Just before sitting down this evening I finished making my stuffing and it's in the fridge ready to go in the oven on Christmas day. For the last few years I have made the same stuffing for each year - chestnut and cranberry roll - which was published in the December 2007 Goodfood magazine. If you haven't decided what stuffing to make this year, do yourself a favour and make this. Take it from me, it looks impressive, but it is fairly simple and straight forward to make.
Showing posts with label meal for freezing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meal for freezing. Show all posts
Sunday, 23 December 2012
Stuffing ready to go!
Last year on Christmas Eve I spent my evening stressing out wrapping presents and getting the stuffing made and ready to go in the oven the next day. I didn't enjoy my Christmas Eve and went to bed tired and stressed out instead of relaxed and anticipating the kids opening their presents the next day. I promised myself that this year would be different. So, here I sit on Christmas Eve eve (see what I did there!) with a Bulmers (or Magners if you aren't from Ireland) in hand congratulating myself on how much better prepared I am this year. Well done me!
Just before sitting down this evening I finished making my stuffing and it's in the fridge ready to go in the oven on Christmas day. For the last few years I have made the same stuffing for each year - chestnut and cranberry roll - which was published in the December 2007 Goodfood magazine. If you haven't decided what stuffing to make this year, do yourself a favour and make this. Take it from me, it looks impressive, but it is fairly simple and straight forward to make.
Just before sitting down this evening I finished making my stuffing and it's in the fridge ready to go in the oven on Christmas day. For the last few years I have made the same stuffing for each year - chestnut and cranberry roll - which was published in the December 2007 Goodfood magazine. If you haven't decided what stuffing to make this year, do yourself a favour and make this. Take it from me, it looks impressive, but it is fairly simple and straight forward to make. 
Saturday, 17 November 2012
Menu plan 17/11/2012 to 23/11/2012
Once again I've managed to not find the time to post my menu plan for the last few weeks. I figured while I had the computer on, checking the ingredients I need for my shopping list, I would make a quick update.
Anyway, my menu plan for the 17th November to the 23rd November is as follows:-
Saturday dinner - Mince and onions (from the freezer), potatoes and baked beans
Sunday dinner - Salmon and lemon rice pastry parcel
Monday dinner - leftover salmon and lemon rice pastry parcel
Tuesday dinner - Chilli
Wednesday dinner - Chicken with creamy bacon penne
Thursday dinner - Fish, chips, peas and sweetcorn
Friday dinner - Roast ham, potatoes and veg
For lunches this week we will have sandwiches, leftover chilli and salads.
At the moment I am trying to run down my freezer again before Christmas as I'll probably have a lot of leftovers to freeze (my husband insists on getting a big turkey and freezing what we don't eat as we only ever have turkey once a year). This week, all the meat I will be using is from the freezer, except for the salmon for tomorrow's dinner which is in the fridge. This will allow me to gain a lot of space in the freezer, as well as saving a bit of money as I will not have to buy any meat.
My husband has classes on Tuesday evenings, so I will make the chilli ahead on Monday evening so that he can take some to work to eat before he heads to class. Having the chilli ready ahead of time will also help save some time in the evening when I get home which will be handy as I will be trying to get dinner on the table as quickly as possible as well as trying to entertain the kids.
When I make chilli there is usually leftovers, but rather than put them in the freezer, like I would normally do, I will use any leftovers for lunches. There is nothing quite like a nice warm filling lunch at this time of year. Unfortunately I am still trying to lose weight so I'll be having salads!
Anyway, my menu plan for the 17th November to the 23rd November is as follows:-
Saturday dinner - Mince and onions (from the freezer), potatoes and baked beans
Sunday dinner - Salmon and lemon rice pastry parcel
Monday dinner - leftover salmon and lemon rice pastry parcel
Tuesday dinner - Chilli
Wednesday dinner - Chicken with creamy bacon penne
Thursday dinner - Fish, chips, peas and sweetcorn
Friday dinner - Roast ham, potatoes and veg
For lunches this week we will have sandwiches, leftover chilli and salads.
At the moment I am trying to run down my freezer again before Christmas as I'll probably have a lot of leftovers to freeze (my husband insists on getting a big turkey and freezing what we don't eat as we only ever have turkey once a year). This week, all the meat I will be using is from the freezer, except for the salmon for tomorrow's dinner which is in the fridge. This will allow me to gain a lot of space in the freezer, as well as saving a bit of money as I will not have to buy any meat.
My husband has classes on Tuesday evenings, so I will make the chilli ahead on Monday evening so that he can take some to work to eat before he heads to class. Having the chilli ready ahead of time will also help save some time in the evening when I get home which will be handy as I will be trying to get dinner on the table as quickly as possible as well as trying to entertain the kids.
When I make chilli there is usually leftovers, but rather than put them in the freezer, like I would normally do, I will use any leftovers for lunches. There is nothing quite like a nice warm filling lunch at this time of year. Unfortunately I am still trying to lose weight so I'll be having salads!
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Sweet and sour pork stir fry
On Tuesday night we had some sweet and sour pork stir fry leftovers that I had frozen last week. The recipe is for two, but I doubled up the ingredients so that I would have enough left to freeze for a dinner at a future date when I was scarce on time. I served my sweet and sour pork with rice both times. The recipe was easy to make and extremely quick to prepare and cook.
Although the recipe has ingredients that are high in salt/sugar - the tomato ketchup, brown sugar and soy sauce - which I wouldn't normally give to my baby, I decided to give some to my son the first night I made it. He loved it! Since then I have had him at the Dr with a rash that turns out to be a food allergy and have had to cut all fruit from his diet, re-introducing one fruit at a time, so I was unable to give it to him on Tuesday night due to the pineapple in it.
Alterations
The biggest alteration that I made to the recipe has already been mentioned - I doubled up the ingredients to make enough for the freezer. With regards to the pork strips, I used pork loins instead. I had several in my freezer, so I cut two up into small strips and used these instead of going and buying pork strips. This saved me money on my grocery shopping. I didn't bother with the garnish of shredded spring onions and added all the spring onions that I used to the pan instead. I added a little water to the pan to make extra sauce.
Cost
The pork loins cost me €2. I bought the pineapple on offer for €1 and had it in the cupboard. I used two peppers which were on offer for 79 cent each, making them €1.58. I used a bunch of spring onions which cost another 79 cent. I have allowed 50 cent for the tomato ketchup, soy sauce, oil, sugar, white wine vinegar and cornflour, all of which were in my cupboard already. This means that the total cost of the stir fry was € 5.87 (excluding the rice).
This did two nights dinners for 2 adults and 1 child (the baby only ate it once) and we had an extra portion leftover for lunch one day as well. So the actual cost for me per meal was probably more around the €3 mark including the rice.
Although the recipe has ingredients that are high in salt/sugar - the tomato ketchup, brown sugar and soy sauce - which I wouldn't normally give to my baby, I decided to give some to my son the first night I made it. He loved it! Since then I have had him at the Dr with a rash that turns out to be a food allergy and have had to cut all fruit from his diet, re-introducing one fruit at a time, so I was unable to give it to him on Tuesday night due to the pineapple in it.
Alterations
The biggest alteration that I made to the recipe has already been mentioned - I doubled up the ingredients to make enough for the freezer. With regards to the pork strips, I used pork loins instead. I had several in my freezer, so I cut two up into small strips and used these instead of going and buying pork strips. This saved me money on my grocery shopping. I didn't bother with the garnish of shredded spring onions and added all the spring onions that I used to the pan instead. I added a little water to the pan to make extra sauce.
Cost
The pork loins cost me €2. I bought the pineapple on offer for €1 and had it in the cupboard. I used two peppers which were on offer for 79 cent each, making them €1.58. I used a bunch of spring onions which cost another 79 cent. I have allowed 50 cent for the tomato ketchup, soy sauce, oil, sugar, white wine vinegar and cornflour, all of which were in my cupboard already. This means that the total cost of the stir fry was € 5.87 (excluding the rice).
This did two nights dinners for 2 adults and 1 child (the baby only ate it once) and we had an extra portion leftover for lunch one day as well. So the actual cost for me per meal was probably more around the €3 mark including the rice.
Monday, 2 July 2012
Not exactly going to plan...
So, day one of my July challenge hasn't exactly gone to plan as I ended up not being able to do my grocery shopping as yet for a number of reasons. Instead of having the turkey meatballs that we were supposed to have this evening, we ended up having fish, chips, peas and sweetcorn. There was fish in the freezer and I used tins of peas and sweetcorn, so all that needed to be bought were the chips which my husband picked up on his way home from work, along with some bread and bananas. He spent €5.38 in total leaving me with €44.62 for the groceries for the rest of the week.
As we didn't have the turkey meatballs this evening, I am going to make them for dinner tomorrow night instead. I'll just bump my entire menu plan along one day, freezing the leftover better-than-baked-beans instead of having it the following evening for dinner. I could just stick to the recipe and make enough to serve dinner for one night, but it is such a simple recipe to double up and save the leftovers for another night that it would be a shame to waste the opportunity to save time another evening.
I am hoping to get my groceries tomorrow so I've done my shopping list in preparation for going. It is REALLY short this week so I know that I am definitely going to stay within my budget. It is as follows:
I am actually quite excited to see what my food shop comes to for the week. I think I'll put whatever extra I save, on top of the €50 that I am aiming to save, into our savings account as well.
As we didn't have the turkey meatballs this evening, I am going to make them for dinner tomorrow night instead. I'll just bump my entire menu plan along one day, freezing the leftover better-than-baked-beans instead of having it the following evening for dinner. I could just stick to the recipe and make enough to serve dinner for one night, but it is such a simple recipe to double up and save the leftovers for another night that it would be a shame to waste the opportunity to save time another evening.
I am hoping to get my groceries tomorrow so I've done my shopping list in preparation for going. It is REALLY short this week so I know that I am definitely going to stay within my budget. It is as follows:
- Red Pepper (on offer for 79cent in Dunnes at the moment)
- Mushrooms x 2 punnets (on offer in Lidl for 69 cent per 250g at the moment)
- Milk - slim line x 2 litres
- Milk - full fat x 2 litres
- Cheese - babybel
- Ham
- Bacon medallions (on offer in Lidl for €1.69)
- Cartons of ready made formula x 15 (10% back in Dunnes on baby products ending on the 3rd July)
- Toilet cleaner
I am actually quite excited to see what my food shop comes to for the week. I think I'll put whatever extra I save, on top of the €50 that I am aiming to save, into our savings account as well.
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
Leek and mackerel penne bake
According to GoodFood, the bake is perfect for midweek winter nights. Given the weather we have been having lately I figured it was perfect for a midweek winter night in May 2012!
Most of the pasta bake recipes that I've come across have cheese in them. My husband refuses to eat cheese or any sort (apparently it's slimy and they all taste the same - go figure!) so I was delighted when I came across this recipe for a pasta bake with no cheese in it.
Don't forget to remove any bones you find in the mackerel - the recipe doesn't mention this, but it is especially important if you are going to be giving it to small children.
Alterations
The biggest alteration I made was that I used fusilli instead of penne. I used slightly more pasta than the recipe calls for - 200g instead of 175g. I used an extra leek and 3 smoked mackerel fillets.
Using the extra ingredients meant that I had enough to do dinner tonight, a lunch tomorrow and two dinners for the freezer for my baby. I didn't give the baby any capers as I wasn't sure how these would go down. My daughter ate one and was not impressed!!
Cost
It is difficult for me to work out the cost of the bake as I no longer have the receipt for the mackerel. I got it in aldi and from memory it was around €1.70. The leeks were €1.99, the pasta was 30 cent, the crème fraîche was €1.30 and I have allowed 50 cent for the butter, capers and breadcrumbs. The total cost of the bake €5.79.
Monday, 23 April 2012
Quick chicken chasseur
I have made this Quick chicken chasseur recipe from the good food magazine a number of times in the past but had forgotten about it until my husband requested it one day. Previously we have had it with various different types of potatoes - mash, boiled and even chips - and rice. To be honest, while I am sure it is supposed to be served with potatoes my family seem to prefer it when it comes with rice. We had it for dinner last week, but I am only getting a chance to write about it now.
It is ready really quickly making it an ideal mid-week dinner to prepare when you get home from work and have to get something on the dinner table quickly.The can of chopped tomatoes I used didn't have any garlic in them, so I added a couple of gloves of garlic at the start of cooking. I usually don't bother adding the flour to the recipe and I use bacon medallions rather than streaky rashers in order to lower the fat content of the recipe. I didn't have any fresh parsley in so I used some dried parsley and I added this towards the end of the cooking time. When I made this for dinner last week I used two cans of chopped tomatoes instead of one.
Cost - Although I have made this recipe many times before, I have never worked out the cost of it so I am interested to see how much it works out as now. As I was making it for two people and one child, I only used 2 chicken breasts and 3 bacon medallions. The chicken breasts where bought on offer for €10 for 12, making the cost of the chicken that I used €1.67. The bacon medallions were 75 cent - I bought them on offer for €1.50 a while ago and put them in the freezer. The mushrooms were 99 cent, the chopped tomatoes cost €1.33 and I have allowed 50 cent for the garlic, dried parsley and beef stock cube.
The total cost of recipe €5.24. As I indicated I only used two chicken breasts as I was only intending to serve two adult portions and one child's portion. However, adding the extra can of chopped tomatoes bulked up the meal enough for me to be able to get extra portions from the pan for dinner another night, so I managed to get 4 adult and 2 child portions for this price, making the cost for me (minus the rice) €2.62 which is really good. This works out much cheaper than using 4 chicken breasts to get the same number of servings.
TIP - As I am trying to give my baby as much of the same food as we are eating I refrain from adding the stock cube until the same point that I add the Worcestershire sauce so that I can give him a little of the chicken chasseur to try. I then let the pan simmer for a few more minutes before lifting it off the heat and serving.
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Sweet potato and easy chilli bake
Dinner this evening I made sweet potato and easy chilli bake - see the 'try' note at the bottom of the recipe to make the recipe into a bake.
I opted to make the bake instead of just serving the roasted sweet potatoes with the chilli inside as I thought it might be easier to serve it to my children that way. My daughter is not keen on sweet potato and I worried that if I served it to her with the chilli in it that she would just eat the chilli and leave the sweet potato. With the bake she mixed it altogether and ate it all without question. I served to to the baby the same way. They both really enjoyed it and I have to say I enjoyed it myself. Unfortunately my husband was out, so I didn't get any feedback from him on it. Though, if I am honest I don't think he would have eaten any of it as he claims to hate sweet potato. Perhaps if he had been here I would have had to mix it all together the same way my daughter did and give it to him that way!!
Anyway, to save myself some time I roasted the sweet potato last night. TIP - when roasting sweet potato avoid using a pizza tray. In my haste to get my potatoes on last night I roasted them on the first oven tray I could put my hand to and it was a pizza tray. Result - the sugar that oozed out of the sweet potatoes as they were roasting dripped through the holes in the tray and is now all over my oven. So - that's oven cleaner for the shopping list this week :-(
The recipe is for 8, so I halved the ingredients. I had loads left over so I froze the leftover chilli and made a portion for lunch tomorrow. I didn't freeze the little bit of sweet potato I had left over as there was sour cream in it and I didn't think that the cream would freeze well. Next time I'll make a bit less sweet potato as I had to throw a bit out.
