Hello Dear Reader,

(Froogs on Radio Cornwall - Click HERE - move the slider to the last hour)

I have a busy week ahead so I’m cooking once and eating twice………….every day. That means, we’ll take a portion of what we had for supper the night before into work the next day. It will save me time, money and I’ll have no need to think about one meal a day. The recipes today, all feed four and I hope they will be fine for your families too.

Here’s our main meal (and repeat performance for lunch the next day)

• Veggie Stew and herby dumplings,
• Meatballs, tomato sauce and pasta,
• Shepherdess Pie,
• Leek and Bacon Risotto,
• Massive Roast Dinner,
• Cheese, onion and broccoli quiche with coleslaw and salad.
• Carrot, kidney bean and cumin burgers, homemade oven chips and beans.

Vegetable stew with herby dumplings.

1 bag of casserole vegetables - £1 (Sold in Tesco, Asda and Morrisons)
150g of pearl barley or lentils.21p
1 litre of stock - 2 cubes with boiling water.4p
Heaped tablespoon of dry parsley/thyme.5p

Pop into the slow cooker for the day. When you get home, make the dumplings.

100g of SR Flour - 3p (Value flour)
50g - 25p
Add 5 tbsp of cold water
Mix and form into a dough.
Create dough balls and float on top of the stew.
Leave cooking for another 30 minutes.

Whilst cooking - steam half a bag of frozen broccoli 50p with four peeled and sliced carrots 30p
Total cost - £2.44 - 61p per person.

You can add more stock and more pearl barley to bulk this out. You can also add a sprinkle of gravy granules to thicken.

Meat balls, tomato sauce and pasta.

Meat balls - Half a 750g pack of minced beef - Keep the rest for the meatloaf - £1.37
2 value onions - very finely diced.- 12p
2 cloves garlic - very finely diced.5p
1/2 pack of value sausages, skinned. - Keep the rest for the meatloaf.- 33p
Salt and pepper.

Mix all of these ingredients together, form into balls - place on a baking tray and cook or fry in a non stick pan.

Tomato Sauce
2 tablespoons of sunflower oil - 6p
2 finely diced garlic cloves - 5p
1 tin of value chopped tomatoes - 34p

Warm the oil and add the garlic, then the tomatoes. Simmer until tomatoes sauce and garlic is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook one pack of value penne - 25p.

Total cost - £2.54 - 64p per person

Shepherdess pie

1 pack of frozen casserole mix - £1
150g of red lentils - 27p
1 stock cube 5p
1/2 litre water
1 tbsp of mixed herbs 5p
1/3 bag of value potatoes - 40p
25g butter.10p
100g of grated cheese. 70p (I can buy that cheaper locally but I’m using major supermarket prices to be an average price for everyone)

Cook the lentils in the stock - 15- 30 minutes
Add the bag of casserole mix - simmer for 15- 30 until veg is soft.
Pour into a casserole dish.

Cook the potatoes, mash and add some butter. Layer the potato on top and sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake in a medium over (160) until cheese has melted as all the other ingredients are cooked.

Serve with one finely shredded and steamed savoy cabbage 69p

Total Cost £3.26 - 82p per person.

Leek and Bacon Risotto

500g bag of leeks - finely sliced - try and use all of the leeks except the roots and very tips. £1
Half a bag of cooking bacon (save the rest for the meatloaf) 40p - cut into small cubes.
Use the rest of the pack of pearl barley - you could use arborio rice, which I will too, but I hope to show you how to shop smart and use what you’ve already bought. 34p
4 garlic cloves - finely diced - 10p
50g of value butter - 20p
2 stock cubes - 4p
1 litre of water.
1/3 bag of mixed frozen veg - you will have the rest in another meal. - 33p

Melt the butter in a hot pan
Add the leeks, bacon, garlic and saute until bacon is cooked.
Add the pearl barley and frozen veg.
Coat well
Add the stock - 100ml at a time, keep stirring until absorbed - if you run out of stock and the pearl barley isn’t cooked, make up some more stock. Value Stock cubes are 2p each.

Total cost - £2.41 - 61p each.

Massive Roast Dinner! Very meaty meatloaf and all the trimmings.

