Daily Archives: October 12, 2013

Saturday Night Takeaway - £1.29 each

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31


Hello Dear Reader,

The last time we had a Chinese takeaway was on our wedding anniversary and it cost us £13 for the two of us. It was an expensive blow out but we decided it was a lot less than going out for a meal and we could justify the expense as a once a year treat. It will be a long time before we have another one!

Here’s my ingredients for our meal for four (lovely guests for supper tonight) of sweet and sour chickenless and egg fried rice.

Quorn (one bag is enough for 4 and one bag has gone in the freezer) 1.89
1/2 bunch of spring onions - chopped - 37p
1 chilli - 16p
punnet of mushrooms - 25p
1 tablespoon of minced ginger - 10
bag of bean sprouts - 50p
shredded savoy cabbage - 10p
tin of pineapple chunks - 20p
1 jars of sweet and sour sauce - 52p
oil - 5p

Egg fried rice
250g of long grained rice - 10p
1/2 bunch of spring onions - 37p
tin of peas (I had no frozen) - 20p
2 beaten eggs - 33p
oil 5p

Total Cost £5.18 - £1.29 per person

1. Start by boiling the rice - 1 mug of rice + 2 mugs of boiling water - cook until the water has almost absorbed and then turn the heat off and put the lid on and the rest of the water will be absorbed leaving the rice cooked and fluffy.

2. Heat the oil in the wok.

3. Add the ginger, chilli and garlic - stir and immediately add

4. Spring onions, quorn, beanspouts, any finely sliced vegetables and mushrooms into the oil and fry rapidly on high.

5. After two minutes add the sauce and drained pineapple and leave to simmer for 10 - 15 minutes.

6. Whilst simmering, heat oil in a wok and add the chopped spring onions.

7. Stir in the cooked rice and make sure it is coated with the oil

8. Stir in the beaten eggs - keep stirring until all the egg is cooked - it looks like bits of scrambled eggs in the rice.

9. Stir the cooked peas through until they are hot.

Serve immediately with a splash of soy sauce.



A lot cheaper than the take away! I made this in less time than it would have taken me to walk to the takeaway and pick up and order.


£1.29 is a very expensive meal for us but we had guests and it was lovely to cook something really quick and tasty for them.

If we had a takeaway once a week, like many people do, then we would spend on average £10 a week and just over £500 a year. We have a takeaway as a treat, well just the one this year and the rest of the time, we cook quick and easy Saturday Night Takeaways for ourselves.

Over to you Dear Reader. Who else has kicked the takeaway habits? Who else has kicked the eating our habit? Who else saves hundreds of pounds a year by cooking for themselves? Who else sees a takeaway as a once a year treat? Raise that home cooked frugal flag and wave it with pride!

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxxxxxx

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Lunchsize sausage rolls for 38p each

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22


Hello Dear Reader,

I’m cooking my way through the freezer. We had some sausage meat and ready made puff pastry and I’ve made huge lunchsize sausage rolls. These will be eaten with packed lunches along with salad and a piece of fruit. The best thing about them is that they cost 38p each.

I add extras to my sausage rolls. You could (if you have to!) use Sosmix and made vegetarian versions of this by using alternatives to the meat such as peppers, peas, cooked carrots chunks or lightly steamed chunks of pumpkin. Everything is better if you add a member of the squash family! Afterwards I thought I could have added chilli, or chopped hard egg. I could have made a fish version of this and bulked it out with mashed potato, cheese, chopped parsley and chopped hard boiled egg to have a portable version of a fish pie.

Ingredients
1 pack of puff pastry - buy it frozen as it’s cheaper and defrost.-98p
2 rashers of bacon - 34p
1 finely chopped onion - 10p
1/4 punnet of finely chopped mushrooms - 17p
parmesan - 20p
chorizo - 30p

£3.08p and I made 8 so 38p each.

Optional - you could use any finely chopped and cooked veggies or left over meat such as chicken or ham.

I started by using up what I had and finely chopped

3cm left of chorizo
2 rashers of bacon
1/4 of a punnet of mushrooms
1 onion.

I fired them without adding any oil. You don’t want to add too much moisture when cooking puff pastry.

Once you have cooked the ‘additions’ - allow them to cool for a few minutes. Take the sausage meat and break it into lumps in a mixing bowl and then add what ever you have chosen to bulk this out with. Mix it together with a wooden spoon until combined to your liking.

Roll out your pastry to as large a square as you require. I divided mine into two and laid out the sausage meat down the middle of each one.

I then brushed the edges with beaten egg and folded them over with the fold underneath.

I laid them on a baking tray with baking paper and baked them in a hot oven 200c for 20 minutes. Check the pastry is cooked underneath - they may need longer. To stop them from burning I laid a piece of foil on top of them but didn’t tuck it under. Mine needed a little longer but my oven is on its last legs!

I wanted mine to be big enough that one would be a meal in itself. I placed a peg next to it so you can see the size. They are about the size of a deck of cards.

I glazed them with beaten egg and then baked them.

Half way through cooking, I had the thought that I had a scraggy end of parmesan laid in the fridge and grated it and sprinkled it on top. I think the tiniest amount of any cheese would do along with a sprinkling of black pepper and herbs. It’s amazing what you think of adding after you’ve cooked something!

You could eat these hot with steamed or stir fried veggies. You could use an Indian or Chinese theme for flavours and add spices or ginger. You could use sun dried tomatoes and add basil or oregano for an Italian them. The possibilities are endless!


I think they are a great way to use up leftovers and who doesn’t like a sausage roll?

Now it’s your turn. What could you add to sausage meat to make a savoury bite size and portable (and affordable) lunch?

Until tomorrow and looking forward to my lunch,

Love Froogs xxxxxxxxxxx