I used chilli powder instead of Cajun seasoning as I don't have any Cajun seasoning.
COST - The mince cost €3, the sweet potatoes were €2.74, the chilli was 40 cent, the onion was 28 cent, 400g tin of tomato is €1 and the can of kidney beans €1.09, making the total cost of the chilli €8.51! Gulp!! I think that it is safe to say that this might be the most expensive meal I had made to date. Of course, some of it is in the freezer, so I have actually not spent that much on what we had for dinner this evening, it's more like half of that - €4.26, which sounds an awful lot better!
I opted to make the bake instead of just serving the roasted sweet potatoes with the chilli inside as I thought it might be easier to serve it to my children that way. My daughter is not keen on sweet potato and I worried that if I served it to her with the chilli in it that she would just eat the chilli and leave the sweet potato. With the bake she mixed it altogether and ate it all without question. I served to to the baby the same way. They both really enjoyed it and I have to say I enjoyed it myself. Unfortunately my husband was out, so I didn't get any feedback from him on it. Though, if I am honest I don't think he would have eaten any of it as he claims to hate sweet potato. Perhaps if he had been here I would have had to mix it all together the same way my daughter did and give it to him that way!!
Anyway, to save myself some time I roasted the sweet potato last night. TIP - when roasting sweet potato avoid using a pizza tray. In my haste to get my potatoes on last night I roasted them on the first oven tray I could put my hand to and it was a pizza tray. Result - the sugar that oozed out of the sweet potatoes as they were roasting dripped through the holes in the tray and is now all over my oven. So - that's oven cleaner for the shopping list this week :-(
The recipe is for 8, so I halved the ingredients. I had loads left over so I froze the leftover chilli and made a portion for lunch tomorrow. I didn't freeze the little bit of sweet potato I had left over as there was sour cream in it and I didn't think that the cream would freeze well. Next time I'll make a bit less sweet potato as I had to throw a bit out.
I used chilli powder instead of Cajun seasoning as I don't have any Cajun seasoning.
COST - The mince cost €3, the sweet potatoes were €2.74, the chilli was 40 cent, the onion was 28 cent, 400g tin of tomato is €1 and the can of kidney beans €1.09, making the total cost of the chilli €8.51! Gulp!! I think that it is safe to say that this might be the most expensive meal I had made to date. Of course, some of it is in the freezer, so I have actually not spent that much on what we had for dinner this evening, it's more like half of that - €4.26, which sounds an awful lot better!
Sunday, 12 February 2012
Parsnip mash with apple
For dinner today we had a roast beef dinner. For veg sides I decide to try something different that we hadn't had before. I picked parsnip mash with apple as parsnips and apples were on offer in Aldi this week and I had picked up some, so had all the ingredients in that I needed. The other good thing about this side dish was that it was perfect to serve to the baby.
Instead of Bramley apples I used Granny Smiths as these were the apples I had. I had no ground coriander in the house so just omitted it. It went down well and I will definitely be making it again.
The rest of the dinner was delicious as well. I served roast potatoes with the dinner which my husband made by peeling some potatoes and putting them on the roasting tray beside the beef in the oven. At the end, when the beef was resting, the potatoes were put back in the oven to finish off. They were delicious.
For the baby I put a bit of the parsnip and apple mash, potato mash and some of the beef pulled apart.
I had quite a few leftovers with this meal, so I prepared two containers of food for the baby and put them in the freezer. The remaining parsnip and apple mash was put in a container and frozen while the mash potato was put in a tub and put in the fridge to be used for dinner tomorrow night. My husband has declared that he is going to use the leftover beef for sandwiches later this evening - I shall try to convince him to leave them for lunch tomorrow instead.
