eating on the cheap!

[binkyboots]

I'd love too, it's mostly a nigel slater recipe though, am I allowed to post it? I did make a couple of additions, herbs and cheese.

mmm.. I adore split pea and ham soup, ultimate comfort food, I like to use a smoked hock, that way I get a little meat too for much the same price. Oh, doesn't hurt to throw a parmesan rind in too!

[Jensen]

I'd love too, it's mostly a nigel slater recipe though, am I allowed to post it? I did make a couple of additions, herbs and cheese.

←

If it's too close, you could PM it to me...

[Jensen]

Or, is it the recipe on this webpage?

[binkyboots]

that page is pretty close, I'll pm you the recipe though, baked onions should be shared! (as well as dolloped on toast, eaten straight from a spoon and used as a baked potato filling )

[M. Lucia]

What is Burns night?

Does it relate to the poet?

[binkyboots]

Hiya, yes it's the celebration of Burn's birth, you can read a good thread here and there are several good pages with information, this one from bbc Scotland is pretty good, recipes and links as well as audio clips of some of his work.

[binkyboots]

Well, we ended up having our Burns supper after all!

We had Haggis, neeps and tatties and some brocoli (not at all traditional, but mum likes it) then a trifle for pudding.

Mum made the trifle, uh, she put madiera cake in, drizzled it with a syrup I made from stag's breath liqueur, then custard and cream on top.

The haggis was delicious, I dont know why we dont have it more often even Natasha ate it up, normally she doesn't eat "spicy" foods very happily.

So, the brisket is marinading happily, I'm doing a recipe from Molly steven's braising book, so far so good.

We're having pizza tommorow, I was in lidls today and mozzarella was on special offer at 30p (60c?) per 125g ball

As well as mozzarella I bought some tinned tomatoes, mandarin juice, multi vitamin juice (both 100% fruit), plain yoghurt, grapes, bratwurst, double cream, part baked rolls, bottle of red wine and skimmed milk, came to £15.

I bought the haggis at Safeways, it was £3.99, but it did five with leftovers for baked potatoes tommorow lunchtime.

[binkyboots]

Ok, yesterday we had pizza as planned, very good, I made the tomato sauce from canned tomatoes and a spoon of tomato puree. Also used up the tail end of ham that we had skulking in the fridge.

Tonight, I think we'll have our brisket, it's in the oven now, I only say perhaps because I'm thinking it would be better sat in the fridge overnight so I can lift the fat off the sauce. I could put on a pan of lentil and ham hock soup, I already have a nice loaf of bread to go with it.... yes, I think that's what I'll do.

[MsMelkor]

When I was in grad school in Madison, WI, I used to go to the farmer's market and buy most of my veggies from this one farmer who would sell whatever was left at the end of the market for $3/bag. I'd carefully pack my bag to maximize the amount of produce that would fit, and then live on that for the week.

In terms of organic produce, if you can't afford to buy everything organic, you may want to consider prioritizing your organic purchases to avoid as many pesticides as possible. From what I've read, it's most important to avoid conventionally raised produce that has the highest levels of pesticide residue: apples/pears, celery, grapes, green beans, lettuce, strawberries, spinach, tomatoes. As you might imagine, items that are peeled contain less pesticide residue than items that aren't.

[FistFullaRoux]

Sometimes the best food is food prepared carefully with common (or cheap) ingredients. Any food, prepared carefully will be good, whether the main ingredient is 10 cents per pound or 10 dollars per pound. Your meals sound lovely. I've spent hungry times in my life, and the stuff I craved was exactly what you described, not burgers or ribeyes.

The New Orleans tradition of red beans and rice bears this out. A pound of kidney beans, a few hunks of sausage or ham, and plain white rice, when prepared properly, can make tourists pay 8 dollars a bowl and send their friends to pay 8 bucks a bowl as well...

[binkyboots]

In terms of organic produce, if you can't afford to buy everything organic, you may want to consider prioritizing your organic purchases to avoid as many pesticides as possible.

←

Yup, I do try to as far as possible, anything that's peelable is peeled if it's not organic. Leafy salad stuff is high, then grapes etc...

Bananas aren't high on my priority list as they have such thick skin, but I do think organic bananas have a creamier texture and better flavour. Strawberries are so wildly expensive here that they are a rare treat, this year I'm going to try growing some of our own, it is ridiculous that in Scotland, a country blessed with wonderfull soft fruits that we pay through the nose for them.

Ok, rant over

Tonight we had our brisket, it was really delicious, barely shrank at all in the cooking! Anyway, with it we had mashed potatoes, turnips and carrot chunks, gravy and yorkshire pudding (neither organic or homemade, I'm truly ashamed but my husband loves the stuff) I bought the potatoes, turnip and carots at scotmid today, the lot, plus some milk, cream and butter came to £7

Today was also market day at school, I bought two packs of boiling beef, now to figure out what to do with them, lol.

