Erm's Photo Diary

[ermintrude]

OMG Erm that looks amazing :drools: please come and cook for me

I am so excited I just popped in waitrose and they had a few different squashes I got the last two acorn squashes they did have one beginning with K that I remember you loved but couldn't remember what to do with it so left it for someone else this time and they had queen squash but again was unsure so grabbed the acorn ones as remember I wanted to try them

Hope all is well with you sweetie I am trying to catch up with everyone and get back on plan properly xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jackiiieeee, the lovely Jackie! Kabocha! You should round them all up! Yum yum!

I am trundling forth to your diary forthwith! x

 

[JackieN]

:wavey: hiya Erm,
don't worry about catching up honey you've not missed anyting. I've been awol to be honest. When big things happen i'm abit like a bear and hibernate :giggle: do you know what I mean? I back off into my little world to mend my wounds. I am getting there but its emotionally been a toughie for me.

Thats the name of the squash. I coudln't remember what you did with it? Did you make a curry/chilli with it?

Have you had the queen squash Erm? They were quite big, hence left them as they charge per kg and wasn't sure i'd like them. The acorn were nice little ones that I can have to myself. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[JackieN]

oh no re your lovely pot write to them Erm as thats not good enough :stampsfeet: thats pathetic really isn't it. 190 for the handle and 260 for the pot, are they stupid or summit? xxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[ermintrude]

Thats the name of the squash. I coudln't remember what you did with it? Did you make a curry/chilli with it?

Have you had the queen squash Erm? They were quite big, hence left them as they charge per kg and wasn't sure i'd like them. The acorn were nice little ones that I can have to myself. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I put chilli on it like BritMum's recipe, bit lik a jacket potato substitute, its yummy! Also great in veggie stews and stuff, really waxy and creamy mmmmmmm! Queen squash are great too! Ive got an enormous one in the corner, its that big I havent really decided what to do with it yet :giggle:

Yeah le Creuset have really gone down in my estimation, that pot cost a fortune and my mum bought me it for Xmas, I was so angry I thought it was gone forever but we found replacement knobs on amazon. When they make replacement knobs and want to charge you for them you got to ask why not just ****ing make it properly in the first place... Anyhoooo all is wellsome otherwise, my little knob is nothing on the grand scheme of things

 

[BritMumInCanada]

Oh no Erm's and it looked so lovely before it went in the oven. It sounds like your oven temp might be faulty. However even so I would write off to them about your pot and say the handle exploded. Hopefully you get a replacement free of charge.

 

[Honeyoc]

I'd also write to Le Creuset! All their pots come with a lifetime guarantee so you should get a replacement post haste! You might also want to write your oven manufacturers too, it's got a rocket up its a$$ lol

 

[ermintrude]

Oh I know my oven is knackered, its so temperamental but Im renting so theres nothing I can do I usually put it 20 or so degrees less than what it 'should' be, but it erratically chooses times to blitz things, you can never predict when its gonna do it. Im just mightily peed off that it chose to do it to my fave le Creuset

I dont think theres any point complaining tole Creuset is there? I know they have a lifetime guarantee but when you read the blurb they do say that the knob only has a temperature level of 190 and not the 260 that the pot has. Looking at that cremation I think my oven chose to ignore the 140C setting I told it? It amazes me how that much water got out anyway though, given how heavy the lids are?

The b/f has ordered another knob for 8 quid from Amazon. You can also get stainless steel knobs without any temperature limit, but being a moron he has chosen ANOTHER plastic knob that goes off at 190...

 

[ermintrude]

Sunday 04th - Green

Breakfast:Coffee & Toast 1 HEXA, 1 HEXB, 2 syns
Lunch: Grilled mushrooms, labne & salad 3 syns for mustard & dressing, <1 syn for labne
Tea: Nduja pizza 1 HEXA & 1 HEXB for cheese, 4.5 syns for prosciutto, 8 syns for wrap, 5.5 syns for nduja
Snacks: Nectarine, pear, remains of cauliflower pizza 5.5 syns for cheese dammit

Well that was a total arse

Thought Id try out the cauliflower pizza base. Steamed my cauli so it didnt get too soggy (about 2/3 of a head). Grated about 300ml by volume (just over a cup), added 1 HEX of low fat grated mozzarella and some dried herbs & chilli flakes and mixed it. I only used half an egg as it really already felt very wet. It seemed a pretty miniscule portion and also very, very soggy Thought it was going to turn into the tiniest pizza in the history of humankind, but once Id pressed it into a tray lined with foil sprayed liberally with fry Light it looked OK:

Baked for 15-20 min and it came out looking fine, so my worries waned:

Unfortunately getting the damn thing off the foil was a joke:

It was clinging on for dear life. I took it outta the tray and left the foil in the oven to bake on its own for a while to dry it out. No chance. It was fecked. I dont know if it was cos it was low fat cheese, not enough cheese, the cauli was over/under cooked, too much egg or whatever but it was unsalvagable So I thought fack it and toasted a tortilla to put my pizza on instead.

