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 Good Food magazine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Good Food magazine. 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. 
Sunday, 18 November 2012
Salmon and lemon rice pastry parcel
For dinner this evening we had Salmon and lemon rice pastry parcel from the September 2012 issue of the GoodFood magazine. We will be having leftovers for dinner tomorrow night, so this recipe will feed the 4 of us for 2 nights. The recipe states that it serves 6, and so we are able to get two nights dinners out of this quite easily.
Alterations
My husband and children don't like eggs, so I omitted these from the recipe when I made it. Though I did brush the pastry with whisked egg, as per the recipe, as I figured they couldn't object to something they didn't realise they were eating!! I also left out the capers as no one in my family really likes them.
The hot-smoked salmon fillets that I used had cracked black pepper on them. I used the same salmon the first time I made this recipe and it tasted lovely so I decided to stick with it.
Top tips - lemon basmati rice
The first time I made this recipe (about a month and half ago) I couldn't find the lemon basmati rice the recipe needs when I was doing my grocery shopping. I did however find Martha Stewart's recipe for making lemon basmati rice on her website, and as I had all the ingredients in I decided to make my own.
After making the lemon rice, I had a lot more rice than the pastry parcel recipe called for, so I once again took to the Internet to check to see if it was possible to freeze cooked rice. The short answer is - you can, but you need to cool it quickly. For more information on how to freeze and defrost rice click on the link.
This morning I lifted my puff pastry and rice from the freezer to allow them to defrost for use in the dinner later in the day. It is possible to re-heat the rice from frozen in the microwave, but I decided to not to do this so that I didn't have to wait for the rice to cool before I mixed it with the other ingredients. The rice tasted fine when defrosted and reheated.
After seeing how straight forward it was to freeze, defrost and re-heat the rice I think I might double up on portions of rice that I am boiling in the future in order to freeze half of it.
Alterations
My husband and children don't like eggs, so I omitted these from the recipe when I made it. Though I did brush the pastry with whisked egg, as per the recipe, as I figured they couldn't object to something they didn't realise they were eating!! I also left out the capers as no one in my family really likes them.
The hot-smoked salmon fillets that I used had cracked black pepper on them. I used the same salmon the first time I made this recipe and it tasted lovely so I decided to stick with it.
Top tips - lemon basmati rice
The first time I made this recipe (about a month and half ago) I couldn't find the lemon basmati rice the recipe needs when I was doing my grocery shopping. I did however find Martha Stewart's recipe for making lemon basmati rice on her website, and as I had all the ingredients in I decided to make my own.
After making the lemon rice, I had a lot more rice than the pastry parcel recipe called for, so I once again took to the Internet to check to see if it was possible to freeze cooked rice. The short answer is - you can, but you need to cool it quickly. For more information on how to freeze and defrost rice click on the link.
This morning I lifted my puff pastry and rice from the freezer to allow them to defrost for use in the dinner later in the day. It is possible to re-heat the rice from frozen in the microwave, but I decided to not to do this so that I didn't have to wait for the rice to cool before I mixed it with the other ingredients. The rice tasted fine when defrosted and reheated.
After seeing how straight forward it was to freeze, defrost and re-heat the rice I think I might double up on portions of rice that I am boiling in the future in order to freeze half of it.
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Turkey meatballs in tomato and fennel sauce
Last night I made turkey meatballs in tomato and fennel sauce for dinner and we had the leftovers for dinner tonight. The recipe appeared in the March 2010 issue of Good Food magazine. I decided to make it when I realised that I had all the ingredients in that were required
As with a lot of the Good Food recipes I have used recently, this was really quick and easy to make. My husband, daughter and son loved it - my daughter informed us that she wanted a second bowl of it after her first forkful! I liked it to, but I think the next time I make it I'll add something to the meatballs to give them a bit more flavour. They definitely need some seasoning at the very least.
With regards to the leftovers, instead of heating up the whole dish, I had prepared all the meatballs on the first night, leaving half in the fridge for dinner tonight. I cooked them while the pasta was boiling and then added them to the sauce that I had made the night before and reheated. It worked out really well and dinner was on the table in the length of time it took for the spaghetti to be ready.
