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[Bob K]

Many thanks colleagues.  Type 2, but not far below where I might later need insulin as well as 12 tablets a day.  Home made soup is a good way of ingesting veggies, esp broccoli & stilton - although must keep cheese within 60gm / day max.  White crusty bread goes nice with it, although they would prefer my having cardboard flavoured wholemeal.  Never had much interest in sticky cakes or sweets.
Salads better than veg plus have basmati rice instead of spuds.

Not much fun, but does not stop me building or sailing model boats. 

[raflaunches]

Hi Bob


Sounds like I'm eating what your eating at the moment, I've lost over a stone in just under a month, but that's probably due to 12 hour shifts, the heat and the stress!
I've learnt to embrace the salad too! The Cypriots have strange ideas what equates to English food!

[essex2visuvesi]

Hi Bob


Sounds like I'm eating what your eating at the moment, I've lost over a stone in just under a month, but that's probably due to 12 hour shifts, the heat and the stress!
I've learnt to embrace the salad too! The Cypriots have strange ideas what equates to English food!

One service station in Finland was offering a Full English breakfast
You can imagine my surprise when it came out with GREEN BEANS on the plate!!!

[Klunk]

what is a definitive full English?
3  bacon
2 sausage
2 fried bread
black pudding
beans
grilled/ fried tomato/plum tomatoes (swapped in my case for more mushrooms)
mushrooms
toast
hash browns/ chips
2 fried eggs
copious amounts of tea

AND BROWN SAUCE.

[BFSMP]

what is a definitive full English?
3  bacon
2 sausage
2 fried bread
black pudding
beans
grilled/ fried tomato/plum tomatoes (swapped in my case for more mushrooms)
mushrooms
toast
hash browns/ chips
2 fried eggs
copious amounts of tea

AND BROWN SAUCE.

I feel a coronary coming on...

[warspite]

Very rarely get to have a full English, though don't like the hash brown or black pudding, though I would eat them if pushed, hash brown seems to be a US thing added recently.

My wife is my soul mate and we have a competitive streak in making certain foods - she bakes for the cancer weeks (which most of her work coleagues are rubbish at even trying or don't even attempt), I bake to try it out, mainly pizza dough, although we have a bread machine it's consigned to the top of the fridge freezer and baking bread is done by hand, most attempts work out, just recently they haven't. cakes started with watching Jamie oliver and two cakes he did in last years series, they worked out fine.

[Perkasaman2]

Mince and suet dumplings or corned beef hotpot are my two favourites on cold, chill winter days.

[tigertiger]

I have had a lot of failures with the bread machine, until I learned a secret. Now I get success with any recipe most of the time.


It is all in the water content. The same will probably apply to hand kneaded bread too.
After the bread is fully mixed, probably half way and beyond in the kneading phase, the dough should be tacky. Just tacky to touch, not in the least bit wet or slimy. You need water to make steam and this 'inflates' the dough in cooking. Too much and the bread rises too much and then collapses. You get a kind of crater in the  middle. Too little water and you get dry bread that is gnarly on the surface.
If there is too much water, add flour, a tablespoon at a time. If too dry, add water a tablespoon at a time.
Water quantity varies a lot. Where I live (6000ft and very dry) I have to use more water in some recipes as the flour gets so dry, and altitude affect raising.


The only difference between bread machine recipes and hand recipes is that the former use sugar as a starter, the latter don't. The other thing I found with bread machines I found out, is that small cheap ones don't work well. Large ones, even cheap large ones, work OK. You don't need to go expensive.

[tigertiger]

WHOLEWHEAT bread. Agree, it can be like cardboard, same as whole wheat pasta.


However, there are lots of TASTY brown bread alternatives. Hovis, Granary, bread with added wheat germ or added bran, and my dad used to buy a 30% rye bread that was full of flavour. The first two you will find in the supermarket, that latter you will need to find a bakers.

A tasty recipe of mine (you will find cup to gm conversions on line) some ingredients you may have trouble finding in the supermarket but will find on line (probably cheaper) .


