Bubble and Squeak - for the freezer?

 Way way back in 2020 I wrote about Bubble and Squeak and all the variations I have tried over the years.  It was (and still is) something that we make to stretch the pennies when we need to. Some things never change....however some things do in that now I cook it differently.

For those that don't know Bubble and Squeak is mashed potato and cooked cabbage at it's simplest and is cooked in a frying pan or skillet.  For a large family that means multiple batches and standing at the stove for a while.  I had enough of that (and also wanted to stock my freezer with bulk meals) so here is what I do these days.

Mashed potato (made with butter), browned fried onion, steamed cabbage - mix together and pack into a metal (and yes it should be metal or enamel) roasting tin, top with grated cheese if desired and bake in a hot oven for about half an hour.  Cut into squares to serve.

No more wasting time standing at the stove, bonus is that you can wrap portions and freeze for a couple of months.  Defrost overnight in the fridge and then microwave until hot in the centre.

Making your own freezer meals is just for big families. Right?/ Paprika Chicken Thighs Recipe

 Wrong!

It is a constant that cookery books and cooking shows by-and-large assume that you are a part of a family, usually family of 4. YouTube is full of creators producing freezers full of large trays of food for large families. However there is nothing to stop you dividing the same recipes into smaller portions and giving future you the gift of the time you save by reheating rather than cooking from scratch.

Another thing that is true is that it saves money because of supermarkets where family packs are less per 100g than smaller packs.  It doesn't matter if you divide bigger packs and freeze things like meat raw or if you cook two or three times the amount you need and freeze the surplus the pennies add up even when you include the cost of running a freezer.  Although you do need the money for the bigger packs up front to save money further down the line.

So, if you don't know where to start go to the freezer section of your supermarket for inspiration- anything that you can find there can be the starting point for your own variation.

Meanwhile I am making a batch of paprika chicken thighs on the stove ready to serve with potatoes and veggies or salad or rice another day.

Paprika Chicken Thighs (serves 4)

8 chicken thighs, skin on

oil

1 onion,chopped

2 tsp smoked paprika

3 rashers streaky bacon, smoked if possible, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tbsp tomato puree

1/2 tsp dried thyme

100 ml chicken stock

100 ml creme fraiche or soured cream (full fat, low fat or no fat do not freeze well)

Start with a pan which will take all the thighs in one layer and with a lid.  Add a little oil to the pan and cook the chicken thighs skin side down for about 10 minutes, you want the skin to be nice and Brown.  Remove from the pan.

 Fry the onion until soft. Add the bacon and fry until it loses it's pink colour.  Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds being careful not to let it brown.  

Return the chicken to the pan and add the tomato puree, thyme and the stock.  Stir well and pop on the lid.  Cook for about 10-15, giving it the occasional stir - you want everything to be covered with the sauce.

Check that the chicken is cooked (cut into one of the thighs and see if near the bone is pink).

Add the creme fraiche and stir well so it is incorporated into the sauce.  Leave the lid off and leave to bubble for 5 minutes to reduce slightly.

Serve with rice, pasta or potatoes.

To Freeze.

Allow to cool and then freeze in portions as desired (2 thighs per person),

To serve, allow to thaw and reheat in the oven or the microwave until hot through.

Recipe ideas for £1 a head- Cost of Living Crisis

 Trying to find recipes that are a one size fits all is difficult as so much depends on personal circumstances. You Tube especially is rife with videos claiming to do a full week for x pounds and then you discover it is only 5 meals for 2 adults with no drinks/snacks/lunches/breakfasts etc (nope not going to say who...) or the videos are so old that the inflation rises have not been factored in. Or there are those people who have a large family so can bring the price down per head by buying the large economy packs which are less per 100 g than the standard sizes.  Not everyone has access to the same supermarkets so pricing can be widely variable across the UK and across the globe - that being said here are some lovely ladies who recently put out their own collab videos to try and give people ideas and I have found their claims to be far more realistic than most.  Hope you find some ideas to spark your own recipes.  Enjoy!

Post Furlough/Student Food: Stuffed Potato Galette

 Anyone who reads through this blog knows that I am a big fan of the humble spud for bulking out other ingredients without breaking the bank.  This recipe is a kind of stuffed potato pancake filled with what could be left overs and cooked on the stove top not the oven.  It would be pretty difficult to find another one that sounds more like me!  Not only that but it uses mashed potato so you can use the store cupboard instant stuff if you need to which can make it FAST.  Served with some vegetable matter on the side it serves 4 amply.

Stuffed Potato Galette - serves 4

for the minced meat filling:

olive oil

1 onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

300 grams of minced beef

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp chilli

chopped fresh parsley

Fot the potato dough:

800 g potatoes, peeled

1 egg

salt and pepper

approximately 200 g plain flour

For assembly

50-60 g grated cheese

Make the meat filling whilst the potatoes are cooking. Fry the onion in some olive oil until soft. Add the crushed garlic and the minced beef and cook breaking up any lumps with a spoon. Once the meat is brown add the spices and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes until the aroma really gets going. Stir in the fresh herbs and set aside to cool.

Boil the potatoes untill tender, mash and allow to cool until at least cold enough to touch. With your hands make this into a dough with the egg and enough flour so it holds its shape and is not wet. Depending on your potatoes and how starchy they are this may be more or less flour. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces.

Using baking parchment draw a pencil line the size of your frying pan, turn the parchment pencil side down and using the first piece of dough flatten the dough into a circle that fits the shape you have just drawn. Now we are going to assemble the galette in the pan.

Put the pan onto a medium to low heat and add a little oil. Put the first circle of dough into the pan and top with half of the cheese, followed by the meat mixture followed by the remainder of the cheese. Leave a border round the edge so that the dough can be pressed together to seal. Quickly flatten the second piece of dough in the same way and the first and place on top of the filling. Press all round the edges with a fork or spoon to seal the two layers of dough together.

After about 5 minutes sneak a peak at the underside of the dough, it should be brown. Turn the galette over to cook the other side with the help of a plate. and cook for 2-3 minutes on the second side.

Serve with salad or other vegetables on the side.

Variations and tips:

Since the potatoes for the dough have to be cold before use anyway make the most of your fuel and make this dish the day after you have potatoes for dinner and cook double. In the summer I do a big batch an turn half into potato salad and half into this recipe.

Make it veggie - instead of the meat mixture use sauteed mushrooms and other veggies such as peppers and courgettes. Or use vegetables that you have oven roasted previously (making good use of the oven by cooking them at the same time as something else of course).

Flavour the mince meat with different herbs and spices. This version is flavoured with chilli but you could make it more Italian by adding basil and oregano and a squirt of tomato puree. You could make it more Greek by using oregano and a little cinnamon. Use spice mixtures such as ras-al-hanout or Z'atar to flavour the meat. Use other meat instead of the minced beef.

Instead of cooking the meat from scratch use leftover spag bol sauce, or chilli. Leftover curry also works but with this leave out the cheese.

This also make a good recipe to add to the mix if you are into doing a freezer cooking day using minced beef.

In this recipe you need a cheese that melts nicely but this could be Cheddar, something like a mozarella or even a blue cheese.

Post furlough food: Dump and go pork and potato casserole in the crock pot/slowcooker.

 This weekend was a bank holiday for the UK.  We found ourselves at IKEA collecting a bed for our 17 year old having discovered that the metal bed frame had broken on his bed and his bum was halfway to the floor each night - he hadn't bothered to tell us for months!  Anyway this involved a 4 hour drive to to click and collect and then get back home during which time our two autistic sons were tasked with taking the old bed apart on their own- which they did much to their surprise.  They then got to put the new one together with only help when absolutely stuck (Dad was banned!).  Final comment was "It's just like a big Lego really"  so a very well done A and B- I told you you could do it!

This meant of course a very late day and whilst the boys love pizza or sausages and chips the grown ups in the house not so much so I put together this dump and go from some pork I had in the freezer before the road trip.

Pork and Potato Casserole - serves 4

500g pork - I used tenderloin as this was what I had in the freezer but you could use cubed meat or chops, even mince

1 tin of cider

2 courgettes, chopped

2 carrots chopped

500 g new potatoes, washed and halved

1 tsp garlic granules or 1-2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 chicken stock cube.

At this point you can put all the ingredients in a freezer bag and freeze if desired.

Place all the above ingredients in the slow cooker and leave to cook for bout 6-8 hours - or in our case 10, the longer you leave it the more the cider will soak into the potatoes.

To serve,

Fry a sliced onion until softened and brown.  Add the liquid from the slowcooker and 2 tsp of cornflour that have been mixed with water to make a paste.  Stir all the time and bring to the boil when it should be thick.  Mix back with all other ingredients and stir to make sure everything is coated.  Serve.

Variations:

-The reason I add the onions at the end is because I loath the taste of "boiled" onions which is what you get if you add them at the beginning - however feel free if you want a dump and go bag for the freezer and you don't mid the taste

-this works well with sausages instead of pork

- if you don't do alcohol then use apple juice instead

-Add some sage if you have it, pork loves sage

-Use other veg instead of courgettes and carrots - any root veg will work well as will squash, don't add mushrooms though they go slimey.

Post Furlough/student food: Sausage and Lentil Soup/Stew - slow cooker and freezer friendly Dump and Go recipe

 This is one of those recipes that can be bagged and frozen ready for throwing into the slow cooker straight from the freezer on your way out for the day - remember when we were able to do that!  Once it is cooked the leftovers also freeze beautifully and since it uses sausages and pulses - both of which are cheap it will not break the bank either - win win win.

Speaking of slowcookers they are one worthwhile investment if you are serious about saving money on fuel.  The often quoted statistic is that they use the same as a lightbulb - but this is misleading because since LED lightbulbs became the go to this is no longer true. They use about 1% of the electricity that it uses to keep the oven on low (comparing one hour of slow cooker use with one hour of oven use) and unlike Instant Pots and other trending kit they are under £30 and widely available so they recoup the outlay quickly.

Onto the recipe - if you intend to freeze it uncooked then freeze without the added liquid - saves on freezer space.  The only difference between a soup and a stew is the amount of liquid.  I use a pack of sausages from the chiller, but you can substitute frozen sausages if you prefer - just make sure they go straight back into the freezer before they start to defrost.

Sausage and Lentil Soup/Stew (serves 6 ish)

1 pack of you favourite sausages

340 g brown lentils (when I am feeling lazy this is about 2/3 rds of a 500g bag)

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 onion diced

2 sticks celery, chopped

3 crushed cloves garlic

1 carton passata

1 tsp mixed herbs

4 pints water or stock for soup or enough water to barely cover for stew

To make fresh:

Brown the sausages in a little vegetable oil, remove from the pan and add the onions, fry until softened.  Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute until fragrant.

Add all the ingredients except that water to the slow cooker, use the water to rinse out the pan used for frying to get the last of the juices from the onions and garlic.

Bung on the lid and cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours or  LOW for 7-8 hours - it will not hurt significantly if you go a little over!  

I like to slice the sausages before serving to make them portion better between us all.

Serve with fresh bread. pasta or rice

To freeze cooked:

Allow the stew to cool then portion into freezer bags, label and freeze.  To use thaw in the fridge overnight (or microwave if pushed) and heat either in a saucepan or in the microwave until piping hot   all the way through.

To Freeze "raw":

Once the sausages and onions have been browned add to a freezer bag along with all the ingredients except the stock or water.  Label with instructions that remind you to add this and how long it needs in the slow cooker - it is easier to write it on the bag rather than a inventory sheet which gets lost!  No need to thaw - the bag can be emptied in as is to cook.  Once it has been thoroughly cooked freeze the leftovers as above.

Variations:

The pulses that you use can be any kind lentils not just brown, if you do not have lentils then beans can be used as a substitute.  If you use dried beans remember to soak them overnight and then change the water and bring to a "hard boil" for 10 minutes before draining and adding to the slowcooker.  A slightly more expensive but less faff version is to add a drained tin of pulses.  This can even be generic baked beans in tomato sauce if pushed - still very cheap.

The sausages you use can be supermarket "bangers", hot dog sausages (from a tin only about 50p a go), frozen sausages (I always have a pack in the freezer for emergencies), "fancy" sausage like smoked sausage (kiebasa), Chorizo also makes a nice addition but can be a bit much if used as the sole meat.  I use leftover bangers for this recipe as well - when I cook sausage and mash just for the kids I have 2 sausages leftover -pop those in the freezer and when you have 8 you have enough for this stew.

Substitute other meat for some of the sausage in this recipe - add a couple of rashers chopped bacon, leftover roast meat, mince.

If you want to stretch the recipe slightly then add some more chopped veggies.

Post Furlough/Student food - Quesadilla with beans and cheese.

 For my £15 a week menu I ended up using flour and beans to make a meal for one of the lunches.  Not a good combo you might feel but it turned out quite tasty.

Nothing in the cupboard quesadilla - serves 1

2 flatbreads

1/2 a tin of baked beans in tomato sauce

1/4 onion

1 clove garlic, crushed

grated cheese

oil, butter or in the case of the £15 menu margarine to cook.

Chop the onion really fine and soften in the oil, add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. 

Add to the baked beans and mash together well.  At this point if you have it add a pinch of cumin or chilli powder, alas I did not without cheating!

Take one of your flatbreads and spread with the beany mixture, top with grated cheese and put the other flatbread on top.

Heat up the frying pan, at this point you may be able to get away with no oil.  Put the bean sandwich you have created in the pan and allow to heat through for a couple of minutes on each side - the aim is to get it hot all the way through and allow the cheese to melt without the wraps burning, depending on how thin your wraps are it will be quicker or slower.

Post Furlough/Student Food - wraps/tortilla/flatbread/chapatis recipe

 I always seem to crave a wrap for lunch when I do not have one available, however you can make your own if you have plain flour, water and oil.  For the £15 a week challenge week 1 I used melted margarine as I have yet to buy any oil- it still worked although the taste was rather different.  These tasted great with the red lentil dhal.

Flatbread Recipe - makes 4-6 flatbreads

200 g plain flour

100 ml warm water

2 tbsp oil or  butter/margarine

Bung the flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre.  Gradually add the water mixing as you go with your fingers, depending on the brand of flour you may need to add some extra flour or extra water, you are aiming for a soft dough.

Knead the dough for 5 minutes - this helps the dough to be strong enough to be rolled out thin.

Divide the dough into 4 or 5 pieces and roll out using a floured rolling pin, try to get it as thin as possible.

Heat a frying pan and put a small amount of oil or margarine into the hot pan, tilt so it spreads over the surface.  Cook each flatbread for 2 minutes on each side - don't worry if it puffs up slightly.  Cooked flatbreads can be used like wraps or warmed before serving.  They even freeze, put some greaseproof paper between each layer.

Variations:

You get a different flavour depending on whether you cook these with oil or butter.  You can also use flavoured butter to cook it in to add a slight flavour.

If you want a more definite flavour to your flatbread add herbs or spices to the flour before adding the water.  Try chopped coriander, garlic powder, nigella seeds, chilli powder etc depending on what you want to serve them with.

Post Furlough/Student food - simple cheese sauce

 For years my mum used to buy cheese sauce as a packet mix.  It was bright orange, tasted of chemicals and used to set solid if left on a plate!   She was brought up by her mum (someone who could burn water) to think that cooking was difficult and sauces the most difficult of all.

This is my super simple cheese sauce - use it on it's own with broccoli and cauliflower, add it to just pasta for a homemade (cheap) version of mac and cheese, use it in a lasagne, add it to chicken and mushrooms for a great baked potato filling - the list is endless.

Cheese sauce - enough for mac and cheese for 4

25 g butter

25 g flour

250ml milk

120 g cheddar cheese, grated

Melt the butter in  a saucepan and add the flour.  Stir to a smooth paste and continue stirring and cooking for 1-2 minutes, it should go slightly yellow if it goes completely brown start again!  Do not miss this stage as it "cooks" the flour and gets rid of the gluey taste.  Add the milk a dribble at a time, stirring all the time to avoid lumps; I use a balloon whisk but you can also use a wooden spoon.

Once all the milk has been added keep stirring but allow to come to the boil, this will let the sauce thicken.  Stir in the grated cheese and allow to melt into the sauce.  

That's it - about 5 min in total.

Post furlough/student food - homemade tomato pasta/pizza sauce

 When I was a student many many years ago I used to get together with a bunch of friends for beer and homemade pizza on a Friday night.  It did not take us long to realise that it cost us less (and therefore we had more to spend on beer) if we made our own bases and also from reading the labels that pizza sauce in a jar has the primary ingredient of water!  If you must use a jar then use a jar of pasta sauce - most supermarkets sell their own nowadays, but it is really easy (and cheap) to make you own and it can be used for pizza topping, pasta sauces and even freezes well.

Homemade pasta/pizza sauce - serves 4

1 onion finely, chopped 

oil 

1 carton value passata

1-2 tsp mixed herbs

1-2 cloves garlic

2 -3 tbsp water

Fry the onion in the oil  (in the case of my £15 per person a week menu then margarine) until soft.  Add the crushed garlic and fry for 1 minute more (do not be tempted to add the garlic at the beginning as it is liable to burn and be bitter).

Add the mixed herbs and the passata.  Use the water (just a splash really) to get the last dregs out of the carton - after all you paid for it!

Bring to the boil - that's it ready to use - if you overdid it with the water then simmer for a few minutes to reduce down.

How to use

Pizza topping

Stir in meatballs and serve with pasta

Stir in mince and veggies and serve with pasta as spag bol

Stir in mince and veggies and serve with mashed potato on top for cottage/shepherds pie

Stir in mince and veggies and use to make lasagne

Stir into pasta and top with breadcrumbs and cheese to make pasta bake

Cooked rice, veggies and leftover meat if you have any - add cajun spices or chilli powder

Stir in beans/lentils for veggie version of spag bol.

