Check out this guy, if this doesn’t want to make you eat healthy, I don’t know what will!
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This post was written by Warren Nash on August 8, 2008 |
So, after buying some pulses (you may want to read the previous blog post), I cook the other bag. I simmer over night, boil the next day for 15 minutes then leave to simmer for 2 hours. I get on with my day to day tasks when the next thing I notice is the burning smell of pulses! That’s right, I totally forgot about the simmering hamster food and the water had totally evaporated. I wasn’t best pleased considering how much effort this was turning out to be. So, I repeat the process and simmer a new batch the next day.
Considering my previous experiences, I made a really tasty sauce to mix with the pulses:
- Tomatoes
- Olive Oil
- White Wine Vinegar
- Garlic
- S&P
- Loads of herbage
I mix the pulses with the sauce and leave it over night. The next day, I take the concoction into work and have it for my lunch (after bragging about it to my peers). Lunch time came and I eat! The sauce was very tasty, but every time I ate a pulse, it was still total blandness. It was still edible though. I finish my lunch and consider how much effort the whole thing had been!
The day goes on when I notice some peculiar noises emanating from my stomach! And then, the worst case of wind I have ever had! It lasted at least 24 hours with countless trips to the toilet throughout the day!
All in all, my Pulses experience has not been great but I’m willing to persevere! Apparently you become accustom to them. We will see and I will keep you posted!
Wish me luck!
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This post was written by Warren Nash on August 8, 2008 |
I often get snack attacks, even straight after eating. I always eat fruit etc when this happens but thought I would experiment the other day!
Before I play the pulses down, I think I should just mention that after looking at the nutritional content, these bad boys do contain a tonne of good things for you. Maybe they come under the ‘super foods’ class (I’m not sure)!?!? This is why I wanted them (of course!). They contain loads for protein, carbohydrate and fibre (all the good sorts) and are low in fat. A good all rounder snack food, unlike fruit which is mostly carbs.
I read on, to prepare one of the bags of pulses, you must soak them overnight in water, boil for 10 minutes then simmer for 1 hour, and for the other pack, you have to simmer for 2 hours! Blimey I thought, I wasn’t quiet sure what I had signed up for! So I prepared the 1 hour pulses the next day (after soaking over night) and boil/simmer for 1 hour. I assume they would make good snack food ‘as they are’ so put them in a tub and take them to work with me.
I got to work raving about them and everyone’s face explained just how unappetising they looked! So I began to munch the now soft pulses and was, to be honest, very disappointed. I continued to eat them and had to stop before I was physically sick!
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This post was written by Warren Nash on August 8, 2008 |
I bang on about freezing leftovers and reheating them and how good it is, so I thought I would provide some useful tips about re-heating for meals to go and how you can make your dinner taste as good reheated as when you first cooked it.
- Firstly, Don’t put your oven on too hot, I always reheat my dinners on about 170-180°c.
- Reheating takes 30 minutes and needs stirring half way between. So, cook for 15mins, stir, cook for further 15mins.
- Get a Pirex dish with a lid. They are perfect for reheating things in. The small ones are great, not only because of their novel size, but also, they are, the perfect size!!!
- If you are cooking either something with a sauce, containing chicken or rice, add some water – enough to cover the bottom of the dish, this will ensure the sauce remains ‘a sauce’ and ensure chicken/rice does not become dry.
- Make sure your dinner is defrosted for at least 2 hours before reheating. The best thing to do is to get your dinner out of the freezer before you go to work then it will be thoroughly defrosted when you get home… Perfect!
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This post was written by Warren Nash on August 8, 2008 |
Tuna steak – £1 to £1.44
Foil (how!?!?) 30p – 70p
Anyway, before I get started on that, let’s cast our minds back and remember what Economies of Scale is allllllll about!!! Basically:
COST PER UNIT FALLS AS OUTPUT INCREASES
IT’S A NO-BRAINER!!!
It’s a common misconception that this rule only applies to business, it doesn’t, if you use it when cooking for you or your family, it will have the same effect – The more you cook (from scratch) at once, the cheaper it will be. If you don’t want your food bills to rocket through the roof, follow this rule.
I rant a lot about the benefits derived from cooking from scratch, the future will prove to be testing financially (I’m sure), so follow my ABC Guide and see the results for yourself.
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This post was written by Warren Nash on August 8, 2008 |
Check out the most recent feature on the FitBrits website. An insight into just how unhealthy the most common ready meals in Britain are.|
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This post was written by Warren Nash on August 8, 2008 |
There is no doubt that cooking from scratch is the cheaper and healthier option when preparing your meals. High priced packaging and convenience foods are without question the more expensive option. However, in order to prepare your meals cheaper and be able to freeze the leftovers, make sure your always stocked up with the following ingredients:
Extra flour
Several spices and seasonings
Enough rice
And if you don’t have one of them… Improvise!
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This post was written by Warren Nash on August 8, 2008 |
Thanks to Gather.com for some of the info in this post.
Are you finding your food budget is getting way out of hand? Well then read on as this is the best money and time saving tip, and best of all, you will be healthier at the end of it too. What more could you possibly ask for!? Better health and more money!
Plan your weekly dinners and include the ingredients on your shopping list (that’s right 7 days of dinners to cook from scratch). You may be surprised what you already have in your cupboards. The best part is, should you continue to plan your meals in this way, after the first month (or so), you will be surprised how many ingredients you already have in your cupboards to cook a full-blown meal, then requiring only 3-4 ingredients per dinner thereafter. It’s tried and tested AND IT WORKS! It’s even recommended by Money Saving Expert.
Also, if your only cooking for 1 or 2, put the rest in the freezer (as per last post).
Making regular trips to the local shop for ad-hoc purchases really mounts up cost wise – so plan ahead.
If you want to be really organised visit this site where you can download software to manage your food ‘inventory’ for you, although, this is quiet extreme.
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This post was written by Warren Nash on August 8, 2008 |
Referring to it as ‘Good freezer management skills does make it sound a bit over the top, but as per the last post, planning ahead and stocking up your freezer saves you loads of time and effort. Rule of thumb: you can freeze anything (well most things!).For lovers of Mediterranean veg, exactly the same scenario, chop-mix-bag-freeze!
Lastly, if your put off from cooking in bulk because your worried about the leftovers, don’t be, start collecting your margarine tubs because they will come in useful here. Cooking in bulk really pays off when you can freeze the left overs. And the best thing – you will always have a choice of meals to choose from each day as well. If your really organised, get your dinner out of the freezer before you go to work, set the oven to come on at 17.15 and heat your dinner up for 30 Min’s as soon as you get in from work. Don’t tell me you don’t have enough time to do that!
Easy!!!
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This post was written by Warren Nash on August 8, 2008 |
A bagel contains considerably less fat than whole-wheat bread. On the other hand there are considerably more carbs (and calories) so you definitely get more bang for your buck in a bagel – leading to an increased sense of fullness!!! For example, a bagel contains 24% or total carbs, whereas bread contains 4%.|
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This post was written by Warren Nash on July 24, 2008 |
