Don't waste butter! Every little helps!

Tip! When I finish a pack of butter, I fold the wrapper up and pop it back in the fridge to use for greasing cake tins!

April budget, COMPLETE!

Total spend £50.00

Shopping list - 1st April 2014, Lidl, total spend £30.04p

I've had a break from the freezer delving this week. Will be back to it next week!

Closed cup mushrooms £0.85

Potatoes 2.5kg £2.09

Aubergine, 1 £0.69

Mixed peppers (pack of 3) £0.89

Bag onions £0.69

Celery £0.69

Carrots, bag £0.75

Frozen peas £0.99

Whole milk 2x 4 pints £1.90

Sausages, 12 £0.99

Ham £1.69

Butter £0.98

Honey hoops cereal £1.15

Spaghetti £0.95

Easy yeast x 4 £0.56

Raspberry jam £0.99

Chickpeas x 3 tins £1.17

Apple juice £0.65

Pepsi max, 3x 2ltr bottles £2.97

Go cat big bag of cat food £3.75

Chicken thighs, 1kg £2.65

Beef mince, 500g £2.00

5th April 2014, the village shop, total spend £0.99p

Tin of pineapple £0.99

6th April 2014, Lidl, total spend £1.96

2x butter £1.96

9th April 2014, Lidl, total spend £8.09 

Milk x 2 £1.90

Butter £0.98

Ham £1.69

Pepsi max x2 (if I wasn't addicted, I wouldn't waste my budget on it!!) £1.98

Pack of 3 peppers £0.89

Apple juice £0.65

16th April 2014, Lidl, total spend £0.95p

Milk x 1 0.95

Dad gave me some leeks, purple sprouting broccoli and carrots from his garden! Yay!

Stayed at mother in law's for easter weekend. 

22nd April 2014, Lidl, total spend £7.97

Butter x2 £1.90

Baked beans x4 £1.00

Milk £0.95

Lemons x3 £0.89

Potatoes 2.5kg £1.89

Cherry tomatoes £0.65

Tomato ketchup £0.69

My neighbour has given us some excess milk that she has too. 

That's me done for April now. 1 week to go and feel confident that I can work from the storecupboard and freezer for the rest of the month. 

And I'm, unbelievably, right on budget. Not a penny over! 

I did a full cupboard and freezer stocktake on Monday so I'm going to plan the next few weeks around what I have already. 

Ok, off to be frugal and feel smug ;-) 

The cost of bread

I was asked, the other day, if it was cheaper to make your own bread. I knew it was but it spurred me on to work out the actual cost. 

Based on this loaf....

300g wholemeal bread flour - 19.8p

200g white bread flour - 9.9p

7g fast action yeast - 14p

290mls water

1 tsp sugar - 0.004p

20g oil - 0.07p

1 tsp salt - 0.002p

Total - £0.44p

Apart from anything else, you are completely in control of what you put in. All you need is flour, yeast and water. Everything else is optional. 

This is a list of ingredients of a standard 50/50 loaf...

• Each slice contains: Calories 94 5%, Sugars 1.4g 2%, Fat 0.9g 1%, Saturates 0.2g 1%, Salt 0.4g 7% of an adult's Guideline Daily Amount

  Ingredients

  • Wheat Flour (33%),
  • Wholemeal Wheat Flour (33%),
  • Water,
  • Yeast,
  • Salt,
  • Vinegar,
  • Soya Flour,
  • Vegetable Oil,
  • Emulsifiers: E471, E472e,
  • Preservative: Calcium Propionate (added to inhibit mould growth),
  • Flour Treatment Agent: Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)

Fool-proof poached eggs

I thought I'd share my tip for fool-proof poached eggs. Even my other half can make perfect eggs!! 

I saw this on the tv a year or 2 ago and it has revolutionised breakfast time! Before that, I used to swirl the water, be aware of the exact type of boil... Blah, blah, blah. Now, I bring salted water to the boil, add a capful of white wine vinegar, break the eggs into the water, turn off the heat, put my bread in the toaster and wait! When my toast pops up, I take the eggs out. I drain them on a bit of old bread or kitchen roll.  Ta-dah!