I also bought a bone in lamb gigot. Hmm, the lady on the stall said to roast it, rather vague, but I'm googling recipes. I wouldn't normally buy such a pricey bit of meat from her, but it was well reduced as it has a use buy Sunday sticker, no worries! The beef and lamb came to £12

Tommorow we're going on a drive up to Fife, mostly to take my niece to a party, but partly so the rest of us an sneak off on a car picnic (now that's a Scottish tradition!)

I'm taking the rest of the brisket made into sandwiches, a fruit loaf, maybe a flask of soup.... whatever I can drum up from the leftovers.

Oh yes, talking of soup, the lentil soup last night was delicious, not often I'm surprised by lentils, but yeah

Lentil soup.

one onion, chopped fine

about 250g red split lentils

about 250g grey/green lentils, I had some fancyish ones left over from christmas, umbrian I think.

ham hock

water

Fry the onion till it's soft and cooked but not brown. Add in the lentils then pour water from a boiling kettle to cover. Nestle the ham hock down in the middle of the pan. Bring to the boil and skim. Simmer till sludgy, thick, smelling smoky and delicious.

The nice thing about the mixed lentils was that the red ones collapsed into mush while the green ones stayed slightly more whole.

I kept the hock for more lentil soup, but you could shred it into the soup to serve. It's also good just dipped in hot mustard, in fact I should take some with us tommorow.

Edited January 29, 2005 by binkyboots (log)

[merrybaker]

binkyboots, I'm really enjoying your blog. It sounds as if you're doing a great job making tasty, filling, and healthful meals. Let me be another to stress the versatility (and economy!) of beans. A pound of pinto or black beans can fill an awful lot of tacos or tostadas or enchiladas (or all three!). Just tell your family it's an adventure, not a scrimping tactic.

[binkyboots]

Thank you Merrybaker!

Next week may well be the week of bean experimenting! in fact, no time like the present, I have tins of tomatoes, brussel sprouts, and lots of dried beans! I think fakeastrone could be on the menu tommorow.

Our picnic was a total washout! we were so late leaving that all we took with us was a blueberry loaf cake I'd made this morning, tasty all the same, lol.

Tonight we're having fish cakes, I made them this morning with tinned salmon and some leftover mash from last night, they're in the oven and looking pretty tasty

Tommorow I think fakeastrone and leftover brisket sandwiches, or we might postpone that till Monday and have our roast lamb tommorow. I'll see, I have to see the dentist tommorow morning, if my mouth's really sore I'll not feel like making a roast, lol.

[M. Lucia]

I like that idea of combining lentils. I am going to make some lentil soup this week- I already have puy lentils so I am going to pick up some red lentils (they do break down quickly).

In the meantime, I'll be making some pizza and for the week ahead a butternut squash soup.

When I have leftover soup, I like to add somethings to it to stretch it out. For example, maybe add some greens to the lentil soup the 2nd or third day. This keeps some variety going and stretches out the dish's utility.

[redfox]

I'm enjoying this very much as well! Thank you for reporting on your adventures.

We tend to spend a lot more on food in the winter (all those imported vegetables, and no farmer's market), which makes me feel pinched. Soup is very handy, and fortunately there are a zillion types. Lentils are wonderful, and quite versatile, especially with all the different varieties. All sorts of beans are really a favorite for cheap, versatile, and tasty. I've become very fond of cabbage, too, which gets a bad rap as smelly or redolent of poverty, when really it is generous -- so much food in a single head! -- and keeps beautifully, which means it is easy to get a nice one in even sub-par markets. I like to shred and braise some with butter, salt, pepper, and a splash of water, and then use that to make a frittata with; or lately I've been into Kadai Gobi, which is a sort of Indian cabbage stir-fry. Bubble and squeak is good too, sez I.

I've been buying some vegetables very cheap and perfectly nice though definitely not organic from the little bodega around the corner -- you can get something like a pound and a half of serrano peppers for 99 cents, and limes at 25 cents apiece! Onions and garlic and things like that are also very cheap there and have rapid turnover, so they are firm and pleasant. Then we get the rest rather exorbitantly at the whole foods market.

[binkyboots]

Eek, busy couple of days!

Ok, the fish cakes were not too bad, I wouldn't eat them myself, ugh, salmon spine , but the family loved them. I have three in the freezer for near instant supper on a busy night.

Tonight I roasted the lamb gigot, I heated the oven as hot as I could, put the lamb in a roasting dish (it's really a big glass lasagna dish, but nobody has told it that, lol) with some rosemary (pinched from a neighbouring garden) and a garlic bulb cut into slices horizontally. Salted and peppered the top then into the oven, I turned the heat down a bit after 30 minutes then roasted it till it was just barely pink in the centre, mum likes her meat to be cooked.