Alterations
When I was preparing the ingredients for the sauce I added two onions instead of one as the onions I had in were quite small. I also added three carrots as my carrots were quite small as well. I omitted the tomato puree simply because I forgot to add it! Other than that I stuck to the recipe.
I think it would be easy to add additional veg to the sauce without altering the taste too much. As the sauce is blended, it is a handy way of getting veg into kids without them realising it which can be helpful if you have fussy eaters.
Tip
To save time on a busy weeknight, you could prepare the meatballs the night before and keep them in the fridge until you are ready to cook them the next night. In fact, you could even make the meatballs before freezing them so that all you had to do is lift them out of the freezer to defrost when you want to have them for dinner. You could also make the sauce ahead of time and reheat it after the meatballs have been cooked while the pasta is boiling, saving more time.
Cost
This is another one that is difficult for me to work out the cost of as I got the turkey mince up north in Asda a while back and had it in my freezer. The turkey mince was £1.98. The can of chopped tomatoes cost 66 cent, the onions cost about 25 cent, the carrots were around 30 cent, the spaghetti that I served it with was about 80 cent (allowing for two nights) and I have allowed another 40 cent for the fennel seeds, breadcrumbs, oil and garlic. In total I reckon that this dish cost me about €5 to make. Considering that this did us for dinner for two nights that makes it about €2.50 per night to feed two adults, a four year old and an 11 month old baby.
As with a lot of the Good Food recipes I have used recently, this was really quick and easy to make. My husband, daughter and son loved it - my daughter informed us that she wanted a second bowl of it after her first forkful! I liked it to, but I think the next time I make it I'll add something to the meatballs to give them a bit more flavour. They definitely need some seasoning at the very least.
With regards to the leftovers, instead of heating up the whole dish, I had prepared all the meatballs on the first night, leaving half in the fridge for dinner tonight. I cooked them while the pasta was boiling and then added them to the sauce that I had made the night before and reheated. It worked out really well and dinner was on the table in the length of time it took for the spaghetti to be ready.
Alterations
When I was preparing the ingredients for the sauce I added two onions instead of one as the onions I had in were quite small. I also added three carrots as my carrots were quite small as well. I omitted the tomato puree simply because I forgot to add it! Other than that I stuck to the recipe.
I think it would be easy to add additional veg to the sauce without altering the taste too much. As the sauce is blended, it is a handy way of getting veg into kids without them realising it which can be helpful if you have fussy eaters.
Tip
To save time on a busy weeknight, you could prepare the meatballs the night before and keep them in the fridge until you are ready to cook them the next night. In fact, you could even make the meatballs before freezing them so that all you had to do is lift them out of the freezer to defrost when you want to have them for dinner. You could also make the sauce ahead of time and reheat it after the meatballs have been cooked while the pasta is boiling, saving more time.
Cost
This is another one that is difficult for me to work out the cost of as I got the turkey mince up north in Asda a while back and had it in my freezer. The turkey mince was £1.98. The can of chopped tomatoes cost 66 cent, the onions cost about 25 cent, the carrots were around 30 cent, the spaghetti that I served it with was about 80 cent (allowing for two nights) and I have allowed another 40 cent for the fennel seeds, breadcrumbs, oil and garlic. In total I reckon that this dish cost me about €5 to make. Considering that this did us for dinner for two nights that makes it about €2.50 per night to feed two adults, a four year old and an 11 month old baby.
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
Patatas bravas with chorizo
Last night I made the patatas bravas with chorizo from the May 2010 issue of the Good food magazine. According to the recipe it serves 6 as an appetiser, but I made it for dinner instead, adjusting the volume of ingredients so that I made enough for two adults, one child and a baby.
The recipe was easy to follow and make, but I had to steam the potatoes for longer than the suggested 10 minutes as they were still rock hard after the 10 minutes had passed. Next time I will cut the potatoes smaller in the hope that they steam quicker. Another thing that I will change for next time is the type of potatoes that I use. We had roosters in the house, so I used these but they were too floury and feel apart in the pan a bit. I think that waxy potatoes might have held together a bit better.
To save time when I make this recipe in the future I will probably steam the potatoes the day before and keep them in the fridge until I am ready to use them.
For the baby I mashed some of the potatoes and stirred in some of the tomato sauce and onion. He loved it.
