Tuna burgers with paprika chips

Originally written 3rd January 2016

Necessity is the mother of all inventions. Certainly the case when I'm looking at an empty fridge wondering what the hell I want to eat and trying really hard not to cave into takeaway. These oven chips are my go-to use of lingering potatoes, and really easy. You can pop them in the oven with a timer and pretty much forget about them. The burgers were an experiment.

Tuna burgers:

Tin of tuna
1/2 small onion (spring onions would work well here but I didn't have any)
handful black olives
hot sauce
paprika
salt
chili powder
black pepper
2 garlic cloves
egg

Chips:

potatoes (skins on)
olive oil
paprika
salt
pepper
chili powder

chop the potatoes into chip shapes, leaving the skins on. Put them into a bowl along with the seasonings and mix well. Lay out on an oven tray and put in oven at gas 6 for 40ish mins.
Use the same bowl, with the remains of the seasoning mix, to make the burger mix. Chop the onion, garlic and olives finely and add to the bowl with the tuna and seasonings. Mix well. Lightly beat the egg and then add to the mix. Shape mix into patties and fry lightly a few minutes each side in olive oil.
serve with salad or other side.

Lentil and Sweet Potato bake

Originally written 12th October 2015

Lentils are a very under-appreciated food but are a very cheap form of protein that's filling and warming. Because of this, they are an excellent autumn and winter food.

Lentil and Sweet Potato bake

Another filling and warming dish. I made this using leftover sweet potato and butternut squash which I'd roasted previously. I tend to estimate the amount of ingredients I use depending on the size of the dish I'm going to use (the oven dish I used for this has enough for 2 or 3 large portions). If using a larger dish, you could add more onion, carrot, lentils and potatoes to stretch the meal into more portions.
Because I had already roasted the squash in oil and the potatoes and sweet potato were mashing easily, I didn't need to add any butter or margarine, and I prefer not to when I can get away with it, to be healthier.
Carrot and celery work well in this dish because they are cheap, and also they hold their crunch well. But you could switch in any other veg you happen to have. You could also use a tin of kidney or black eyed beans instead of some of the lentils.

ingredients:
1 mugful green lentils
vegetable oil
either 1 large sweet potato or 1 smaller sweet potato and 2 medium potatoes
optional: 1/4 roasted butternut squash
optional: a little margarine or butter to mash with
2 carrots
2 sticks celery
1/2 onion
tin tomatoes
1 large clove garlic
vegetable stock cube + 2 mugful hot water
tomato puree
1 tsp coriander seeds (whole)
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp thyme (dried or fresh)
salt and black pepper
optional: small amount Parmesan cheese

method:
chop the potatoes into 2cm square pieces and put into large pot of water to boil
chop the celery, onion and carrots into 1cm chunks. Mince the garlic.
Bash the coriander seeds to let them release their flavour.
put a little oil into the base of a saucepan over a medium heat and add the chopped veg and garlic and herbs/spices. Cook until starting to soften.
Add the lentils, dry, and stir well until the lentils are thoroughly mixed in and coated in the oil and seasonings. Add the tin of tomatoes, tomato puree and the stock cube dissolved in the water.
Leave to simmer, adding water when necessary, until the lentils are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste, and more herbs/spices if necessary.
Drain the potatoes once cooked and mash up. Mash in the butternut squash if using. If necessary add a little margarine or butter, and season with salt and pepper.
pour the lentils and veg mix into an oven dish and then spoon the potato mix over the top. If using, grate a little Parmesan over the top.
Bake at gas 5 for 20-30 mins until starting to brown on the top.

Sausage-tomato-couscous (£1.17pp) and my parents' food legacy

Originally written 25th September 2015

A lot of my eating habits, as with most people, come from my parents. I am very lucky that my parents had a balanced and healthy attitude to food, and so the habits I've inherited are largely healthy (or at least the 'in-moderation' kind). I remember knowing about carbs before I heard about fad diets and before we covered it in school. Carbohydrates were a vital part of your meal, but it was also vital you didn't eat too much. Mum's a type 1 diabetic. Carbs were always carefully measured in our house whether it was pasta, bread, potatoes, rice... I understood what carbs were and how much of the meal they should make up. I always found it weird when friends would have pizza and chips. Didn't they know that was carbs and carbs?
The other thing I thought was perfectly normal was the way that we cooked most things from scratch. Granted a lot of it was a variation on tinned tomatoes + onion + garlic and herbs + whatever is in the fridge, but I was used to meals being made at home and processed foods being rare alternatives when Mum and Dad needed something quick.
And finally we ate a great variety of foods. By the time I'd reached secondary school, I had tried so many different things and so many different styles of cuisine. There were a few things I didn't like, sure, but I would always try. I was not a fussy eater, and I think I largely have my parents adventurous eating style to thank for that. I also didn't think that every meal had to include meat. We ate a lot of vegetarian meals, not only are they normally cheaper, but also yummy!
These days my diet is shaped quite a lot by how expensive things are, but there are a few cheap staples that I've inherited from my parents - Mum's spaghetti bolognaise that bumps out the meat with extra onion and veg. A chinese stir fry base consisting of ginger, spring onions, soy sauce and a little oyster sauce... and finally, the good old tinned tomatoes plus... which is what tonight's dinner is.

Sausages and tomato sauce, served with couscous.

(2 portions, £1.17 per person)

ingredients:

3 sausages (tonight's are honey and thyme from my local butchers = £1.58), cut into chunks
tin tomatoes (33p)
1/2 onion (6p) diced
1 carrot (4p) sliced
2 or 3 runner beans (mine from the garden) cut into 2 cm pieces
1 clove garlic, crushed/diced (2p)
(dried) basil and thyme (10p for basil, thyme from garden)
oil to cook (5p?)
couscous (13p for 100g)
stock cube (13p for one veggie cube)
boiling water 160ml
chop veg and sausages.
add to pan and fry in oil until sausage chunks cooked and veg softening.
add herbs and tomatoes and reduce heat to simmer.
boil kettle.
pour couscous into bowl.
mix stock cube well with 160ml boiling water and pour into couscous. Stir well and leave, covered, for at least 5 mins until couscous has absorbed water. Stir/fluff up with fork.

Over £1 per person because of the sausages, but in my opinion worth splashing out on decent meat when you do eat it. This, works well with pasta too, I just fancied couscous for some variety as I tend to eat a lot of pasta. =)

Special Shepherd's Pie - under a fiver

'Special' because I decided to switch things up from my normal way of cooking this dish and use the rest of the creme fraiche.

serves 2-3:
250g lean lamb mince - £2
6-8 medium potatoes, diced - 50p
3 cloves garlic - 10p
1 onion - 16p
1 carrot - 8p
1/2 red pepper - 30p (this I had leftover so not the cheapest option)
about 120g half-fat creme fraiche - 55p
1 lamb stock cube - 10p 
1 tbsp cornflour or 1 1/2 tbsp plain flour - 5p
salt and pepper to season 
Olive oil to cook
stick of dried rosemary - free as I grow my own and it's practically impossible to kill.

Total cost: £3.84, per serving: £1.28

Dice potatoes into half-inch squares and put on to boil.

cook garlic and onion until starting to soften, then add mince and cook until mostly brown.

add the rosemary (minus the stalk), carrot, red pepper, the stock cube and 1/2 mugful of the potatoes' cooking water. Stir well until the stock is dissolved and then sprinkle over the flour and stir until dissolved and thickening.

Drain the potatoes and roughly mash, stir in the creme fraiche and then season well with salt and pepper.

Fill the bottom half of an oven dish with the meat-mix, then spoon the potato-mix evenly on top. Bake in the oven on a medium heat for 20 minutes or until top is browned.

To make it go further:

use a cheaper alternative to the red pepper, such as frozen or tinned peas
add more onion and carrot to bulk out the meat.
Switch the creme fraiche for a small amount of butter or margarine.
Use quorn mince, which works out cheaper, but you may need to boost the seasonings to make up for the blandness.

box 2

small joint of pork (800g)
beef mince (400g)
diced lamb (400g)

courgettes
swiss chard
ramiro pepper
celery
vine tomatoes

blood oranges
seedless grapes
complimentary lemon

Leftovers: potatoes, 1/4 onion, bananas, 2 cloves garlic
Additional purchases: fresh ginger, onions, garlic, pomegranate, bacon

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Spaghetti Bolognaise (sort of)

1/2 the beef mince, 1 courgette, 2 sticks celery, 1/4 onion, 3 large tomatoes
Worcestershire sauce, mixed herbs, oxo cube, tomato puree

served with spaghetti and parmesan cheese

-I like to put a lot of veg in my spag bol, partly because it stretches the meat out a lot farther and it's also healthier. I normally add bacon too, but don't have any today.

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Banana Bread

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Chinese Roast Pork

pork joint, garlic, fresh ginger
soy sauce, rice wine, chinese five spice, honey, brown sugar

-mixed all the seasonings, completely covered the joint and then put it the oven on a low temp for 2 hours total

served with courgette ribbons, ramiro pepper slices, 2 leaves chard.
with same seasonings as above, stir fried.

and rice.

-chard is less sweet than pak choi, but I treated it the same. It has a more earthy taste, but I don't mind that.
The pork was a wait, but very worth it because it turned out tender and moist and very tasty. I'm not a huge pork lover, but I do love it coupled with chinese flavours, and this was just perfect.