Water down with stock and use as a base for minestrone soup or as a soup in it's own right.

Post Furlough/Student Food - Red Lentil Dhal

This is the first example recipe for the £15 for one person for one week menu.  Not the best tasting dhal in the world but a bog standard one that can be made with the minimum of ingredients.  It is cheap, freezes well and only takes half an hour ish to cook.  You can also halve the recipe and have some for today and some for tomorrow if you are a singleton and it tastes even better the next day.  Win win.  Adjust the amount of water to make a sauce or a soup.

Red Lentil Dhal - serves 4

oil 

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tsp curry powder

400g frozen mixed veg

1 carton of passata or tin of tomatoes

300g red lentil

1 litre of water

Fry the onion in the oil until soft (in the £15 budget I used margarine to do this - not as good but needs must) .  Add the garlic and curry powder and fry for 1 minute more. Add everything except the lentils and bring to the boil, simmer for 5 minutes until half cooked.  Add the lentils and continue to simmer for 20 minutes until the lentils and veggies are soft.

Serve with rice, naans, flat breads, baked potato, fresh bread  or wraps depending on what starches you have to hand.

Variations:

sprinkle with fresh coriander

add coconut milk to the curry in place of some of the water

stir in a tablespoon of mango chutney

use stock instead of water

use other veg e.g. squash, aubergine, sweet potato, swede, fresh or frozen, just half cook before adding the lentils.

This cooks well in a slow cooker, start off in a frying pan and transfer all the ingredients to the slow cooker after the curry powder has spent a couple of minutes in the oil.

Post Furlough/Student Food - Pancakes, not just for Pancake Day

Today is Pancake Day in the UK.  For those that don't know it is also known as Shrove Tuesday and for Christians in the UK it is 41 days before Easter Sunday and traditionally it is when all the things that are banned during Lent are eaten up to allow for 41 days of fasting starting with Ash Wednesday (tomorrow).

Whilst Lent has become a time to try and give up a little luxury (chocolate usually being the meme...) pancakes are a cheap way of using up small amounts of fillings as the pancake itself makes up most of the meal.  Contrary to popular belief you do not need to use a pancake mix- mum I'm talking to you here- as it is just a mixture of plain flour, egg and milk whisked together with a balloon whisk.  Depending on how thick or thin you like them they have a greater or lesser amount of milk.

Since pancakes can be sweet or savoury they are the ultimate buffet food in our house where we prepare several "toppings" and then cook the pancakes to order.  My youngest son likes his American style, thick and fluffy - this is a simple ratio of 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk and 1 egg, drizzle ladlefuls into the pan (about the diameter of a fried egg) and then serve with crispy bacon for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Any leftover mixture can be cooked and the resultant pancakes reheated in the microwave (about 20 seconds on HIGH).  

Add more milk to this ratio and you get crepe style pancakes that are thin and cover the whole pan.  These are the type of pancakes that British people think of automatically and since they are thin they can be rolled around a small portion of filling.  Leftover spag bol sauce, chilli or curry are not traditional but it is a good way of making a filling meal for one from something that is not even lunch sized.

Pancakes can also be used to replace lasagne sheets and actually work out cheaper than the pasta - a good substitute for when I have already started the ragu sauce only to discover my older son has raided the cupboard (he likes to eat raw pasta - Autism is a peculiar thing...), so think of your favourite lasagne recipe and use that as inspiration, either stack, overlap and layer or roll your pancake round your chosen filling and then decide to leave plain, sprinkle with cheese or add a sauce on top. Pancakes can even be cooked and frozen in advance, filled or unfilled depending on the filling.

Given how versatile they are pancakes deserve more than a once-a-year outing.

Bog Standard British Pancakes - enough for 4 people to eat now or 1 to eat and freeze the rest for another day

200 g plain flour

2 eggs

350 ml milk

pinch of salt

Bung it all in a bowl.  Give it a whisk with a balloon whisk to get rid of the lumps.  Leave to stand if you need to, it won't hurt.

Heat a frying pan to hot.  Add a spritz of oil. Using a ladle pour in some batter and tip the pan so the batter runs over the surface.  Leave to cook on the first side until it looks dry.  Using a fish slice sneak a peek underneath - it should be golden brown.  Flip (if you are a coward just use the fish slice!). Cook the second side for about 20 seconds and then slide out of the pan.  Onto the next until you have enough or all the mixture is used up.  How many you get depends on how big your pan is and how much batter you pour in, using a ladle (I fill it up halfway for one pancake) means that the amount of batter is consistent and therefore the pancakes are a more even size.  The reason the first one is traditionally the worst one is because the pan should be hot.

Ideas of fillings/toppings accompaniments

Sweet

lemon juice and sugar

golden syrup

chocolate sauce

banana and chocolate sauce

ice cream - any flavour

Fresh or frozen fruit

Jam

peanut butter

you get the idea.....

Savoury

Let the leftovers be unleashed...

Bacon (had to be there for DS2...)

Cheese and tomato - either fresh or tinned, if tinned heat them up first

Ratatouille

Spag bol sauce/ragu - sprinkle top with cheese once rolled up 

Left over chilli - sprinkle top with cheese once rolled up

Chopped leftover sausage and baked beans - sprinkle top with cheese once rolled up

Ham and cheese

Ham, spinach and poached egg

Stir fry veggies (or veggies and meat) and black bean sauce or plum sauce

Bombay potatoes

Dhal - with our without raita

Refried beans and cheese - add avocado or salsa if you have it

Chicken and bacon  or chicken and mushroom in a cheese sauce

Tuna and sweetcorn in a white sauce

Don't forget fish, I used to know someone who swore by mushy peas and fish fingers as a filling.... not one for me...

use your favourite lasagne recipe and use the pancake instead of the lasagne

use your favourite wrap recipe and use the pancake instead of the wrap - but be gentle and use a knife and fork to eat it!

use your favourite burrito/quesadilla/fajita/enchiladas recipe and use instead of the flour tortilla- but be gentle and use a knife and fork to eat it!

Post Furlough/Student Food : Carrot Flan

 DD and I are doing the shopping at the moment as late as possible in the evening to avoid as many people as possible - 9 pm last night.  Upside-you don't end up standing in a huge queue with people who think it is OK to remove their masks whenever they talk or cough, or that just covering your mouth is OK.  Downside some of the shelves are emptier than normal because you end up dodging the shelf stackers.  

With both of us grabbing things off the list and putting them in the trolley to get round as fast as possible somehow we ended up with 2kg of carrots instead of one.  So this is a recipe I have been itching to try (the original one is in pounds and ounces for those old enough to remember a time when those existed!).  Just need to make a version with vegan cheese to make sure that works - no DD is not vegan (and this has eggs in it) but has been diagnosed with a dairy allergy.  I guess I'll just have to try it twice for comparison!

Anyway a meat-free recipe for a main meal that is a little different and another one where you could use your own home grown veg.

Carrot flan (serves 4)

shortcrust pastry made with 170g flour and 85g margarine

1 medium onion (peeled and chopped)

40 g butter or margarine

2 eggs (separated)

50g grated mature cheddar cheese

175g carrots (grated)

2 tbs  flour

¼ pint milk

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6/400°F/200°C.

Fry the onion in the butter or margarine until they begin to brown. Turn down the heat and add the grated carrots, stirring them until they soften to a puree.

Add the flour and milk and stir until the mixture thickens.

Add the grated cheese, salt and pepper.

Remove from the heat and beat in the egg yolks. Leave to cool and then fold in the whites, stiffly beaten.

Line an 8″ flan tin with the pastry and fill with the mixture.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes until the filling is well risen.

Serve with new potatoes and steamed veg or salad

Variations:

Not tried yet but...

Use a shop bought pastry (or even a shop bought crust) if your pastry skills are not the best

Add cheese to the pastry as well as the filling.

On the herbs and spices front carrots usually partner well with parsley, oregano, thyme or dill.  For the spices cumin and coriander work well with carrot.

Cost (from Tesco as usual for the mid range price comparison)

plain flour - 220 g (45p for 1.5kg) - 7p

margarine - 125 g (soft spread 59p 500g) -15p 

onion - 10p

2 eggs (89p for 6) - 30p

mature cheddar - 50g (£1.55 for 220g) - 36p

carrots- 175g (41p per kilo) -8 p (assuming some waste with topping and tailing and peeling)

milk - 1/4 pint (1 pint 50p - yes the most expensive way!) - 13p

total cost =£1.19 or 30p a portion.

