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Old 14-01-2008, 20:23
BrideXIII
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During the discussions on the great 'to chicken or not' debate, it was noted by me and others that the excuse that 'I cant buy free range cos I am on a tight budget ' came up quite often.

Now as a single mother on benefits of two teenaged (13 and 12) boys with big appetites, I can fully appreciate how difficult it can be to feed a family and exercise your conscience, but with a bit of time and effort it is possible.

My 'food' budget a week , for meat and fresh veg is £25- 30

so I thought it might be nice to share a few recipes that are well within peoples budgets.All meat is from a local butcher, and veg from local greengrocers.

bear in mind any I post feed 3 so adjust amounts accordingly.

Today we had beefburgers and wedges.

Beefburgers

350 grams beef mince ( british)
1 small onion chopped
2 egg yolks (free range)
small bunch of coriander chopped
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 tspoon olive oil
salt and ground black pepper to taste

( you can also add chopped chillies fresh or dried if you like em spicy)

mix all the ingredients together with your hands, until all squished together, shape into 3 equal patties and grill or dry fry until cooked through.
top with cheese or tomatoe slices and cucumber and red onion.

homemade burger buns
( makes 8 so freeze whats left as fresh bread rolls dont keep for long without going hard)

240 ml warm water
30 grams butter diced small
1 large egg
375 grams strong plain flour
30 grams sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 packet of quick action yeast ( or equivalent)

combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together ( or use a food mixer with dough hooks) nead until you get a soft smooth dough ( it is quite sticky so flour the surface well)
place in oiled bowl , cover and leave to rise for an hour.
turn out and knead lightly, then divide into 8, slightly flattened balls and place on oven trays.
leave for 30-40 minutes to rise again and pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees.
bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown then turn on to wire racks, cover with a clean teatowel whilst cooling to encourage soft crusts.

wedges

cut four scrubbed potatoes into wedges leaving the skins on, toss in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper ( or any cajun spice mix you may have) and bake in a hot oven until cooked through.

and viola! fresh, healthy, and kid friendly.
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Old 14-01-2008, 22:07
Daisy Bennyboots
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Oooh! I must try homemade burgers, they sound lovely.

If you want wedges in a hurry,I sprinkle a bit of water on them and microwave for 5 minutes, then toss in oil and spicesand finish them off in a hot oven.

AllI need now is a decent salsa recipie,mine always tastes watery and bland.
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Old 14-01-2008, 22:14
BrideXIII
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Oooh! I must try homemade burgers, they sound lovely.

If you want wedges in a hurry,I sprinkle a bit of water on them and microwave for 5 minutes, then toss in oil and spicesand finish them off in a hot oven.

AllI need now is a decent salsa recipie,mine always tastes watery and bland.
always use fresh tomatoes, and a dash of worcester sauce or a teensy drop of tabasco, makes salsa nice
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Old 15-01-2008, 12:26
BrideXIII
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Today we are having one of my favourites, homemade tomato soup. This is a quick and easy version, nothing gourmet about it.

2 Tins of chopped tomatos ( or peeled plum if you have those instead)
carton of baby plum, cherry, or 6 large tomatos
1 onion
30g butter
1 stick of celery ( optional if you dont have one)
vegetable stock or stock cube ( about a pint)
salt and pepper to taste
bunch of fresh basil chopped
( my greengrocer sells bunches of fresh herbs 50p each, in the summer its easy to grow your own on the windowsill)

chop the onion and celery add butter to pan and melt on a medium heat, soften the onion and celery but don't fry.
when cooked through add the tinned tomatoes and the stock, chuck in the fresh toms and bring to a simmer adding salt and pepper to taste, when the skins have fallen off the toms, then remove soup from heat add the chopped basil and use a liquidiser, or hand whizzer , or even push through sieve ( you dont need to remove the skins , except in the case of the sieve). Return to the heat to keep warm.

Top with a swirl of cream, or not ,serve with crusty bread or rolls, or in my case today the leftover burger rolls from yesterday.

for a more spicey tatse, add worcester sauce, tabasco, or even a touch of ginger.
soup is a lot of fun to play with flavour wise, and a great use of leftovers.
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Old 16-01-2008, 11:51
BrideXIII
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Or as my children call it 'slushy curry' due to its consistency

300g diced chicken
( i checked with my butcher about this, its from their own free range chickens, but more importantly its cheaper than buying the breasts and cutting them up yourself)
1 large onion sliced
6 mushrooms sliced
2 cloves of garlic ( chopped)
2 sweet potatoes ( small or 1 large)
2 medium potatoes
1/2 cup of red split lentils
1/4 jar of pataks madras paste
2 bay leaves
1 stick of cinnamon

fry off the garlic, mushrooms, onions and chicken until the chicken is golden, then add the curry paste. add about 3/4 pint of boiling water ( you can always add more later if it looks like being too dry) and bring to a slow simmer. peel the potatos and sweet potatos , cube, and add into the mix with the lentils, stirring occassionally at first to prevent the lentils from sticking, then just leave to simmer add the bay and cinnamon ( remember to remove the bay leaves and cinnamon stick before serving).

