Showing posts with label money saving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money saving. Show all posts
Thursday, 25 July 2013
Garden soup
As mentioned in my previous post, I have been quite busy in
my garden over the past few months planting and maintaining veg. The first things that I planted this
year were spinach, watercress and rocket seeds.
I sowed them straight into a prepared bed in May
Monday, 17 December 2012
Menu plan 16th December 2012 - 21st December 2012
As I get older I frequently find myself wondering where the time has gone. It's not different today when I look at my last post - where has the time gone? I am sure that, like me, all of you are up to your eyes in Christmas preparations. I decided to take a break from the wrapping and writing cards to type up my menu plan for this week.
So, my menu plan from the 16th December to the 21st December 2012 is as follows
So, my menu plan from the 16th December to the 21st December 2012 is as follows
Saturday, 17 November 2012
Menu plan 17/11/2012 to 23/11/2012
Once again I've managed to not find the time to post my menu plan for the last few weeks. I figured while I had the computer on, checking the ingredients I need for my shopping list, I would make a quick update.
Anyway, my menu plan for the 17th November to the 23rd November is as follows:-
Saturday dinner - Mince and onions (from the freezer), potatoes and baked beans
Sunday dinner - Salmon and lemon rice pastry parcel
Monday dinner - leftover salmon and lemon rice pastry parcel
Tuesday dinner - Chilli
Wednesday dinner - Chicken with creamy bacon penne
Thursday dinner - Fish, chips, peas and sweetcorn
Friday dinner - Roast ham, potatoes and veg
For lunches this week we will have sandwiches, leftover chilli and salads.
At the moment I am trying to run down my freezer again before Christmas as I'll probably have a lot of leftovers to freeze (my husband insists on getting a big turkey and freezing what we don't eat as we only ever have turkey once a year). This week, all the meat I will be using is from the freezer, except for the salmon for tomorrow's dinner which is in the fridge. This will allow me to gain a lot of space in the freezer, as well as saving a bit of money as I will not have to buy any meat.
My husband has classes on Tuesday evenings, so I will make the chilli ahead on Monday evening so that he can take some to work to eat before he heads to class. Having the chilli ready ahead of time will also help save some time in the evening when I get home which will be handy as I will be trying to get dinner on the table as quickly as possible as well as trying to entertain the kids.
When I make chilli there is usually leftovers, but rather than put them in the freezer, like I would normally do, I will use any leftovers for lunches. There is nothing quite like a nice warm filling lunch at this time of year. Unfortunately I am still trying to lose weight so I'll be having salads!
Anyway, my menu plan for the 17th November to the 23rd November is as follows:-
Saturday dinner - Mince and onions (from the freezer), potatoes and baked beans
Sunday dinner - Salmon and lemon rice pastry parcel
Monday dinner - leftover salmon and lemon rice pastry parcel
Tuesday dinner - Chilli
Wednesday dinner - Chicken with creamy bacon penne
Thursday dinner - Fish, chips, peas and sweetcorn
Friday dinner - Roast ham, potatoes and veg
For lunches this week we will have sandwiches, leftover chilli and salads.
At the moment I am trying to run down my freezer again before Christmas as I'll probably have a lot of leftovers to freeze (my husband insists on getting a big turkey and freezing what we don't eat as we only ever have turkey once a year). This week, all the meat I will be using is from the freezer, except for the salmon for tomorrow's dinner which is in the fridge. This will allow me to gain a lot of space in the freezer, as well as saving a bit of money as I will not have to buy any meat.
My husband has classes on Tuesday evenings, so I will make the chilli ahead on Monday evening so that he can take some to work to eat before he heads to class. Having the chilli ready ahead of time will also help save some time in the evening when I get home which will be handy as I will be trying to get dinner on the table as quickly as possible as well as trying to entertain the kids.
When I make chilli there is usually leftovers, but rather than put them in the freezer, like I would normally do, I will use any leftovers for lunches. There is nothing quite like a nice warm filling lunch at this time of year. Unfortunately I am still trying to lose weight so I'll be having salads!
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Sweet and sour pork stir fry
On Tuesday night we had some sweet and sour pork stir fry leftovers that I had frozen last week. The recipe is for two, but I doubled up the ingredients so that I would have enough left to freeze for a dinner at a future date when I was scarce on time. I served my sweet and sour pork with rice both times. The recipe was easy to make and extremely quick to prepare and cook.
Although the recipe has ingredients that are high in salt/sugar - the tomato ketchup, brown sugar and soy sauce - which I wouldn't normally give to my baby, I decided to give some to my son the first night I made it. He loved it! Since then I have had him at the Dr with a rash that turns out to be a food allergy and have had to cut all fruit from his diet, re-introducing one fruit at a time, so I was unable to give it to him on Tuesday night due to the pineapple in it.
Alterations
The biggest alteration that I made to the recipe has already been mentioned - I doubled up the ingredients to make enough for the freezer. With regards to the pork strips, I used pork loins instead. I had several in my freezer, so I cut two up into small strips and used these instead of going and buying pork strips. This saved me money on my grocery shopping. I didn't bother with the garnish of shredded spring onions and added all the spring onions that I used to the pan instead. I added a little water to the pan to make extra sauce.
Cost
The pork loins cost me €2. I bought the pineapple on offer for €1 and had it in the cupboard. I used two peppers which were on offer for 79 cent each, making them €1.58. I used a bunch of spring onions which cost another 79 cent. I have allowed 50 cent for the tomato ketchup, soy sauce, oil, sugar, white wine vinegar and cornflour, all of which were in my cupboard already. This means that the total cost of the stir fry was € 5.87 (excluding the rice).
This did two nights dinners for 2 adults and 1 child (the baby only ate it once) and we had an extra portion leftover for lunch one day as well. So the actual cost for me per meal was probably more around the €3 mark including the rice.
Although the recipe has ingredients that are high in salt/sugar - the tomato ketchup, brown sugar and soy sauce - which I wouldn't normally give to my baby, I decided to give some to my son the first night I made it. He loved it! Since then I have had him at the Dr with a rash that turns out to be a food allergy and have had to cut all fruit from his diet, re-introducing one fruit at a time, so I was unable to give it to him on Tuesday night due to the pineapple in it.
Alterations
The biggest alteration that I made to the recipe has already been mentioned - I doubled up the ingredients to make enough for the freezer. With regards to the pork strips, I used pork loins instead. I had several in my freezer, so I cut two up into small strips and used these instead of going and buying pork strips. This saved me money on my grocery shopping. I didn't bother with the garnish of shredded spring onions and added all the spring onions that I used to the pan instead. I added a little water to the pan to make extra sauce.
Cost
The pork loins cost me €2. I bought the pineapple on offer for €1 and had it in the cupboard. I used two peppers which were on offer for 79 cent each, making them €1.58. I used a bunch of spring onions which cost another 79 cent. I have allowed 50 cent for the tomato ketchup, soy sauce, oil, sugar, white wine vinegar and cornflour, all of which were in my cupboard already. This means that the total cost of the stir fry was € 5.87 (excluding the rice).
This did two nights dinners for 2 adults and 1 child (the baby only ate it once) and we had an extra portion leftover for lunch one day as well. So the actual cost for me per meal was probably more around the €3 mark including the rice.
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.
Monday, 2 July 2012
Not exactly going to plan...
So, day one of my July challenge hasn't exactly gone to plan as I ended up not being able to do my grocery shopping as yet for a number of reasons. Instead of having the turkey meatballs that we were supposed to have this evening, we ended up having fish, chips, peas and sweetcorn. There was fish in the freezer and I used tins of peas and sweetcorn, so all that needed to be bought were the chips which my husband picked up on his way home from work, along with some bread and bananas. He spent €5.38 in total leaving me with €44.62 for the groceries for the rest of the week.
As we didn't have the turkey meatballs this evening, I am going to make them for dinner tomorrow night instead. I'll just bump my entire menu plan along one day, freezing the leftover better-than-baked-beans instead of having it the following evening for dinner. I could just stick to the recipe and make enough to serve dinner for one night, but it is such a simple recipe to double up and save the leftovers for another night that it would be a shame to waste the opportunity to save time another evening.
I am hoping to get my groceries tomorrow so I've done my shopping list in preparation for going. It is REALLY short this week so I know that I am definitely going to stay within my budget. It is as follows:
I am actually quite excited to see what my food shop comes to for the week. I think I'll put whatever extra I save, on top of the €50 that I am aiming to save, into our savings account as well.
As we didn't have the turkey meatballs this evening, I am going to make them for dinner tomorrow night instead. I'll just bump my entire menu plan along one day, freezing the leftover better-than-baked-beans instead of having it the following evening for dinner. I could just stick to the recipe and make enough to serve dinner for one night, but it is such a simple recipe to double up and save the leftovers for another night that it would be a shame to waste the opportunity to save time another evening.
I am hoping to get my groceries tomorrow so I've done my shopping list in preparation for going. It is REALLY short this week so I know that I am definitely going to stay within my budget. It is as follows:
- Red Pepper (on offer for 79cent in Dunnes at the moment)
- Mushrooms x 2 punnets (on offer in Lidl for 69 cent per 250g at the moment)
- Milk - slim line x 2 litres
- Milk - full fat x 2 litres
- Cheese - babybel
- Ham
- Bacon medallions (on offer in Lidl for €1.69)
- Cartons of ready made formula x 15 (10% back in Dunnes on baby products ending on the 3rd July)
- Toilet cleaner
I am actually quite excited to see what my food shop comes to for the week. I think I'll put whatever extra I save, on top of the €50 that I am aiming to save, into our savings account as well.
Friday, 29 June 2012
July challenge starts now - the first menu plan of the month!
So, this week will be the first week of my July challenge where I aim to limit my grocery spend to €50 per week. I hate to admit it but I am actually quite excited by my July challenge. I know, I know - this makes me sound extremely sad, but I think it will force me to exercise a bit of creativity to stay below the €50 each week.
Now, to be clear, this €50 will probably only be food shopping with the odd toiletery, pack of nappies or tub of formula thrown in. I have quite a large stockpile of toileteries, nappies and formula built up at the moment from buying when they were on offer or from using my Boots Advantage card to buy them. If I was to buy formula and nappies each week as well as the groceries, I think I would need to increase my shopping budget to €75 to accomodate this. So if you have decided to give yourself a July challenge, remember to allow yourself some extra money to allow for expensives items like this or you will be setting yourself up for a fall!
This weekend I am up visiting my parents as it is my dads 50th birthday, so I won't need to worry about grocery shopping for dinner on Saturday or Sunday evening. So, for this week my menu plan only needs to cover Monday to Friday.
So, my menu plan for the 2th July 2012 to 6th July 2012 is as follows:-
Monday dinner - Turkey meatballs in tomato and fennel sauce
Tuesday dinner - Leftovers
Wednesday dinner - Mushroom and rice one-pot
Thursday dinner - Better than baked beans and wedges
Friday dinner - Leftovers
For lunches we will have ham sandwiches, leftover mushroom and rice one-pot and tuna salad.
Now, to be clear, this €50 will probably only be food shopping with the odd toiletery, pack of nappies or tub of formula thrown in. I have quite a large stockpile of toileteries, nappies and formula built up at the moment from buying when they were on offer or from using my Boots Advantage card to buy them. If I was to buy formula and nappies each week as well as the groceries, I think I would need to increase my shopping budget to €75 to accomodate this. So if you have decided to give yourself a July challenge, remember to allow yourself some extra money to allow for expensives items like this or you will be setting yourself up for a fall!
This weekend I am up visiting my parents as it is my dads 50th birthday, so I won't need to worry about grocery shopping for dinner on Saturday or Sunday evening. So, for this week my menu plan only needs to cover Monday to Friday.
So, my menu plan for the 2th July 2012 to 6th July 2012 is as follows:-
Monday dinner - Turkey meatballs in tomato and fennel sauce
Tuesday dinner - Leftovers
Wednesday dinner - Mushroom and rice one-pot
Thursday dinner - Better than baked beans and wedges
Friday dinner - Leftovers
For lunches we will have ham sandwiches, leftover mushroom and rice one-pot and tuna salad.
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
July challenge - €50 per week
So, as the title suggests I have set myself a bit of a challenge for July. I intend to limit my grocery spend for each week in July to €50 per week. I've recently re-done my monthly budget again and I've lowered my grocery budget down to €100 per week again, so if I manage to spend €50 per week throughout July I'll be able to save €200 which I'll put into my savings account.
There are a few reasons why I've decided to do this. Firstly, it'd be nice to put the extra money into my savings account as it'll come in handy come Christmas time. Secondly, I am hoping to run down the contents of the freezer. Thirdly, if I limit the amount I am spending each week to €50 then I'll be forced get creative with the contents of my store cupboard.
So, to help to try and complete this challenge I will be taking an inventory of my kitchen cupboards and freezer so that I have an accurate list of what I have in the house. I'll then plan my weekly menu using this list, as well as considering what is on offer in the shops each week.
Hopefully I'll be able to stick to it and still make some yummy meals for my family!
If anyone has any suggestions of cheap and cheerful, yet tasty meals then please leave a comment sharing your suggestions.
There are a few reasons why I've decided to do this. Firstly, it'd be nice to put the extra money into my savings account as it'll come in handy come Christmas time. Secondly, I am hoping to run down the contents of the freezer. Thirdly, if I limit the amount I am spending each week to €50 then I'll be forced get creative with the contents of my store cupboard.
So, to help to try and complete this challenge I will be taking an inventory of my kitchen cupboards and freezer so that I have an accurate list of what I have in the house. I'll then plan my weekly menu using this list, as well as considering what is on offer in the shops each week.
Hopefully I'll be able to stick to it and still make some yummy meals for my family!
If anyone has any suggestions of cheap and cheerful, yet tasty meals then please leave a comment sharing your suggestions.
Sunday, 17 June 2012
Salmon with basil veg
Last week I made a version of the spring salmon with minty veg recipe from the Goodfood website for dinner one of the nights. Mine was more like spring salmon with basil veg though as I had leftover basil in the fridge and decided to use it, as per the suggestion at the bottom of the recipe.
With regards to the veg, I used a mix of fresh and frozen veg. I used broccoli, green beans and frozen peas. This meant that I had a little bit of prep to do for the broccoli, but I was able to do this while the potatoes were boiling so it didn't really take any extra time.
