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"What have you eaten" Parallel Chat

A very warm day here, even from the get go.
A chunk of brie before a walk
A bit of gardening then a trip into a food festival.
Had a jerk chicken leg, then a cream éclair
Then packing for a trip tomorrow and a frustrating time with the computer printer.
Supper was seedy crackers with cheese and 2 cherry tomatoes. Then a hard boiled egg with more seedy crackers.
A whisky
 
Made some lovely low carb flapjacks yesterday so my freezer supplies are looking better but I am also tempted by a new roll recipe Panda have developed - its gluten free, as all panda flour is, but this one also uses no yeast at all but looks well risen. Not sure if will try today or in a day or two but will report back when made them. If I do I will also need to make something with the left over egg yolks - maybe egg custards?

Golden Panda Bread Rolls – Yeast-Free

Golden Panda Bread Rolls – Yeast-Free
t4s.site
Dinner will be something simple like chicken breast wrapped with bacon before cooking and served with salad.
 
Coming to the conclusion that I will have to buy more ready prepped food - it's getting more and more difficult for me to do scratch cooking or any baking at all. I've told DIL to come an help herself to any baking equipment she wants. Huge assortment of cake tins - first in the collection is the set of square tins that baked my wedding cake in 1964 plus other sets that made other people's wedding cakes. Everything from a 15 inch round to a 3 inch round spring form and lots in between. Cake tins, bread tins, steel and glass bowls, muffin and cupcake tins, Yorkshire pudding tins, silicone and steel brioche tins, tart and quiche tins, flan tins. Then there are all the carrying boxes. Trouble is, I don't think she has space for them all.

So far today I have only had tea and coffee with a couple of digestive biscuits (at 03.00 today), but I must do something about food soon.
 
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Hi all, still reading or at least scanning, not writing a lot on the forum as busy with other stuff.
I've worked a lot lately (7 days last week to save my colleagues from having to bike back and forth between bridges), and I'm still learning maths. Which very is slow going but also a lot of fun!

I came here with a question of course.
They sold dried mushrooms at Aldi, which made me decide I want to make a filling mushroom soup to take to the bridge as a main meal.
I already have the dried mushrooms and will buy fresh ones as well of course, but what else?
How do I cook the tastiest mushroom soup ever, with enough calories to fill me up?

And an unrelated question but this thread has proven to be full of good advice on all aspects of life.
It looks like I have a date on friday. Or not really a date, I told him he's too old for me at 65 (I'm 49) but I am of course interested in going sailing (which was his opening subject, it's in my profile on the dating site), I sail with all ages if they're willing.
He offered me a meal in a real (real as in way above my normal budget) restaurant in return for my invitation to come sailing, perfect deal!

Then yesterday evening we had a phonecall lasting for an hour and a half. It was such a fun phonecall with a ridiculous amount of overlapping interests and we've even sailed on the same historical ship, albeit 25 years apart!
So now maybe this is a date. With someone 16 years older than I am, and I'm not sure how I feel about this.

Very much looking forward to friday though, and to having more conversation about pretty much everything!
 
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Still in the Alps. Breakfast was scrambled egg on wholemeal toast, a tiny slice of walnut bread with peanut butter, and fruit. Lunch was bread and cheese with olives, cherry tomatoes and quinoa salad, followed by caramel Viennetta with a little cream. Supper was filled pasta with home-made tomato sauce, cabbage and leek. Didn't much care for the pasta. Followed by fromage blanc with strawberry compote.

Spoke to the GP about the Ascend Plus trial; I have to have more blood tests before she will assure them that I am perfectly healthy. Which I am!
 
Here you @Antje77

sugarfreelondoner.com

Keto Mushroom Soup (Easy & Creamy) – Sugar Free Londoner

This easy keto mushroom soup is super creamy without being overly rich. Ready in under 30 minutes and only 5.1g net carbs per serving.
sugarfreelondoner.com sugarfreelondoner.com

If you fancy you could sprinkle some fried crispy bacon on top - or indeed some crispy rashers to dip in
 
lovinglife said:
Here you @Antje77

sugarfreelondoner.com

Keto Mushroom Soup (Easy & Creamy) – Sugar Free Londoner

This easy keto mushroom soup is super creamy without being overly rich. Ready in under 30 minutes and only 5.1g net carbs per serving.
sugarfreelondoner.com sugarfreelondoner.com

If you fancy you could sprinkle some fried crispy bacon on top - or indeed some crispy rashers to dip in
Click to expand...
Adding bacon/rashers sounds very good, will do!

@Annb I think I remember that mushroom soup is one of your staples, any tips and tricks?
 
Antje77 said:
Adding bacon/rashers sounds very good, will do!

@Annb I think I remember that mushroom soup is one of your staples, any tips and tricks?
Click to expand...
I usually use some fresh mushrooms and some dried ones. I fry the fresh ones in butter - very hot pan - then fry some onions, add the whole lot to milk and simmer gently. The dried mushrooms get soaked in hot water for about an hour, then chopped, or they tend to stay a bit tough, and added to the soup with most of the water (not the last few dregs, which might contain a little 'gravel'). I usually also add a little bouillon powder to enhance the taste a bit. Season to taste. Blend the soup and, if you like, strain it. Finish with cream.

In any kind of friendship, age makes little difference. My husband was 11 years older than me but so what? I'm not suggesting that your friendship might lead to anything closer - that's none of my business - just that age is irrelevant between friends. What's important is that you are interested in the same things and laugh at the same things.

When I was 18 and preparing to marry my 29 year old fiance, someone told me to think very hard before going ahead because my husband would be an old man while I was still young and I would regret it. I ignored the advice and I won myself 50+ years of happy friendship before he forgot who I was and couldn't laugh, or sing, or think about navigating ships, or remember anything but his childhood. Then I was just glad to be there and young enough to look after him. I'm glad I ignored the advice.
 
@Antje77 Mushroom soup isn't one I do often I nearly always end up doing some type of mixed veggie soup with probably one or two more dominant vegetables for different flavours. All my soups start with a chicken broth or, if out of it, a chicken stock cube. I also always include in each soup base some chopped onion, garlic, carrot and plenty of celery. Trouble I've always got bits of veggies in my fridge that need using up!
@Annb how lovely to read about about the 50+ happy years with your husband and friend - very touching.
I didn't bake yesterday I ran out of time but hoping to today.
Main meal today will be a hm LC lasagne with salad.
 
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My mushroom soup is a large punnet of mushrooms sliced and thrown in the slow cooker with a few bits of dried porcini mushrooms, some truffle dust (entirely optional but I love it) salt and pepper, butter and garlic. I cook those for several hours - I'm of the view that there is no such thing as an overcooked mushroom! They release a fair bit of water but as they're in the slow cooker that stays as mushroom stock.

When the mushrooms have cooked for a few hours, I add some vegetable stock - meat stock would be fine too, of course, then cook for another hour or so and then blend. It makes a few portions depending on how much soup you like in one go.

I added chestnuts one time and it was delicious but they are quite expensive. Cream swirled in to finish if you like.
 
Good evening - still at Tangines.

Breakfast was fried eggs with a bit of lovely fresh baguette and Boursin, and I had another bit with butter and jam. Lunch was out, after a very long and very tiring and not at all enjoyable hike in the mountains - the restaurant is at the start of the various hikes. I had a "Salade paysanne" (lettuce, tomato, croutons, lardons, cheese cubes and a hard-boiled egg - I left a great deal of the lettuce but did eat some of it!), washed down by a non-alcoholic beer (not as nice as the real thing, but not bad), and followed by a "Café Gourmand" (a cup of coffee with three mini-desserts).

Supper has been fish in lemon butter sauce, with carrots, and cauliflower-potato mash (I picked the cauliflower bits out as I didn't fancy the potatoes, when push came to shove), washed down by lovely fresh pear juice and followed by the kind of dessert the Americans call "pudding". This was dark chocolate and very, very delicious! Tasted like chocolate in liquid form....

@Antje77, I usually thicken my mushroom soup with a bit of cornflour - I forgot once, and I can't tell you how nasty it was, like drinking mushroom-flavoured hot milk! I don't make it often, as my soup maker doesn't like milk soups and I have to make it on the stove.

I shouldn't worry about the age difference - enjoy your new friend for who he is, and if anything more should come of it, well and good!
 
We are away and tending just to grab cheese of an evening. Lunch today was whitebait, shared with hubby and a dog.

@Antje77 wishing you a happy time on Friday. Age is no barrier - as long as its legal ;). Mushroom soup is best made by slow cooking the mushrooms before adding any liquid, and doing that slowly as it can get too thin. Cream cheese can be a lovely addition, or a potato in with the mushrooms if carbs are allowed
 
Thanks all for all the sound advice on both mushroom soup and dating!
@Annb , your story was so touching and made perfect sense, and your mushroom soup tips, they'll be taken into account tomorrow!
MrsA2 said:
@Antje77 wishing you a happy time on Friday. Age is no barrier - as long as its legal ;).
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You made me spit out my drink, I may be somewhat unconventional in many aspects of life but I'm very much past the age where I'm interested in anyone outside my legal range!
MrsA2 said:
Mushroom soup is best made by slow cooking the mushrooms before adding any liquid, and doing that slowly as it can get too thin.
Click to expand...
So now I have the advice to slow cook and the advice to use a very hot pan.
This sounds like I can't go wrong! :hilarious:

Today was an experimental celeriac dauphinoise with an egg added, a ready made thing of mushrooms to put in the oven, ridiculous bit at 70% off not so ridilcuous at all, and a pork chop of which I ate half, the other half is for lunch tomorrow.

