Hello Dear Reader,
I headed to my Zombie Apocalypse cupboard for some inspiration tonight. I dragged out some of the Indian spice (real aficionados of spicy food look away as this has a tinge of flavour) mix to make a Chicken Tikka Masala.
I bought the Colman's mix from Approved Food when they were four for £1 and then just stashed them for the day I needed them.
When cooked, add the last of the wilting corriander and serve with boiled rice.
Sprinkle with lemon juice and a hearty dollop of mango chutney. A pint of beer would have been nice but it's no where near pay day. The store cupboard is a blessing when I need enthusiasm and ready ingredients.
I'm sure you could use the kit to make a vegetarian version of this by simply replacing the meat.
Over to you Dear Reader, who else can beat the take away? Who else makes fish and chips at home? Or beats the burger bar? Share with all of us how you have a 'dirty food night' ?
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxx
That looks nice!! I hardly ever buy 'ready made' food but when I last shopped in Aldi I bought a couple of packets of savoury rice (I wasn't feeling too great and needed something to tempt me). They were under 30p each, made enough for two and were blooming lovely! Had it with yellow sticker venison burgers and yellow sticker salad. We never buy takeaways now - too expensive. I can do the weekly shop for the price of a takeaway and to be honest, what we cook tastes better than takeaway. And we haven't eaten out in years. We had turkey risotto tonight (yes, still eating the enormous Christmas turkey) and turkey and cranberry sandwiches in the lunch boxes today x
ReplyDeleteWe rarely buy takeaway as it's far cheaper to make at home. I often batch cook and freeze portions so we have ready meals for another day.
DeleteWe had "ready made" marinated lamb strips to put in wraps last night- NEVER again- I felt so sick and bloated all night- I don't care how CHEAP they were it's not worth eating colourings and preservatives in food
ReplyDeleteSnap! Nearly lol! We had the Colmans Cajun Chicken which was delicious. Instead of spuds you add rice to the bag and I stuck in a tin of chopped tomatoes as I didn't think there was enough liquid. Was super easy and super tasty!
ReplyDeleteWe don't do take-aways because even if we wanted to pay the silly money the family does not like takeaways saying that my stuff is much better ... I am not sure if this is a good or a bad thing? I am still to find a ready made meal that does not taste either vile or is just about palatable if you are really, really desperate. So I would not consider actually paying for it. I can make ramen noodle bowl in 10 min (I have 10kg of noodles from approved food), which is much faster and tastier than a delivery from the local Chinese take-away. I make my own fish and chips, both oven baked. I make the chips from fresh, boiling them for 10min first, then bashing them about and with just few sprays of oil finish in the - it is a low calorie, low fat version.
ReplyDeleteI paid almost a dollar for an onion the other day!!!
ReplyDeleteI learned a long time ago not to fry anything much (eggs, grilled cheese sandwiches, is about all) because I have no stove fan and a tiny house, and the smell of grease, etc., lasts for days. So every now and then I have fish and chips or a burger and chips from a local place. In the past year, I can think of about four times when I've done that; otherwise it's pretty much stuff I throw together in my kitchen.
ReplyDeleteThose mixes make a good sweet potato and squash curry, I stocked up on them as well. I will be making fish and chips for dinner tomorrow, the River Cobbler is in the freezer and will cook in the little oven along with some chunky homemade chips and will go down nicely with mushy peas. If I ever fancy a take away I just tell myself that I can cook far better in the time it takes to go and get it .
ReplyDeleteFish and chips. A pack of twelve basa fillets is eight dollars and some new potatoes done into wedges. Can't price it, but maybe about five dollars for several of us to eat.
ReplyDeleteYour recipes make for good reading, with your sense of humour :)
ReplyDeleteWe rarely eat out or have takeout. We enjoy our own hamburgers, pizza, and lasagna. I need to practice some Chinese food dishes as that's one thing we enjoy that I don't currently make.
Our regular quick meal is steak sandwiches. I keep eye fillet that I buy from Aldi when it is on good sale. It is not inexpensive but mum and dad can manage that. It is a quick and easy meal and loved by all.
ReplyDelete**** :) Zombie apocalipse cupboard :)***
ReplyDeleteWow that sounds quick and tasty! I make my own wholewheat/speltflour piZza, but whe grew up pretty far away from civilisation and are not used to takeaway in general. Just Made two big pizza bases, prebaked, and 18 mini chicken pies, all frozen for the moment of need.
Ooh that's a good idea - I hadn't thought of pre-baking pizza dough and then putting the bases in the oven. Great tip!
DeleteMy first reply to your fab blog.I cook everything from scratch but curry I use the same sachets but it never tastes as good as a takeaway but £22 is too much for us unless its a birthday treat.
ReplyDeleteThat looks brilliant, and yes, it would work well with Quorn pieces or chunks for us veggies, or even just with chunky cut vegetables.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had a takeaway for ages, the MSG makes me feel totally weird since I stopped eating them, and when you compare your £1.47 a head for gorgeous home cooked food and made so easily with the possibly £10 a head you'd pay for a takeaway there's really no way I would go back to eating them either.
This looks so good!
ReplyDeleteI like to make pizza for a 'home take away' as we call it. I packet of base mix from Morrisons, a squirt of tomato puree and a ball of their low fat mozzarella which I grate. Sometime I add a topping if there are things in the fridge to use up. It feeds 2 of us for under £2. So much nicer than a take away.
ReplyDeleteWe used to get Chinese takeout every Friday evening in "the old [i.e. broke] days." Now I still have an unquenchable end-of-week hankering for Asian food. Tonight I am making Korean Stir-Fried Glass Noodles ("ChapChae") - I use the traditional sweet potato vermicelli that I buy from my local Asian market (check them out, Froogs - they are gluten free, cheap (for gluten free) and delicious!). I have a pound of ground beef that I will use for the six of us. I am also making homemade steamed shrimp dumplings. Not an ultra cheap meal (shrimp, cost of egg roll wrappers) - but a far cry from the days of $60 takeout.
ReplyDeleteThat looks amazing :o) And that AF lemon juice in a bottle is great, too - I stocked up as well last time they had it !
ReplyDeleteThis is all good, but this site seems sadly to be turning into another cookery "A Girl Called Jack" site......
ReplyDeletePretty sure this has always been a foodie site....hence the Foodie Blog award thingy. It's one of the reasons I like it!
DeleteAnyway I cook from scratch a lot but certainly not averse to an easy dinner after a long day. I bought the family size enchilada kit from AF and it made two lovely dinners - one with chicken and the other just with veggies - peppers, mushrooms and sweetcorn. I also like a quick 'Chinese' with noodles, veg and one of the Aldi sauces. Their hoisin and garlic one is good.
Jane
Having my foodie site compared to jack Monroe 's recipes, in any way, is a great compliment - she is a frugal food hero
DeleteThat looks so delicious!
ReplyDeleteLooks great to me. I have a giveaway if you are looking for a free valentines card and lots of crafty blogging mostly about recycled stuff. Jo x
ReplyDelete