Alterations
Instead of using 250g of small cooking chorizo I used three large cooking chorizo from Marks and Spencers and cut them into chunks. I substituted the red chilli in the recipe for some dried crushed chillis instead and as there was no cayenne pepper in the house I didn't add it to the dish. As the recipe was only for two adults and one child I used less potatoes than the suggested 1kg.
Cost
The chorizo sausages that I used cost €1.25. I have estimated that the potatoes I used were €1.50, the onion was 20 cent, the can of chopped tomatoes was 67 cent and I have allowed 30 cent for the garlic, olive oil and spices. That makes the total cost €3.92 which is quite reasonable for dinner for the family.
If I used potatoes from the garden the cost of the meal would be reduced further, making it an even cheaper recipe to make.
The recipe was easy to follow and make, but I had to steam the potatoes for longer than the suggested 10 minutes as they were still rock hard after the 10 minutes had passed. Next time I will cut the potatoes smaller in the hope that they steam quicker. Another thing that I will change for next time is the type of potatoes that I use. We had roosters in the house, so I used these but they were too floury and feel apart in the pan a bit. I think that waxy potatoes might have held together a bit better.
To save time when I make this recipe in the future I will probably steam the potatoes the day before and keep them in the fridge until I am ready to use them.
For the baby I mashed some of the potatoes and stirred in some of the tomato sauce and onion. He loved it.
Alterations
Instead of using 250g of small cooking chorizo I used three large cooking chorizo from Marks and Spencers and cut them into chunks. I substituted the red chilli in the recipe for some dried crushed chillis instead and as there was no cayenne pepper in the house I didn't add it to the dish. As the recipe was only for two adults and one child I used less potatoes than the suggested 1kg.
Cost
The chorizo sausages that I used cost €1.25. I have estimated that the potatoes I used were €1.50, the onion was 20 cent, the can of chopped tomatoes was 67 cent and I have allowed 30 cent for the garlic, olive oil and spices. That makes the total cost €3.92 which is quite reasonable for dinner for the family.
If I used potatoes from the garden the cost of the meal would be reduced further, making it an even cheaper recipe to make.
Monday, 25 June 2012
Menu plan 25/6/2012 to 29/6/2012
I didn't get a chance to plan my menu over the weekend and just used whatever was in the freezer. I needed to put a bit of thought into what I am planning for the next few days before heading off to the shops though, so I put together a menu plan for the next of the week.
So, my plan for the rest of the week is as follows:
Monday dinner - wraps
Tuesday dinner - Patatas bravas with chorizo
Wednesday dinner - Grilled pork loins, potatoes, peas and sweetcorn
Thursday dinner - Sweet and sour pork stir-fry
Friday dinner - Summer-in-winter chicken with olive oil baked potatoes
For lunches we will be having sandwiches, wraps, broccoli and almond soup and baked tomato and feta.
I'll be continuing my inventory this week in preparation for my July challenge. I am hoping that by using a lot of the contents of my store cupboard and freezer contents that I will be able to limit my grocery spend to €50 per week. I've also been reading through some of my recipe books and Good Food magazines to try and get a few ideas of recipes that won't cost the earth to make.
So, my plan for the rest of the week is as follows:
Monday dinner - wraps
Tuesday dinner - Patatas bravas with chorizo
Wednesday dinner - Grilled pork loins, potatoes, peas and sweetcorn
Thursday dinner - Sweet and sour pork stir-fry
Friday dinner - Summer-in-winter chicken with olive oil baked potatoes
For lunches we will be having sandwiches, wraps, broccoli and almond soup and baked tomato and feta.
I'll be continuing my inventory this week in preparation for my July challenge. I am hoping that by using a lot of the contents of my store cupboard and freezer contents that I will be able to limit my grocery spend to €50 per week. I've also been reading through some of my recipe books and Good Food magazines to try and get a few ideas of recipes that won't cost the earth to make.
Friday, 15 June 2012
Summer pea pasta
Like many parents, when feeling unwell I still have to make dinner for my kids regardless of how I'm feeling. So on Monday night I wanted something quick to make so that I didn't have to stand at the cooker for long. Also, given that I wasn't feeling very well, I didn't want something creamy or heavy to eat. I found this recipe for summer pea pasta in the August 2010 issue of the Goodfood magazine and thought it would make an ideal meal for my family.