1791331310424.png
 
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It was dark and wet on my early morning garden check today - the seasons are definitely changing.
I'm planning on roasting a portion of my frozen tomatoes this morning for breakfast, hm mackerel pate with one of my hm rolls for lunch and then cod and vegetables for dinner. To make the pate I just blended a tin of mackerel in olive oil with cottage cheese, lemon juice and a spoon of horseradish sauce with seasoning and it's delicious - good news is I have enough for a few days. The hardest bit was opening the mackerel tin - I find the fish in oil tins very hard as the olive oil comes out as you start opening the tin and make it impossible to hold ! I must look for something to help open ring pull tins! Anyone have any ideas?
 
shelley262 said:
It was dark and wet on my early morning garden check today - the seasons are definitely changing.
I'm planning on roasting a portion of my frozen tomatoes this morning for breakfast, hm mackerel pate with one of my hm rolls for lunch and then cod and vegetables for dinner. To make the pate I just blended a tin of mackerel in olive oil with cottage cheese, lemon juice and a spoon of horseradish sauce with seasoning and it's delicious - good news is I have enough for a few days. The hardest bit was opening the mackerel tin - I find the fish in oil tins very hard as the olive oil comes out as you start opening the tin and make it impossible to hold ! I must look for something to help open ring pull tins! Anyone have any ideas?
Click to expand...
www.lakeland.co.uk

CanKey Ring-Pull Can Opener - Frost Blue – Lakeland

Say goodbye to broken nails and painful hands with the ingenious CanKey Ring-Pull Can Opener in Frost Blue. Designed with care to make everyday tasks easier, th
www.lakeland.co.uk www.lakeland.co.uk

Lakeland have an answer for most things! Have not tried it myself, so cannot say how good it is, but agree help is needed for this task.
 
shelley262 said:
It was dark and wet on my early morning garden check today - the seasons are definitely changing.
I'm planning on roasting a portion of my frozen tomatoes this morning for breakfast, hm mackerel pate with one of my hm rolls for lunch and then cod and vegetables for dinner. To make the pate I just blended a tin of mackerel in olive oil with cottage cheese, lemon juice and a spoon of horseradish sauce with seasoning and it's delicious - good news is I have enough for a few days. The hardest bit was opening the mackerel tin - I find the fish in oil tins very hard as the olive oil comes out as you start opening the tin and make it impossible to hold ! I must look for something to help open ring pull tins! Anyone have any ideas?
Click to expand...
I got this set from amazon and haven't regretted it - it is still hard to pull the metal top up from those cans though - something about the cans they use for fish! I think @septua has the better suggestion if it's just ring pull help you want, it looks like it would lift the lid better.

1791377419080.png

That pate sounds really delicious, I will have to try making it.
 
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Definitely autumnal today, and although only light rain was forecast last night we got a real deluge, so at least I don't have watering duty to worry about!

I had my annual diabetic review on Monday, my HbA1c is 52 now which is really not bad - I can't take much credit as the medications I take are very effective, but I do try to keep carbs down. I'm advised not to cut carbs too low as there is a risk of DKA. I am finding I'm not as interested in bread or pastry as I used to be - I'll happily have everything crustless and stick to one slice of bread if I want a "sandwich" (filling piled on top as an open sandwich, I mean). I'm sure that's to do with Mounjaro and I'm not upset about it! I'm getting most of my carbs from vegetables, including root vegetables, and limited potatoes. And the odd off-plan treat of course!

Porridge for breakfast, sausage patty with scrambled egg for lunch and chicken with runner beans and a couple of small potatoes for tea.

Flu jab tomorrow!
 
septua said:
www.lakeland.co.uk

CanKey Ring-Pull Can Opener - Frost Blue – Lakeland

Say goodbye to broken nails and painful hands with the ingenious CanKey Ring-Pull Can Opener in Frost Blue. Designed with care to make everyday tasks easier, th
www.lakeland.co.uk www.lakeland.co.uk

Lakeland have an answer for most things! Have not tried it myself, so cannot say how good it is, but agree help is needed for this task.
Click to expand...
Thank you looks very useful.
 
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