As my menu planner for the week shows, on Sunday I intended to make soup for my family, but the type of soup would depend on what vegetables were on offer in Dunnes when I got there. Parsnips were on offer for 49 cent for a tray of 500g. I bought two trays (98 cent) knowing that I would be able to find some sort of parsnip soup on the GoodFood website that I could make. After doing a search on 'parsnip soup' and sifting through the results I decided on the parsnip soup with parsley cream, minus the parsley cream as I didn't have all the ingredients for it.
I only completed step one of the recipe. After an incident (the soup boiled over when I went upstairs to see what my daughter was up to) there wasn't much liquid left in the soup, so I didn't bother with the removing of the liquid to blend the parsnip. As it was, once I finished blending I had to add a bit of liquid to the soup as it was very thick.
The end result was pretty tasty and it is definitely one I would make again. Removing a chunk of the steps and cutting the parsnips finer than the chunks the recipe calls for meant that it was ready in about 30 minutes. Leftovers were used for lunch on Monday.
Not adding the parsley cream lowered the calories and fat content of the soup considerably. I used slimline milk to help lower the fat content as well.
Cost
The cost was pretty reasonable. As I already noted the parsnips cost me 98 cent. I have allowed another €1 for the onion, stock, milk and bay leaves - I think this is quite generous. This means that the total cost of the soup was €1.98. Another bargain soup for lunch!!
Next time I make the soup I'd really like to make the parsley cream as well. I know that this will add to the cost of it, but given how cheap it is in the first place I don't mind. As I've mentioned before - parsley is one of my favourite ingredients and I'd try the soup with the parsley cream in it to see how it adds to the taste.
Showing posts with label One pot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label One pot. Show all posts
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Thursday, 17 May 2012
Spanish bean stew
For dinner tonight we had Spanish bean stew from the December 2010 pull-out in the GoodFood magazine (image below). We will be having leftovers tomorrow night.
To save time I made the stew on Wednesday night after the kids went to bed. So all I had to do this evening was re-heat the stew - making sure the chicken was heated through - and serve. As I used a stock cube to make my chicken stock, this meal was unsuitable for the baby. Instead of having the stew, he had leftovers from the leek and mackerel pasta bake.
This recipe is suitable for freezing and according to the recipe can be kept for up to 2 months in the freezer, making leftovers a handy meal to have on standby in the freezer.
Alterations
As with the stew I made on Saturday night, I had no chicken thighs for the Spanish bean stew, so I used 2 chicken breasts instead. I actually meant to use 3, but lifted the wrong freezer bag out of the freezer! Anyway, to compensate for the lack of chicken I put an extra couple of potatoes in to the pot. Instead of using one tomato I used a tin of peeled plum tomatoes, breaking them up with the wooden spoon as they cooked. I only had 150g of chorizo instead of 200g. As well as a white onion I used a red onion - both were quite small. I didn't bother with the parsley as I had none in.
Cost
The chicken breasts cost €2, the chorizo was €1.52, the beans were €1.09, the tomatoes were 67 cent, the red onion was 15 cent, the white onion was 6 cent and I have allowed 50 cent for the potatoes, olive oil and stock cube. The total cost of the recipe was €5.99, making the cost per meal €3.
Next time I make it I will be adding an extra chicken breast - 2 just was not enough. This will increase the cost by an extra €1 for the whole recipe or 50 cent per meal. I still think that is quite a reasonable price for a yummy dinner.
To save time I made the stew on Wednesday night after the kids went to bed. So all I had to do this evening was re-heat the stew - making sure the chicken was heated through - and serve. As I used a stock cube to make my chicken stock, this meal was unsuitable for the baby. Instead of having the stew, he had leftovers from the leek and mackerel pasta bake.
This recipe is suitable for freezing and according to the recipe can be kept for up to 2 months in the freezer, making leftovers a handy meal to have on standby in the freezer.
Alterations
As with the stew I made on Saturday night, I had no chicken thighs for the Spanish bean stew, so I used 2 chicken breasts instead. I actually meant to use 3, but lifted the wrong freezer bag out of the freezer! Anyway, to compensate for the lack of chicken I put an extra couple of potatoes in to the pot. Instead of using one tomato I used a tin of peeled plum tomatoes, breaking them up with the wooden spoon as they cooked. I only had 150g of chorizo instead of 200g. As well as a white onion I used a red onion - both were quite small. I didn't bother with the parsley as I had none in.
Cost
The chicken breasts cost €2, the chorizo was €1.52, the beans were €1.09, the tomatoes were 67 cent, the red onion was 15 cent, the white onion was 6 cent and I have allowed 50 cent for the potatoes, olive oil and stock cube. The total cost of the recipe was €5.99, making the cost per meal €3.
Next time I make it I will be adding an extra chicken breast - 2 just was not enough. This will increase the cost by an extra €1 for the whole recipe or 50 cent per meal. I still think that is quite a reasonable price for a yummy dinner.
Sunday, 13 May 2012
Smoky chicken and bean stew
On Saturday night we had the smoky chicken and bean stew from the September 2008 issue of Olive magazine. I found the recipe on the GoodFood website and was attracted by the image (see below) of the stew. After reading the list of ingredients I decided to make it for dinner.
It was delicious!! Especially the chunks of pepper - they were bursting with flavour. Before he had even finished his my husband was asking me make it again sometime! The recipe suggests serving the stew with wholemeal pittas, so I did. We had two each. I heated them in the toaster before serving them and we cut them into strips to use to soak up the juices. It was really filling and we didn't need any more than the couple of pittas.
AlterationsI had difficulty getting the chicken thighs required for the recipe. One of the bigger Marks and Spencers that I was in a few weeks ago had them, but when I went to my local Marks and Spencers there were none. My local butcher doesn't sell them and I didn't see them anywhere else, so I ended up using two chicken breasts instead.
Instead of using borlotti beans I used kidney beans. I already had kidney beans in the cupboard, so using them meant I didn't have to buy a can of borlotti beans.
When I did my grocery shop in Dunnes they didn't have any coriander in stock, so I just left it out. I only own hot chilli powder in my cupboard so I used it instead of the mild chilli powder and I added a little smoked paprika as well.
The recipe called for half a red pepper, but I used a whole red pepper instead. Instead of using 1/2 a pack of chorizo I used 1/3. This is because I need the rest for the recipe I am I making on Thursday night. Plus, I felt there was enough meat in the recipe with the two chicken breasts.
Cost - The chicken breasts cost €2, the chorizo was 76 cent, the red pepper cost 50 cent, the red onion was 15 cent, kidney beans €1, the tomatoes cost 46 cent, the wholemeal pittas cost 47 cent and I have allowed another 30 cent for the olive oil, garlic cloves, stock cube and spices. The total cost for this meal was €5.64.
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| My smoky chicken and bean stew - looking at this is making me hungry! |
Saturday, 12 May 2012
Orange, carrot and mint soup
For lunch this weekend I wanted to make some sort of a carrot soup that I had never tried before. I didn't want anything with coriander in it or red lentils, so I did a search on the GoodFood website and found this recipe for orange, carrot and mint soup. All the ingredients were in my cupboards and I as interested to try the combination of orange, carrot and mint. It was lovely!
Now, I have to confess that when it came to making the soup I wasn't too pushed about step 3 - it seemed like it would take a lot of time to me. Plus it would result in extra dishes to wash which would use up even more time!! Instead I used my hand blender to blend the soup in the pot. It was still really smooth and velvety.
Alterations
I didn't really make any alterations to this recipe. I had no large onion so I used 2 small onions instead, but I don't really think this could be called an alteration as this ingredient was listed already. To lower the fat I didn't bother using the cream. If I was to make it again I might use fry lite to further lower the fat content.