This recipe was really handy for me to make as I had all the ingredients in the house except the basil and chilli which are available in my local green grocers, so I didn't have to go to a supermarket to get ingredients for dinner.
Tip
Eating vegetarian can be a good way of cutting the costs of a meal so I have decided to try and introduce more vegetarian meals to my family. Unfortunately, my husband tends to expect meat with every meal (show me an Irishman who doesn't!) so I find that when I suggest adding a vegetarian option to the menu that it is usually meet with a 'what meat are we having with that' from him. On Monday night he had no idea what he was having for dinner as the menu hadn't been prepared in advance, so couldn't protest at the lack of meat, so perhaps my plan for the future should be to just spring meat-free dishes on him!! Fortunately for me, this dish was really tasty and filling, so he couldn't complain too much about the lack of meat. If he did I think I would have told him how much it cost and pointed out that he could maybe have a nice steak some night soon with the money I saved!!
Alterations
As I was making this for two adults and one child, I used a bit less pasta, basil and peas than what the recipe suggests. I used the full amount of red chilli, garlic and lemon zest suggested despite using less of the other ingredients and the result was a dish full of flavour.
Cost
This was quite a cheap dinner to make. The basil was 40 cent, the pasta was 50 cent, the peas were 50 cent, the red chilli was 30 cent, the garlic was 20 cent and I am allowing 10 cent for the olive oil. This means that the total cost of the dish is €2.
I haven't counted the lemon zest in the overall cost as I still have the lemons to use in another dish and didn't want to end up counting the cost of them twice.
This recipe was really handy for me to make as I had all the ingredients in the house except the basil and chilli which are available in my local green grocers, so I didn't have to go to a supermarket to get ingredients for dinner.
Tip
Eating vegetarian can be a good way of cutting the costs of a meal so I have decided to try and introduce more vegetarian meals to my family. Unfortunately, my husband tends to expect meat with every meal (show me an Irishman who doesn't!) so I find that when I suggest adding a vegetarian option to the menu that it is usually meet with a 'what meat are we having with that' from him. On Monday night he had no idea what he was having for dinner as the menu hadn't been prepared in advance, so couldn't protest at the lack of meat, so perhaps my plan for the future should be to just spring meat-free dishes on him!! Fortunately for me, this dish was really tasty and filling, so he couldn't complain too much about the lack of meat. If he did I think I would have told him how much it cost and pointed out that he could maybe have a nice steak some night soon with the money I saved!!
Alterations
As I was making this for two adults and one child, I used a bit less pasta, basil and peas than what the recipe suggests. I used the full amount of red chilli, garlic and lemon zest suggested despite using less of the other ingredients and the result was a dish full of flavour.
Cost
This was quite a cheap dinner to make. The basil was 40 cent, the pasta was 50 cent, the peas were 50 cent, the red chilli was 30 cent, the garlic was 20 cent and I am allowing 10 cent for the olive oil. This means that the total cost of the dish is €2.
I haven't counted the lemon zest in the overall cost as I still have the lemons to use in another dish and didn't want to end up counting the cost of them twice.
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.
Sunday, 13 May 2012
Puy lentil, spiced carrot and feta salad
Just a tiny bit excited about my lunch for the next few days - almost looking forward to going to work in the morning so that I can have some at lunchtime!
I made the puy lentil, spiced carrot and feta salad from the May 2011 issue of GoodFood magazine. This recipe is served warm, but obviously my salad won't be warm as I will be eating it straight out of the fridge, but the magazine suggested using leftovers for lunch so I decided to make it specifically for lunches. I did however have a sneaky taste while it was hot and it was yummy!
Alterations
I made two minor alterations to the recipe. I used the juice of one lemon instead of the juice of 1/2 a lemon and the lettuce I used was a mix of lambs lettuce and rocket.
Cost
The puy lentils (green lentils) cost 30 cent, the carrots were 50 cent, the lettuce was €1, the lemon was 25 cent, the red onion was 15 cent, 63 cent for the feta and I have allowed 50 cent for the other ingredients. The total cost was €3.33.
There is enough in the salad to last to four days lunches. I put it into a large tub in the fridge and will fill a small tub for my lunch each evening. This means that the total cost of my lunch per day will be 83 cent. Much cheaper than eating out!
I made the puy lentil, spiced carrot and feta salad from the May 2011 issue of GoodFood magazine. This recipe is served warm, but obviously my salad won't be warm as I will be eating it straight out of the fridge, but the magazine suggested using leftovers for lunch so I decided to make it specifically for lunches. I did however have a sneaky taste while it was hot and it was yummy!
Alterations
I made two minor alterations to the recipe. I used the juice of one lemon instead of the juice of 1/2 a lemon and the lettuce I used was a mix of lambs lettuce and rocket.
Cost
The puy lentils (green lentils) cost 30 cent, the carrots were 50 cent, the lettuce was €1, the lemon was 25 cent, the red onion was 15 cent, 63 cent for the feta and I have allowed 50 cent for the other ingredients. The total cost was €3.33.
There is enough in the salad to last to four days lunches. I put it into a large tub in the fridge and will fill a small tub for my lunch each evening. This means that the total cost of my lunch per day will be 83 cent. Much cheaper than eating out!
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| Can not wait to eat this tomorrow! |
Friday, 4 May 2012
Sticky pan-roasted sausages
Tonight I was back on track with the menu plan and made the sticky pan-roasted sausages as planned. This recipe was in the October 2008 issue of GoodFood magazine. The picture below is from the GoodFood website.
I've added fruit to my dinner before - apricots and lamb, apple and pork, apple and parsnip - but I have never tried grapes in a main meal before so I was looking forward to seeing what they tasted like. When I think about it I don't think I've ever had them hot either. The whole meal turned out really nice and the grapes, especially the red onions, were lovely.
I had one slight alteration to the recipe tonight - I had no red wine vinegar in so I ended up using sherry vinegar instead. The recipe turned out really well and tasted lovely. The smell of the fennel while it was cooking smelled lovely and I was dying to try it by the time it was ready.
The recipe states that it takes 10 minutes to prepare the meal and 25 minutes to cook it, giving a total of 35 minutes. However, I found that it was a bit quicker than this. I put on my sausages and did the prep (cleaning the grapes and slicing the onions) during the first ten minutes while they were cooking, so that saved a bit of time. I reckon it takes 25 minutes in total if you do this.
We had it with leftover mash from last night which my husband heated up in the microwave. I confess that the first time it was suggested by my husband that we should heat up mash in the microwave it did not appeal to me at all. However, I don't notice any difference to the taste and from a practical point of view it works really well when you are trying to get dinner on the table in a hurry.
If I was to make this again I would use red onion as I think it would taste quite nice with grapes and red wine vinegar (or sherry vinegar if I still do not have any red wine vinegar!).
 |
| My sticky pan-roasted sausages didn't turn out too badly! |
Cost - My sausages came from my local butchers and are their 'jumbo' sausages. They cost €4.20. I've estimated the cost of the mash, grapes, onions, fennel, garlic and sherry vinegar at €2.00. This makes the total cost €6.20 for the meal that I made.
The same as with the gammon steaks, I reckon that you could make this dinner for a lot less depending on the sausages you use. I know if I had used our butchers normal sized sausages that it would have been cheaper, however, I felt that the jumbo sausages would be better for the recipe given the length of time they are in the pan.
Sunday, 29 April 2012
Irish coddled pork with cider..again!
Back in January I made this Irish coddled pork with cider recipe from the GoodFood magazine and it went down a treat. I decided to make it for dinner today when I saw that both cabbage and turnip were on offer in Dunnes yesterday for 29 cent each. There we pork loins in our freezer and we got some bulmers when we were in Asda last week (note - we bought 'Magners' not the English Bulmers), so I didn't need to buy them which made this recipe a cheap enough option for me this week allowing me to stay well within my grocery budget.
The cabbage on offer in Dunnes was a quarter of a white cabbage for 29 cent, so I only used a quarter of cabbage this time round. There was still more than enough to go around.
I wouldn't normally post about a recipe I've made previously, but I wanted to show how tailoring your menu to suit what the stores have on offer on any given week can reduce the overall cost of your menu for that week by comparing the how much it cost me to make the coddled pork this week to when I made it back in January.
