something new :)

Stuffed cabbage in tomato sauce served with risotto.

Stuffed Cabbage
6 Cabbage leaves (boiled in water for about 6 minutes)
250g red lentils
250g yellow split peas
salt
pepper
chilli powder

Tomato Sauce

1 large onion sliced
2 cloves of garlic crushed
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
2 tabsp of tomato puree
1 pint of water
2 tbsp of dried Italian herbs (optional)
Pre heat oven to gas mark 4

While the cabbage is boiling,place lentils and yellow split peas into another pan with boiling water add spices and leave to cook till lentils and split peas are soft.
Drain cabbage leaves and leave to cool.

At the same time make the tomato sauce
fry one large onion, 2 cloves of crushed garlic when cooked place in a casserole  dish or baking tray
add the tomatoes, tomato puree and stir.



Next make get a cabbage leaf and place large spoonfuls of lentils into and roll up in a pasty shape and place into the casserole dish with the tomatoes. do this till the cabbage leave have all been filled.
Next place the water over the cabbage leave and lightly mix it with the tomato sauce. add more salt and pepper and place in the oven for about 40 minutes.

Whilst this cooking make the risotto.

300g Tesco Long Grain Rice (40p per kilo)
2 veg stock cubes ( 8 cubes for 10p sainsburys basics)
water (paid for courtesy of northumbrian water)
2 garlic cloves (from 20p head of garlic)
black pepper (1p)
cheese (about 35p) 
 onion (15p)


Risotto

one large onion chopped and finely sliced.
2 garlic cloves (crushed)
300g of long grain rice
1litre of veg stock 
1 tbsp of black pepper
30 grams of strong cheddar cheese


Fry onions  and garlic till soft
add the rice and stir till fully coated in oil
Then  add the stock bit by bit till fully absorbed.
If the rice isn't cooked just add more water till it it.
Add the cheese and fully stir into the risotto.
Place the cabbage onto a plate with some tomato sauce and risotto and serve.

Makes a very filling meal  :)


Till tomorrow :)

cooking on a budget

Well after all the debates regarding Jamie Olivers new book and program i thought right lets watch it and see what happens. 

Now i can cook, well kind of, no ones died yet! I have myself how cook from scratch and its hard at first but its get easier the more you do it.

I used to be a big fan of his and i would regularly watch his programs, especially the grow your own one.  Some really good ideas about growing fruit and veg and using them straight from garden.

This program in it self is not really for people on a low grocery budget. Personally i think its more for the higher spenders. For instance mu budget is  £200 a month, so very low. My sister phoned me up and said i've just watched that jamie program and thought it was rubbish. Her words were " where the hell am i going to buy a blender like that, just looked in the catalogue and it costs £150 quid!"  This coming from someone who spends over £100+ a week on food, and more if she buys a takeaway.
My sister can cook sunday dinners, but nothing much else. So this program is supposed to be for her.
 then she says "Oh and those pans where do i get them from? " My advice to her just use a rectangle roasting tin or cake tin. She said oh that not what he said. 

A few year ago there  was a program called Economy Gastronomy, it was really good, had better ideas and really took the time to tell you how to make things from scratch. Not the cheapest ideas but they took the time to tell you have chicken stock from the bones.


But what really annoyed  me about the whole program was the pizza and bean thing.

A supposed heating engineer sat in the background with a bottle of beer, glass and a fake cockney accent. No pizza costs £12 from a takeaway, i know, i served my time in five different ones! 
A 16" pizza costs about £9.50 and that's a full blown meat feast. So its a load of nonsense. In Hackney,London its even cheaper! again i know because when we visited family there we got a takeaway for £20 came back with a 16" pizza, chips, and 2 extra large kebabs, sauces and drinks for us all.

My partner is also a gas heating engineer and he wouldn't dare go on telly with a beer in his hand! Its just something no self respecting person would do. If he really meant to make to a pizza he should have been there making it with Jamie.

Or having beans with his fish pie, yeah right, you could tell it was fake by the look in his eyes. We are big bean eaters. I thought what a toss pot trying to appeal to the "poor" people. 

I'm not great at budgeting but i'm getting better, i do need help with ideas. We all do.
But this program just isn't for me or anyone struggling on a low budget. Lots of the recipes he's done in this program he's done in past on his other shows.  Best thing thing is they less preachy.

So for me, the program is a let a down, bring back allega and paul!

School Starts

Well at the title suggests when my eldest went back to school today, i was quite worried as he's been very stressed. But he left for his bus and came back at half three smiling. Always a good sign!!!

Took my youngest to the park as he's not back till Wednesday, it was a lovely day and he enjoyed himself.
Still it was hard watching him try and play with the other kids, poor thing doesn't initiate conversation and shys away. Instead he just hangs around on the outskirts watching. Luckily he's seems quite happy with this and enjoyed just being around the other children. After an hour or so he asked to go home, it just got too loud for him.

I was very naughty and used some money that i put away for my treat day, it was £10 that i had been saving ready for Wednesday for when i could have a couple of hours to myself, child and partner free.
Oh well doesn't it was lovely having our lunch together chatting away.

We then came back and both of my boys sat and played on a football game for about an hour before we had the leftover bolognese sauce with jacket potatoes :)

Waste not want not in this house!!

Scroogy September

Well as the titles suggests September is going to be more than scroogy, i am determined to try and spend as little as possible. The bank is way past the black and in the red. CC's are maxed out and can't be used.

Part of the deal is  the bills  will be paid as well as transport costs etc but general spending will be a big no no. Can't stop the transport costs. My eldest needs £15 a week, youngest  £10  and me a whopping £20, so £45 a week just for that. School meals are £20 a week for two children, so youngest is straight on pack lunches no choice in the matter. Eldest well, we'll see how it goes.
My partner and me pack lunches, and the business pays for the vans fuel.

Decided our grocery budget for the month will be £200 for a family of four, three cats and guests. 

Whilst at the same time keeping the store cupboard filled to a reasonable level.
the idea is that hopefully by the end of the month i will have been able to save up some holiday money for our first family holiday with my dad in October. As well as fingers crossed save up enough money to buy a new freezer. Ours went kaput about a month ago, its really hard adjusting to life without one. I've just realised how much we rely on one item. but also how much we waste :(

The fridge is bare and the veg is past its best but lets see how far the fresh stuff goes.

Wish me luck and lets see how it goes

kez xx




Grocery Spends £2.26

Items:  £2.26 on 2 x thick loaves of bread, 2 x tins of garden peas, single cream, 4 large onions and 10 satsuma's.

General: 0