Cooking the salmon in the microwave worked really well. I have used the microwave to cook fish before and I've found that you have to be very careful when doing it as it is easy to overcook it and make it rubbery. However, with this recipe the salmon stayed really moist owing to the that it was covered with the dressing. I stopped the microwave after 3 and a half minutes to check it and then gave it another 15 seconds and it was done. If you've not used a microwave before to cook fish then it might be a good idea to check the salmon periodically while it is cooking to make sure it doesn't overcook.
Tip
I made extra salmon, potatoes and veg and chopped it up and froze it in portions for the baby for during the week. He devoured his portion and ate some green beans as finger food as well. If I am doing a dinner that is suitable for him I have started making extra to freeze for him rather than making food specially for him now. When I defrost a portion and heat it up for him I will add a bit of boiled water to it as it can be quite dry when it comes out of the freezer. I find this is a handy way of getting water into him as well as he can be a bit reluctant to drink it some days.
Cost
The salmon was €6 for three fillets (I used Donegal catch frozen fillets which are skinned), the basil was 40 cent, the lemon was 25 cent, the frozen peas were 30 cent, the broccoli was 40 cent, the green beans were €1.50 and the potatoes I used were 99 cent. This means the total cost of the meal that I made was €9.84. For this I feed two adults, two kids and got 8 portions for the freezer for the baby.
This is one of the more expensive meals that I have made, but given that I got so many portions of dinner for the baby out of it as well I think it works out as quite good value when you consider the cost of jars of baby food. If I had used all frozen veg then the cost could have been lowered a bit. Also, when my potatoes and green beans are eventually ready in the garden, and if I planted some herbs, I could lower the cost further.
With regards to the veg, I used a mix of fresh and frozen veg. I used broccoli, green beans and frozen peas. This meant that I had a little bit of prep to do for the broccoli, but I was able to do this while the potatoes were boiling so it didn't really take any extra time.
Cooking the salmon in the microwave worked really well. I have used the microwave to cook fish before and I've found that you have to be very careful when doing it as it is easy to overcook it and make it rubbery. However, with this recipe the salmon stayed really moist owing to the that it was covered with the dressing. I stopped the microwave after 3 and a half minutes to check it and then gave it another 15 seconds and it was done. If you've not used a microwave before to cook fish then it might be a good idea to check the salmon periodically while it is cooking to make sure it doesn't overcook.
Tip
I made extra salmon, potatoes and veg and chopped it up and froze it in portions for the baby for during the week. He devoured his portion and ate some green beans as finger food as well. If I am doing a dinner that is suitable for him I have started making extra to freeze for him rather than making food specially for him now. When I defrost a portion and heat it up for him I will add a bit of boiled water to it as it can be quite dry when it comes out of the freezer. I find this is a handy way of getting water into him as well as he can be a bit reluctant to drink it some days.
Cost
The salmon was €6 for three fillets (I used Donegal catch frozen fillets which are skinned), the basil was 40 cent, the lemon was 25 cent, the frozen peas were 30 cent, the broccoli was 40 cent, the green beans were €1.50 and the potatoes I used were 99 cent. This means the total cost of the meal that I made was €9.84. For this I feed two adults, two kids and got 8 portions for the freezer for the baby.
This is one of the more expensive meals that I have made, but given that I got so many portions of dinner for the baby out of it as well I think it works out as quite good value when you consider the cost of jars of baby food. If I had used all frozen veg then the cost could have been lowered a bit. Also, when my potatoes and green beans are eventually ready in the garden, and if I planted some herbs, I could lower the cost further.
Friday, 15 June 2012
Menu plan 16/6/2012 to 22/6/2012
It's been a while since I put together a proper menu plan but I decided that I needed to take the time to put one together this evening for the next week. So, my menu plan for the 16th June to the 22nd June is as follows:-
Saturday lunch - spring onion soup
Saturday dinner - Chorizo chicken
Sunday lunch - leftover soup
Sunday dinner - Steak, mushrooms, onions, chips, sweetcorn and peas (Fathers day request)
Monday dinner - Tagliatelle, sunblush tomatoe and spinach
Tuesday dinner - Shepherds pie
Wednesday dinner - Leftover shepherds pie
Thursday dinner - Bacon and mushroom pasta
Friday dinner - Fish, chips and peas
For lunches through the week we will have ham sandwiches and tuna salad.
Spring onions (scallions) and mushrooms are on offer in Dunnes at the moment for 48 cent. I picked up two bunches of scallions to make soup for lunch over the weekend and I picked up 3 packs of mushrooms for use in various dishes through the week. Youngs frozen battered fish is on offer in Dunnes at the moment for €2 for 2 large fillets. I picked up two boxes of these for the freezer and will use one of them on Friday.
Tip
There were quite a few offers on frozen products in Dunnes and I picked up several. When I got home I discovered that I didn't have as much room in my freezer as I thought, so I removed the Youngs fish fillets from their packaging and put them in freezer bags to save space. The box for the fish was quite large in comparison of the actual size of the fillets, so this saved a lot of space in the freezer.
Saturday lunch - spring onion soup
Saturday dinner - Chorizo chicken
Sunday lunch - leftover soup
Sunday dinner - Steak, mushrooms, onions, chips, sweetcorn and peas (Fathers day request)
Monday dinner - Tagliatelle, sunblush tomatoe and spinach
Tuesday dinner - Shepherds pie
Wednesday dinner - Leftover shepherds pie
Thursday dinner - Bacon and mushroom pasta
Friday dinner - Fish, chips and peas
For lunches through the week we will have ham sandwiches and tuna salad.
Spring onions (scallions) and mushrooms are on offer in Dunnes at the moment for 48 cent. I picked up two bunches of scallions to make soup for lunch over the weekend and I picked up 3 packs of mushrooms for use in various dishes through the week. Youngs frozen battered fish is on offer in Dunnes at the moment for €2 for 2 large fillets. I picked up two boxes of these for the freezer and will use one of them on Friday.
Tip
There were quite a few offers on frozen products in Dunnes and I picked up several. When I got home I discovered that I didn't have as much room in my freezer as I thought, so I removed the Youngs fish fillets from their packaging and put them in freezer bags to save space. The box for the fish was quite large in comparison of the actual size of the fillets, so this saved a lot of space in the freezer.
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.
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! |
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! |
Friday, 11 May 2012
Menu planner for 12/5/2012 to 18/5/2012
So, it's that time of the week again - menu planning time! This week I have quite a few leftover ingredients in the kitchen, so I have made a list of them so that I can pick recipes that will use them up and prevent waste. Doing this will also keep my grocery spend for the week down, which is good as I need to buy some formula and nappies which takes a chunk out of my budget.
My meal plan for 12 May to 18 May 2012 is as follows:
Saturday lunch - Orange, carrot and mint soup
Saturday dinner - Smoky chicken and bean stew
Sunday lunch - leftover soup
Sunday dinner - Chicken wraps
Monday dinner - Shepherd's pie
Tuesday dinner - Leftover shepherd's pie
Wednesday dinner - Leek and mackerel penne bake
Thursday dinner - Spanish bean stew
Friday dinner - Leftover stew
For lunches during the week I will make puy lentil, spiced roast carrot and feta salad, some leftover chilli that is in the freezer, leftover shepherd's pie and sandwiches.
As you can see, this week I am making a couple of dishes that we can eat two nights. This means that I will only have to cook from scratch three nights during the working week which will save time that I can spend doing other things.
My meal plan for 12 May to 18 May 2012 is as follows:
Saturday lunch - Orange, carrot and mint soup
Saturday dinner - Smoky chicken and bean stew
Sunday lunch - leftover soup
Sunday dinner - Chicken wraps
Monday dinner - Shepherd's pie
Tuesday dinner - Leftover shepherd's pie
Wednesday dinner - Leek and mackerel penne bake
Thursday dinner - Spanish bean stew
Friday dinner - Leftover stew
For lunches during the week I will make puy lentil, spiced roast carrot and feta salad, some leftover chilli that is in the freezer, leftover shepherd's pie and sandwiches.
As you can see, this week I am making a couple of dishes that we can eat two nights. This means that I will only have to cook from scratch three nights during the working week which will save time that I can spend doing other things.
Friday, 27 April 2012
Grocery shopping - menu planner for 28/4/2012 to 4/5/2012
So, it's Friday night and it's time to sort out my meal plan for the next week and write my grocery shopping list ready for my trip to get the groceries tomorrow. Is it sad that I actually enjoy doing this on a Friday night...possibly, but I'm not afraid to admit that I enjoy having a trawl of recipe books and magazines on a Friday night and putting together a meal plan for the week.
Anyway, I digress! My menu plan for the 28th April to the 4th May is as follows:-
Saturday dinner - Marinated lamb steaks with barley salad
Sunday dinner - Irish Coddled pork with cider
Monday dinner - Very quick chicken stew (I am planning on making this with chicken breasts)
Tuesday dinner - Leftovers from Mondays dinner
Wednesday dinner - Sticky gammon steaks with steamed greens and rice
Thursday dinner - Black pudding and colcannon
Friday dinner - Sticky pan-roasted sausages with grapes and leftover colcannon
For lunches we will have ham sandwiches, quinoa tabbouleh and scrambled eggs.
Shopping list for the week:-
TIP - I have to confess that I often find more recipes to try than there are days in my menu planner and often find it difficult choosing between them. To help me decide I look at the ingredients to work out which recipes I have a few of the ingredients in for already which will make my grocery shop for the week a bit cheaper. Then I look at the time it takes to prepare and cook to work out if it is feasible for me to attempt to make the recipe mid-week when time is of the essence! By doing both these things I usually manage to narrow down the list, but if I don't I'll make a note of the recipe for another week.