I didn't add any salt to the soup and it tasted fine without it. I never add salt to any of my cooking as I think it's best to leave it for people to add their own salt.
Cost
The recipe was quite cheap to make. The carrots cost 70 cent, the onions were 10 cent (bought when they were 29 cent for a kg), the orange that I juiced was 80 cent and I have allowed 30 cent for the mint and the vegetable stock cube. This means that the recipe costs €1.70 in total. There is enough to do lunch for my family today and tomorrow.
Now, I have to confess that when it came to making the soup I wasn't too pushed about step 3 - it seemed like it would take a lot of time to me. Plus it would result in extra dishes to wash which would use up even more time!! Instead I used my hand blender to blend the soup in the pot. It was still really smooth and velvety.
Alterations
I didn't really make any alterations to this recipe. I had no large onion so I used 2 small onions instead, but I don't really think this could be called an alteration as this ingredient was listed already. To lower the fat I didn't bother using the cream. If I was to make it again I might use fry lite to further lower the fat content.
I didn't add any salt to the soup and it tasted fine without it. I never add salt to any of my cooking as I think it's best to leave it for people to add their own salt.
Cost
The recipe was quite cheap to make. The carrots cost 70 cent, the onions were 10 cent (bought when they were 29 cent for a kg), the orange that I juiced was 80 cent and I have allowed 30 cent for the mint and the vegetable stock cube. This means that the recipe costs €1.70 in total. There is enough to do lunch for my family today and tomorrow.
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| My effort in a bowl! |
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Quick chilli
For the first time, I have been so tempted by a chilli recipe that I have decided to try it. Usually, I look at recipes for chilli and decide to stick with my own after reminding myself of the saying 'if it's not broke, don't fix it'!
The reason behind my decision to try a new chilli recipe? Simple - this recipe includes chorizo which is one of my favourite ingredients!
The recipe I am using is Nigella Lawson's Quick chilli from her book Nigella Express cookbook. I have typed it out as Nigella has written it below. After the method I have included some alterations that I made to the recipe in order to make sure that it is suitable for the baby to eat.
The recipe is as follows:-
Ingredients
150g chorizo sausage (not the salami sort), halved length ways and cut into 5mm half moons
500g minced beef
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cardamon pods, bruised
1 x 500g jar good-quality tomato and chunky vegetable sauce for pasta
1 x 390g mixed spicy beans
60ml sweet chilli sauce
1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional, or if your beans are not spicy)
Method
Alterations
I made a few swaps when making my Quick Chilli to make sure that it was suitable for feeding to my baby. To lower the salt in the recipe I opted to use a 800g can of chopped tomatoes instead of the pasta sauce. I also used non-spicy beans and added the chilli flakes that were suggested by Nigella. I was concerned that the sauce in the spicy beans may have salt and sugar added to it. Plus, I already had non-spicy beans in my cupboard, so I didn't need to buy them.
I had two forced alterations - my cardamon pods had gone off and I have run out of ground coriander so I couldn't add either of these ingredients. Having never tasted the chilli before I didn't miss them, however the next time I make it I might add them to see how they alter the taste of the dish.
As I wasn't adding a pasta sauce with vegetables added to it I decided to add a finely chopped two small onions and a grated carrot large to the chilli in order to make sure that some vegetables other than the chopped tomatoes were included.
To make the meal stretch further additional vegetables could be added to the recipe. If I was to make it again I think that I would add some mushrooms and grated courgette to bulk it up and increase my family's intake of vegetables.
Tip
Although this recipe is quick to make, if I was making it again I would make it the night before and re-heat for dinner when I get home from work. Doing this would mean that it would only take as long as it takes to prepare the rice to have the dinner ready.
