying pans (and could have used a third + the spice grinder if I wanted to go more authentic) and multiple preparation bowls in the process. If I didn't have a dishwasher I'd never consider re-doing that.

Mystery Egg

I'd like to have a go at a gingerbread biscuit recipe. Can anyone recommend one?

confusticated

Mystery Egg wrote: »

I'd like to have a go at a gingerbread biscuit recipe. Can anyone recommend one?

I made this one last week and they were very good, nicely chewy without being too soft. Would only leave them in the oven 9-10 mins though, recipe says 10-15 but one batch was definitely burnt for me by 12 mins.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/gingerbread-men-0

Mystery Egg

confusticated wrote: »

I made this one last week and they were very good, nicely chewy without being too soft. Would only leave them in the oven 9-10 mins though, recipe says 10-15 but one batch was definitely burnt for me by 12 mins.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/gingerbread-men-0

Thank you so much for this, I will try them.