Anyway, I digress! My menu plan for the 28th April to the 4th May is as follows:-
Saturday dinner - Marinated lamb steaks with barley salad
Sunday dinner - Irish Coddled pork with cider
Monday dinner - Very quick chicken stew (I am planning on making this with chicken breasts)
Tuesday dinner - Leftovers from Mondays dinner
Wednesday dinner - Sticky gammon steaks with steamed greens and rice
Thursday dinner - Black pudding and colcannon
Friday dinner - Sticky pan-roasted sausages with grapes and leftover colcannon
For lunches we will have ham sandwiches, quinoa tabbouleh and scrambled eggs.
Shopping list for the week:-
- Chicken breasts (usually 10 for 10 at my local butchers)
- Gammon steaks x 2
- Lamb steaks x 2
- Smoked bacon
- Black pudding
- Good quality pork sausages (my butcher does some thick sausages that will be suitable)
- Potatoes
- Pak Choi
- Shallots
- Scallions (spring onions)
- Cucumber
- Red chilli
- Parsley
- Carrots
- Swede (29c in Dunnes according to their website)
- Cabbage (29c in Dunnes according to their website)
- Baby potatoes
- Grapes
- Oranges
- Apples
- Bananas
- Pears (29c in Dunnes according to their website)
- Mint
- Red onion (39c for 1 kg in Lidl)
- Frozen broad beans
- Eggs
- Ham
- Full fat milk - 2 litre
- Skimmed milk - 3 litres
- Bread
- Yoghurt's
- Cheese
- Rice Krispies (to make rice krispie buns with the remaining Easter eggs!)
TIP - I have to confess that I often find more recipes to try than there are days in my menu planner and often find it difficult choosing between them. To help me decide I look at the ingredients to work out which recipes I have a few of the ingredients in for already which will make my grocery shop for the week a bit cheaper. Then I look at the time it takes to prepare and cook to work out if it is feasible for me to attempt to make the recipe mid-week when time is of the essence! By doing both these things I usually manage to narrow down the list, but if I don't I'll make a note of the recipe for another week.
Saturday, 14 April 2012
Looks like it may be a good one!
Sitting here looking out the window I can see that it looks like it is going to be a good day. If the weather is good I am going to do some gardening. I still have quite a bit to do to get some bits of the garden ready for planting. As well as this, I still have quite a few seeds that I need to sow indoors so that I have some plants to plant out in a month or two. So, I have plenty to do in the garden to keep me busy.
How do I decide what to plant?
I thought it might be a good idea to explain how I have decided which vegetables to grow. Although I have a big garden and plenty of space to grow all sorts of vegetables, I want to make sure I get the most out of my growing space. For that reason I made a list of the vegetables that we eat the most in our house. I then put a star beside the items that are the most expensive, put a star beside those that are easy to grow and put a star beside those that take up the least space in the garden. Any vegetables with two or three stars beside them I will definitely grow. Those with one or no stars I'll think a bit more about whether or not to grow them - mostly this will boil down to space.
For example, I will definitely be growing green beans because we eat a lot of green beans in our house, they are expensive and easy to grow. They do take up more space than some other items, but one plant will give a lot of beans. Green beans are also good as they are relatively easy to freeze and store for use later in the year. Also, beans are nitrogen fixing plants which means that they put nitrogen back into the soil when they are growing. For this reason it is good to grow them in beds that I will be putting kale, spinach etc into the following year as these vegetables require a lot of nitrogen to grow. So growing green beans has additional benefits as well as saving money!
This year I am planning on growing - kale, green beans, sugar snap peas, lettuce (various types), broccoli, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber, onions - red and white, green beans, beetroot, parsnip, spinach, strawberries, blueberries, scallions (spring onions), radishes and one courgette plant.
How do I decide what to plant?
I thought it might be a good idea to explain how I have decided which vegetables to grow. Although I have a big garden and plenty of space to grow all sorts of vegetables, I want to make sure I get the most out of my growing space. For that reason I made a list of the vegetables that we eat the most in our house. I then put a star beside the items that are the most expensive, put a star beside those that are easy to grow and put a star beside those that take up the least space in the garden. Any vegetables with two or three stars beside them I will definitely grow. Those with one or no stars I'll think a bit more about whether or not to grow them - mostly this will boil down to space.
For example, I will definitely be growing green beans because we eat a lot of green beans in our house, they are expensive and easy to grow. They do take up more space than some other items, but one plant will give a lot of beans. Green beans are also good as they are relatively easy to freeze and store for use later in the year. Also, beans are nitrogen fixing plants which means that they put nitrogen back into the soil when they are growing. For this reason it is good to grow them in beds that I will be putting kale, spinach etc into the following year as these vegetables require a lot of nitrogen to grow. So growing green beans has additional benefits as well as saving money!