Emergency Meatloaf

 The other day I started cooking Sunday lunch only to discover after all the veggies etc were prepped that the chicken that I had picked up had gone off. What then to do?  My sons are simple as they already have sausages instead of roast meat (it's an autism texture thing...) but this still left me, my eldest and my OH with only veggies, and I had deliberately left off going shopping as long as possible as well so had hardly anything in. (chicken nuggets anyone?)  In the back of the fridge I had 250 g minced beef for the next day and so this was going to have to do.  Luckily I also had a box of savers sage and onion stuffing (no idea when or why I picked that up) .  I followed the instructions on the stuffing mix and made this up and then added the mince and mixed well with my hands to combine it all.  This I then put into a loaf tin and cooked alongside the boys sausages.  Served with roasted veggies and gravy it was absolutely delicious and may well be something that I "pull out of the hat" again.  It would even feed 4 non-greedy people and would have cost about £1.55 total if I used the 15% mince from Tesco.   This would be less than £1 per head even by the time the veggies were added in, not bad for a Sunday Roast if I do say so myself.

Jacket Potatoes with Leeks and Mackerel

Jacket Potatoes with Leeks and Mackerel

4 Baking Potatoes
2 Leeks sliced
2 tbsp creamed horseradish
4 smoked mackerel
lemon juice
50g butter

Bake the potatoes in oven. 
Heat butter in pan and cook the leeks for about 5 minutes, add the horseradish, flaked fish and lemon juice. Season with pepper.
Halve the potatoes and mash the top with a fork, spread mixture on top and serve.

From  Moneysavingexpert you could also use sliced spring onions in place of the leeks and tinned fish (NOT the kind in tom sauce!) in place of the mackerel or kippers in place of the mackerel.

Vegetable fritters

In an attempt to find some way of stretching the family food bill I found a recipe I saved a long time ago...
Courgette Fritters
450g grated courgette
50g grated cheese
2 eggs beaten
4 tbsp plain flour
salt and pepper to season

1)Squish courgettes in a clean dish towel to remove excess water, 
2) combine squished courgettes with cheese, eggs, flour and seasoning and shape into pattie shapes
3) Fry in a little oil till each side is golden brown
4) drain and serve

Again it is from Moneysavingexpert I think - but it does strike me that it could be used for other veg as well - grated carrots or parsnips perhaps?  Maybe without the cheese and with other flavouring such as curry powder - sort of like a bhaji?  Results back as soon as I get some time to experiment....

Homemade Potato Wedges

Having exited the supermarket with a three figure trolley (again)  I spent the afternoon searching both my hard drive and the Web for homemade versions of the processed goods in the trolley in the hopes of not going over budget at the end of the month.  One thing that is always in my basket is oven chips and frozen hash browns or potato wedges.  I found this recipe (I have a feeling it came from the OS forum board at Moneysavingexpert.com) and intend to give it a go as soon as I have space in the freezer.  Home grown spuds should make these practically free!

"Home Made Potato Wedges


Wash and clean about 4 large potatoes, you can use baking ones but its entirely up to you.
Part boil potatoes till a bit soft in the middle.

Spicy:-
2tbsp of oil (any variety)
2 garlic cloves (less / more up to you)
salt + pepper
1 tsp of coriander
1 tbsp of paprika
Mix together and toss potatoes wedges in while still hot

Plain:-
2tbsp of oil (any variety)
2tbsp salt
2tbsp pepper
Mix together and toss potatoes wedges in while still hot

Now at this point after mixing you can wait till fully cooled down put in tub or food bags then freeze.
Or while still warm put into the oven on a baking tray, gas mark 6 for about 25 mins or till soft in the middle."

Chocolate Mufffins:Home-made versus shop-bought

One of the treats that we like to pick up when we do our weekly shop is Double Chocolate Chip Cookies or muffins.  Even with special offers they set us back at least £1 for 4, (although if you buy them singly at Tescos they are 80p each!).  Normally though I pay on average £1.50 for 4 big sized muffins (38p each) for the kids lunchboxes once (or maybe twice!) a week.

After a quick search I found this recipe which should make 20 muffins (albeit smaller than the ones I usually buy) and they should freeze so they don't get snaffled by a the family gannets!

The recipe uses the following ingredients:

• 140g plain chocolate
• 375g self-raising flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 55g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 85g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 6 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 375ml milk
• 140g white chocolate chips

Although I followed the recipe I substituted a the same weight of basic chocolate bars chopped up for the white chocolate chips- naturally the plain chocolate was basic too so about 30p a bar

Here's the costings courtesy of the Tescos website for convenience.

2 x 100 g basics dark chocolate bars (half of one of these to make chocolate chips) @30p each= 60p

1 x 100 g basic white chocolate bar (chopped to make chips)= 30p

basics self raising flour @52p for 1.5 kg = 13p

own brand baking powder @99p for 170 g (1 tbsp is about 15g) = 9p

basics cocoa powder @£1.29 for 250g = 29p

sliver spoon caster sugar @ £1.08 for 1 kg = 10p

everyday value eggs @ £1.50 for 10 = 20p

vanilla extract @ £1.04 for 38ml (1 tsp is about 5ml) = 28p

sunflower oil @£1.39 for a litre (tablespoon is about 15ml) = 13p

milk @£1.18 for 2.2 litres = 21p
cake cases @55p for100 = 11p

total for 20 muffins - £2.44 or 13p per muffin (before fuel costs...)

So assuming that I use the oven when something else is in there so that the fuel cost can be disregarded that would save me 38-13=25p per muffin.  If my 3 children have chocolate muffins twice a week (regardless of school weeks or home weeks for once) that could save me 25p *3*52 = £39 across the year.  

Of course the one item that really sticks out as making the whole thing very expensive is the vanilla essence - I for one would not have thought that vanilla essence would add 28p to a recipe; in fact if pushed I would have guessed at about 5p.  Maybe future experiments can see if this can be halved or even omitted without spoiling the recipe.  If I can get away with no vanilla then the cost would be £2.16 or 11p per muffin saving another £3 across the year. Maybe worth thinking about.....

More updates :
Music Magpie - £24.46
Saved from housekeeping budget over last month - £317.15

total savings - £859.90+24.26+317.15= 1201.31

1.7% of total.

Cheap and Cheerful Recipes: Pancake lasagne and my meat suce

Having been a long time poster on the MoneySavingExpert Old Style forum  I remembered one lady who fed her family of 4 on £100 a month.  Her "name" is weezl and she left off her epic thread posting to set up her own blog and website dedicated to sharing some of her recipes and plans.  Sadly these seem to have fallen by the wayside during the last year but since starting this challenge I re-visited to see if there is anything that I could use.  Then last night I discovered that some child, who shall remain nameless, had emptied (as in eaten) the whole box of raw lasagne that I was planning to use for tea tonight.  Luckily weezl provided the answer as one of her recipes was for a lasagne made with pancakes instead of pasta.

Here is her brilliant (veggie) recipe priced last year at just 18p a portion. Wow.

Unfortunately whilst I think I can swing pancakes rather than pasta with my fussy hoards this time I think red lentils will need to to crept up on.....Even with the substitutions its still pretty cheap and will freeze just the same.

My meat sauce
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 carrots, grated
1 courgette, peeled and grated (no tell-tale green bits for the kids to see!)
1 carton of passatta - plus rinse out the carton
250g minced beef
2 tbsp porridge oats
1 tsp marmite OR a stock cube
Soften the veggies in a little oil before adding the meat.  Stir to break up any lumps (no free-form meatballs allowed!) this will allow thinner layers when you assemble the dish.  Add remaining ingredients and bring to the boil.  Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 30-40 minutes.  Use this sauce for lasagne (made like the recipe linked to above) or with pasta shapes, rice, couscous or baked potato.  This can also be frozen.

Cheap and Cheerful Recipes - Sausage Casserole

Since my last post life has rather dumped a load onto us that has meant that we are struggling to stay afloat at all rather than saving money for the challenge.  A new boiler, hole in the roof to be repaired, £1,500 MOT bill for one car and another car which has had to be replaced after a whole month in the garage have all meant that we have not had any spare pennies at all and maybe won't for a while!  Of course this hasn't meant that we aren't doing everything we can to save money; just that it has had a different destination.
Whilst looking online for inspiration I found this site Good to know - money saving.  It has lots of articles including a weekly "7 Dinners for under £1 a head" post which uses a named supermarket and the my supermarket website for its prices.  Duly motivated I hit the freezer and came up with something different than we normally have for tea tonight.

Sausage Casserole (serves 4)
1 pack of sausages
1 onion
2 peppers
1 carton passata (if you don't have passata use a regular 14 oz can tomatoes and a squeeze of tomato puree but this will actually cost you more...)
1 kg new potatoes
Chop the new potatoes into chunks and place in the casserole dish.
In a frying pan brown the sausages, onion and peppers.  Add to the casserole dish.
Pour over the passata and rinse out the carton with water and add this to the casserole dish too- the contents of the casserole dish should be just covered.
Bung in the oven at Gas Mark 5/ 375 F/ 180 C for about 1 hour whilst you do something more interesting with your life!
When the potatoes are soft when prodded with a knife it is ready to serve.  OH had his with chunky bread and butter on the side.
N.B. had I been more organised (wouldn't that be dangerous!) I could have cooked the whole thing in our slow cooker. If you want this to feed more people pad out with more root veggies and serve with garlic bread.


Savings: nothing to add and no-one wants to see a minus figure right :)  Still fighting though!