Eating Habits and Diet During Covid19

[casimira]

Wow!! Every morning!! That says a lot. Does Mrs. Cactus enjoy it as much as you?

Is there a shortage of it where you are or were you aware that they are reporting this? (you may have logged off by now and making a mad dash to the local grocery)

I have to admit that the name of it throws me off. It sounds more like the name of a small creature than it does a food.


(Yep. I just looked and you are logged off. Long gone to the market...)

[bjd]

I tasted it once in England. Salty and strong tasting. I believe Australians eat something similar called Vegemite.

[mickthecactus]

Mrs C wouldn’t go near it. Daughter and grandsons addicted to it.

Vegemite is a pale imitation that Oz had to come up with when they couldn’t get it in WWI. Don’t let questa fool you.

[mickthecactus]

Not aware of a shortage but we never have less than 4 jars in the house.

[casimira]

That's for right now anyway. The days go by fast and having it everyday you may not notice it now but..

I'll be keeping an eye on the Hoarding thread in the near future Mick.

[tod2]

Mick - I would have laid my head on a block you would be a Bovril fan. I love it dearly. Don't buy marmite and have tried vegimite in Oz. Also a failure. To tell you that a UK lady that worked for us told me how she made a good curry. By adding Marmite to the concoction. Oh save me quick….

[mickthecactus]

I used to have Bovril and Marmite toast many years ago tod.

[whatagain]

Have to look up what a marmitte is.
In french it means a small cauldron.
Hence the recipee site called marmitton.
Was also used to mean bomb/shell but i think mostly in WW1.

[whatagain]

Going to restaurant tomorrow.
First time since 1st of march.
We had 3 take aways in the meantime from next door thai food restaurant.

[casimira]

What is Bovril? And, forgive me, but, again, it sounds like the name of a creature.

[mickthecactus]

Jun 17, 2020 16:10:33 GMT casimira said:

What is Bovril? And, forgive me, but, again, it sounds like the name of a creature.

It's a beef meat paste that you can use as a spread. A hot drink, or beef stock.

[bixaorellana]

Jun 17, 2020 15:51:28 GMT tod2 said:

a UK lady that worked for us told me how she made a good curry. By adding Marmite to the concoction. Oh save me quick….

Tod, that lady was onto something! Nowadays everyone talks about umami and it seems food writers really stretch to seem clever and get the word into whatever they write. I stopped trying to figure out exactly what it means, but I do know most cooks have some little trick that could be considered as adding umami to their dishes. For instance, I often add miso to decidedly non-Asian or non health food dishes to incorporate its texture and singular taste, but without letting it be identifiable. I am sure that Marmite would work the same way.

[kerouac2]

I have actually been wanting to buy Marmite recently. It is sold in a number of French supermarkets, but the price shocks me, so I have refrained so far. Is it expensive in the UK or is the price so high here just because they are selling it to British addicts who will pay anything for it?

[patricklondon]

Jun 17, 2020 16:57:20 GMT kerouac2 said:

I have actually been wanting to buy Marmite recently. It is sold in a number of French supermarkets, but the price shocks me, so I have refrained so far. Is it expensive in the UK or is the price so high here just because they are selling it to British addicts who will pay anything for it?

£2.70 for a 250g jar at Asda.

[kerouac2]

It is more than double that in Paris.

[bjd]

But just think how long it will last you.

[mickthecactus]

Not that long in my house.
£2.40 in Iceland and Aldi.

[casimira]

I just heard AGAIN on our early a.m. BBC broadcast that people are beginning to hoard Marmite like crazy over there.
Better stock up good people!!!

My eating habits are even more skewed that ever. Initially, it was largely due solely because of the virus. Now, with the heat, my diet is more screwed up even more because it's just too damn hot to cook and my appetite is minimal.
I find myself eating a bowl of ice cream much more often and have asked my husband to please stop buying it.
A fruit sorbet and some yogurt is going to have to do.
I had/have so many figs this year and they're still coming in. 
I'm downright burnt out on them. I did make some preserves and yes, ice cream, along with a few clafouti(s) and some Italian fig cookies. (Yes, I know the classic clafouti is made with cherries but figs work well and, this recipe came from a French cookbook).
But, again, using the stove and oven in this heat is not happening.

We also are finding ourselves not eating at regularly scheduled mealtimes. Lots of small snacks.

[mickthecactus]

Went shopping this morning. Plenty of Marmite in store. Got 4 in store cupboard and one on the go.