Turned out delicious, the fat/skin layer turned into a kind of delicious lamb crackling, the meat was very tender though there was rather a lot of gristle. Loads of leftovers so I could make a pot of scotch broth.

In the oven just now is a pot of lamb shanks braising, they'll stay there overnight. I threw in two tins of tomatoes, handfull of those umbrian lentils, tablespoon of honey, spoon of tangine spice (brought home from Nice, no idea what's in it, warmly spicey though) and the shanks. Smells good, we'll most likely have rice with those, maybe flatbreads too if I get my act together fast enough in the morning.

First job tommorow is baking, I've a honey fruit bread to make for my aunts birthday, not sure which one to make yet, if you have a killer honey bread or cake recipe let me know! doesn't have to be fruity.

When I have the oven on I try to get some use out of it, I'll most likely make a loaf of bread for sandwiches and stuff, soda bread for lunch (with soup), maybe some scones or a cake for tea.

[kayswv]

Blinkyboots, a meatless main dish that we have enjoyed for many years is

Con Queso Rice

1 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice

1/2 cup dry black beans or black-eyed peas

3 clover garlic, minced

1 large onion, chopped

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 pound ricotta cheese, thinned with 1/4 cup milk

3 1/2 cups shredded jack cheese (with peppers if available)

1 can (4oz)green chile peppers, chopped

few dashes of pepper sauce, optional

Cook rice and beans/peas separately following regular procedure. Saute garlic and onion in oil until soft. Mix ricotta with 3 cups of the Jack or Cheddar cheese. If using optional pepper sauce add at this point. Set aside. Mix rice, beans, garlic, onion and chili peppers. Spray 12 cup casserole with non-stick spray. Layer rice mixture alternately with cheese and ricotta. Spread evenly over casserole. End with rice mixturae. Bake at 350degrees for 1/2-3/4 hour until warmed through. During last 5 minutes of baking, sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese on the top. Serve with salad and other vegetable if desired.

Very filling and complete protein dish. Our children have loved it for years.

Enjoy. Kay

[curlywurlyfi]

Binkyboots, great thread. I'm always looking for cheap but devastatingly attractive recipes. You might find some ideas on this thread too? eating on a budget

[wkl]

Binkyboots, great thread!

Here's a frugal soup recipie for you.

Quart or so of Chicken stock

2 tbsps tomato paste

dozen slices ginger, mashed with a side of a knife

dash or so of rice wine vinegar (or any vinegar on hand)

squeeze of honey

dash of hot sauce

salt/ pepper

bring to boil, then let simmer for 30 minutes.Serve.

Nice hot and sour asian style soup.you can also poach fish/shrimp in this and serve over rice, or noodles.

[binkyboots]

Ok, last couple of days in a nutshell!

Yesterday we had bratwurst, braised red cabbage and mashed potatoes for dinner, I also made a banana coconut loaf cake, yum, it would make killer bread and butter pudding, maybe with coconut cream in the custard....

Tonight it was cauliflower cheese, soda bread and a souffle omlette for pudding, I love sweet omlettes...

Omlette

6 eggs

two tablespoons sugar

butter

fruit compote or jam to serve

seperate the eggs

whisk the yolks with the sugar till pale and a little thick

whisk the white till firm but not dry

fold yolks into whites

heat a pan, chuck in some butter when it foams pour in the omlette mix

cook until base is set and golden, either flip and cook the top or stick under the grill

that makes a pretty big omlette, enough for four, but it's easily halved, though I do love it room temperature too, spread with jam and rolled up.

heat jam or compote, pour over the omlette to serve

Meat lady wasn't at the market this week so I'm not sure what I'm doing about shopping, I'd like to try a new butcher but am unsure of how to find one that's good, friendly and carries the stuff I'm after.

I'd like to get a couple of rabbits, though that would involve lying heavily to several members of the family, lol. Other possibles are oxtail, lamb (or mutton) shanks, more sausages or more beany type stuff...

Tomorrow night we're having mince and yorkshires, sounds odd but it's a family favorite, mince was on specvial a while back at sainsburys, 80p a pack, I'm afraid I bought four (at 80p I cast aside my feelings about organics and supermarkets, we were having a really hard up month!) and am still trying to use them up.

[binkyboots]

Lost it with the cooking tonight, mum had a ready meal and I had porridge

Busy day though so I'll forgive myself. This morning I made my first loaf of bread using the starter from Dan Lepard's "the hand made loaf" the starter looks and smells great and I've been eager to try it, I made the oat and apple bread, my results, well the method for kneading was very diferent to what I'm used to, the dough was very wet and the oil didn't stop it sticking to everything, I admit I panicked and floured my board at that point I guess more practise is required, perhaps with a dryer dough to get used the the technique. However, the bread is delicious! very good indeed with strong cheddar

While the bread was rising I made another pot of my two lentil soup, definately a hit, I prefer it to plain red lentil I think. The ham hock I used seemed saltier than usual, I may use it for another pot tommorow, or freeze it for future soup making!

