Baked Beans &.........

Day 25 - Beans and mashed potato

2009-03-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

Well it’s been a long time since my last post which I do once again apologise for. This is due to my card reader on my pc breaking so no pictures till I could get onto another computer which I have only just got around to.
Even though the experiment is now over, I will continue to put the remaining posts up each day for those of you who are interested.

Tonight’s meal was yet another classic....Mashed potato and beans, this meal actually got many family’s through starvation all over the world as its very cheap but high in almost everything that the human body could possibly want. I was thinking of making some sort of a castle with the mashed potato but I really didn’t know where to start with a castle so just opted for some sort of a pond, lake or possibly ocean....This really does depend on the size you are when looking at it.
Really enjoyed this one, the extra cheese I put on the walls gave it a nice little twist and the beans remained inside the mashed potato walls exceptionally well “could mashed potato be used to prevent floods??”
I think I have now hit the baked bean brick wall, my body is starting to reject to them and the smell is now becoming hard to tolerate. Your body can do this when it experiences an excessive intake of certain things i.e. alcohol and is a safety measure to help you from killing yourself but I will carry on even with this disturbing knowledge in my head.

Day 24 – Baked bean chilli

2009-03-06T14:24:00.000-08:00

Every morning on my way to work I walk past this very strange looking lady who follows my exact footsteps and when I get to my destination she screams “chilllliii beans” and then runs off at extreme speed.....very odd I know and this has been going on since day one of the experiment so today I decided to succumb to her wishes and make a baked bean chilli.

My shopping basked contained mince, kidney beans, rice, chilli mix and of course Tesco value baked beans...it’s very simple to make for those of you who have never made a chilli.
Just brown off the mince, add everything in the pan with it and put on the rice. The baked beans turned out to be a good option as the sauce replaced the tomatoes which I didn’t put in.
I did however over-grate my cheese which is always a real problem as for the effort it takes to store it you may as well just eat it so I decided to decorate the side of the plate with the remaining cheese.

Overall I really enjoyed this meal; I did put too much tobacco sauce in even for my strong tolerance of hot food. I was left with a sweating forehead.
Many thanks goes to the crazy lady who recommended me this one.

Day 23 – Beans & Super Sausages

2009-03-06T14:06:00.000-08:00

Heinz baked beans with super sausages seem a mixture that is too good to be true. The promise of not just the frankfurter style small sausages but some real meaty pork sausages! But can they deliver on this statement?

I was immediately surprised by the size of these sausages and eventually came to the conclusion that some form of magic was used on the production line which allowed six of these monster sausages to fit inside the relatively small tin along with a good portion of beans.
The taste of the sausages were very satisfying with a nice meaty texture that really did make you feel like you were getting good value for money but leaves you with a nagging question in your mind “how did they fit all that in one tin?”

I have done a lot of research on this but can’t seem to find the answer; I can only think that maybe they grow when heated...hmmmm very strange

Day 22 – Beanana Split

2009-03-04T15:04:00.001-08:00

Baked beans are typically used in savoury dishes such as pie and mashed potato, but its very rare that I ever see them mixed with sweet dishes so I decided to explore the possibilities of these little gems as an accompaniment to a desert.

One of my favourite deserts, banana-split would be the guinea pig for today’s trial. A nice ripe banana cut in half, filled with cold baked beans and some ice cream on the side with a sprinkle of sugar over the plate to help bring the flavours together, but would they need any help???......A definitive “YES” was the answer.
I had been secretly confident in my choice of ingredients and thought that I was onto something big....something that could change the way beans were consumed all over the world....but no this was not the case.

My taste buds first got hold of the banana that was nice and sugary which was closely followed by the soothing coolness of the vanilla ice cream “so far so good” but then the baked beans took hold with their overpowering taste and soon I had a mouthful of what tasted like lumpy cold bean juice sick.
I can’t tell you how bad this actually was, it was worse than I anticipated and despite how hard I tried, I could not finish this one. I now understand why this has not taken off and why beans are positioned where they are in the market....well away from the sweet stuff. “Ohhh well I though” another dish tried and tested...it’s time to move on.

Day 21 – Baked beans & Pasta

2009-03-04T14:38:00.001-08:00

Even though I have had the misfortune of consuming noodles and beans which as you may recall were the blandest of the meals so far, I was assured that pasta and beans would be a totally different story, so I decided not to write off the idea before I had given it a try.

Fusilli pasta, mature cheese and a tin of Tesco baked beans were the ingredients in this dish and I paid special attention on the seasoning of this dish as I was constantly scared that the blandness would rear its head and attack but “noooooo” said Mr Salt and Mrs Pepper.
A very quick meal to make (10 min in total including prep time) the pasta and cheese was layered and then the beans were poured on top....5 minutes under the grill and it was ready for testing. I must admit that I was lacking in trust from the recommendations of this and was waiting for a chewy bland taste but instead was greeted by an extremely pleasant mouthful of rainbows....”wow, this really is a great dish”

I highly recommend that you try this one as its cheap, easy to cook, tasty and filling...what more could you possibly want from a meal??? This one will definitely be staying in my memory bank for future use.

Day 20 – Beans and Faggots

2009-03-02T13:11:00.000-08:00

Ten days to go till I can tuck into a nice roast dinner (without beans) and I must say that I’m looking forward to it. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that I’m sick of beans...I just feel like I’m on the M6 (longest motorway in the UK) and getting tired and need a rest break.
Thanks to everyone who has recently been recommending me different meal ideas, I will try my best to get around to them all.

Tonight’s winner winner chicken dinner (it’s not actually chicken) is some Mr Brains Faggots with Tesco reduced salt baked beans. The name says it all doesn’t it? Faggots are made from off-cuts and offal with traditional ingredients being (pig heart, liver and belly meat) but Mr Brains Faggots is mainly comprised of just liver and onion which is largely due to the growing unpopularity of this type of food, so not including the classic ingredients is there way of trying to gain more customers...what next, is the word faggot not allowed just in case it could offend? Should I call my coffee light brown and not black???....either way I think this is a real shame and not because I’m trying to hold on to the old days but because I hate change and want to keep all retro things in production including the classic 600 Polaroid, mini cooper and of course the classic faggot.

The faggots didn’t look as unappealing as I thought they would, they just looked like large meatballs with gravy (ohhh noooo) but this was not the case, they were very fluffy and almost tasted like a large stuffing ball with no chewy toe nails or balls of gristle. The baked beans went very well with the faggots and I genuinely enjoyed this meal...just shows that the classic dishes passed down through generations really are the best ones.

Day 19 - Beans and BBQ grill

2009-03-01T17:42:00.000-08:00

This BBQ requires no charcoal or lighter fluid but simply a hand that is capable of effectively using a tin opener.
The front of the Hunger Breaks tin had a colourful picture of all the ingredients you would have for a classic BBQ (Sausages, burgers, Ribs and of course baked beans??) the picture did look appealing but when opening the can I realised that the marketing department really did have a few people who knew how to use Photoshop well.
Upon gazing down into the tin I noticed that everything had congealed together and looked something like you would expect to find in your small intestines (where a majority of the digestion takes place) but I have learnt to never judge a book by its cover from my run in with Mr Octopus. Once I had dislodged the contents from the tin into a saucepan I could see the five BBQ items that had been mechanically shot into the tin from what I think was a huge height (over 100ft)

While eating the food I couldn't help but notice the flavour in the sauce that I think was supposed to trick you into thinking it had been over some hot coals but ended up tasting like I had slightly burnt it all in the saucepan (which I could have done) the ingredients themselves were very tasteless with the majority of the flavour coming from the baked beans.
Don’t get me wrong, this was by no means close to the worst meal so far but it does rank close to the meatballs (unsurprisingly as they are both a similar product) great for explorers and campers and those who never have access to a BBQ and that’s about it.

These were a present given to me so in some ways I wish I could give a more positive review of them but as always I’m very thankful and appreciate the help along the way in this experiment. I don’t have long left now and it’s hard to think of new and creative ideas but I’m heading back into the jungle very soon and will be exploring some never before tried concoctions’.

Day 18 - Baked bean cottage pie

2009-02-28T11:47:00.000-08:00

Cottage pie was introduced in 1971 for the “cottage workers” which in other terms means the lower class workers of that time. However since its humble introduction it has taken hold of the population as a classic dish which is now eaten by both rich and poor.

Many variances of this dish have been created throughout the years depending on regional ingredients and I have come across other people who use baked beans in this dish but also people who have never heard of using this as an ingredient.
I was cooking for my housemate tonight who was also recovering from the same bug that i had so i decided to spare her from the original planned meal of fried rat with beans and treat us both to a wholesome classic meal that would surely knock days off the recovery process.

