My meals under the Commonwealth Home Support Programme are subsidised. Each meal consists of a main course, soup or a sandwich, and dessert, which includes a choice of fruit salad or tropical fruit salad.
I pay just under $11 for each three course meal and I receive three meals a week, delivered on Mondays at the most inconvenient time of noon. Some I keep in the fridge and some go into the freezer. To buy the three courses for one day from a retail premise as takeaway might cost around $30+.
I am still learning as what works well as a microwaved meal and what needs to pulled apart, with some heated in the airfryer. Well, Phyllis is doing that for me now.
I take the sandwiches out of their plastic packets and wrap them in cling wrap and they last well enough for about three days.
I use the fruit on my breakfast cereal, half of one serve each breakfast. The soup and sandwiches I will eat some time in the afternoons, and the main meal is my evening meal.
But that leaves four days without an evening meal. Phyllis will probably cook for me one night, sometimes two. The seventh night, maybe a takeaway meal, pizza or a burger or some Thai or banh mi.
For the couple of months I was on my own, I was occasionally cooking for myself but it is too hard now as my kitchen has been taken over and very little is where I think it should be. That's fine.
I've yet to go out on my own to a pub to dine or similar, but I will.
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Can you get Phyllis to make extra to freeze and reheat some days?
ReplyDeleteDining alone is no longer taboo. A great way to people watch. Take a book or a device and you will look studious and interesting.
I've not thought of that Merlot, possibly. There meal times are so weird, and they will have for breakfast what wasn't eaten last night. There was some soup for me today, to which I added some croutons. There was also something like a very large sausage roll, that was big enough to spread over two days, and it tasted nothing like a sausage roll, but it was nice. I am not really concerned about dining on my own, it's just an effort to go out.
DeleteBaby steps. I think you're doing very well, all things considered. I'm glad you have the boys with you.
ReplyDeletePixie, they are only here on student visas, so I try not to care too much, but gosh I would miss them if they left. They have been so good, I don't think I could do it again. It would never be the same.
DeleteLeftover food can be a challenge. ~nods~ Myself has enjoyed many solo outings, though it was trickier when I was thin and prettier. lol In later years I made the most of things whenever my husband was in hospital or, years ago, traveling for work. Hugs, my dear.
ReplyDeleteDarla, left overs is not a problem for a me. I will eat food even after a week in the fridge, as long as it looks and smells ok. I am pleased to know you could do single dining with aplomb.
DeleteYou're doing great, Andrewww! And I think the boys are being good to you.
ReplyDeleteBoud, indeed luck smiled upon me.
DeleteThat's a good price for three days of meals. Then with Phyllis and Kosov cooking for you, you eat quite well. For the takeaway night you are better off with a Thai or Chinese because of the vegetable content, but again, sometimes a burger or pizza just hits the spot.
ReplyDeleteRiver, funny you mention Thai food. I am building a hunger for the Thai soup, tom yum. And fish cakes.
DeleteIf your kitchen has to be taken over, it seems to me that it couldn't have been taken over by two nicer guys.
ReplyDeleteAww Kirk, that is quite true.
DeleteHow special is P. You are really lucky in a way. As long as you are being fed, that's the main thing.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, yes he is. Kosov is quieter, but I think more personally caring.
DeleteGreat you were able to qualify - better still those prices are far lower than out here in the foothills.
ReplyDeleteHaving a personal chef is such a luxury…..
(Hopefully this passes the comment roadblock)
Cathy, the threshold is pretty low for support at home from Commonwealth system, which comes from the local council. Your council will have its own system, if it is involved. Once approved, there are other places where you can get meals. The key is to get on the list, and once you are, you stay on it, whether you use the services or not.
DeleteYou are doing well food wise. Cooking for one creates just as much mess as cooking for 2 or more. Just means you have to clear up as well as cook. I think you are expecting too much from yourself. I have no problem eating out at lunchtime on my own but reluctant to do it in the evening unless I am on holiday somewhere. Give yourself time, everything is still very raw.
ReplyDeleteFun60, Ray always said I would be ok on my own, that I was a survivor. It seems like he was right. Ah, my eyes are wet now. The anniversary approaches. Yes, daytime lunching is quite different to evening dining. I hope you have settled in ok.
DeleteThe easiest and cheapest dinner to cook for yourself is rice, corn kernels, peas, sliced mushrooms, grated cheese, pasta sauce and any pieces of meat or fish you have left over. All in one pot, the ingredients only need 10 minutes of gentle heat.
ReplyDeleteHels, I could do that, minus the corn and mushrooms. But I must have the ingredients at the ready, there will wastage at times, and I just can't be ******, bothered.
DeleteLove you Andrewww. Glad it's working out. Aloha
ReplyDeleteThanks Cloudia. I think I was pretty lucky with getting P as my boarder, and then his now partner.
DeleteIs the fruit salad fresh? Missile apples have come into season they are small and crisp , would go well on cereal. Do you eat yoghurt, that would be another good addition too.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is fresh fruit. It isn't like tinned fruit. I don't put yoghurt on my cereal, but I do eat it from its container. There is always a tub or tubs of yoghurt in my fridge. I've never heard of missile apples.
DeleteI'm glad you've sorted out the food and developed a routine. That must feel comforting, and it's good you can spread it out over multiple meals!
ReplyDeleteLife would be so much simpler if we didn't have to eat!
ReplyDelete*cheaper too!
DeleteIt is good to hear that the delivered meals work well for you. The US has a similar system, Meals on Wheels. Increasingly in the US they are sending out frozen meals.
ReplyDeleteI think you are forging a new path. You will continue on, and fine tune things as you go. You're making it work.
ReplyDeleteWe have Meals on Wheels here, but after knowing well someone who got those, I discovered why she didn't eat them and tried to give them off to others--inedible food, a soggy fish cake, mixed vegees from a can, that sort. Eating or shopping for one is a big challenge, that's for sure.
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