Cost - This was quite an expensive meal, but when you consider all the leftovers it's no too bad. My parents were visiting, so it feed 4 adults, one child, one baby and had quite a lot of leftovers. The roast was eye of the round and it cost €13.99, the potatoes cost €1.50, the parsnip cost 74 cent, the apples cost 16 cent and the broccoli was 40 cent. The total is €16.79.
Saturday, 11 February 2012
Grocery shopping - meal planner 11/2/2012 to 17/2/2012
Meal plan for Saturday 11th to Friday 17th February is as follows:-
Saturday lunch - Sausage, bacon, black pudding, fried eggs and rolls
Saturday dinner - Barr's butchers steak and onion pie, wedges and baked beans
Sunday lunch - Leek, potato and bacon soup
Sunday dinner - Roast beef, parsnip and apple mash, turnip, broccoli and roast potatoes
Monday dinner - Chicken and veg bake with potatoes
Tuesday dinner - leftovers from Monday
Wednesday dinner - Salmon with leeks and parsnip
Thursday dinner - Spag Bol
Friday dinner - leftovers from Thursday
For lunches we will have ham sandwiches, leek, potato and bacon soup, black bean and chorizo soup and tuna salad. We were having a big lunch on Saturday owing to my parents visiting. They brought with them the dinner for Saturday night, which saved a bit of money so I decided to buy some eye of the round to roast for dunner on Sunday. It is a nice cut of meat and is a bit more expensive than the cut we usually get at the butchers for roasting.
The baby still has some food left in the freezer. I need to make up some fruit for him to take to creche though. They mix it in with his breakfast.
I discovered Aldi this week. I had never been shopping in aldi before and was pleased to pick up some groceries at a really reasonable price. I am off to do my grocery shopping tomorrow, so I'll post up my costs for the week then.
It's my mums birthday today, so I am debating picking up something nice for desert. I'll see what is in the shops when I go. If I was more organised I'd have made a cake or something instead.
Saturday lunch - Sausage, bacon, black pudding, fried eggs and rolls
Saturday dinner - Barr's butchers steak and onion pie, wedges and baked beans
Sunday lunch - Leek, potato and bacon soup
Sunday dinner - Roast beef, parsnip and apple mash, turnip, broccoli and roast potatoes
Monday dinner - Chicken and veg bake with potatoes
Tuesday dinner - leftovers from Monday
Wednesday dinner - Salmon with leeks and parsnip
Thursday dinner - Spag Bol
Friday dinner - leftovers from Thursday
For lunches we will have ham sandwiches, leek, potato and bacon soup, black bean and chorizo soup and tuna salad. We were having a big lunch on Saturday owing to my parents visiting. They brought with them the dinner for Saturday night, which saved a bit of money so I decided to buy some eye of the round to roast for dunner on Sunday. It is a nice cut of meat and is a bit more expensive than the cut we usually get at the butchers for roasting.
The baby still has some food left in the freezer. I need to make up some fruit for him to take to creche though. They mix it in with his breakfast.
I discovered Aldi this week. I had never been shopping in aldi before and was pleased to pick up some groceries at a really reasonable price. I am off to do my grocery shopping tomorrow, so I'll post up my costs for the week then.
It's my mums birthday today, so I am debating picking up something nice for desert. I'll see what is in the shops when I go. If I was more organised I'd have made a cake or something instead.
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Productive day batch cooking baby food
As I mentioned in my an earlier post today, I intended to do some batch cooking of baby food today in order to build up a stock of meals for the baby for evenings when I needed them. I am trying to give my baby finger foods, as per Baby Led Weaning, but it is not always possible for me to offer the baby some of the food that we have each night so I wanted to have some standby meals in the freezer for these nights.
From the Annabel Karmel website, I made four of the recipes listed for babies between 6 and 9 months. We had salmon, broccoli and potatoes for dinner this evening, so I prepared some extra salmon and broccoli to use in some of the recipes for the baby food. This saved me a bit of time and meant I could offer the baby what we were having for dinner, adding the cheese sauce from Annabel Karmel's recipe.