They are perfect every time. It's amazing. Next time you make them, try it!

I also use the freshest eggs I can as that makes a big difference too. 

Rosti with poached egg

I love a rosti. I often make them for sat lunchtimes or Sunday suppers. 

Grate some potatoes (I use the food processor), squeeze the excess water out of the potatoes, add a beaten egg, 1 tbsp flour, pinch of salt, some chopped herbs, 1 tbsp grated cheese and any leftover chopped veg and meat. I like to use ham. 

Shape into balls and squash them down to about 1.5cm thick. 

Fry them in some butter or oil. 

While they're cooking make some poached eggs and serve 1 on top of each rosti. 

Yummy and family friendly. 

500g beef mince = flippin' masses of meals!

I am impressed with myself today. And i was yesterday. And I was on Tuesday. Reason? We have so far had the following from 1x 500g pack of beef mince:

Tuesday: mince and potatoes for the kids

Wednesday: lasagne for all 4 of us

Thursday: leftover lasagne for my lunch 

Cottage pie for supper. Ian and I both had seconds too. 

AND there is enough of both the cottage pie and the lasagne for another meal time each, for us all! 

When I made the mince initially I cooked it with some dried herbs, garlic, 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 celery stick, lots of beef stock and bulked up with dried breadcrumbs (homemade, obvs) and a bit of flour to keep it nice and thick. 

I split what was left into 2 and made bolognese sauce yesterday with a little bit of red wine, 2 tins tomatoes, splash of balsamic vinegar, beef stock, chilli powder, oregano, 1 tsp sugar, a squirt tomato ketchup, a little buttery flour mix (just mix it in a bowl - has to be softened butter. You don't need to make a roux in a pan) to thicken it, if necessary. 

I made a big batch of cheese sauce and made a large lasagne which would easily serve 6-8 adults. 

Today I fried another onion and garlic with 2 sticks of finely chopped celery, a handful of finely chopped mushrooms, red wine. Let the alcohol cook off and add the mince. Mix it up, add beef stock, half a tin of tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, chilli powder, tomato ketchup, mixed herbs. 

Make up a big pan of mash. I added wild garlic butter and a handful of grated cheese. 

Assemble in a deep oven dish. Mince first, mash on top. Sprinkle more cheese on top and some dried breadcrumbs for extra crunch. 

This made enough for 6-8 adults. 

My week of meals

Weekday breakfasts are cereal, bread/ toast and eggs

Monday

L: leek and potato soup

S: Ian and I had a full-on leftover meal. Yorkshire pudds, sausages, roasted veg and gravy. The kids were at Lucy's (their amazing childminder) for tea. 

Tuesday 

L: Ian had sandwiches (with homemade bread, of course!) with ham and my speedy coleslaw. I ate out. 

S: kids had mince and mash. I couldn't face it after eating too much for lunch (out with my family).  So i had wild garlic and mushroom soup, topped with toasted seeds and breadcrumbs and crumbled feta and served with homemade bread. 

Tip: I made a large pan of mince from 500g beef mince. I made it with garlic, finely chopped onion, celery, mushrooms and carrots, lots of beef stock (2 cubes), 2 tbsp flour and a few tbsps breadcrumbs to bulk it up a bit. 

Split leftovers and make half of it into bolognese sauce, bulked up with lots of tinned tomatoes and have as Spag Bol or lasagne (make loads of cheese sauce to bulk it up further) and make the other half into cottage pie, covered in lots of cheesy, garlicky (i add my wild garlic butter) mash and topped with crunchy breadcrumbs. 

Wednesday

L: me - toasted sandwich. Ian - ham, cheese and coleslaw sandwich 

S: lasagne with baked potatoes and wild garlic focaccia 

Tip: when the oven's on for the lasagne (or for the homemade bread) chuck in a few potatoes to have for lunches or as a healthy side at supper. 

