Hello Dear Reader,

I will start by sharing the content of my supermarket trolley. We called into Aldi on our way home and this is what we bought for the week: chopped tomatoes, olive oil, Bramley apples, eating apples, carrots, little gem lettuce, bananas, leeks, onions, pears, chicken breast fillets, Danish blue cheese, savoy cabbage, mushrooms, red cabbage, cucumber, red lentils and mature Cheddar. Everything else is either in the freezer or the pantry. We buy the bulk of our meat monthly and go to the butchers on pay day. Who else loves Aldi’s super six daily offers on vegetables?

Tonight we had slow cooker beef casserole with rice, Brussel sprouts, peas and green beans. Two portions also made their way to our lunch boxes for tomorrow. Nothing very exciting but a real stock favourite in the winter.

Here’s my menu plan for this week.

Tuesday - Portobello mushrooms stuffed with wilted spinach and blue cheese - we’ll eat this with a salad.

Wednesday - Roasted Butternut squash with feta, mint and chilli - we’ll also eat this with salad.

Thursday - Pork shoulder steaks with braised red cabbage and leeky mash.(leeky mash is half leek and half potato, to cut down on the starch)

Friday - Meatballs in tomato sauce with green veg - ribbons of savoy with green beans (instead of pasta)

Saturday - Lentil Cottage pie with bubble and squeak topping.

Sunday - Honey and wholegrain mustard roast gammon with celeriac mash and green vegetables.

I will share the how to, the where to buy, photographs and the costs as I make these and eat them throughout the week. However, I might eat them in a different order depending on how I feel.

Now, over to you Dear Reader, what’s home cooked on your table this week? There’s loads of game around if you’re a hunter…..who’s eating pheasant or wild duck before the season ends? I used to ‘beat’ when I was young and was given lunch, a few quid and some birds to take home to mum’s table. So, I love to hear from you all, what’s gracing your tables this week? What ever it is, I’m sure it will be thrifty and homemade.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxx