What was the best thing (non bike) you bought in 2015?

[Fordulike]

I'll start the ball rolling with.... The Nutri Ninja



Yes, it has a terrible name, and the advertising is pretty laughable, but it has been an excellent bit of kit.

I use it two or three times a day to make nutritious shakes or breakfast porridge.
Means I can get loads of vitamins, minerals and fibre, without chomping through boatloads of fruit and veg.
I'm far from being a health nut, but felt I needed to improve my diet a little as I got older.

My usual ingredients for breakfast porridge are:

1 x Banana
1 x Weetabix
1 x Cup of Oats
1 x Tablespoon of Milled Flaxseed
Half pint of milk

Shakes are usually a combo of any fruit or veg I've got to hand, in 3/4 pint of milk:

Bananas, apples, strawberries, oranges, raspberries, cranberries, carrots, kale, spinach etc...

I've had great fun experimenting over the year. Sometimes the combos will be delicious, sometimes ghastly lol. It amazes me how you can chuck something naturally very hard in, like a carrot, and it literally pulverizes it to a smooth consitency.

BTW, anyone thinking of getting something like this, don't go for the NutriBullet. It's from a different company, I had one and it was shite!

 

[flecc]

Looks good, I like the blurb "One Touch Intelligence".

I wonder if the country can afford 650 of them for the House of Commons members?

Best thing bought this year other than Bike related? That was probably the new Humax Freeview triple tuner recorder, visual quality much better than expected and markedly better than any previous recorder. Fits nicely in with the previous year's best buy, the big Sony 4K TV.

Merry Christmas Fordulike, but don't just eat your porridge mix tomorrow, have some thing traditional as well.
.

 

[EddiePJ]

Oh dear, I can't think of anything.

The one thing that gives me great pleasure, each time that I buy meat to cook in it, is this wood fired oven that I finished making last year. So I guess that anything food related has to be my best 2015 purchase.

Photo was taken a little earlier, when I fired it up in readiness to do loads of cooking over the Xmas period. I really hate to be stuck indoors for any length of time, and would much rather be outside fire watching with a beer in hand. What could be better.

The only other thing that I can think of, is a Nespresso machine that I got for free, using my RBS credit card points. I'd never have bought one, but as it didn't cost anything, I'm pretty pleased with it. Not so the price of the capsules though!

One way or another I do a fair bit of outdoor cooking, including whilst at work, and I do have a hankering to get rid of my No12 army diesel stove, in favour of one of these diesel stoves.

Despite the fact that it would get used a lot, and give me great pleasure, I just can't bring myself to part with roughly £160.00 for one. So for now, and probably forever, it'll just remain on the wish list.

 

[soundwave]

Swiss made in china

 

[Yamdude]

New motorcycle, but i guess thats almost in the bike category.

So it would probably be my Chromebook..... which has been a revelation after using clunky Windows laptops.

 

[Alan Quay]

I need some form of off road capable vehicle for occasional use at work, but it needs to be road legal. I could run around in a big 4x4, but I reckon its cheaper to have a little Fiesta van, a trailer and a quad.

Here it's is, less than an hour old:

 

[Fordulike]

Looks good, I like the blurb "One Touch Intelligence".
.

Hee hee, it's actually nothing more than different timers, depending on what you put in. Intelligent it's not

Merry Christmas to you too flecc.

 

[Fordulike]

Despite the fact that it would get used a lot, and give me great pleasure, I just can't bring myself to part with roughly £160.00 for one. So for now, and probably forever, it'll just remain on the wish list.

Looks like German army issue?

I remember using a portable petrol field stove in the forces, which had a habit of blowing up in ones face

Think it was something like a MK2!

 

[EddiePJ]

You are correct, it is the No 2 stove. Petrol and stoves, is quite an odd combination, especially when presented to the average soldier.

I'm afraid that I also have several of those, included a new and unused No2 modified and also a new and unused No3. I really should get around to clearing out some of my c**p! I never use the damn things, so I might as well get rid of them.

Yep the one above is German issue, although I think that they might originate from Norway. I think that the pressure gauge might be the one difference separating them. My No12 is fine, but the pre heat is a hassle, and it's messy to use, and isn't really that efficient. Having said that, if I wanted efficiency and ease, I'd just buy a gas stove. No fun in that though. For me the enjoyment comes from the process and the engineering involved.

 

[Fordulike]

Having said that, if I wanted efficiency and ease, I'd just buy a gas stove. No fun in that though.

Best get the No. 2 stoves out then, cover yer eyebrows though

 

[EddiePJ]

I think that I'll pass for now. The last time that I fired any of them up, the seals had gone, and as expected, the flames weren't exactly controlled.