Thursday

L: Ian and I - baked potato with cheese and coleslaw 

S: cottage pie with garlicky, crispy crumbed grated turnip, cheesy leeks and carrots. 

Tip: make extra (buttery 😄) mash and use it for fish cakes 

Friday

L: Ian and I - soup from freezer 

S: leftover lasagne with salad. 

Saturday

B: poached eggs on toast

L: tuna fish cakes. 

Sauté a chopped onion and garlic. Combine with a drained tin of tuna, the mashed potato, a beaten egg, a good grating of cheese, 2 tbsps breadcrumbs, a tbsp mayo and salt and pepper. Shape and cover in more crumbs. Fry or bake. Serve with peas! I'm going to cook them with some mint from the garden and crush them slightly. 

S: homemade sweet and sour chicken with rice. 

Tip: use chicken thighs. They're much cheaper, won't dry out and have loads more flavour. I very rarely buy chicken breast. 

Make stock out of the bones. Freeze them if you can't make it straight away.

Sunday

B: bacon croissants (both from freezer)

L: fried rice (leftovers from sweet and sour) with ham, peas, mushrooms and leeks and a beaten egg. 

S: tomatoey pasta 

Ways with stale bread. Meals from nothing!

Eggy bread (French toast)

Mix an egg, a large splash of milk and some salt and pepper in a bowl. Soak your bread in the mixture. 

Fry on a low heat in melted butter. 

You could add sugar or cinnamon, if you fancy it sweet. Or have it with chocolate spread. 

The kids go crazy for this! 

Cheese pudding (that's what we call it, anyway!)

Slice the bread and remove the crusts. Lay the slices in a small oven dish, like you would for bread and butter pudding. 

Mix 2 eggs, milk,  grated cheese and seasoning. Pour it over the bread. (Just make sure you have enough liquid to fully cover it, so add eggs and milk, if need be). 

Pop it in the oven at about 200c for around 30 mins. 

It will puff up like a soufflé. It is delicious. I used to make it for the kids all the time when they were small. 

Bread and tomato salad

Sounds a bit odd but it's really yummy. I love this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/panzanella_tuscan_tomato_09380

Ingredients

• 5 handfuls chunks of stale sourdough or other bread

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 7 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar

• 1 medium-sized cucumber, peeled, cut into small chunks

• 1 medium-sized red onion

• 6 vine tomatoes

• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• handful torn basil leaves

  
  

  Method

  
  

  1. Tip the bread into a bowl, season to taste with salt and pepper and add the olive oil and half of the red wine vinegar.

  2. Remove the tomato skins by placing the tomatoes into boiling water for a few seconds and refreshing in a bowl of ice cold water. The skins should now peel away easily. Add the tomatoes to the bread, along with the cucumber and red onion. Scatter over the finely chopped garlic and add a pinch of salt. Mix until well combined.

  3. Pour in the remaining red wine vinegar, plus more to taste, add the basil leaves and mix together with your hands until well combined. Serve.

Breadcrumbs

You can whizz them and put them straight in the freezer. Or you can dry them in a low oven and either freeze them or jar them up. 

I often whizz them with Parmesan in the food processor and freeze them together.

They don't freeze hard, so you can just take out what you need. 

Use them for toppings, coatings or to bulk up meals. 

Bread and butter pudding 

Sure you know how to do this. I like to add pieces of fudge or individual chocolates (from a tin eg roses or quality street) in it. 

Special mushroomy ham and cheese on toast

I originally made this because I watched Nigel Slater make a similar thing on tv - 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/mushroom_and_taleggio_46144

I make it differently as I use whichever mushrooms and cheese I have in the fridge and I like it with thyme. Dried is fine. 

Fry the mushrooms with butter, garlic and thyme. Add slices of cheese on top, when they're about ready. Let it go lovely and melty. Add a piece of ham to the cheese. Pour the mixture on top of some toast. Have it as an open or closed toasted sandwich. 

Very scrummy, comfort food!