there are two ways to serve this, you can either serve it as soon as the potatos are soft, which means there is more juice, on a bed of rice, or as we have it , simmer for longer till everything breaks down, and most of the juice is absorbed, then just serve in a bowl without rice, and accompany with homemade naan bread and poppadums.


naan bread

250 g strong white flour
5 g salt
1 6/7 g sachet fast yeast
15ml olive oil
160ml warm water

you can also add
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
1/2 teaspoon caraway seed
or
1/2 handful chopped fresh coriander
1/2 teaspoon garlic granules

mix all the ingredients together for the dough by hand or in a mixer with dough hooks.
knead the dough for 5 minutes, then pop into a bowl to rise for an hour. take dough out of bowl onto a floured surface and knock back by kneading for a couple of minutes then divide into 3, use a rolling pin to flatten into rounds or ovals, then rest for a further 5 minutes.

to cook , either fry each one on a medium heat with a splash of olive oil, turning once, until browned on both sides, or brush with olive oil and pop under a hot grill till the surface bubbles and then turn and do the same. let cool slightly before serving.
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Old 16-01-2008, 12:08
fannyadams
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BrideXIII, you are very inspiring. I have decided this week to start going through the freezer and eating all the stuff that gets shoved in there for later. Has made an enormous difference to my food bills, and I am freeing up space as well. I still have a long way to go, so may continue this next week. Then there is the freezer in the cellar to empty!!!
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Old 16-01-2008, 12:18
BrideXIII
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BrideXIII, you are very inspiring. I have decided this week to start going through the freezer and eating all the stuff that gets shoved in there for later. Has made an enormous difference to my food bills, and I am freeing up space as well. I still have a long way to go, so may continue this next week. Then there is the freezer in the cellar to empty!!!
well feel free to add any recipes you come up with to this thread, and we can keep it going.

I have to freezers, one fridge freezer and one small chest freezer, when the chest freezer get low, i make up bags of ice cubes to fill the space, this stops the freezer having to work too hard to keep the right tempreture.
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Old 16-01-2008, 12:25
fannyadams
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Your freezers sound the same as mine, my chest freezer is small, and again full at present, but I will use your trick of ice cubes once I start emptying it. Thanks for the tip.
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Old 16-01-2008, 14:50
BrideXIII
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Just discovered the brats have eaten all the bread,so despite having already cooked tonights curry, I have to head off back to the kitchen, seeing as baking my own bread comes into the weekly budget i though I would put the recipe up . now, I have one child that likes brown, and one that likes white, and i like seeded granary, so we compromise.

150g hovis seeded brown bread flour
150g hovis malted granary flour
200g strong white flour
270ml warm water mixed with:
60 ml milk
a dash of olive oil
A pinch of salt
sachet of quick yeast

mix all the ingredients together in a bowl (do not add yeast on top of the salt) or in a food mixer with a dough hook, turn out on to a floured surface and knead until you have a smooth springy dough ( it can be sticky so add in flour if required). This recipe, due to the quick yeast only needs proving once, so pop it into a greased 1lb bread tin and cover ( I just use a carrier bag over the top so its not touching the dough) leave for 30 minutes to rise then slash the top with a razor blade, leave for a further 30 minutes whilst pre-heating the oven to 220 degrees, bake for 25-35 minutes.

there is a cool trick to get a crustier loaf, whilst pre-heating the oven pop a tray full of ice cubes into the bottom to create steam, get the loaf in quick to stop it all escaping, and after ten mnutes open the oven door and pray inside with a water sprayer.
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Old 16-01-2008, 20:55
Elanor
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Oooooh, I love baking bread - I don't do it often enough, becuase I never manage to eat it all before it goes off (I only really like bread when it's warm and fresh, and it tends to make me feel ill...)

Tonight I was REALLY tired, had NOTHING in, and wasn't going to cook. I was THIS close to going to the chip shop. But I'm really proud of myself - I knocked up some pasta stuff.

Fried one chopped onion, added chopped green pepper, then a tin of tomatoes, left that to simmer with some herbs while I cooked some pasta... Then stirred in half a bag of spinach that was nearly ready to throw away (I bought too much) until it was just wilted, and then stirred the cooked pasta into the sauce. One large portion for me tonight, then seconds, some in my lunchbox for tomorrow, and a bowl full for dinner tomorrow night. Low cost, and I reckon about five portions of veg in the whole thing.
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Old 17-01-2008, 09:59
fannyadams
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Bride XIII what's on the menu for tonight, I love hearing your ideas. You put me to shame by making all your own bread. I have a breadmaker and yet I still go out and buy it.
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Old 17-01-2008, 10:03
BrideXIII
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patience, I have to go shopping yet

pork belly with homeade barbeque sauce tonight, recipe wil go up later.
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Old 17-01-2008, 10:26
fannyadams
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I m amazed how you manage to only spend £30 per week, amazing.
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Old 17-01-2008, 11:13
BrideXIII
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well thats only only on meat and veg as I explained in an earlier thread, tinned and dry gets bought once a month along with cleaning stuff and animal feed, with adds another £60 , still not bad though. anyway onto todays menu which is :

Pork belly strips in barbeque sauce with jacket potatos.


Pork belly from the buthcers does contain a little bit of bone unlick the anemic looking ones from the supermarket, but they are much thicker and tastier, one each is not quite enough , two is too much so i do 4 and divide one up between us

4 strips of pork bell
3 medium sized white potatos

sauce

1 small onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic crushed
dash of olive oil
1 red chilli finely chopped
1 tsp fennel seeds crushed
50g dark brown sugar
50ml dark soy sauce
300ml tomato ketchup
salt and pepper to taste

fry the onion and garlic in olive oil with the chilli and fennel seeds and sugar
add the soy sauce and ketchup with salt and pepper.
bring slowly to the boil and simmer for a few minutes.
the pour over as much as you need to coat the pork belly ( any you dont need decant into a jar and freeze)

leave to marinade, or if short on time pop straight into the oven, you can cover with foil this stops the sauce drying out too much .

wipe the potatos all over with olive oil and pop in the oven for 1 1/2 hours on 150 degrees the porkbelly can go in for the last 45 minutes

enjoy
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Old 17-01-2008, 12:19
fannyadams
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ooooh, that sounds lovely
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Old 17-01-2008, 16:15
jova
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bride can i come live with you? your food sounds great
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Old 17-01-2008, 17:07
BrideXIII
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bride can i come live with you? your food sounds great
all welcome, just need a little warning so i can adjust portions etc, failing that feel free to nick any recipe i put up and make it your own.
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Old 18-01-2008, 13:13
BrideXIII
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Easy one today its cooks day off so the brats take over.
Nice and simple takes 15 minutes

Pasta with tuna and sweetcorn

1 cup pasta per person
1 tin of tuna
1 tin sweetcorn
2 dessert spoons mayonanaise


cook the pasta, drain add tuna and sweetcorn along with the mayo stir in, and eat whilst warm, leftovers can be kept in fridge for lunches and eaten cold.


I love fridays
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Old 18-01-2008, 13:27
Quickblood
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I hadn't realised it was £30 a week on meat and veg alone

I really wouldn't call that a small budget! I suppose it's tight if you buy ethically but I can pretty much do a full week's groceries for 3 people on that. That was pretty much all I had to spend not too long ago.
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Old 18-01-2008, 13:34
fannyadams
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I reckon that £30 for meat and veg is a tight budget. There are 3 of us here during the week, one extra at weekends and I generally spend a lot more. Not this week however as we have been eating out of the freezer. BrideIII puts me to shame and I am going to try harder to budget in future.
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Old 18-01-2008, 13:59
BrideXIII
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I hadn't realised it was £30 a week on meat and veg alone

I really wouldn't call that a small budget! I suppose it's tight if you buy ethically but I can pretty much do a full week's groceries for 3 people on that. That was pretty much all I had to spend not too long ago.
well i consider it to be an adequate budget, being on benefits with 2 children, I just get cross when people say they cant afford to buy fresh fruit and veg and buy ethically, its a nonsense.
and to be frank anyone spending less than that on food a week is spending too much on other things, and I think that is part of the problem, these days when people want a new mobile phone contract or television package etc, the place they take the money from to do it always seems to be the food budget, rather than making a saving from another area.
some weeks I can do the meat and veg on £20, some its £25 and others its £30, either way I consider that to be a lot less than some spend who still buy all processed foods and moan about the cost.
all I am showing is that it can be done, cheaply and healthily on a small budget.
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Old 18-01-2008, 14:08
fannyadams
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well i consider it to be an adequate budget, being on benefits with 2 children, I just get cross when people say they cant afford to buy fresh fruit and veg and buy ethically, its a nonsense.
and to be frank anyone spending less than that on food a week is spending too much on other things, and I think that is part of the problem, these days when people want a new mobile phone contract or television package etc, the place they take the money from to do it always seems to be the food budget, rather than making a saving from another area.
some weeks I can do the meat and veg on £20, some its £25 and others its £30, either way I consider that to be a lot less than some spend who still buy all processed foods and moan about the cost.
all I am showing is that it can be done, cheaply and healthily on a small budget.

Well said.
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Old 18-01-2008, 14:22
FlexDigi
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Although some people actually work, and cant afford to spend that amount on food. But thats a whole different topic...
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Old 18-01-2008, 14:33
fannyadams
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Although some people actually work, and cant afford to spend that amount on food. But thats a whole different topic...
A little unnecessary don't you think
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Old 18-01-2008, 14:44
FlexDigi
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Apolgies then (wasn't meant bad), back to the good work of the recipes
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