This year I am planning on growing - kale, green beans, sugar snap peas, lettuce (various types), broccoli, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber, onions - red and white, green beans, beetroot, parsnip, spinach, strawberries, blueberries, scallions (spring onions), radishes and one courgette plant.
Sunday, 1 April 2012
A change of plans..and a cake.
The weather was quite good today so instead of the planned chicken with mushrooms and red wine sauce we ended up having a barbeque.
As well as having an impromptu barbeque, my daughter and I made the Chocolate brownie cake from the March 2007 issue of Goodfood magazine. It was really easy to make and didn't take too long in the oven. However, when I was lifting it out of the oven it was very wobbly. After searching the Internet I decided that perhaps that was the way it was supposed to be. I left it to cool while we ate our dinner and then served it with ice cream. It was very heavy and stodgy. The outside was quite crisp while the inside was very gooey. The cake had risen about the edges of the cake tin in the oven (despite me using a 22 cm tin instead of the specified 20 cm tin) but after cooling it had sunk right back down to the bottom of the tin. I am not really a fan of heavy chocolate cakes or desserts in general so I doubt I will make this again. Even my daughter wasn't fussed on it.
As well as having a barbeque and making a cake, we also got a bit of planting done today. We have 6 strawberry plants in the garden already that we planted last year, but I bought a few runners to plant up when my daughter was disappointed by the lack of strawberries from the 6 plants last year. She helped me to put 8 runners in pots. I'll leave them in the pots for a few weeks before planting them out.
We also got two beds ready for sowing potatoes. In total I planted 5 types of potatoes. I have put my early potatoes - Duke of York's - in a bed that I will ultimately be putting my beans in. They will be gone by the time I am planting out my beans. The other potatoes we planted were Maris Pipers, King Edwards, Charlotte and Kerr's pinks. Our first potatoes will be ready in 11 weeks - in the middle of June. From then on, anytime I am making dinner that requires potatoes I will use some from the garden, saving a little money on my food shopping bill.
As well as having an impromptu barbeque, my daughter and I made the Chocolate brownie cake from the March 2007 issue of Goodfood magazine. It was really easy to make and didn't take too long in the oven. However, when I was lifting it out of the oven it was very wobbly. After searching the Internet I decided that perhaps that was the way it was supposed to be. I left it to cool while we ate our dinner and then served it with ice cream. It was very heavy and stodgy. The outside was quite crisp while the inside was very gooey. The cake had risen about the edges of the cake tin in the oven (despite me using a 22 cm tin instead of the specified 20 cm tin) but after cooling it had sunk right back down to the bottom of the tin. I am not really a fan of heavy chocolate cakes or desserts in general so I doubt I will make this again. Even my daughter wasn't fussed on it.
As well as having a barbeque and making a cake, we also got a bit of planting done today. We have 6 strawberry plants in the garden already that we planted last year, but I bought a few runners to plant up when my daughter was disappointed by the lack of strawberries from the 6 plants last year. She helped me to put 8 runners in pots. I'll leave them in the pots for a few weeks before planting them out.
We also got two beds ready for sowing potatoes. In total I planted 5 types of potatoes. I have put my early potatoes - Duke of York's - in a bed that I will ultimately be putting my beans in. They will be gone by the time I am planting out my beans. The other potatoes we planted were Maris Pipers, King Edwards, Charlotte and Kerr's pinks. Our first potatoes will be ready in 11 weeks - in the middle of June. From then on, anytime I am making dinner that requires potatoes I will use some from the garden, saving a little money on my food shopping bill.
Saturday, 31 March 2012
Growing your own vegetables - why would you bother?
For the past few years we have been attempting to grown our own food with varying degrees of success. The soil in the garden of the house we are living in at the moment isn't really up to much, so we had a very unproductive year when we first moved in here. Last year we decided to put in raise beds and buy some top soil for them, improving the growing conditions in our garden considerably. This worked out well and we had quite a productive year so I am excited to see how we get on this year.
There are several reasons why we decided to grow some of our own vegetables. Here are a few of them:-
You may think that you don't have much room in your garden for growing your own vegetables but it is possible to put some lettuce, spinach into a window box, or tomatoes or strawberries in hangings baskets, or grow some herbs or fruit bushes in pots...there are endless. In fact, when I was in Woodies DIY on Friday picking up some kale seeds I noticed that they have a range of seeds specifically for growing in window boxes or in pots on patios. Even if you only plant one thing, it will save you money as you will not have to buy this item, so it is worth having a go.
There are several reasons why we decided to grow some of our own vegetables. Here are a few of them:-
- Growing our own vegetables means that we know exactly where they have come from and the conditions they have been grown in. We don't use any chemical fertilisers or pesticides.
- We have the freshest possible ingredients when we use those we grow ourselves for our meals as we pick them just before using them.