Cost - As I said I had Pork Loins in the freezer. They were recently on offer in our butchers at 5 pork loins for €5. This recipe used 2 so this it cost €2. The turnip was 15 cent, the cabbage was 29 cent, the carrots were 25 cent, the bacon was €1, potatoes were 60 cent (I used 4 instead of two) and the bulmers was 25 cent (the offer I bought them on was not as good as the one I got before Christmas making this ingredient slightly more expensive. This makes the total cost of the meal €4.54.
I saved 46 cent on this recipe this week when compared with how much it cost when I made it in January. I used an extra potato but less cabbage. Even if I had bought an extra quarter of white cabbage, I would still have saved money on the recipe as this would only have cost another 29 cent.
A saving of 46 cent doesn't really seem like a lot in the grand scheme of things, but if I saved this much in every meal I made in the week I'd have an extra €3.22 at the end of the week. Considering that I have some recipes on here that cost less than €3 to make, this extra money means that I could feed the family for an extra day on what I had saved. Something to think about I guess.
The cabbage on offer in Dunnes was a quarter of a white cabbage for 29 cent, so I only used a quarter of cabbage this time round. There was still more than enough to go around.
I wouldn't normally post about a recipe I've made previously, but I wanted to show how tailoring your menu to suit what the stores have on offer on any given week can reduce the overall cost of your menu for that week by comparing the how much it cost me to make the coddled pork this week to when I made it back in January.
Cost - As I said I had Pork Loins in the freezer. They were recently on offer in our butchers at 5 pork loins for €5. This recipe used 2 so this it cost €2. The turnip was 15 cent, the cabbage was 29 cent, the carrots were 25 cent, the bacon was €1, potatoes were 60 cent (I used 4 instead of two) and the bulmers was 25 cent (the offer I bought them on was not as good as the one I got before Christmas making this ingredient slightly more expensive. This makes the total cost of the meal €4.54.
I saved 46 cent on this recipe this week when compared with how much it cost when I made it in January. I used an extra potato but less cabbage. Even if I had bought an extra quarter of white cabbage, I would still have saved money on the recipe as this would only have cost another 29 cent.
A saving of 46 cent doesn't really seem like a lot in the grand scheme of things, but if I saved this much in every meal I made in the week I'd have an extra €3.22 at the end of the week. Considering that I have some recipes on here that cost less than €3 to make, this extra money means that I could feed the family for an extra day on what I had saved. Something to think about I guess.
Saturday, 28 April 2012
Marinated lamb steaks with barley salad
So, tonight after the kids went to bed I made the marinated lamb steaks with barley salad from the June 2010 issue of the GoodFood magazine. It was, quite frankly, delicious! My taste buds are still in heaven! This recipe is definitely going on the list of dinners that we will be having again (and again and again and again!!).
After trying it my husband confessed that he was a bit dubious about the barely salad but that it tasted much better than he expected. As well as making a nice change from potatoes as a side, the barley salad is has a low GI, meaning that you'll feel fuller for longer. According to the GoodFood magazine the salad gives 2 of your 5-a-day, making it a healthy choice for dinner.
I made a few alterations to the recipe as I was going along. The first change was forced upon me when I went to by the meat. My butcher didn't have any lamb steaks, but he did have some lovely looking boneless lamb chops which looked quite thick so I decided that they would do the trick. The second change was when I was making the marinade - it called for a pinch of dried chilli and I added a bit more than a pinch as we like our food spicy.
The biggest changes I made were to the barley salad. When I did the grocery shopping earlier today there were no frozen broad beans in Dunnes, so I bought soya beans and used these instead. Red onions were on my shopping list but I decided not to bother buying them as 1kg of onions was 29c in Dunnes and I didn't really fancy having a kg of red onions AND and kg of ordinary onions in the house. Although the red onions were on offer in Lidl this weekend, I decided that it was a bit excessive to buy a kg of them just for one recipe. I meant to buy a single red onion, but forgot and only realised when I started making the dinner. So instead of red onion I used two scallions (spring onions). The red onion wasn't to be cooked and I didn't think that a raw onion would taste nice in the salad, whereas I was confident that the scallions would be fine.
The recipe suggests marinating the lamb for up to two hours if you have the time. My lamb was marinated for 40 minutes and tasted fine.