Cost
I used a pound of mince in this recipe - I know it says 500g, but I still buy it in pounds and have no idea how many grams is in a pound. Anyway, the pound of mince I used came from my butchers and cost €3. The chorizo I used were cooking chorizo that I bought in Marks and Spencer's on offer - 2 packs of 6 chorizo sausages for €7. I used 3 sausages in my chilli, so that is a cost of €1.75. The chopped tomatoes were €1. The can of mix beans I used was bought in Aldi a while ago and I can not remember the cost of it, so have estimated it at €1. For the remaining ingredients - spices, onions and carrot - I am allowing 50 cent. The total cost for my version of the recipe is €5.50.
Using my version of the recipe I made enough chilli to feed my family of 4 (2 adults, a pre-schooler and a baby) two nights. The portions were generous and I served them with rice. I think that including the cost of the rice, the meal cost €3 for each night.
The reason behind my decision to try a new chilli recipe? Simple - this recipe includes chorizo which is one of my favourite ingredients!
The recipe I am using is Nigella Lawson's Quick chilli from her book Nigella Express cookbook. I have typed it out as Nigella has written it below. After the method I have included some alterations that I made to the recipe in order to make sure that it is suitable for the baby to eat.
The recipe is as follows:-
Ingredients
150g chorizo sausage (not the salami sort), halved length ways and cut into 5mm half moons
500g minced beef
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cardamon pods, bruised
1 x 500g jar good-quality tomato and chunky vegetable sauce for pasta
1 x 390g mixed spicy beans
60ml sweet chilli sauce
1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional, or if your beans are not spicy)
Method
- Put the sliced chorizo into a hot, heavy-based pan and cook over a medium heat until the sausage crisps a little and gives up its orange-red oil.
- Add the mince and cook for about 5 minutes, breaking it up with a wooden fork to help it brown.
- Stir in the spices and then add the tomato-vegetable pasta sauces, spicy beans and chilli sauce. Also add the chilli flakes if you need more heat or if you've managed only to find some regular canned beans.
- Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
- You can eat this with rice or just as it is. If you're not adding any rice, you might consider dolloping with a blob of sour cream and sprinkling some grated cheese and chopped coriander. I can't think of a way of eating this that isn't good.
Alterations
I made a few swaps when making my Quick Chilli to make sure that it was suitable for feeding to my baby. To lower the salt in the recipe I opted to use a 800g can of chopped tomatoes instead of the pasta sauce. I also used non-spicy beans and added the chilli flakes that were suggested by Nigella. I was concerned that the sauce in the spicy beans may have salt and sugar added to it. Plus, I already had non-spicy beans in my cupboard, so I didn't need to buy them.
I had two forced alterations - my cardamon pods had gone off and I have run out of ground coriander so I couldn't add either of these ingredients. Having never tasted the chilli before I didn't miss them, however the next time I make it I might add them to see how they alter the taste of the dish.
As I wasn't adding a pasta sauce with vegetables added to it I decided to add a finely chopped two small onions and a grated carrot large to the chilli in order to make sure that some vegetables other than the chopped tomatoes were included.
To make the meal stretch further additional vegetables could be added to the recipe. If I was to make it again I think that I would add some mushrooms and grated courgette to bulk it up and increase my family's intake of vegetables.
Tip
Although this recipe is quick to make, if I was making it again I would make it the night before and re-heat for dinner when I get home from work. Doing this would mean that it would only take as long as it takes to prepare the rice to have the dinner ready.
Cost
I used a pound of mince in this recipe - I know it says 500g, but I still buy it in pounds and have no idea how many grams is in a pound. Anyway, the pound of mince I used came from my butchers and cost €3. The chorizo I used were cooking chorizo that I bought in Marks and Spencer's on offer - 2 packs of 6 chorizo sausages for €7. I used 3 sausages in my chilli, so that is a cost of €1.75. The chopped tomatoes were €1. The can of mix beans I used was bought in Aldi a while ago and I can not remember the cost of it, so have estimated it at €1. For the remaining ingredients - spices, onions and carrot - I am allowing 50 cent. The total cost for my version of the recipe is €5.50.
Using my version of the recipe I made enough chilli to feed my family of 4 (2 adults, a pre-schooler and a baby) two nights. The portions were generous and I served them with rice. I think that including the cost of the rice, the meal cost €3 for each night.