To be fair if youre having to spend 6 syns/a HEX on cheese for the base its really no differet to spending them on a tortilla wrap :sigh: Absolute waste of time. #FAIL

Im sure there will be people out there who can make this damn thing work, but for me personally, its just not worth the effort. Ive gotta spend syns on it either way as I need 2 HEXes of cheese on top so Id rather save my time and sanity by spending them on a ready-made wrap instead.

I did nibble on the cauliflower base while I was cooking the tortilla pizza and it did actually *taste* yum so I scoffed the lot :sigh: I stuck some chilli flakes and mixed herbs in and plenty of salt & peppper and it tasted like a crispy omelette or something.

You could eat it as a snack or something I guess - or at least I thought so UNTIL I ate the actual REAL nduja pizza on a wrap and came to my senses - it was a million times better. :sigh:

Dont waste your time, use a ready-made wrap.

 

[BritMumInCanada]

awwww thats a shame the cauliflower base didnt work out for you. I still havent got round to trying it, but everyone that I know that has made it has raved about it. You are right it is still going to be syns, but it is low carb, because there is no "bread" base. Which doesn really matter on Slimming World, but for me I do like to keep at eye on the carbs I am eating, because of my PCOS. Pretty much all my carbs now have been switched to wholewheat/whole grain, but if I can substitute some things too, then ever better.

Will let you know how mine turns out when I ever get round to trying the damn thing lol

 

[ermintrude]

awwww thats a shame the cauliflower base didnt work out for you. I still havent got round to trying it, but everyone that I know that has made it has raved about it. You are right it is still going to be syns, but it is low carb, because there is no "bread" base. Which doesnt really matter on Slimming World, but for me I do like to keep at eye on the carbs I am eating, because of my PCOS. Pretty much all my carbs now have been switched to wholewheat/whole grain, but if I can substitute some things too, then ever better.

Will let you know how mine turns out when I ever get round to trying the damn thing lol

Oh yeah Im sure you can make it work with practise as loads of people seem to have made it on a t'interweb search, similar for people who swear by Sm*sh p*zzas (which I cant stand the faff of) but personally I dont find these fake-o pizzas all that special, Ive tried all sorts of varieties and keep telling myself Im not bladdy doing it again... but then I just keep thinking of all this nduja Ive got to use up... :drool:

To me its not something thats worth all the effort, it already drives me nuts just having to make the tomato base etc so Id rather save my time and sanity and spend a few syns on it. Im not bothered about the carbs as my version's still not healthy, given all the cheese, nduja, prosciutto etc I chuck in it

Anyway, Im sure youll be able to make it most acely from what Ive seen of your other recipes! Send us a piccie!

 

[ermintrude]

Monday 05th - Green

Breakfast: Coffee & Toast 1 HEXA, 1 HEXB, 2 syns
Lunch: Pick-n-mix-allsorts-randomness Tesco day so desperate fridge clearout. Had some cold cauliflower and a few leftover celeriac chips with brown sauce on, then set fire to a box of button mushrooms. Once Id put them out I smothered them in Dijon mustard. They were OK then 2.5 syns
Tea: Xmas soup 5 syns for balls
Snacks: Figs, pear, Muller cheesecake 1 syn, box of tomatoes. Finn Crisp with Laughing Cow. Because I thought I was on a Green Day. Then I realised there was a turkey in my soup, that I was going to HEX, so I thought to myself "Arse"

SO I thought I'd go Red until it occurred to me there were also parsnips and potatoes in my soup. So I decided on EE and LOOKTHEREJUSTARENTENOUGHDAMNHEXESINTHEDAYOK??? :sigh:

SO its still a Green day and Ive HEXed my turkey and wasted 4 syns on Finn Crisp. And I blame it on the Tesco guy. Cos he was an arsehole and spilled my tomatoes all over the floor, crushed my eggs and stood there tapping his feet while I scattered around picking them all up with my facking walking stick. W*nker.


The soup was quite yum. I think Id use chicken next time, not a big turkey fan. Also I like my soup chunky so didn't whizz the veg. I couldn't decide whether to drag all the whizzy paraphernalia out just for the potato/onion base, but then I found I'd already dumped the carrots in the potato bit so that decided it for me, I wasnae fishing out a billion carrotlets

Overall it was VERY salty, Jayzus! Never used these stockpot tings before, bladdy hell, theres an entire ocean in there?! Deffo dont need seasoning AS WELL So the soup itself was not bad but Id edit it next time. I added quite a bit of herbs (sage, bay leaves, W sauce) and stuff but it still needed a little 'something else' (besides the salt )

But the stuffing balls were OMG diviiiiiiiine!!!! :drool: They were so fab, they soaked up all the juices and were almost like real little suet-y dumplings, lush lush lush! Amazing, they so made it! drool: Without the balls Id've thought nah, I can make better soups than that, but it was worth it just for the balls! So Id do it again but change it quite a bit next time.