TIP - If I was to decide to make this recipe mid-week I would probably buy the meat at the weekend, make up the marinade, rub into the meat and freeze. Then I would lift it out the night before making the meal and leave it to defrost and marinate in the fridge. Alternatively I would make up the marinade the night before or in the morning, but for me the first option would save the most time on meal preparation during the week.
Cost - This was a bit more expensive than some meals that I make. The lamb chops that I bought were €5. The soya beans were €1.50, the peas were 50 cent (estimate), the pearl barley was 75 cent, the mint was 50 cent, the lemon was 25 cent and I have allowed 40 cent for the scallions, dried chilli and olive oil. This makes the total €8.90 which makes this my most expensive meal to date.
I would not normally spend so much on one meal for two of us, but a lot of couples spend much more than this on a meal in the restaurant on a Saturday night, so as a one off I don't think it's that bad. In fact, we'd spend more on a takeaway if we were to get one and probably not enjoy it half as much!
After trying it my husband confessed that he was a bit dubious about the barely salad but that it tasted much better than he expected. As well as making a nice change from potatoes as a side, the barley salad is has a low GI, meaning that you'll feel fuller for longer. According to the GoodFood magazine the salad gives 2 of your 5-a-day, making it a healthy choice for dinner.I made a few alterations to the recipe as I was going along. The first change was forced upon me when I went to by the meat. My butcher didn't have any lamb steaks, but he did have some lovely looking boneless lamb chops which looked quite thick so I decided that they would do the trick. The second change was when I was making the marinade - it called for a pinch of dried chilli and I added a bit more than a pinch as we like our food spicy.
The biggest changes I made were to the barley salad. When I did the grocery shopping earlier today there were no frozen broad beans in Dunnes, so I bought soya beans and used these instead. Red onions were on my shopping list but I decided not to bother buying them as 1kg of onions was 29c in Dunnes and I didn't really fancy having a kg of red onions AND and kg of ordinary onions in the house. Although the red onions were on offer in Lidl this weekend, I decided that it was a bit excessive to buy a kg of them just for one recipe. I meant to buy a single red onion, but forgot and only realised when I started making the dinner. So instead of red onion I used two scallions (spring onions). The red onion wasn't to be cooked and I didn't think that a raw onion would taste nice in the salad, whereas I was confident that the scallions would be fine.
The recipe suggests marinating the lamb for up to two hours if you have the time. My lamb was marinated for 40 minutes and tasted fine.
TIP - If I was to decide to make this recipe mid-week I would probably buy the meat at the weekend, make up the marinade, rub into the meat and freeze. Then I would lift it out the night before making the meal and leave it to defrost and marinate in the fridge. Alternatively I would make up the marinade the night before or in the morning, but for me the first option would save the most time on meal preparation during the week.
Cost - This was a bit more expensive than some meals that I make. The lamb chops that I bought were €5. The soya beans were €1.50, the peas were 50 cent (estimate), the pearl barley was 75 cent, the mint was 50 cent, the lemon was 25 cent and I have allowed 40 cent for the scallions, dried chilli and olive oil. This makes the total €8.90 which makes this my most expensive meal to date.
I would not normally spend so much on one meal for two of us, but a lot of couples spend much more than this on a meal in the restaurant on a Saturday night, so as a one off I don't think it's that bad. In fact, we'd spend more on a takeaway if we were to get one and probably not enjoy it half as much!
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
Turkey, thyme and leek meatloaf
One of the recipes on my menu planner for this week was the turkey, thyme and leek meatloaf from the December 2006 issue of the Good Food magazine. This is another recipe that I have made quite a few times in the past, but I've never tried to work out how much it costs so I am interested in working out how much it costs. Unfortunately I am not sure exactly how accurate my calculation of the cost will be as I bought the ingredients in Asda when I was visiting my parents house up north, but I think I will have a go anyway and convert the cost to Euro.
Turkey mince is not something that I have noticed for sale in my local shops, so if anyone reading this knows where I might be able to find some turkey mince I'd be grateful if you could point me in the right direction. My local butcher doesn't sell it. So, sometimes when I visit my parents I take a trip to Asda to buy some turkey mince specifically for this recipe.I soften my leeks in a couple of squirts of fry lite instead of sunflower oil to lower the fat content and tend to use dried thyme instead of sprigs of fresh thyme. Other than that I tend to stick closely to the recipe. From previous experience I find that smoked bacon tastes a bit better on the top of the meatloaf than unsmoked.