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!).
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| 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.
Monday, 30 April 2012
Very quick chicken stew
Dinner tonight was very quick chicken stew from Olive magazine's December 2006 issue. I don't buy Olive magazine but the GoodFood website has some recipes from the magazine on it. I found this recipe when I was looking for a low GI chicken meal on the website.
The stew serves two. As I wanted to have it for dinner on Tuesday night as well I doubled the ingredients. While saving time on preparing dinner tomorrow night, it did take slightly longer than the 30 mins stated to make as there was a lot more in the pot.
I made a few alterations to the recipe. I had chicken breasts in the freezer, so I used four of them instead of the chicken thighs listed in the recipe ingredients. Also, I had now fresh tarragon in. I do have dried tarragon in my cupboard, but rather than use it, I decided to use some parsley as I had bought some for the quinoa (bulghar wheat) tabbouleh and had some leftover.
As I want to have give some of the chicken stew to my baby for dinner tomorrow night, I left the chicken stock cube out of the recipe, just adding boiled water instead. As the chicken and vegetables were going to be cooking in the water I figured that they would flavour it. To be sure that the stew had plenty of flavour without the stock cube, I threw a couple of bay leaves into the pot and seasoned with pepper to add a bit more flavour to the stew. You can buy low salt stock cubes suitable for giving to babies, but I do not have any of these in the house. While the stew tasted ok - it was much better the second night, I think it would have tasted better if I had used chicken or vegetable stock in it. Next time I make it I will use some chicken or vegetable stock that I make myself in advance.
TIP - Anytime I have a roast chicken for dinner, I always boil the bones after the stripping all the meat from it to make stock. I throw in a carrot, celery and an onion (skin on) if I have them in the house. I then pour the stock into some 'Pour and store' bags and put in the freezer for when I need it. Unfortunately I didn't have any in the freezer for this recipe, otherwise I would have used some.
Cost - The chicken breasts were bought at the butchers when it was 12 chicken breasts for €10. I used four chicken breasts in this recipe, so the cost was €3.33. The potatoes were 99 cent, the shallots were 49 cent, the carrots were 50 cent and the peas were 50 cent (another estimate). I have allowed 20 cent for the parsley, bay leaves and pepper. The total cost is €6.01, making the cost per meal 0.005 cent over €3! Not too bad.
The stew serves two. As I wanted to have it for dinner on Tuesday night as well I doubled the ingredients. While saving time on preparing dinner tomorrow night, it did take slightly longer than the 30 mins stated to make as there was a lot more in the pot.
I made a few alterations to the recipe. I had chicken breasts in the freezer, so I used four of them instead of the chicken thighs listed in the recipe ingredients. Also, I had now fresh tarragon in. I do have dried tarragon in my cupboard, but rather than use it, I decided to use some parsley as I had bought some for the quinoa (bulghar wheat) tabbouleh and had some leftover.
As I want to have give some of the chicken stew to my baby for dinner tomorrow night, I left the chicken stock cube out of the recipe, just adding boiled water instead. As the chicken and vegetables were going to be cooking in the water I figured that they would flavour it. To be sure that the stew had plenty of flavour without the stock cube, I threw a couple of bay leaves into the pot and seasoned with pepper to add a bit more flavour to the stew. You can buy low salt stock cubes suitable for giving to babies, but I do not have any of these in the house. While the stew tasted ok - it was much better the second night, I think it would have tasted better if I had used chicken or vegetable stock in it. Next time I make it I will use some chicken or vegetable stock that I make myself in advance.
TIP - Anytime I have a roast chicken for dinner, I always boil the bones after the stripping all the meat from it to make stock. I throw in a carrot, celery and an onion (skin on) if I have them in the house. I then pour the stock into some 'Pour and store' bags and put in the freezer for when I need it. Unfortunately I didn't have any in the freezer for this recipe, otherwise I would have used some.
