Whats the strangest thing you have eaten

[squiddie]

Ooo Ooo that reminds me, does anyone know where you can get Water Chestnuts from and if they're free?

 

[Beki]

lol they come in pairs, so i had 4!

squiddie - you can buy cans of sliced water chestnuts in tesco and asda (probably other places too) and i'm pretty sure they're free

 

[charlottegrace1]

Here are the recipes for the strawberry and cucumber salad and the strawberrys with pasta.

strawberry and cucumber salad FREE

1 cucumber peeled
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
16 large strawberries washed and hulled
salt and ground black pepper
fresh chervil or mint springs to garnish

cut cucumber in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds - discard
Slice cucumber into thickish slices into a bowl and cover with the vinegar
cut strawberries into 1/4 and mix with cucumber season with salt and pepper
cover and chill for 15 mins


strawberry and conchiglie salad FREE if not using almonds or kirch otherwise about 2 per serving
(as pointed out to me in another post, cooking fruit etc adds syns so leave this bit and just add them whole to keep syns down)

175g dried conchiglie
salt for cooking pasta in
225g raspberries fresh or frozen
1 - 2 tbsp sweetner
450g strawberries
lemon juice
15g flaked almonds (can be left out to save syns)
3 tbsp kirsch (can be left out to save syns but for a special desert it does give it the WOW factor)

cook pasta drain and cool
puree the rapberries add sugar and simmer in a pan for 5 mins add lemon juice
gently mix strawberries into pasta and transfer to serving dish
toast almonds in oven untill golden brown and then cool
stir kirch into raspberry sauce and pour over the pasta salad scatter almonds over the top and serve

both recipes serve 4

Hope you enjoy xx

 

[miss jelly tot]

Recipes sound great. Thanks for posting, are they also on the recipe page, so I can find them again to try next week?

lol they come in pairs, so i had 4!

Is that two left and two right? haha

 

[squiddie]

squiddie - you can buy cans of sliced water chestnuts in tesco and asda (probably other places too) and i'm pretty sure they're free

Ta much luvvie, going to Sainsbury's in a mo (doing a posh shop ) so I shall have a look, thanks as always Beki, you're a worldwind of information! xxx

 

[jaylou]

cook pasta drain and cool
puree the rapberries add sugar and simmer in a pan for 5 mins add lemon juice
gently mix strawberries into pasta and transfer to serving dish
toast almonds in oven untill golden brown and then cool
stir kirch into raspberry sauce and pour over the pasta salad scatter almonds over the top and serve

both recipes serve 4

Hope you enjoy xx

Looks lovely, however..... (and don't shoot the messanger...) as soon as you puree or cook fruit it has a syn value.
I'd leave them whole!

Sorry guys, just want to keep you all on track!!

 

[Beki]

Ta much luvvie, going to Sainsbury's in a mo (doing a posh shop ) so I shall have a look, thanks as always Beki, you're a worldwind of information! xxx

just double checked and water chestnuts are free - they're also an 'F' food i reckon sainsbury's should sell them for sure

whirlwind of information? :hmm: i'm sure i am... but most of it's useless LOL

 

[charlottegrace1]

Flippin eck, forgott about the cooking of fruit add syns, as you say leave them whole.

Morrisons do waterchestnuts too along with all the other bits like bamboo shoots and cans of beansprouts which are a great standby.

 

[squiddie]

The panic can stop, I knew I did a posh shop for a reason, sainsbury's do indeed do water chestnuts so I am going to make a chicken and cashew nut chinese style tea without the cashews... AND sainsbury's also sell Salad Light (from the makers of Fry Light) and it's free! Hurray, thanks beki xxx

 

[Beki]

i looked in tesco for that salad light - i like the look of the caesar one - but no joy! *hmph* :hmm:

 

[squiddie]

Well aparently according to the SW mag you can only get them in Morrisons' or Sainsbury's - which I wish someone had told me sooner as I've been looking in tesco for 3 months!! It's with the other dressings (in my sainsbury's was the shelf above the ice-cream and other frozen bits... :s)
This is what to look for:

Oh and I used the water chestnuts in my tea last night and they were vile - not sure what I did wrong or if the chinese take away use fresh, but I am emotionally scarred!

 

[HellieCopter]

I love gherkins and cream cheese too.

Once ate chips and chocolate...that was quite weird.

My cousin in Sicily makes a fabulous nutella pizza, with the nutella in the middle like a sandwich. It's a-ma-zing!

 

[jaylou]

My cousin in Sicily makes a fabulous nutella pizza, with the nutella in the middle like a sandwich. It's a-ma-zing!

Now that I could eat, you can keep the gherkins (weirdo!...) but nutella pizza..mmmmm......

 

[HellieCopter]

Ha! I like em dipped in peanut butter as well. Honestly, I wasn't up the duff at the time!

Yeah the pizza is lush. They also do the savoury ones but with the filling inside. Usually it's really simple, just prosciutto and cheese, with a little chilli and parmesan on the top of the base. It's quite a speciality to the region of Sicily they live in.
Then there's the big, deep, fat, doughy, spongy based pizzas which are absolutely to die for.

Most of my rellies, they have their town house/apartment, but then a farm/house with a bit of land out in the countryside for weekends and stuff...and they usually have a garage with a pizza oven!!!

I love Sicily *swoons*

If we go, we sometimes stay at their campagne, and if it's the right time of year, early autumn, it's still hot, there are ripe figs on the tree to pick for brekkie and the oranges and lemons are ripening. Oh and there's the peaches and nectarines...

*drifts off to her little dream world*

 

[jaylou]

I was in a dream world too.... I get like that when I go up to the Yorkshire Dales and make believe I live in an old stone cottage with my own sheep, pigs, chickens etc in the large garden along with all my veggies etc..... Life would be so simple!

Anyway, getting off topic now!!
Figs wrapped in parma ham drizzled in a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar is gorgeous.

 

[StaceyUK]

Figs wrapped in parma ham drizzled in a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar is gorgeous.

That sounds amazing! Fresh figs or dried?

 

[HellieCopter]

Yeah that's gorgeous Jay!!

Fresh all the way, Stacey mmmmm!

It's also nice if you char the figs slightly on the griddle (just so they're warmed not cooked...so I would still say no syns) then wrap the prosciutto round them and garnish with parmesan shavings...

*swoon*

 

[jaylou]

Oh yes, fresh for sure!! Did something similar, a jamie recipe, figs split open onto crostini with a slice of ham and a sprig of mint. Yummy but naughty white bread - great dinner party starter though!

 

[razzledazzle]

Has anyone tried the salad light yet? If so, what's the verdict??

Cheers
J x

 

[StaceyUK]

So, weird question re: figs. Do you eat the outer skin too when you're making this or just kind of scoop out the middle - i'm assuming you leave it halved to 'cook' it, obviously!