The method of suggests putting the meatloaf under the grill to make the top crisp on top, however, I have found that it gets quite crispy in the oven so I've never bothered with this stage.
The suggestion at the end of the recipe has tempted me a couple of the times in the past, but my husband has only recently started to eat butternut squash and cranberries so I haven't tried it yet. I hope to try it sometime in the near future as I think the substitutions suggested sound delicious.
Cost - The turkey mince cost £1.98, the leeks cost £1 and the bacon was £1. I had an egg, bread and dried thyme in and I've estimated 50p for them. This brings the total cost to £4.48 which converts to €5.48 according the xe.com. This feeds my family for two nights along with potatoes and vegetables. This means that a meal for my family costs €4.20ish depending on what vegetables I serve.
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.
Monday, 16 April 2012
The ultimate soda bread
Tonight I made the dinner for tomorrow night before hitting the hay - soda bread and soup (leek, potato and bacon). The soda bread that I make is from the March 2007 issue of Goodfood magazine. It is one of Angela Nilsen's 'ultimate' recipes from her 'The Ultimate Recipe Book'. I (sadly) do not own a copy of her book, but GF magazine has published quite a few of them and they have a number of them available on their website - but not the one that I made this evening. A lot of her recipes are makeovers of old favourites in an effort to make them healthier - lower fat, lower salt, lower sugar etc.
Anyway, as the recipe is not available on the GF website I am not able to link to it and so have to type it up in order to share it. I've made it a number of times over the years (to the point where I know the recipe by heart) and have always enjoyed it. I am currently sitting here smelling it and trying hard to fight the temptation to jump up and tuck into it!
Ingredients
225 g/8oz plain flour, preferably organic
225 g/8 oz plain wholemeal flour, preferably organic
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
25g /1 oz butter, room temperature
500 ml/ 18 fl oz buttermilk
Method
Anyway, as the recipe is not available on the GF website I am not able to link to it and so have to type it up in order to share it. I've made it a number of times over the years (to the point where I know the recipe by heart) and have always enjoyed it. I am currently sitting here smelling it and trying hard to fight the temptation to jump up and tuck into it!
Ingredients
225 g/8oz plain flour, preferably organic
225 g/8 oz plain wholemeal flour, preferably organic
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
25g /1 oz butter, room temperature
500 ml/ 18 fl oz buttermilk
Method
- Heat the oven to 200 degrees C/ fan 180 degrees C/ gas 6. Butter and flour a large baking sheet. Mix both the flours with the bicarbonate of soda and slat in the biggest bowl you have - the bigger the better to give yourself room for the mixing. Cut the butter into pieces, then rub it into the flour mixture so it is evenly mixed in.
- Give the buttermilk a good stir. Create a big dip in the flour mixture, then pour in the buttermilk all at once. You can now mix everything with your hands, or it you find it easier, start with a round-bladed knife to work in the liquid, then switch to your hands to finish off. Start in the middle of the bowl and work towards the outside in a circular movement - the mixing should only take a few seconds. You want to blend rather than mix, and if you do this for too long the dough will lose its lightness - so stop handling it as soon as you have a soft, sticky dough.
- Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. With floured hands, gently shape the dough into a round. It shouldn't be kneaded, just gently tucked and eased into a round shape. The less it is handled the better. Lift it onto the baking sheet. pat it, again gently, into a round about 3cm/ 1.25 inch thick and 20cm/ 8 inch across, and very slightly rounded. Cut a deep cross into the surface of the dough with a sharp knife. Prick in the centre of each cut, then sprinkle the loaf with a little flour.
- Bake for 30 mins until golden on top. Check the underneath before removing - it should be golden and sound a bit hollow when tapped. Transfer to a wire rack, and for a soft top lightly wrap with a clean tea towel as the loaf cools. To serve, break the bread in the centre (for luck), then into quarters and cut into thick slices. Best eaten fresh, while still a bit warm. If well wrapped, the loaf will keep for a few days.
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