Cost - The chicken breasts were bought at the butchers when it was 12 chicken breasts for €10. I used four chicken breasts in this recipe, so the cost was €3.33. The potatoes were 99 cent, the shallots were 49 cent, the carrots were 50 cent and the peas were 50 cent (another estimate). I have allowed 20 cent for the parsley, bay leaves and pepper. The total cost is €6.01, making the cost per meal 0.005 cent over €3! Not too bad.
Sunday, 29 April 2012
Quinoa tabbouleh, minus the quinoa!
Just in case I am not keen on the bulghar wheat version I halved the ingredients and made enough to serve 2 people, so it will do me for lunch on Monday and Tuesday. If I like it I will make more on Tuesday night for lunch on Wednesday and Thursday. If I'm not keen on the Bulgar wheat I'll use cous cous instead when I make it on Tuesday night.
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| Qunioa tabbouleh, from GoodFood magazine |
If you looked at my meal planner for the next week you may have noticed that one of the things I was planning to make for lunches was Quinoa tabbouleh. Unfortunately I never checked to make sure I had quinoa in the house before going to do the grocery shop, so I bought all the ingredients and when I went to make it tonight for lunch at work over the next few days, I discovered that I have no quinoa in any of my cupboards. Gutted!! I assume I had some in as I usually do, so it just goes to show that you should always check your cupboards thoroughly before going to get the groceries.
As I had all the ingredients in I decided to check to see which ingredients I had that might make a suitable substitute. I decided to use Bulgar wheat in place of the quinoa, so I guess you could say I actually made Bulgar wheat tabbouleh. I'll find out tomorrow if it tastes as good as the quinoa tabbouleh!
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.
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, 18 April 2012
Skinny Irish stew
recipe is from Olive magazine's December 2011 issue. I found it on the Good Food magazine website by searching for using the words 'lamb' and 'stew'.
I confess that I have never actually made a stew with lamb before - I've always used beef as that is what my mother did. Yet every recipe I come across for Irish stew has lamb in it. From talking to friends, they all use beef in their stew as well, so I'd love to know where all the Irish people are who use lamb in their stew! Anyway, I decided it was about time I give it a go.
The recipe is fairly simple and easy to make. All you have to do is brown the lamb, add the onion and through in the rest of the ingredients then simmer for an hour. The fact that it has to simmer for an hour means that it is not that ideal for making on a work night when quick dinners are more suitable. For this reason I chose to make it the night before and reheat when I got home.
I used some extra carrots as I had them in and figured I might as well bulk up the stew a little instead of leaving the carrots in the fridge to potentially go off. I had no chives or parsley in, so instead I used some dried parsley. I also had no lamb stock cubes in the house so I used a chicken stock cube instead. It was really tasty, but if I make it again I'd like to try it with the lamb stock to see what it tastes like. I'd also like to use some fresh parsley and add the chives as well, though it tasted fine without the chives and with dried parsley.
Cost - It is difficult for me to work out the cost the skinny Irish stew as it uses some ingredients that I already had in the house - I had the lamb in the freezer and the pearl barley. If I remember correctly the lamb was €3. The potatoes cost €1.29, the carrots cost €1.99 and the onion was 10 cent. I have allowed 50 cent for the stock cube, pearl barley and for the dried parsley. I have enough to do dinner for our house for two nights, so the recipe works out at €3.44 for each night. Not bad.
TIP - You could make this a bit cheaper by just using ordinary carrots instead of Chantenay carrots. My local Dunnes sells 1kg for 99 cent, so this would make the cost of the carrots just 20 cent, reducing the overall cost of the stew by €1.79. To be honest though, the Chantenay carrots tasted lovely in this stew.
TIP 2 - This recipe has only 341 calories per serving which is quite good for such a filling dinner. If you wanted to lower the calories and the fat further, you could leave out the olive oil and brown the meat in it's own juices. I used the olive oil for brown my meat, but to be honest I really didn't need to so next time I make it I'll be leaving it out.