---

Moroccan Lamb Tagine

diced lamb, garlic, fresh ginger, onion, courgette, ramiro pepper, fresh lemon juice
dates, apricots, honey, ground ginger, cumin, paprika, turmeric, allspice, cinnamon, pomegranate juice, lemon juice

served with rice and pomegranate seeds

-I love this style of cooking - using a lot of spices and fruits. The result is very rich, but so, so tasty.

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Wastage:

2 bananas
some leftover pork - I had so much of this that I just couldn't get through it all. Next time, I'll either invite someone over to share it, or cut it in half.

--

Leftovers:

Half the beef mince - in the freezer
half the chard
half the celery
2 tomatos
3 blood oranges
some garlic
some ginger
2 onions

...so basically lots, but it's all still usable. =)
 
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Favourite meal of the fortnight was the roast pork. It was so, so delicious. The tagine was a close second though.
I had to buy extra stuff for the tagine, but it's actually the first time I've used it and I really wanted to try it out properly.

Spaghetti Bolognaise (fortnight 1, day 1)

Well almost a whole year later I am back!

I was inspired by the blog NeverSeconds to start up my food blog again!

Today is box day, and I got:
large bunch of small carrots
celery
flat runner beans
swiss chard
cherry tomatoes
golden bosc pears
apricots

plus leftover mushrooms, courgette, red onions and a tiny bit of lettuce.

Today I am making Spaghetti Bolognaise!

Having said that, it's a loose resemblance, as you'll see. =)

Ingredients:

• Lean minced beef
• tin tomatoes

• red onion
• runner beans
• courgette
• carrots
• mushrooms
• celery

• garlic
• mixed herbs
• oxo cube
• Worcestershire sauce
• tomato puree
• red wine (I think it was a Shiraz)

• dried spaghetti
• Parmesan cheese freshly grated

Chop all the veg. I always end up eating a few runner beans raw as I go along because they are so tasty! I tend to chop my veg very chunky partly because I'm too lazy to do it finely and partly because I like the texture when I'm eating it.

The carrots that I got in the box were very small ones so I just gave them a good wash instead of peeling.

I tend to use a wok to fry most things because the high sides are convenient. Firstly I cooked the celery, onion and garlic in a little olive oil. Then I transferred that to the main pot.

Fried the beef, drained off the water/fat liquid, crumbled an oxo cube directly to the meat and added the Worchestershire sauce, tomatoes, tomato puree and herbs and then transferred that to the main pot too.

Stir fried the rest of the veg very quickly and then added them to the main pot as well, along with the mushrooms raw and a good amount of red wine.  I don't drink wine at all, so I just buy the small bottles for cooking with.

Put the lid on and leave to simmer for a while, meanwhile get the pasta on to cook.

Serve with spaghetti and some grated (or dried) parmesan cheese. mmmmmmm tasty.

And unfortunately the pears aren't yet ripe, so I finished the meal off with a couple of apricots instead! =)

~ Hannah

Sausage Pasta Bake

This is also really nice vegetarian with a couple more veg varieties in it.

Serves 4.

3 Sausages, already cooked and cut up.
1 courgette, cut to chunks
3 small onions, cut to chunks
4 cabbage leaves, shredded into strips
tin tomatoes
tin condensed cream of tomato soup
paprika
chili powder
pasta, cooked and drained.
cheese

cook sausages and pasta and set both aside. Fry onions for a bit, then add courgette and cabbage. Cook briefly. Stir in tomatoes, soup and spices and then add the chopped sausage. Leave to fully warm through and simmer briefly, then stir in pasta. Pour into a large dish and top with grated cheese. Bake in gas 6 for 20 mins until brown on top.

Fortnight 3, day 2

Catchup of last fortnight: Pasta bake, shared with my parents, recipe to follow, and I can't really remember what else, but I ended up with one small onion and a tiny bit of cabbage left, so doing well once more!

This fortnight I have:

7 vine tomatoes
5 pears
9 clementines
2 large courgettes
3 red onions
pack spring greens
mushrooms

last night I had an onion, tomato and cheese omelette to finish off last week's remaining onion and used two of the tomatoes. Also already getting through those clementines, mmmm they are so nice. haha.

Fortnight 2, Day 6.

This fortnight I got:

5 nectarines
6 pink apples
4 large tomatoes
5 large salad onions/bunched onions
2 large courgettes
salad pack (mixed leaves)
2 small cabbages

(2 pears, a lettuce and spring greens left over)

Meals so far:

Taramasalata with pitta bread, salad and tomato (x2 days)


Chicken wings with salad and tomato (x2 days)


Steak with onion, courgettes, chips and tomato (for me +guest)

all of the tomato and salad (inc. lettuce) is gone, both pears, nearly all the apples and all the nectarines. I actually had to chuck a couple nectarines out because I blinked and they were mouldy. Next time I get them I'll make sure to eat them very quickly so this doesn't happen again!

It's been nice to have salady things this week for a change, but I'm kind of glad it's all gone now because I'd have got sick of any more!