For simplicity, I love my Swedish armyTrangia stoves.

I was experimenting with adding water to the meths, in these flame shots.

 

[Yamdude]

I think that I'll pass for now. The last time that I fired any of them up, the seals had gone, and as expected, the flames weren't exactly controlled.

For simplicity, I love my Swedish armyTrangia stoves.

I was experimenting with adding water to the meths, in these flame shots.

I gotta Trangia stove.... and i always add about 10% water to the meths, it stops the pans going black.
I also have a few different gas stoves. Also have had a petrol stove, but i found it too much hassle so i got rid. I appreciate the quality and engineering of petrol stoves, but stoves aren't a hobby to me, they are just a means to an end when camping at motorcycle rallies.

 

[Yamdude]

Outta the 5 or so camp stoves i have, only one gets used 99% of the time.
A Gelert Intensity which is basically a rip off of an MSR Pocket Rocket without the rip off price...... brilliant gas stove with a really tiny packsize which makes it perfect for motorcycle camping.

 

[Andy_H]

One of the best things I bought this year was a new phone with 'True-call' monitoring, (the one I got was from BT).

Since retiring I got really fed up of all the 'spam' phone calls, even if I didn't answer the phone would still ring, since getting the new phone I've had a very peaceful time, not perfect and no good for businesses but works great for me.

 

[neptune]

Definitely the best thing I bought this year was.......a cheap Chinese made violin, or fiddle as I prefer to call it. It is an Ebay special, £35 complete with bow, case, and rosin. I have practised on it at least an hour a day since early February. Various upgrades cost more than the fiddle. I am on my third set of quality strings, at £32 a set. A better, carbon fibre bow cost £40. New bridge blank, as I didn`t want to risk modifying the original, £5. Had a lot of fun, and I play a few tunes at Folk clubs, and have done a bit of busking. I am still not a very good fiddler, but I am still improving, and having fun. Got to be the bargain of the year.

 

[EddiePJ]

The temperature inside the oven is building nicely. I've just thrown in some very knotty large lumps of oak, bricked up the opening, and put the door on. It should be just right for using after tomorrow mornings ride.

 

[soundwave]

240 more and you can turn ppl to ash

 

[tillson]

I'm not usually envious, but I will make an exception for this oven. It's lovely. Must be especially rewarding because you made it.

 

[EddiePJ]

Thanks for the kind words Tillson, but there is really nothing to be envious of.

The simplest of wood fired ovens can be constructed just using a few second hand bricks, and I'm sure that said build would give just as much satisfaction to the user.

Being honest, mine is very OTT, and is highly efficient in respect of insulation properties, with the outside of the main dome never getting remotely warm. It also stays hot enough to cook on for nearly five days. I normally start of with something like pizza, then bread, then slow roast, then casserole, and if really keen finish with meringue.

I love cooking outside, and whilst I constructed the stove for my use, it was also a business idea that never came to anything. Being bespoke and not an off the shelf modular system, the costs just didn't add up, and it would never have been viable, or affordable.

I frustratingly also made it too big! I got sucked into researching the build, and inevitably ended up taking on board what was written on forums. There are two main sizes used 36" diameter and 42" diameter. Stupidly I choose the bigger, thinking that it would be more practical, but it isn't, as it takes longer to heat up, and uses more wood. The latter is of no importance to me, but time often is.
Forums was also another bad move when it comes to buying materials. Not being rude, but I think that many people that build them are either DIY fanatics, or clueless office workers, with no practical experience. Using stated materials lists from countless builds, I ended up with almost a third of the materials left over, and the price of refractory bricks and insulation is horrendous money. I can only assume that people waste more than they use.

Anyway, I try to use it at least once a month, and have gained many new friends since building it. It's pointless firing it up just for myself, my wife and my daughter, so I invite anyone and everyone around. Next year will also see the start of a monthly beer and pizza club. I had a couple of tries at this over the last year, and it proved to be very popular. Again, it's just an open invitation, the only stipulation being that people bring along a few beers and some pizza toppings.

The lamb and pork cooked in it today, in readiness for tomorrow came out beautifully. The meat was left to slow cook for 8hrs, pretty much all of the residual fat disappears completely, and the meat just melts to nothing in the mouth. I love food.

This was the very first pizza that I made and cooked. Actually that is a bit of a lie, as my daughter is the dough/pastry expert. I'm crap at it! Note the home made pizza peel.

 

[Benjahmin]

240 more and you can turn ppl to ash

Am I the only one who finds it a wee bit disturbing that you know that?

My best buy must be this:
http://www.axminster.co.uk/lie-nielsen-dowel-plates-ax20396
Now I can make dowels for through pegs in joints or just for covering screw heads.