Yummo!

 

[cnicolaf]

Just found your thread, my god you are an amazing cook!!! Everything looks soooooo appealing!!!! x

 

[ermintrude]

Just found your thread, my god you are an amazing cook!!! Everything looks soooooo appealing!!!! x

Thanks, its amazing what photoshop can do to a pile of cabbage

 

[dirtydancing]

Monday 05th - Green

Breakfast: Coffee & Toast 1 HEXA, 1 HEXB, 2 syns
Lunch: Pick-n-mix-allsorts-randomness Tesco day so desperate fridge clearout. Had some cold cauliflower and a few leftover celeriac chips with brown sauce on, then set fire to a box of button mushrooms. Once Id put them out I smothered them in Dijon mustard. They were OK then 2.5 syns
Tea: Xmas soup 5 syns for balls
Snacks: Figs, pear, Muller cheesecake 1 syn, box of tomatoes. Finn Crisp with Laughing Cow. Because I thought I was on a Green Day. Then I realised there was a turkey in my soup, that I was going to HEX, so I thought to myself "Arse"

SO I thought I'd go Red until it occurred to me there were also parsnips and potatoes in my soup. So I decided on EE and LOOKTHEREJUSTARENTENOUGHDAMNHEXESINTHEDAYOK??? :sigh:

SO its still a Green day and Ive HEXed my turkey and wasted 4 syns on Finn Crisp. And I blame it on the Tesco guy. Cos he was an arsehole and spilled my tomatoes all over the floor, crushed my eggs and stood there tapping his feet while I scattered around picking them all up with my facking walking stick. W*nker.


The soup was quite yum. I think Id use chicken next time, not a big turkey fan. Also I like my soup chunky so didn't whizz the veg. I couldn't decide whether to drag all the whizzy paraphernalia out just for the potato/onion base, but then I found I'd already dumped the carrots in the potato bit so that decided it for me, I wasnae fishing out a billion carrotlets

Overall it was VERY salty, Jayzus! Never used these stockpot tings before, bladdy hell, theres an entire ocean in there?! Deffo dont need seasoning AS WELL So the soup itself was not bad but Id edit it next time. I added quite a bit of herbs (sage, bay leaves, W sauce) and stuff but it still needed a little 'something else' (besides the salt )

But the stuffing balls were OMG diviiiiiiiine!!!! :drool: They were so fab, they soaked up all the juices and were almost like real little suet-y dumplings, lush lush lush! Amazing, they so made it! drool: Without the balls Id've thought nah, I can make better soups than that, but it was worth it just for the balls! So Id do it again but change it quite a bit next time.

Yummo!

do you have the recipe for the xmas soup please?

 

[ermintrude]

do you have the recipe for the xmas soup please?

I adapted it from various ideas on this thread

 

[dirtydancing]

thanks very much

 

[ermintrude]

Tuesday 06th - Green

Breakfast: Coffee & Toast 1 HEXA, 1 HEXB, 2 syns
Lunch: Xmas soup leftovers. No balls
Tea: Broccoli & Stilton soup 1 HEXB for Stilton
Tea 2: Had tea about 5 as I was hungry and tbh it didnt really fill me up so I had seconds about 7:30 but stuck Marmite cheese in it this time! 1 HEXA & 2 syns for Marmite cheese
Snacks: Pear, peach, figs, Bovril, apple, carrots, Muller cheesecake 1 syn

Not a great fan of the soup, it was OK. I think my Stilton was past its best, it had started to go orange I dont like whizzed soup as it goes straight through me, doesnt fill me up at all, so I just crushed it a bit with a potato masher.

Made me think of what I could do with Marmite soup though... :drool: I think a tomato & onion base, with lashings of Marmite and sprinkled with grated Marmite cheese? Maybe some croutons (baked in Marmite?) if theres enough syns free? :drool: Ooh or maybe crisp the Marmite cheese shavings up under the grill and sprinkle over the top? Oooooooh *quiver* :drool:

 

[silly sausage]

Thanks, its amazing what photoshop can do to a pile of cabbage

PMSL

 

[JackieN]

loving the xmas dinner soap Erm looks fabby not sure about the stilton one, or the marmite one yack yack yack.... guess its love it or hate it :giggle: I don't like marmite......

I really fancy trying the tortilla pizza. Not made it like that yet but keep forgetting to buy some

Hope all is well huni xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[Honeyoc]

Lunch: Xmas soup leftovers. No balls

:giggle:

I'm an idiot...