After cooking the onions, mushrooms and mince i was ready to add the tin of baked beans and then fill the dish and top with mashed potato and cheese...20 minutes in the over and it was ready to eat with some gravy. The picture doesn’t show the true amount of beans as most of them are snuggled away under the main body of potato.
I really enjoyed this meal but I’m sure eating it on a nice country farm with huge log fire and big oak dinner table would have somehow made it taste better.
I’ll be getting back to experimenting with beans and random ingredients very soon but needed this classic dish to help me get back to 100% health :)

Day 17 – Baked Bean Nachos

2009-02-26T18:53:00.001-08:00

This one was recommended to me on my Facebook group by a person who I don’t know but fully respect for taking the time to detail a meal that I may well have overlooked and missed out on otherwise.

Most Mexican dishes use some type of bean in the ingredients so I was sure that having a little tomato juice would not negatively affect the overall taste of this classic cinema snack that is always excessively overprices (£3 for a small box- approx) but this Tesco credit crunch buster cost a grant total of just 60p (bargain)
The simplicity of constructing this meal even surprised me. Fill the bowl with the chips, cover in beans, add some grated cheese then put under the grill for 5 minutes and its ready to be served with a few dollops of salsa dip and Tabasco sauce.
The end result was a meal that has now taken the no1 spot for the best looking bean dish which is largely due to my organisational skills of the chips around the side of the plate (very Gordon Ramsay)

I can’t say a bad word about this meal, I consumed the whole lot while watching Skins and it wasn’t a struggle like the meatballs or noodles.
I’m always open to any further suggestions on future meals (mouth-watering or toilet grabbing) which I’m eagerly awaiting...

Day 16 – Baked bean omelette

2009-02-25T17:02:00.001-08:00

Probably one of the most versatile and popular dishes in the solar system......the omelette which is not only extremely filling, tasty and easy to cook but it can be combined with almost any other ingredient on earth with minimal fuss. It was only time until the baked bean met up with its soul mate and bubbled away together in a warm oily pan.
I was craving something nice and filling tonight and this did not disappoint. I got the idea while looking on YouTube at those DIY cooking clips and thought “I can produce the masterpiece that was just shown to me”...so off I set.

Three free range eggs (I’m very strict on not getting battery farm eggs as I know what the dirty old farmers do with them late at night, at least if they are free range then they have the chance to run away thus reducing my chances of consuming anything) add a slash of milk to give it that fluffy texture, a sprinkle of grated mature cheese and a tin of beans.
I added them to a hot pan but quickly realised that the omelette was about 3 inches thick and this was far too much for the small pan to handle but it was too late and I had to solider on knowing that it would be messy and hard to cook. After much prodding and moving around I finally managed to flip it over the best I could but the finished product looked like a large salmon had been run over by a juggernaut.

Eating this road kill look-a-like was a real pleasure, tasting so so good and it was cooked to perfection. The cheese added a little tang that proved to be the finishing touch.
I will once again be going to bed feeling very satisfied and looking forward to tomorrows treat..

Day 15 – Beans and Avocado

2009-02-25T10:35:00.000-08:00

A refreshing meal was required after last night’s gristle filled meatballs that I’m sure have taken years off my life and were not meant for human consumption but for animal feed.
I needed something that would regenerate by body and mind like a warm wave of love spreading across the world.
This dream was realised when I noticed some nice ripe avocados in my local shop...I was not expecting to find this as it mainly only stocks processed foods that have a shelf life of at least 100 years or more, but it seems my luck was in so I put them into my basket and headed back to prepare the food.

Avocados were a perfect visual accompaniment for the Waitrose baked beans which also came in the mysterious package the other day. Once the pip was taken out of the avocado it was ready to be filled with a few beans and the remainder were tipped along the outside of the plate for added looks.
This was a meal that could be served in a high class restaurant and probably not even get any funny looks (maybe I’ve been around beans to long as I do think this is true) I was unsure how the cold and hot mixture of foods would taste but I was pleasantly surprised...I didn’t expect the textures to go this well together.
The Waitrose beans were full of flavour and tasted unusually fresh for a tinned product while the cholesterol lowering avocado gave me that lift that I was looking for and added the years that were previously taken away back onto my life.

I think this is the most visually pleasing dish I have created during this experiment and will be one that may be hard to beat!!

Day 14 – Organic Beans with tinned meatballs

2009-02-24T10:40:00.000-08:00

Tonight’s meal features a special guest appearance of some organic baked beans which were mysteriously sent to me in a package from an unknown sender....whoever this person is must be a fan of the blog so I would like to say thanks for the kind gesture....just proves that some people have a genuinely kind heart.

These organic baked beans could not have come at a better time due to my current physical condition (man flu) which by the way is far worse than most illnesses but girls still don’t understand this!!! This delivery of beans has allowed me to stay indoors and thus increase the recovery time...however I am still limited to my local shop for ingredients which has impacted on my meals severely.
The baked beans looked great and having the organic element really made me feel like I was doing my bit for the world....that is until I threw the tin direct in the bin without any thought for recycling (oh well, one step at a time) I was actually looking forward to the meatballs until I realised I had purchased them in gravy which once opened looking very much like dog-food (even the realistic tripe smell)
I decided that cooking them separately would do little but add more washing up so I combined them both in the same saucepan. Once they were ready the beans had gone a little brown colour due to the gravy in the meatballs and it unfortunately didn’t taste that great.....some of the meatballs had little bits of gristle in which instantly put me off and made me think about what went into these unnaturally round balls.

I wish I had saved the organic beans for an ingredient that was worthy of them but you learn from mistakes right so tomorrows one will be a little bit better thought out...

Day 13 - Baked bean toastie

2009-02-23T02:59:00.000-08:00

Today I’ve been hit by some sort of bug that has left me feeling very ill indeed, I am hoping this is not related to the high consumption of beans (or octopus) that i have had so tonight’s meal wasn’t what I had planned as getting the ingredients was out of the question given how I am feeling.

While thinking what the meal could be tonight I discovered my housemates old toastie machine and hey presto....a baked bean toastie with some cheese would now be the creation I was about to make. I used some farmhouse thick break with Heinz beans and some grated cheese....but this proved too much for the small light duty toastie machine and the lid would not close....immediately I knew I was going to have problems cooking this one and while holding the lid down as best I could the bean/cheese juice started running out the side of the machine all over the work top which was making a huge mess but this did smell really nice. About 10 min later (extra cooking time needed for the cold beans) it was ready to come out.....slightly tricky getting it out in once piece but eventually it was free.

The toastie tasted great and wasn’t too much to handle with the way I’m feeling at the moment.
10 out of 10 for speed of cooking and quick preparation time but 0 out of 10 for the aftermath of mess.
This experiment started out as a bit of a joke and in the first few days I wasn’t sure what I was getting into but looking back even from this point I have realised that thanks to this experiment I have tried new food that I might not have otherwise which in itself has made it worthwhile and I’m also hopefully putting a smile on a few people’s faces along the way.

I’m off back to bed now as starting to feel worse......I’m hoping I won’t be found dead in the morning with a bright orange face :)

Day 12 – Liver and Beans

2009-02-21T12:11:00.000-08:00

Offal is a wonderful food but one that has lost its popularity in recent years due largely to the snobbishness of our society and the increase in marketing for higher prices goods but with current world situations it’s very important to waste as little as possible (like the American Indians who used everything from the animal they had killed, even the bones for hunting instruments/jewellery)
Most offal is extremely high in essential vitamins and minerals that can’t be found in other parts of the animal.

My mum always used to cook me a mean liver stew when i was younger which has been the inspiration for today’s meal which is liver and beans and one that i was looking forward to, it’s been a long time since I last had any liver so when the idea popped into my head while walking around Tesco’s I had to grab the guy who was filling the shelves and do a little dance up and down the aisle (I didn’t actually do this but it really did happen inside my head)

Once I got back to mine I started to cook immediately as I had a long day at work which left me needing to refill the petrol tank. One of my housemates was very off-put by the idea of what I was cooking but I thought to myself “I’m only just beginning” I fried an onion until caramelised and then added the chopped liver for about 10 minutes (or until it’s no longer pink in the middle) I then served up with some Tesco standard beans (39p) The meal was as good as I had anticipated it to be and the beans went very well with the liver...so much in fact that I will be having this long after the experiment has ended!!

I have a few good ideas for tomorrows meal which build on tonight’s dish so stay tuned...

Day 11 – Beans and Octopus

2009-02-20T12:53:00.000-08:00

Life is a journey and no real journey is complete without its up and downs.
Today I think I need to explore a little bit more and move away from the classic recipe dishes and into the forest which is full of its dangers but also its pleasant surprises.....”could octopus and beans be one of these pleasant surprises?” initially I am thinking this is a bad idea, the very sound of it makes me feel sick but you never know until you try it right?

I chose Sainsbury’s value beans for this meal....I didn’t want to waste money on some great beans only to have octopus juice all over them so I’m sure for this meal the quality of the beans will not affect the overall taste as much as other meals I have had.

The octopus comes in a nice gold tin which leads me to think that some sort of treasure is located inside but unless the treasure you’re looking for is octopus tentacles then it couldn’t be further away from the truth.
I tried to place the tentacles as well as I could on the beans but most of them ended up submerged within the bean juice. The first mouthful was the hardest as I have never tried octopus before but I know they are extremely high in fibre which makes them a great partner for the beans which are also high in fibre.
I was surprised that I had soon finished the meal without ending up in the toilet. I think the hardest part was looking at the little suckers as I put them in my mouth but the actual taste was very similar to mackerel which I was not expecting.

This proves that experimenting with things a little outside of your comfort zone is important as I now know that I would have octopus again but maybe not with baked beans :)

Day 10 – Baked bean bake

2009-02-20T06:16:00.000-08:00

Apologies to my loyal fans who have had to wait a little extra time for this post but due to technical issues with this site I was unable to upload anything until this point so it’s ok....there is no need for mass hysteria, I am alive and this experiment has not killed me yet so get yourself a nice cup of tea and enjoy the rest of this post.

Today I finally had a meal with some preparation time involved. This is something I have been missing a lot in recent days but with this baked bean bake my culinary skills were once again able to flourish.
This meal was recommended to me by a friend to whom I am now greatly in debt too as it’s become my favourite of the baked bean meals so far!! From the start of the day I had been looking forward to this, it’s very rare that you come across a baked bean recipe that can stimulate your senses to the levels which this little beauty has.

This meal was baked bean bake which just from its name makes your ears tingle with excitement and is achieved by taking some Heinz baked beans and pouring them into a small oven-proof dish with some fried onions added and a splash of Worcestershire sauce and pepper to flavour, toast two slices of bread and then cut into four triangles and delicately arrange them on top of the beans and cover with a generous layer of mature grated cheese and add to pre-heated oven (180c)......... I felt like a proud father waiting for his new born child to come out....it seemed to take a lifetime to happen (actually only 20 min) but when it did I was greeted by the most amazing sight and one that I will remember for at least a week.
Dishing up this miracle of a meal was great fun, the cheese had done its job well in holding the whole dish together and it was easy to serve up on the plate of my choice. I added a few drops of Tabasco sauce and then proceeded to eat the whole dish which left me myself feeling like I was about to give birth but this is nothing a pot of tea didn’t soon sort out!!

Day 9 - Curried Beans

2009-02-18T16:18:00.000-08:00

Today’s meal came from the land of tigers, elephants, camels and of course the sacred cow....that’s right, it’s India which gave birth to all the different varieties of curries that are found around the world today, including the Heinz Curried Beans variety.

I was very surprised to find this particular variety of beans and never knew how big the baked bean market was until now...there seems to be a different variety of beans of almost everyone, the health conscious, the caveman hunter and the traveller who seeks out beans from around the world.
It really is astonishing and until you really take a close look at your supermarket baked bean selection your life will be that little bit duller than it otherwise could be.

The accompanying dish for today’s curried beans was a value curry for a staggering 79p...I really did question how this could be made for such a small price with any profit being made but after some deep thought on the walk home I decided that the chicken was more than likely abused on many different levels, this left me in a moral dilemma..."do I eat the abused chicken or not".............i quickly decided that I couldn’t let the chicken die for no reason and throwing the pieces in the bin would be a huge disrespect to the former Mr Chicken so decided to help fulfil his destiny, either way I put this to the back of my mind and served up the value curry and poured the curried beans over the top.
The meal was satisfying if not slightly hot on the taste buds but I could not pinpoint if this came from the baked beans or the rice!!

