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Friday, 28 January 2022

Tickling my taste buds

When I went shopping last week I picked up a couple of new items to try. I don't always feel like cooking a meal so for convenience it's handy to have something to heat in the microwave. In the summer a lot of my meals are from the fridge to the plate, no cooking required. In the winter it's nice to have something warm. 
So what was the lentil shepherds pie like? The lentils in the bottom were alright, slightly spicy, and tasty. Not keen on the pretend mashed potato topping. I think it was made with powdered potato, like instant mash, which I am not keen on. I gave it a stir to mix it up before I started eating it. It was too dry and stodgy, I should have added a drop of water before I microwaved it. Marks out of 10. . . 6 ish. I won't buy any more. 
The mushroom burgers are a good size, two in the packet. It says to bake them in the oven. I don't use my oven so I put one under a low grill, turning it over to do both sides. Then I sliced it open and put it back under the grill for a few minutes to make sure the inside was well hot. 
One is quite filling. The taste is a bit bland, I could just about make out the mushroom flavour. I found myself with some hard gritty pieces in my mouth, not sure what they were. The texture was quite dry. I think these might be best served with some vegetable gravy, which would probably also improve the taste and texture of the shepherds pie. Marks out of 10. . . . 7 ish. These won't be going in my trolley again. 
I think I could probably make similar items from scratch, I might give it a try. That's if I can be bothered. The kitchen is not my favourite place to be. 
It was warm this afternoon, I was in the garden chopping some height off the conifer hedge at the bottom of the garden. Don't want it to get out of control. 
Thanks for popping in. Have a good weekend. 
We'll catch up soon.   ilona

5 comments:

  1. Hello! Thank you so much for sharing your blog. I've been catching up on old posts since discovering it, and your writing is so entertaining. I've learned a good bit too. If you do want to make your own burgers, this is my favorite recipe for that: https://food52.com/recipes/22614-bean-burgers The onion isn't necessary, any can of beans will work, and the spices can be whatever you like. Just beans + oatmeal + spices...simple is delicious. :) Anyway thanks again and take care! - Christina, Indiana, USA

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    1. Thank you, Christina. That's a really simple recipe. I wouldn't have thought about mixing rolled oats in with the beans. I must try that.

      Thank you for reading my blog. I'm chuffed that you are finding something useful in it. Some of it is serious, but I think it's important to have a large dollop of humour as well.

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  2. Get a tin of cooked green lentils (or similar), drain well and add a good handful of cooked frozen or tinned veg, lots of seasoning of your choice (mushroom ketchup and Lea & Perrins are good); add in other things such as cooked rice, onions, leftover veg. chopped spring onions. Portion it out and put in freezer until needed. For a pie, just add gravy, stock, tinned tomatoes, puree. For a burger, stiffen the mix if needed with breadcrumbs or stuffing mix. I love being in the kitchen :) lol

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  3. I found these types of products helpful when I first became vegan just over 5 years ago. Better these than any meat, fish, eggs or dairy. Better still is a WFPB (whole food, plant-based) diet. The first person to use this phrase was T. Colin Campbell (he of The China Study) about 40 years ago. He's alive and well, and 87-years-old now, 3 months the junior of Caldwell Esselstyn, 88, another well-known WFPB advocate, also alive and well. I've been WFPB for about 18 months. No way am I going back to anything that came before. My wife has lost over 5 stone since becoming vegan and then WFPB, and she's maintained that loss for a number of months now. So, why isn't it mainstream? Because you can't process and package it. Try Googling WFPB, you won't regret it. There's a whole genre of films out there to go with it, like What the Health and Forks Over Knives.

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