Dear god!

[Crundy]

only if it is antibacterial soap .... when i was at uni we tested a range of areas for bugs ..... the bars of soap and the door handles, had more harmful bugs on them than the toilets did

I remember reading somewhere that he average office desk has more harmful bacteria on it that an average toilet bowl. Sounds stupid, but think of all the bleach you pour down your toilet. Do you do the same for your desk?

[lynda66]

anyway .... i use frozen veg, cos it's cheaper than fresh most of the time, and if i bought a whole cauli etc it would have gone off by the time i ate it, cos i don't cook much .... i buy packs of salad, cos buying the leaves individually would cost a fortune and i'd have too many ........ i always have some boil in the bag rice in the house .... cos that way the kitchen doesn't get taken over with rice as it explodes out of the top of the pan .... always cook it in the microwave anyway, cos burnt rice is a sod to get off..... and i even now and again have smart price noodles .... shock horror .... and i ain't gonna feel guilty .... if i could get saddo meals for one that werent full of crap, and tasted like the food they used to be ..... i'd probably have a freezer full of them too.

i don't do cooking on the cooker when i'm on my own very often, cos it's dangerous ..... microwaves and boil in the bag are the future lol .... or summat like that

[lynda66]

I remember reading somewhere that he average office desk has more harmful bacteria on it that an average toilet bowl. Sounds stupid, but think of all the bleach you pour down your toilet. Do you do the same for your desk?

was definitely the bleach .... but the handles/desk/lift buttons, were covered in stuff that people hadn't washed off their hands .... or worse still had used the bar of soap, to cover their hands with germs again .... which they then put onto the door handle, vicious circle lol

so, i use liquid at the sink, and save bars for the bath .... they are only my germs lol

[weekendwellies]

Just been catching up with this thread... it has more twists than a bag of pretzels

[lynda66]

Just been catching up with this thread... it has more twists than a bag of pretzels

ooooooooo yeah what happened to those chocolate ones ??? .... they were yum

[zazen999]

Just been catching up with this thread... it has more twists than a bag of pretzels

Bag of pretzels? What, you don't grow and make your own?

[Liza]

Sour cream and chive yummy

[Two_Sheds]

anyway .... i use frozen veg, ... i don't cook much .... i buy packs of salad

Oi ! This is a grow your own forum

[lindyloo]

well this thread strayed from the original topic, didn't it! am i the only one that just switches off when things get too technical and complicated
? ( and i am by no means stupid- i just can't see the point of wasting my energy, trying to change the opinion of someone else) i just keep my life simple and oldfashioned - apart from boil in the bag microwavable rice, that is!) ( and that is the only thing i put in the microwave)

for me it is simple old fashioned cleaning products- why we need so many is beyond me. simple food, and as simple and uncomplicated a life as i can manage. and i dont really care what anyone else puts in thier shopping basket- they are just trying to get through there daily schedule as best they can.

my own criteria is to save money while buying products that are as low as possible on impact on animals- so i will pay more for soil asc. approved milk and dairy, and the very basic in cleaning products- i dont want to contribute any more than i can avoid, to animal testing for needless items such as cleansers and toiletries., so i make a lot of my own traditional solutions and recipes, and keep it simple. i also think that a few germs floating around are actually healthy- we have survived thousands of years, after all!

at the same time, while i wish that people felt the same as me, i dont get upset by what other people choose to use; they no doubt do other good things that i wouldnt do- we are all so different

[Nicos]

oops, sorry, got carried away, the tumble dryer hasn't entered the discussion yet..

HAs now- cos I've just had to put my rained upon washing into mine

..and nope- don't feel at all guilty ...I go without enough 'luxuries' over here!

[Glutton4...]

Mine's being wired-in to the shed, as we speak!

[Hilary B]

When it comes to pre-chopped onions (and similar products) I have the 'reduced price' habit. I only buy them if they are going cheap as an alternative to being thrown out.
Does come in handy if we are late back from work.....
The only TINNED veg I ever use is tomatoes. I've never matered cooking with fresh ones (can't afford to if bought, and not having a greenhouse, can only ever grow for a few weeks, even if there is no blight or other complication) but I do buy some frozen.
Rice is not a problem, because I have a gadget for cooking rice in the microwave. Get the ingredients right (which is easy, 1 mug of rice, 2 mugs of water) and it never fails!
Convenience ingredients are fine, as long as you don't let them take over!

[Crundy]

I suppose it depends on cost over benefit. I don't get prechopped onions (aside from the disabled chef conversation we had earlier) because chopping an onion takes seconds and is a lot cheaper. The boil in the bag rice seemed odd to me because you can just as easily pour rice into boiling water, boil for the same amount of time and drain.

Not all preprepared products are bad. Peas tend to be better frozen apparently, because the "fresh" ones you get and pod yourself from supermarkets can be days old, and peas start to lose their freshness as soon as you pick them. For home cooking, premade pastry is a good compromise because making pastry takes ages and if you do something slightly wrong you have to start again. Obviously in a restaurant environment you would expect there to be a good pastry chef making it. Tinned tomatoes are good for certain dishes, as the canning process changes the product making it perfect to make certain sauces (e.g. pizza 'sauce'). I've never tried tinned veg like carrots and peas so can't comment, but I do remember seeing tinned baby potatoes. What would you use them for? Boiling?

[Glutton4...]

I'm not sure tinned produce is the same issue. Surely canning was devised as a method of preserving goods in the days before temperature-controlled storage and transportation, not merely to provide convenience food.

[weekendwellies]

I've never tried tinned veg like carrots and peas so can't comment, but I do remember seeing tinned baby potatoes. What would you use them for? Boiling?

My dad used to get all tinned veg (only a little ice box at top of fridge, not big enough for frozen veg.) You just have to heat them through as they have been cooked during the canning process. I have used them when camping/caravanning to save on the amount of fuel I need to use as you need only get them hot enough to eat.