Sunday, 25 March 2012
Lentils with chorizo and red wine - yummy!!
On Saturday evening, as planned, we had lentils with chorizo and red wine for dinner. I have to say that it totally surpassed any expectations that I had. My husband confessed to me after we had finished that when he saw it in the pan prior to being served he was a bit concerned about eating it, but that he loved it and would like to add it to our regular list of dinners. Proof that looks can indeed be deceptive!!
As per the recipe suggestion I served mine with plenty of crusty bread which we used to mop up the juices. As the kids had gone to bed, we decided to finish the bottle of wine we used with the meal.
I added more liquid than is stated in the recipe as I felt my lentils were not soft enough by the time the liquid had reduced. I poured in a bit more water, but I think if I make it again I will simply add an extra 100mls of stock. If it doesn't all reduce that won't be a problem as the juice is delicious mopped up with the bread.
I had no fresh thyme in so I didn't add it. If I had thought at the time I would have added a little dried thyme, but I wasn't really thinking.
The other difference I made was totally accidental. I had my parsley prepared in advance...and forgot to add it! My husband went into the kitchen with the bowls when we had finished and shouted that he could really taste the parsley in the dish. Cheeky git!! Anyway, if you do not have any parsley then don't worry about it as I can assure you that the meal still tastes delicious. Next time I will be adding parsley though as it is one of my favourite ingredients, which I guess just goes to show how tasty the dish was that I was so wrapped up in eating it that I hadn't noticed that I left the parsley out!
COST - it is hard for me to work out the cost of this one as I had the chorizo, garlic and lentils in. I had to buy wine, onion, leek and the parsley which I accidentally omitted. I think it is safe to say that the recipe is well under €5 though, but I think the cost depends a lot on the wine you buy.
As per the recipe suggestion I served mine with plenty of crusty bread which we used to mop up the juices. As the kids had gone to bed, we decided to finish the bottle of wine we used with the meal.
I added more liquid than is stated in the recipe as I felt my lentils were not soft enough by the time the liquid had reduced. I poured in a bit more water, but I think if I make it again I will simply add an extra 100mls of stock. If it doesn't all reduce that won't be a problem as the juice is delicious mopped up with the bread.
I had no fresh thyme in so I didn't add it. If I had thought at the time I would have added a little dried thyme, but I wasn't really thinking.
The other difference I made was totally accidental. I had my parsley prepared in advance...and forgot to add it! My husband went into the kitchen with the bowls when we had finished and shouted that he could really taste the parsley in the dish. Cheeky git!! Anyway, if you do not have any parsley then don't worry about it as I can assure you that the meal still tastes delicious. Next time I will be adding parsley though as it is one of my favourite ingredients, which I guess just goes to show how tasty the dish was that I was so wrapped up in eating it that I hadn't noticed that I left the parsley out!
COST - it is hard for me to work out the cost of this one as I had the chorizo, garlic and lentils in. I had to buy wine, onion, leek and the parsley which I accidentally omitted. I think it is safe to say that the recipe is well under €5 though, but I think the cost depends a lot on the wine you buy.
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Chunky chicken and ham chowder
Our dinner tonight made use of some of the food we had in our freezer. At Christmas, the ham we got was very large (I had to get the butcher to cut it in half so that I could cook it!) and we had quite a bit leftover. So I sliced it and froze it to use in dinners early in 2012. I decided to use some of the ham this week, but didn't fancy having a dinner of meat, veg and potatoes both nights that I am having ham, so opted to make the chunky chicken and ham chowder from February 2006 issue of Goodfood dinner tonight.
TIP - Although the fat content of this meal is low to begin with, it is possible to lower it further by using fry lite spray in place of the olive oil and by using skimmed milk.
I made it earlier in the day for dinner later one. This worked out well, although I did find it necessary to add a bit of water as it becomes extremely thick when standing.
For me one of the best things about this chowder was the fact that I was able to give it to the baby as well without making an alterations. I just mashed the veg and finely chopped the meat before giving it to him. He really enjoyed it and actually ended up having some from his dads bowl as well!!COST - As I already had the ham leftover it is difficult to work out the exact cost for this recipe. The leeks were €1.32, the potatoes were 50 cent, the milk as 80 cent, the chicken was €2 and the peas and sweetcorn were about 60 cent. So, excluding the cost of the ham, this recipe was €4.62 for 4 servings (I have counted the baby and toddler serving as one, plus serving for lunch earlier in the day when I made it).
To be honest, I found that there was a lot of meat in it and I think that the next time I make it I will use one chicken breast instead of two, which will lower the cost a bit. I also think it would be possible to add some extra veg to it and make it last for a second night or lunches the next day.
Friday, 27 January 2012
Black bean and chorizo soup
I have to say I give it a ten out of ten for taste! I was a bit dubious about it as I have never cooked with black beans before. Before Christmas I had got some dried black beans in for a different recipe that I never got round to making. So I used them for this recipe.
There was no cumin in my kitchen when I went to make the soup, so I just left it out. Also, I couldn't find hot smoked paprika anywhere so just used ordinary hot paprika instead. I have come across a few recipes that call for smoked paprika but I have never come across it in a shop. If anyone knows where I could get this (in Ireland), then please post and let me know! My mum has been on the look out for it for ages as well.
I doubled up the ingredients and managed to get 5 portions of soup for lunches out of the pot. I think that this soup would also make a lovely hearty dinner. Just serve with some bread.
TIP - Using dried beans instead of tins of beans can make the recipe a lot cheaper. You need to remember to prepare them in advance though. While off on maternity leave I say a brilliant tip from Rachel Ray for dried beans. She suggested that you should rehydrate the beans, divide them into portions and then stick them freezer, ready for when you need them. Then when a recipe calls for them, just take them out of the freezer and add them into the pot. I haven't done this myself, but I think it's a brilliant idea and intend to do it in the future as it would be a real time saver.
Cost wise, I used 50 cent worth of chorizo, 2 peppers that cost 45 cent each, a red onion that cost 23 cent, a lime, which I think cost around 30 cent (my receipt has gone missing this week so I can not double check) and I will allow another 80 cent for the spices, vegetable stock cube, beans and 3 garlic cloves (this is just an estimate). The total cost of the recipe was € 2.73. That's 55 cent per portion.
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Irish coddled pork with cider
On Sunday I made the Irish coddled pork with cider recipe from the March 2008 issue of the Goodfood magazine. This recipe is for 2, so I doubled it and served the leftovers on Monday night. It went down a treat, especially with my daughter who has recently decided she does not like cabbage - obviously she likes the taste of cabbage that has been cooked in stock and cider. It is a brilliant way of increasing your vegetable intake for the day and is a lovely filling dinner for cold winter nights.
To make it I used one of the packs of smoked bacon medallions that I recently got on offer in Lidl for €1.49. I used half a white cabbage (65 cent), a whole swede (89 cent), 4 carrots (50 cent) and 6 potatoes (estimated at about 90 cent). The four pork loins that I used came as part of a deal I got in the butchers last weekend, so I have allowed € 5 for them. I used Bulmers cider that I had left over from Christmas which I bought for 87p for a pint bottle (it was in a case of 8 for sale for £7 before Christmas), so I have allowed 50 cent for the Bulmers I used. In total the cost was € 9.93, making it less than € 5 per meal.
To be honest I am pleasantly surprised at how much this cost as I thought that it was a lot more than this.
TIP to lower fat - to lower the fat in this dish the first thing I would do is to grill the pork loins instead of frying them in butter in the pot. I wouldn't use the butter in the recipe at all and would use spray some fry lite in the pot before adding the bacon and vegetables. To further lower the fat you could leave the cider out, or use a 'light' cider such as bulmers light. You could also use less potatoes and more vegetables.
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