[bixaorellana]

Jul 17, 2020 11:17:45 GMT casimira said:

I had/have so many figs this year and they're still coming in. 
I'm downright burnt out on them.

Wish I had that problem!
Have you thought about drying them? Don't know about you, but I adore dried figs & consider them better than any candy. Even if you don't care for them as-is, you could use them in cooking later in the year or give them as gifts. I looked up how to dry them online & there are tons of hits on that. If this one works, it would certainly be the easiest & fastest. Yes, you would have to turn on the oven, but not very high & not for very long: italiannotes.com/oven-dried-figs/

[kerouac2]

We had two fig trees in the garden in Mississippi when I was little. I always liked fresh figs but absolutely despised them in any other form. My brother liked "fig newtons" and I always felt that my mother was a traitor for buying such abominations for him, especially since I did not have a corresponding item that I liked and that he hated.

Tonight's meal for me will come from the Near East.

[casimira]

SO...I went last week and had my annual physical. Very efficient and safe procedures used. However, I was dismayed and well, annoyed with myself as I gained 6lbs. since my last physical exactly a year ago. GRRRRRRR!!! And, my cholesterol is a wee bit high but not alarmingly so.
Too many fatty foods he said and more exercise prescribed.
(The new neighborhood grocery has fabulous homemade lasagna and manicotti that I indulge in more than I should.)
If only the f'n swimming pool at the fitness center could reopen.
For now, I'm waking up earlier to beat the heat and cycling up on the river.
I did 12 miles this a.m. and afterward went and shoveled compost at a friends garden into large bags and transported them home. I have yet to move them out of the trunk of the car.
My goal is 18-20 miles on the bike each day.
TBC...

[kerouac2]

It looks to me like you are doing all of the right things, casi (except eating! ). I weigh myself every day and am often dismayed, even though my weight has been drifting down a bit for the past two weeks or so (not more than a kilo, unfortunately).

Eating at home is great for the budget, but if I ate out more, I'm sure that I would consume less.

[casimira]

Well, I have successfully been able to stop all the snacking and most especially the imbibing of sweets. It has paid off as I was able to get back into my old pair of jeans this week.
My friend gave me two pairs of hers that were too big for me as I refused to but a whole new wardrobe to accommodate my weight gain at this time.

[lugg]

Well done Casimira - I need to get a grip on myself as I am sure if I lost some weight my knee would benefit.

[kerouac2]

I started stewing a big chunk of beef for a pot-au-feu already at 7:30 this morning. I would have never done that if I could have gone out. In any case, it was perfect this evening.

[tod2]

I wouldn't mind knowing what cut of beef Kerouac - Simply because I see the same cut for stewing/slow cooking over and over in recipes, and that is Chuck or Brisket. I've done a brisket roast but you have to be fussy as to what part of the chunk of meat you should ask for. I make the butcher bring out the whole brisket, we discuss it and he gives me the best part.......smiling sweetly as he loads the price.

Last night we had roasted chicken but only the thigh and leg (in one) I cut the breast and wings off for another day. Accompanied by my fresh garden beans, some carrots and garden cauliflower and newly dug spuds.
Tonight it's just bangers and veg. The veg being garden spinach and pumpkin. On the side also are big brown mushrooms grilled in garlic and butter. But a meal wouldn't be complete without rice for Mr.Tod.

[kerouac2]

The package at Carrefour just said "stewing beef" (pièce de boeuf à mijoter) -- which of course means that it is a tough piece of meat until you have stewed out all resistance. However, I did cut the piece of meat into four chunks rather than stewing it whole.

[casimira]

NOLA is experiencing a shortage of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce. (And, I suspect it's not just NOLA).
I had heard rumblings about this last week and told the gentleman that he was just not looking in the right places. I told him of a small pharmacy here that has a small section that sells some food items and that was where I had bought my last bottle while cruising the aisles while waiting on a prescription.
Well, he went there and they were wiped out of this "brown gold".
He went on an all out hunt for it all over the city and sure enough he could not find any .We ended up finding the answer to this "mystery" and, it turns out that the company has been experiencing a shortage of the signature brown bottles.
Gratefully, we have two bottles in our pantry and as generous as I would like to be, I am hoarding them. This is one of those items that we always have in our pantry along with some other precious condiments and bottled sauces.

[Kimby]

I have a bottle of L&P Worcestershire sauce, opened and of unknown vintage. I don’t seem to find any use for it, so would sell to the highest bidder, no guarantees of its palatability.