Meatloaf
1/2 pack of minced beef - £1.37
1/2 pack of sausages - skinned - 33p
2 value onions - finely diced 12p
1/2 pack of cooking bacon - finely chopped - 40p
2 packs of value stuffing - 30p - follow instructions on pack
1 beaten - 22p
salt and pepper

Add all ingredients together along with stuffing made up as on pack.
Add to a large loaf tin - line this with greaseproof paper if you wish, it makes it easier to get out and slice.

Trimmings.

Yorkshire puddings
1 egg 22p
1 mug of flour - approx 250g - 5p
1 mug milk approx 250ml 15p
Pinch of salt
Beat the lot together
Pour into hot oil pudding tins and bake for 15 minutes until risen and fluffy.

Roasties - 1/3 bag of the value potatoes, washed and not peeled, cut into cubes and cook- in boiling water. 40p
Drain and toss in five tablespoons of sunflower oil 15p
Place onto a hot baking tray and bake in a hot oven - 30 - 40 minutes.

Serve with a shredded steamed savoy cabbage 69p
Sliced steamed and buttered carrots (8 carrots) 60p

Remove the meatloaf from the oven, leave to stand for 10 minutes - cut into 8 slices and each person gets 2 slices each, with roast potatoes, steamed veggies, Yorkshire puddings and gravy. For the gravy, we just use the value instant that we make with the ‘potato water’.

Total cost £5.00 - £1.25 per person.

Cheese, onion and Broccoli Quiche with salad and coleslaw.

Pastry

300g of plain flour - 9p
75g butter 30p
75g of lard (you can use all butter but it’s very difficult to handle) 30p
Salt
cold water to form to a dough. Chill before rolling out.

I blind bake my quiche in my metal loose bottomed quiche tin. If you don’t know how to do then, then use You tube to learn - blind baking pastry.

I make my pastry in a food processor but you can make it by hand. Never made it? check out how to make pastry on you tube.

Bechamel Sauce

250ml milk - or one cup/mug - 15p
1 heaped tbsp of plain flour 2p
25g of butter.10p

Melt the butter in a microwave safe jug - in the microwave
Blend the flour, salt and the milk.
Microwave on full power until thickened - leave to cool

1/2 bag of frozen broccoli - steamed and diced. - 50p
1 value onions finely chopped - saute in a little butter and add to the Bechamel sauce - 10p
200g grated mature cheddar - £1.40 - add to the bechamel sauce
4 beaten eggs (the rest of the eggs are in previous recipes). - add to the Bechamel sauce

Assemble your quiche.

Place the quiche pastry, still in the baking tin, on a baking tray.
Add the cooked broccoli
Pour on sauce which includes the beaten eggs, Bechamel sauce and grated cheese.

Bake at 180 for 35- 40 minutes.

Serve with a bag of value salad - 71p and a pot of value coleslaw - 25p

Total Cost - £2.96 - 74p each.

Carrot, Kidney Bean and Cumin burgers, homemade oven chips and beans. (Jack Monroe’s recipe)

2 tins baked beans - 48p
1/3 bag of value potatoes, sliced into chips, tossed in oil and baked on a baking tray. for 30 minutes - 40p

Burgers - make 8 burgers.

2 tins of value kidney beans - 60p
4 value carrots - finely grated - 25p
2 value onion - finely chopped - 20p
2 teaspoons of ground cumin - 10p
salt and pepper
flour for shaping
oil for frying - 10p

1. Rinse the kidney beans - cover with cold water, bring to the boil and then simmer until soft
2. Saute the onions, carrots and cumin.
3.When the kidney beans have softened - add the drained beans to the onion mixture.
4. Mash the kidney beans.
5. Mix all the ingredients together.
6.Form into burgers and fry. I use very little oil in a non stick pan.

To serve, 2 burgers, half a tin of beans and 1/4 of the chips per person.

Total Cost - £2.13 - 53p per person.

I have use Tesco Prices, and the maths is approximate in some places.


Meal plan for every evening meal for 4 people for 7 days - £18.33

I hope this helps people out for the week to come!

Happy Cooking,

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxx