Fed up with Cooking!

[Gemini]

Sum1, I cannot eat chili at all these days -even a tiny amount flares my IBS badly. It is in so many dishes these days

I admire those of you who cook for just yourselves. I think there may be more than 1 weekly ready meal if I lived alone!
I think I would do as Clover does. Cook for 4 and freeze 3 portions.

[Sum1Ls]

Gemini, it’s odd isn’t it? When I lived and worked in Pakistan I ate lots of food with chilli, and subsequently too. But after I took alendronic acid tablets for osteoporosis they damaged my gut and chilli became impossible. As you say it’s in so many restaurant meals and recipes nowadays.

I’m always very careful but last week I was up all night with dreadful heartburn and reflux. OH had cooked a pasta dish which we’d had lots of times previously and we couldn’t work out why. Then he remembered he’d used a little of a pot of salt with Szechuan pepper which my French famiky had brought over as part of a hamper. I don’t have a problem with black pepper and so I researched it. It seems the chemical composition is very similar to chilli where capsaicin is the part that burns. So - be warned!

[Daisy]

Sum1, no wonder you didn't suspect the pot of salt/pepper in a dish you have regularly. Well done, on getting to the bottom of the problem though.

It's quite frightening how medication for one health issue can affect other parts of your body. There are so many food and products that we use routinely that have ingredients that can linger and cause mischief. I've got what I find is a really useful app called Yuka on my phone. I'll do a separate thread about it.

[Oma]

Sum1
Well you learn something new everyday, I didn’t know that either.

[Daisy]

[QUOTE=Daisy;n217064 I've got what I find is a really useful app called Yuka on my phone. I'll do a separate thread about it.
[/QUOTE]


Here's the link to the Yuka phone app:

https://gransrus.com/forum/daily-hello/217067-yuka-useful-phone-app#post217070

[Plantaholic]

I have loaded on my apps but haven’t had time to read the information. I am very much in danger of eating problem ingredients cooking for just me.

[Gemini]

Plant, we have to balance being as healthy as we can with what is practical and do able for us.

You have got this far, a few ready meals and bought cakes won't be the end of the world

[Daisy]

Plant, Gem is right. We can only do what we can, and being aware of the worst things is great. xx

[Oma]

Plant
We said the same as Gem to MIL , at this age a few ready meals cakes etc are not going to hurt , life is too short to worry too much ,
xx

[Daisy]

I'm still trying out a new recipe each week.

Last week I opted for Epic Prawns and Beans (Jamie Oliver is quite fond of "epic")!

This was a bit of an adventure for me. The recipe called for sourdough bread (which I've never made), raw peeled king prawns (which I've never used) and rose harissa (which I've never used).

I got a sourdough loaf from the supermarket, and it was very nice. Sometimes I think SD bread can be rather dry, but this was fresh and very pleasant. I had to get frozen peeled prawns which I defrosted in a colander for a couple of hours. Then I read the recipe!

I was brought up short by the instruction to "devein the prawns". First of all I couldn't even read the word "devein" - I thought it was a misprint for 'divide'! Then reality caught up with me. I watched a couple of videos on how to do this, and after mangling up the first few I was relieved to find advice that said deveining was optional. Apart from my croutons being very "rustic" the rest of the recipe went well and we both enjoyed it.

My OH doesn't like too much spice so I used Harrisa which is milder than the Rose Harissa but the dish ended up a bit more bland than I expected.

If nothing else, trying a new recipe every week is pushing me to cook things I wouldn't do normally, and I do feel a bit less bored. The next Dish of the Week is tonight - fingers crossed it's edible.

[Plantaholic]

My problem would be having to cook it for one or warming it up the next day. We had some lovely prawns in France but they had left the veins in, DD didn’t like that as it is their stomach. I had some wonderfully cooked skate, might try my hand at cooking that, I bet it is expensive.

[Oma]

B would probably like that but as I can’t eat prawns we never buy them
He only eats anything like that. If we out at a restaurant ,

DD Would eat it all day she’s a big fish and seafood fan.

[Daisy]

Plant, I think a lot of recipes are ok to freeze so you could eat one portion and freeze the other for days when you really don't feel like cooking. I love skate with black butter and capers, but I think it is expensive to buy here (much more common in France).

[Plantaholic]

I tried to get some skate in Waitrose but the fishmonger said they don’t sell it as it is an endangered species. Are the recipes you use in the Jamie Oliver cookbooks

[Daisy]

Plant, I'm trying recipes from Jamie Oliver's latest book - Mediterranean Cooking with Five Ingredients. It's making me try some new ingredients and some new techniques.