As I frequently offer my baby finger foods I didn't puree the recipes I made to a paste as my baby is used to chewing. I left them with some chunks in them by blending them for a shorter length of time or mashing elements of them and mixing them into the rest of the food.
TIP When making the cheese sauce for the Salmon, broccoli and cheese sauce recipe, I made extra sauce for freezing. I will use this sauce for mixing into vegetables, meat, potatoes and pasta that we have for dinner. This cheese sauce is also good for using in lasagna.
I haven't worked out the cost of these meals, but I am confident that they are much cheaper than buying jars of baby food. As well as this, I know for a fact that they taste nicer than the food that was in the jars I bought recently as I tasted each recipe and I tasted some of the food that was in the jars.
Grocery shopping - meal planner 31/1/2012 to 3/2/2012
Short week for the meal plan this week as we were away for a few days. So, the plan for this week is as follows:-
Tuesday dinner - Salmon, broccoli and potatoes
Wednesday dinner - Stir fry
Thursday dinner - Chicken stew (from freezer) and mash
Friday dinner - Fish, chips and peas (all from the freezer)
For lunches I will be making the black bean and chorizo soup I made last week (I have all of the ingredients in), salad and ham sandwiches.
As I'm off on Tuesday (today - better get a move on!) I bought ingredients to do a load of batch cooking for the baby. I will be making a few recipes from the Annabel Karmel website:-
This week I spent € 60.44 in Dunnes and just under € 10 in Superquinn. This shop was a bit more expensive as I was picking up specific ingredients for the baby food, including some free range chicken breasts. When we were away I had to by some jars of food to give to the baby for practicality reasons so I know that spending a bit extra on cheese and free range chicken breasts is still cheaper than buying jars of food for him.
Tuesday dinner - Salmon, broccoli and potatoes
Wednesday dinner - Stir fry
Thursday dinner - Chicken stew (from freezer) and mash
Friday dinner - Fish, chips and peas (all from the freezer)
For lunches I will be making the black bean and chorizo soup I made last week (I have all of the ingredients in), salad and ham sandwiches.
As I'm off on Tuesday (today - better get a move on!) I bought ingredients to do a load of batch cooking for the baby. I will be making a few recipes from the Annabel Karmel website:-
- Salmon, broccoli and cheese sauce
- Salmon puree
- Chicken puree with carrots and apple
- Carrot puree with lentils and cheese
This week I spent € 60.44 in Dunnes and just under € 10 in Superquinn. This shop was a bit more expensive as I was picking up specific ingredients for the baby food, including some free range chicken breasts. When we were away I had to by some jars of food to give to the baby for practicality reasons so I know that spending a bit extra on cheese and free range chicken breasts is still cheaper than buying jars of food for him.
Friday, 13 January 2012
Chilli con carne - well, my version of it anyway!
For dinner on Thursday night and tonight we had chilli con carne. I make it the way my mum always made it, which is a bit different from a normal chilli as we use baked beans instead of kidney beans, and I serve it with pasta instead of rice. A lot of people think it's a bit strange, but as it's the way it was always made in our house I've never questioned it.
So to make my chilli I used a 800g tin of chopped tomatoes (€1 on special offer), 1lb of mince (€3 from my local butcher), 1 onion (39 cent for a net, 6.5 cent for one), punnet of mushrooms (99 cent per punnet), heaped tsp hot chilli powder, a tsp of hot papkira and a can of baked beans (€2 for 4 on special offer, so 50 cent for one). I fry off the mince in a non-stick pot until cooked and then add the onion and mushroom after slicing them. Then I add the spices and cook them for a few minutes before adding the can of shopped tomatoes and the can of baked beans. I then simmer for about 15 minutes. Usually I put my pasta (49 cent for 500g) on during this time.
This recipe makes make enough to do dinner for three for two nights, plus two portions for lunch, making it under €3 per meal. I usually freeze one portion to use a night when I'm too busy to prepare something from scratch. As it is this dinner is quite quick to make, but on the second night it only takes as long as it takes the pasta to cook for this meal to be ready as I heat the chilli up in the microwave at the same time.
So to make my chilli I used a 800g tin of chopped tomatoes (€1 on special offer), 1lb of mince (€3 from my local butcher), 1 onion (39 cent for a net, 6.5 cent for one), punnet of mushrooms (99 cent per punnet), heaped tsp hot chilli powder, a tsp of hot papkira and a can of baked beans (€2 for 4 on special offer, so 50 cent for one). I fry off the mince in a non-stick pot until cooked and then add the onion and mushroom after slicing them. Then I add the spices and cook them for a few minutes before adding the can of shopped tomatoes and the can of baked beans. I then simmer for about 15 minutes. Usually I put my pasta (49 cent for 500g) on during this time.
This recipe makes make enough to do dinner for three for two nights, plus two portions for lunch, making it under €3 per meal. I usually freeze one portion to use a night when I'm too busy to prepare something from scratch. As it is this dinner is quite quick to make, but on the second night it only takes as long as it takes the pasta to cook for this meal to be ready as I heat the chilli up in the microwave at the same time.
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Chicken stew - freezer dinner
Dinner last night was supposed to be chicken stew but we ended up eating at the home of some family. As I had all the ingredients in I decided to make it anyway and freeze it for a night when I do not have much time to prepare a meal.
The recipe uses the same ingredients as the Potato and Savoy cabbage soup plus chicken and leeks. The recipe is at the bottom of the method for the soup. To make the stew:-
In order to reduce the fat in this meal, I cooked the chicken and bacon in a non-stick pan and didn't add any oil. When cooking the vegetables, I added a small bit of water to the bottom of the non-stick pan before adding them. By doing this I was able to avoid adding any oil when cooking. I also used bacon medallions instead of streaky bacon, lowering the fat content.
This recipe is another inexpensive dinner. The chicken breasts were €1 each. I used 3 instead of the 4 suggested, so I spent €3 on the chicken. I used 2 large leeks which cost €1, 4 bacon medallions which cost €0.85, a celery stick, carrot and stock cube that I had in which I will allow €0.50 for. In total it cost €5.35 for 4 generous servings and 2 small ones. This will do dinner for two nights for my family once the potatoes are added, making it less than €5 per meal.
The recipe uses the same ingredients as the Potato and Savoy cabbage soup plus chicken and leeks. The recipe is at the bottom of the method for the soup. To make the stew:-
- Cut 4 chicken breasts into large chunks and chop the bacon. Heat the oil in a frying pan, fry together until golden, then remove.
- Add a little more oil, then fry 4 small, finely sliced leeks, the finely sliced celery, the potatoes and the carrot, finely sliced, for few mins.
- Add stock, turn up the heat and bring to the boil, then simmer.
- Once the potato is tender, add the chicken and cabbage and simmer for a further 5 mins.
In order to reduce the fat in this meal, I cooked the chicken and bacon in a non-stick pan and didn't add any oil. When cooking the vegetables, I added a small bit of water to the bottom of the non-stick pan before adding them. By doing this I was able to avoid adding any oil when cooking. I also used bacon medallions instead of streaky bacon, lowering the fat content.
This recipe is another inexpensive dinner. The chicken breasts were €1 each. I used 3 instead of the 4 suggested, so I spent €3 on the chicken. I used 2 large leeks which cost €1, 4 bacon medallions which cost €0.85, a celery stick, carrot and stock cube that I had in which I will allow €0.50 for. In total it cost €5.35 for 4 generous servings and 2 small ones. This will do dinner for two nights for my family once the potatoes are added, making it less than €5 per meal.
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