A very filling meal thanks largely to the rice, I feel this would be great after a night out on the town with your friends due to the quick cooking time and jokes that can be had regarding the bits of chicken that you are throwing around the room!!!!

Day 8 – Heinz BBQ Baked Bean Pizza

2009-02-17T14:02:00.000-08:00

After my last two meals I felt I deserved a treat, something that wouldn’t make me feel sick or depressed and this came in the form of a BBQ bean pizza.

I chose a value pizza (Sainsbury’s 69p) this was because the cheap pizzas have the least toppings on and allow for more beans to be applied. Heinz BBQ beans were also purchased which when I found genuinely did excite me, I had been told about them before but could never seem to find them, they became a legend in my mind, a myth that I could not ever find but ohhhhhhhh nooooooo...their they were standing on the shelf at eye level for just 59 dirty pennies.. so “thank you very much” I said out aloud and quickly put them into my basket.

Cooking could not really have been simpler, spread the succulent beans on the pizza and insert into the warm oven!! “Brilliant” I thought. The 15minutes waiting time passed quickly while I made a pot of tea.
I was unsure how successful the beans would be in staying on the pizza base but to my surprise they had remained where I left them (this would not have been the case if I had used the value beans which were much more juicy) I decorated the pizza with some cheese to one again spice things up and then took it to my room for consumption.

The pizza went down really well, so well in fact that I could have had another one...the BBQ sauce turned an otherwise boring pizza into a titillating feast and a fantastic meal that left me with a warm fuzzy feeling inside (maybe the pizza is slightly undercooked) I would recommend this to everyone but especially people with injured hands and vegetarians as they are limited with pizza topping options and this one is a sure fire winner.....more tomorrow

Day 7 – Beans and Noodles

2009-02-16T17:00:00.000-08:00

Today’s dish of the day was Tesco healthy choice beans (with 30% less sugar than other beans 41p) and some Amoy noodles which are classically used for stir-fry’s.

Adding an oriental twist to the meal really did excite me and almost made me grab my backpack and head off into the great unknown but then I realised that completing this experiment was far more important so I then hurried back to the stove where my noodles were now ready after just 2min’s of cooking with the beans close behind.
I toyed with the idea of adding some other ingredients but I was now extremely hungry and so settled with the ingredients in front of me.

A high energy meal with bland colours and repetitive texture was now being consumed, this brought back depressing memories from last night’s meal (beans and pancakes) but a job is a job so it had to be eaten and besides with all the world hunger I would feel a little bit wasteful if its destiny was for the bin.
Even with the 30% less sugar in the healthy choice beans the flavor was the same as other beans I have tried, this leads me to believe that companies are putting too much sugar in beans for no apparent reason (I will have to look into this further)

The meal had its high points (very filling and extremely quick to cook) and of course its low points (slight sickening feeling and bad flashbacks of the pancakes) Tomorrow’s meal must be full of more flavor and possibly have a longer cooking time as I am starting to miss the preparation of food although ideas for new meals are becoming harder and harder.....

Day 6 - Beans and pancakes

2009-02-15T15:34:00.000-08:00

My housemates today decided to cook me pancakes which I was extremely thankful for but had a great idea of combining them with beans!!.

The initial idea of this made me feel sick but variety is the spice of life right.....or so they say..so “what the hell” I thought.
The choice of beans for today’s culinary delight were Sainsbury’s value baked beans (29p) these beans disappointed me on many levels which has now left me feeling slightly depressed.
First of all they were extremely juicy which caused a problem for this particular dish as I need the contents to stay within the pancake, this forced me to strain the beans after cooking and then spoon them into the circular delights. I then wrapped them up like you would with any other filling (lemon, jam etc)

The first bite was hard for me to take, but once my mouth was full of beans and pancake the real hardship started. It was very bland and chewy and made me feel slightly sick but I knew that I would come across dishes that I would not get along with on this experiment.

I would not personally recommend beans in pancakes unless it was to an enemy and even then I would think twice and would be nice enough to recommend them Branston beans (nice and thick sauce which is ideal for this dish).

I must now go and have a cup of tea to help me get rid of the lingering taste...

Day 5 - Valentines Baked Beans

2009-02-15T09:27:00.000-08:00

My last post promised that the next meal would have more love, attention and artistic expression which i feel has been achieved with this valentine special.

A must for all men on a budget who are trying to impress their partners.

A single slice of white bread with a heart cut out of the middle with my nimble fingers (i sometimes think i should be a watch smith) and then filled with the luscious baked beans (Tesco healthy choice beans 42p) the beans could not be poured from the saucepan due to the preciseness needed and so were spooned in till filled.
This meal would never be complete without the added cupids arrow which was achieved by using some Heinz Ketchup (squeezable bottle) this was harder than i anticipated but i am happy with the outcome.

This was a great valentines meal although i would have liked larger portion sizes as i was not filled to the levels i would have liked which can be remedied if you can bake your own bread and produce a much larger slice of bread or alternatively stacking several bits on top of each other to allow for a deeper filling of beans.

Health wise i am doing fine, no strange symptoms as of yet, this proves the adaptability of the human body but i still have a long time left so i don’t want to speak to soon.

Emotionally i am also doing well, however i do spend a large part of the day talking/thinking about beans and potential meals that can be devised and i hope that this is where my emotional journey will stay but i have a suspicious feeling that this will not be the case

Day 4 - Beans & fake cheese

2009-02-14T08:16:00.000-08:00

I would like to take this moment to apologise for the late post, however some friends from the land of Somerset came down for a night of bean fueled fun :)

Tonights meal was a tin of Branston beans which came in a beautifully presented tin which cost me 64p. I also decided to put a slice of fake cheese on top just to mix things up a little bit, but i would have liked to spend longer in the preparation of this meal and feel it was slightly hurried and lacked the passion that it deserves.

The Branson beans were extremely tastie with a very thick sauce. The baked beans were also larger than that of its rivals which in my opinion made for a much better tasting bean that is aimed at men who are looking for a bean with extra kick. The fake cheese melted tremendously over the top of the hot baked beans which added a whole new dimension to the meal that was very pleasant and overall a rewarding experience.

Tomorrows meal will be made with much more love and passion with an artistic element added :)

Day 3 - Beans and Sausages

2009-02-12T12:46:00.000-08:00

This is a must for all campers and one that i have been looking forward to since starting this experiment. Heinz beans with 8 pork sausages all sealed in a well presented tin that cost 89p.
I thoroughly enjoyed the meal but did feel out of place eating it indoors and not under the stars which got me slightly depressed but this did soon pass.

Today i started smelling beans for no apparent reason which is the first side effect i have felt yet and also a very strange one, the only reason i can think of is that im sweating some bean juice out of my system :) Im not sick of beans but i feel i will be hitting the wall very soon...stay tuned!!!

Day 2 - Cheesy Beans

2009-02-11T11:12:00.000-08:00

These are not just any cheesy beans, these are M&S cheesy beans which when combined with my staff discount card made them only 33p this is a great price for the super quality of these hand picked beans. The sauce seems thicker than this of the brand leader (Heinz) and when combined with some mature cheese (found in the fridge) the creation is a truly remarkable culmination of sweet smelling cheesy beans.
I am in fact very surprised by the taste of this and overall it is so far the best of the meals i have had during the experiment. You will find from the picture that some pitta bread has also been added to the side of this dish with more cheese just to allow for a different texture when eating which was done very successfully.

Overall i am feeling very good inside, i had a moment last night when i felt very hungry but this is to be expected when settling into a new diet but no orange face just yet :)
More to come tomorrow......

Day 1 - Beans on Toast

2009-02-10T12:38:00.000-08:00

For the first day of my personal challenge i have opted for the classic dish of beans of toast. This a good starting dish which i feel is fairly filling. The brand of beans i have chosen for the meal is "Heinz" this is not out of personal choice but my local co-op is only stocking the most expensive brand to maximize their own profits.
However the beans are extremely tasty (cooked in pan not microwave) and the meal has gone down well and filled me up well, all together a very good meal for 80p approx (with bread and butter) I will finish this off with a pot of tea and look forward to tomorrows meal (what will it be???)

Beans for a month

2009-02-10T11:32:00.000-08:00

We live in a world of waste which seems to be getting progressively worse day by day. Industry advertising has led to a nation of consumers who spend money on things that are "wants" and not "needs".
Because of this (and a monthly cash-flow shortage) i plan on eating only beans for my main meal, i will be allowed breakfast and lunch (to keep my vitamins up) and i will be keeping a record of the emotional highs and lows for you all to read if you so wish.