Still done nothing with the boiling beef, I'm so embarrased, I must do something tommorow.

I have a vague plan for tommorow, it's my unofficial day off when I get to plot and cook a little for Wednesday and Thursday (my busy days)

I'm the morning I'll have a read through some recipes I've got earmarked for trying, then in the afternoon I think I'll take a wander to the butcher and fishmonger to see what I can see.

*edit*

As I was in the kitchen sorting out my porridge for tommorow I decided to do something with the beef. I trimmed out some of the larger chunks of fat and gristle, chunked it into fairly generous chunks, threw it in a bowl with a bit of white wine, spring of rosemary and the juice of a seville orange. I'll braise it tommorow, maybe add in some orange marmalade to counter the sevilles sourness... think it ought to be quite nice.

Edited February 8, 2005 by binkyboots (log)

[binkyboots]

Had a very good day today!

In the morning I took myself off down to the butcher and fishmonger as recomended by Adam Balic, results were great!

The fishmonger was friendly, willing to help a total fish newbie, I ended up buying a couple of mackerel fillets, I'll cook them tommorow, maybe rolled in oatmeal and fried, mum loves fish done like that. The mackerel was £2.50, a bit costlier than sainsburys, but they are larger fillets and the fishmonger didn't smell as fishy as the supermarket counter usually does.

The butcher though was what made my day, I'm rather shy, butcher shops are a little scary for me, it takes confidence to ask for cuts of meat, to say you'd rather have that piece or a bigger joint, really, it sounds daft but I find these things hard. Anyhow, man was lovely, I bought four very large lamb shanks for £8 and am going back thursday for some oxtail and rabbit! yes, to celebrate the release of bambi on dvd I plan to cook thumper (I guess it should really be a rabbit and venison raised pie!)

When I got in I dried off the meat that I marinated overnight, floured it and browned it. Chucked in some sliced onions and whole garlic cloves, deglazed with the marinating liquid. Put the lot in my braising pot, added some chopped potatoes and a spoon of marmelade then put the lot in the oven for about four hours at a low heat. Results were very good indeed! a light gravy and really tender meat, not bad for a very cheap cut indeed, enough for three adults cost £2.56 and it was organic, I'll be doing variations on this theme I think.

We had pancakes for pudding, well, waffles, I bought a neat little American book of waffles from a charity shop, it's quite old I think and some of the recipes look scary! but the ones I made tonight were delicious, Belgian cinnamon and white wine waffles, sound odd, taste great. I did make pancakes too, little cottage cheese pancakes (from "feast" by Nigella Lawson) they didn't turn out as nicely as I'd hoped, the flavour was good but the texture was bad, I think I'd liquidise the cottage cheese next time to lose the little lumps.

[designchick88]

I am very appreciative of this thread also. We are tightening belts to try to adjust to a lifestyle change and the days of wine and roses (or wine, artisan bread from Whole Foods and fresh tuna steaks) are over for us for now. I will be following this with interest.

[binkyboots]

Been busy this morning, well, I have to be, Wednesday and Thursday are my busy days, lots of running around picking people up from school and work

With the ham hock that I cooked in the lentil soup I made a quiche, afterall, a smoked ham hock has much the same flavour as bacon! I cut the meat off, chopped it and proceeded as for any other quiche (eggy cream filling, plenty of pepper) The ham hock is one of the cheapest but hardest working bits of meat around, it cost £2.50 and from it I got 6 bowls of soup, a quiche, some leftover ham to flake into pea soup and if I had wanted to (and mum hadn't binned them first) I guess I would have reused the bones for more soup.

Also got a loaf of bread on the go, lemon and barley this time, it smells good, I have high hopes.

Edited February 10, 2005 by binkyboots (log)

[Lone Star]

Sometimes the best food is food prepared carefully with common (or cheap) ingredients. Any food, prepared carefully will be good, whether the main ingredient is 10 cents per pound or 10 dollars per pound. Your meals sound lovely. I've spent hungry times in my life, and the stuff I craved was exactly what you described, not burgers or ribeyes.

The New Orleans tradition of red beans and rice bears this out. A pound of kidney beans, a few hunks of sausage or ham, and plain white rice, when prepared properly, can make tourists pay 8 dollars a bowl and send their friends to pay 8 bucks a bowl as well...

←

That is so true. Two of the best "comfort food" meals for me are the meals my grandparents and parents ate (a lot) during the depression in the South. The meals were cheap and could satisfy a lot of hungry mouths.

Pinto beans and cornbread

Chicken and dumplings