- Using vegetables that we have grown ourselves lowers our carbon footprint - we don't have far to travel to get them! The vegetables in shops have also had to travel from where they were grown to the where they are being sold which adds to the carbon footprint of any veg that is bought in a shop.
- If I grow the vegetables I use myself then it saves me money buying them. Although there is a bit of a cost involved with growing your own, many of the items that are required are one off purchases, so you soon get to a point where you are saving money. Plus, the cost of a pack of seeds is much less than the cost of the veg in the shops.
- It's quite easy to grow your own vegetables, so there is no excuse not to! With potatoes, you just put some seed potatoes in the ground, come back 11 - 14 weeks later (depending on the type) and you have potatoes ready to eat.
You may think that you don't have much room in your garden for growing your own vegetables but it is possible to put some lettuce, spinach into a window box, or tomatoes or strawberries in hangings baskets, or grow some herbs or fruit bushes in pots...there are endless. In fact, when I was in Woodies DIY on Friday picking up some kale seeds I noticed that they have a range of seeds specifically for growing in window boxes or in pots on patios. Even if you only plant one thing, it will save you money as you will not have to buy this item, so it is worth having a go.
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Grocery budget revisited
My grocery budget has been €80 for a while. I can not actually remember the last time I went through our household budget, so I decided that this weekend would be a good time to check it out. Having sat down wand worked out our in comings and outgoings, I've realised that we can now comfortably spend €100 per week now instead of my previous €80. This is just as well as my baby has gone from one meal a day to 3 meals a day within a matter of weeks. He has an excellent appetite, so though he is only a baby and eating a small amount of food in comparison with the rest of us, I still need to get some snacks for him and the occasional jar of food which all adds up.
This week is the fifth week I've tracked the money I've spent on the food shopping so I decided to work out how much I've spent to date. Looking back I can see that I spent €228.60 on grocery shopping. During the week we've sometimes had to pick up extra milk and bread, so I am adding on an extra €10 per week as I haven't made a proper note of this. That means that over the last 4 weeks our grocery shopping has come to €268.60 which is an average of €67.15 per week. This is quite low.
If you are wondering how I've managed to keep my weekly spend so low over the last four weeks it is because I have only had to pick up a few cartons of formula for the baby and no nappies, toiletries or cleaning products. This is because I stocked up on these items before Christmas when there were some really good offers going in the shops.
Although I now have a budget of €100 per week, I will try to keep this as low as possible. Any money that I have left over at the end of the next four weeks I will use to buy seeds and supplies for my garden as I will soon be preparing to grow my own vegetables over the spring/summer.
My weekly grocery shop for this week I spent €52.42 in Dunnes, €8.23 in Marks and Spencers, €4.39 in Lidl, €10 in the butchers (10 chicken breasts for €10) and €4.97 in my local green grocer. That's €80.01 in total.
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Grocery shopping - meal planner 31/1/2012 to 3/2/2012
Short week for the meal plan this week as we were away for a few days. So, the plan for this week is as follows:-
Tuesday dinner - Salmon, broccoli and potatoes
Wednesday dinner - Stir fry
Thursday dinner - Chicken stew (from freezer) and mash
Friday dinner - Fish, chips and peas (all from the freezer)
For lunches I will be making the black bean and chorizo soup I made last week (I have all of the ingredients in), salad and ham sandwiches.
As I'm off on Tuesday (today - better get a move on!) I bought ingredients to do a load of batch cooking for the baby. I will be making a few recipes from the Annabel Karmel website:-
This week I spent € 60.44 in Dunnes and just under € 10 in Superquinn. This shop was a bit more expensive as I was picking up specific ingredients for the baby food, including some free range chicken breasts. When we were away I had to by some jars of food to give to the baby for practicality reasons so I know that spending a bit extra on cheese and free range chicken breasts is still cheaper than buying jars of food for him.
Tuesday dinner - Salmon, broccoli and potatoes
Wednesday dinner - Stir fry
Thursday dinner - Chicken stew (from freezer) and mash
Friday dinner - Fish, chips and peas (all from the freezer)
For lunches I will be making the black bean and chorizo soup I made last week (I have all of the ingredients in), salad and ham sandwiches.
As I'm off on Tuesday (today - better get a move on!) I bought ingredients to do a load of batch cooking for the baby. I will be making a few recipes from the Annabel Karmel website:-
- Salmon, broccoli and cheese sauce
- Salmon puree
- Chicken puree with carrots and apple
- Carrot puree with lentils and cheese
This week I spent € 60.44 in Dunnes and just under € 10 in Superquinn. This shop was a bit more expensive as I was picking up specific ingredients for the baby food, including some free range chicken breasts. When we were away I had to by some jars of food to give to the baby for practicality reasons so I know that spending a bit extra on cheese and free range chicken breasts is still cheaper than buying jars of food for him.
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