Monday 16 May 2011

baked bean pie

ok, I needed cheap, nutritious and quick and easy. I also seemed to have 4 tins of basics baked beans taking up space on my flarder. Also a lot of Abel and Cole bags of spuds in the dark box I store them in.

So I grabbed a bag, scrubbed the squds, and sliced them into discs about half a centimetre thick. Then I cooked them in the microwave for 7 or 8 minutes. Once cooked, I tipped them into a pyrex baking dish, and spread in a thick layer. Then I seasoned them with salt and pepper and poured over a slosh of organic single cream.
Leaving that to soak in, I opened a tin of the aforementioned beans and tipped it over the squds, and spread them over. This was all then liberally covered in grated organic medium cheddar.


This was then baked in a moderate oven til the cheese was melted and crispy at the edges.

I served this up with torn up organic iceberg lettuce which the kids LOVED! Papa was not convinced by the idea of the meal when I described it, but admitted at table that it was much yummier than he imagined, and he did end up having 3rd helpings.
All in all a very successful and frugal put together!

Friday 13 May 2011

next week then

Sat: oriental beef with dumplings, stir fried chard and rice.
Sun: hopefully we will go out for the day with a picnic, and come home to throw some peanutty noodles together for supper.
Mon: sliced squds baked with cheese and baked beans and some spice.
Tues: home made ham and chicken creamy pasta bake
Weds: oven baked bacon & cherry tomato risotto + salad.
Thurs: spicy sausagemeat patties in pitta bread with lettuce & crunchy veg.
Fri: haddock chowder.

I shopped with Ocado this week, and even with the wonderfully easy to use Ocado on the go Android app helping me add those things i'd forgotten, the shop still only came to just over £50. I decided to go for the reduced priced Delivery Pass and aim to shop online twice a month.
Watch this space to see how it goes and feel free to apply for any recipes from these weeks that might tickle your fancy.!

3 good frugal weeks

I've had a good run of luck and planning with my menus, but not with my computer, so haven't had the ability or time to blog them. So, as a catch up, first here are the last 2 weeks' plans followed by the upcoming week's plan.

Sat: chilli con carne, rice, sour cream and salad
Sun: blackened chicken in wraps and shredded veg.
Mon: veggie pizzas (chopped veg & let kids make these)
Tues: sausages, (basics instant)mash & broccoli
Wed: jacket squds with home made egg mayo (using boiled eggs from orthodox easter gifts and cress from sunday school easter gardens)
Thurs: home made rolls with ham and rest of egg mayo and crudites.
Fri: tuna pasta and veg

This was a week where both kids ate all food put before them and asked for more, and the shopping bill was under £30!

The following week was really pretty good too:

Sat: bacon pasta with peas & corn and fried cubes of bread (had less pasta than I thought and an extra person to feed, so I improvised) Papa also brought some spicyish prawns to oven cook and I had grabbed some cheap doughballs to add some fun.
Sun: jerk chicken, coconut rice & plantain (Godpapa cooked this for us, really yum!)
Mon: mac and cheese with sweetcorn and peas
Tues: homemade meatballs with pulao rice. Ikea style cream sauce and spinach. Littl'Un had double helpings of this, and ate more than I did!
Wed: spaghetti lentilese
Thurs: baked beans on cheese on toast
Fri: homemade smoked mackerel & cream cheese pate on home made rye bread, asparagus
The kids didn't really love the mackerel, but otherwise the week was very successful and shopping cost about £60.