For a small (1lb tin) loaf
225 ml water
1 tbsp sugar (I use soft brown as it adds colour, the very dark brown is sulphured and I don't use it)
3/4 teaspoon salt (even on low sodium diet don't skip salt you need to to kill the yeast to stop over rising)
1/4 cup of bran
1/2 cup whole-wheat flout
3 tbsp wheat germ
Mix all these together and leave to stand for at least 10 minutes to soften/break down the whole-wheat flour and bran, if you are using a bread machine. If doing it by hand, let it soak for 20-30 mins.


Then
1 1/2 cups of bread flour (regular flour does not have enough gluten to work)
1 1/2 teaspoons of powdered yeast (adding too much can also cause problems with over rising)
1 1/2 - 2 tbsp oil (I use olive oil, peanut oil adds its own flavour, flax oil is health but has a weird taste; if I use flax oil only mix 1:1 with olive oil)


Drop it in the bread machine and use whole-wheat setting. Remember to check the water balance, is the dough tacky? The recipe above suits my local conditions, but you may need to adjust.

[Unsinkable 2]

Mmm photobucket is playing up a bit today it only lets me add one photo and if I try and swap between here and photobucket my post gets wiped clean


I'll try again after having previous attempts deleted....... I love cooking and sometimes I do OK.......
Roast potatoes

[Unsinkable 2]

Pies......

[Unsinkable 2]

Two different chocolate type tart....

[Unsinkable 2]

Photobucket is doing me in today,   normally it's very good so this is the last one for now


'No bake' cheesecake, this ones obviously strawberry but my favourite is caramel



U2

[derekwarner]

U2...I am not keen on sweet dishes or cakes.....but your Sargent's ranked striped pies look YUMMO    

A real military flair to the design work..........

1. What flavour are they?......beef & kidney?..........steak & mushroom?
2. What type of sauce to you add?
3. Do you have them with potato mash?

Derek   

[tigertiger]

I'll bet they are fruit pies. Just for the hell of it.

[Unsinkable 2]

Those pies were actually meat and potato but I also like to make cheese and onion, chicken and asparagus and chicken and mushroom. The easiest being cheese and onion, ready for the oven in 20 mins if you buy pastry.......


Oh come on now I can almost feel the response.........what, you don't make your own pastry? I can but its easier not to, it's like the difference between plank on frame and a grp hull, just because you can build plank on frame doesn't mean that you have to build every boat like that......   It's the same with cooking. It results in a great delicious pie in a short time.


Derek, what do I put in them........... My teeth ..... Recipes another time, things to do now.  U2

[derekwarner]

 ......."what, you don't make your own pastry?" ...U2....I agree 100%...why spend time producing a flour & water [plus lots of other things in minute quantities] mix that can end up lumpy, soggy, too dry, crumbly and uneven in thickness  ...tastes like burnt or under cooked cardboard with the weight of plumbonium [Pb]  when a quick trip to the supermarket can result in pre made sheets.....plain of puff, can be glazed with an egg wash and provides totally repeatable results

Further it is obvious that your totally home made pie was not a complete success when the grandkids decline their piece after one bite & ask for a slice of bread to mop up the YUMMY tomato sauce

I do find this subject ''model boat builders who also spend time in culinary delights" interesting... ... Derek

[derekwarner]

 .....Further it is obvious that your totally home made pie was not a complete success when the grandkids decline their piece after one bite & ask for a slice of bread to mop up the YUMMMY tomato sauce 

[roycv]

Hi you are tempting me I think I shall have some GRP pie tomorrow.
regards Roy

[Klunk]

Hmmm new competition for mayhem. Pie making. Martin is the chief taster and judge

[Martin (Admin)]

            It may be a tough job but I'm willing to give it a go! 

[Klunk]

Extra prize for any pie that steamboat phil breaks his teeth on!

[essex2visuvesi]

            It may be a tough job but I'm willing to give it a go! 

An extra event for mayhem 2016 perhaps?

[roycv]

Hi, if this compettition takes place on the internet and I get the smell of cooking from my laptop should I worry!
Roy

[essex2visuvesi]

Hi, if this compettition takes place on the internet and I get the smell of cooking from my laptop should I worry!
Roy

A little