Stir fried veg in black bean sauce

When I was at uni this was my standard takeaway option. As it's a vegetarian dish, it ended up being cheaper than alternatives, which left some money for me to order soup and rice too. When I first discovered the joy of Asian supermarkets, I bought a pack of fermented black beans and followed a recipe to the letter. It resulted in a rather bitter but delicious version of the takeaway meal I was used to. Over the years since, I've gotten lazier with my cooking and still have a tight budget, so this version is cheaper, quicker and a lot less authentic, but none-the-less tasty.

Mixed Vegetables

use a selection of veg that you have to hand. Tonight I used:
1/2 broccoli head chopped into sections
couple tablespoons peas
few cherry tomatoes, halved
1 head pak choi leaves with greens separated from whites
greens of 3 spring onions, sliced

Black Bean Sauce

2 tablespoons fermented black beans, soaked in boiling water for 20 mins then drained
2 cloves garlic, diced
whites of spring onions, sliced
large dash sesame oil
large dash dark soy sauce
small dash chili oil
small dash oyster sauce
sprinkle of ground ginger (or fresh diced)
sugar to taste
splash of white wine (optional - I had some leftover. Chinese rice wine is better if you make Chinese food enough to justify the purchase!)
sprinkle of sieved cornflour

Sesame oil and water to cook
Rice to serve

Method

After draining the beans, mush them up with the back of a spoon.
Mix in the other ingredients, adding sugar to take off the bitterness, to your taste.
cook the rice.
when rice is nearly done, heat sesame oil in a wok and add the broccoli and whites of the pak choi. (If you are using different veg, then this is where 'longer to cook' things go, like carrots, white cabbage, pepper etc). Add a little water and stir fry for a few minutes until the veg starts to soften.
Add the other veg and the sauce, and stir fry for a couple more minutes until everything is heated through.
Serve spooned over the rice.

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. =)

Easy Salsa

I hate buying salsa because it always tends to open and half-used at the back of my fridge. This fresh variety has the bonus that you can make as little as you need and it tastes a lot better.

Am using 'X' as a measurement to show ratios.

1x Tomato
1x Cucumber
1/2x Onion
1/2x red or green pepper
1/8x green or red chili
sprinkling of herbs depending what's available: Oregano, Basil, Coriander Leaf, Parsley. Today I used fresh oregano from the garden and a sprinkle or dried basil.

chop everything as finely or as chunky as you like and mix. Allow to sit at room temperature for a few minutes for the flavours to meld.

Chinese Crab and Sweetcorn soup - only 27p per portion

I LOVE Chinese food and a Chinese takeaway is definitely my guilty pleasure. If I had the money, I could happily have Chinese takeaway every night of the week, I love it so much. With wise choice of ingredients, though, it's really not expensive to replicate at home. Crabmeat and Sweetcorn soup is one of my favourite dishes, and not only is it cheap to make, it's also dead easy. I mean throw everything in a pot and cook for 20 minutes easy. Hell, that's less effort than calling the Chinese Takeaway!

Ingredients (for 4 large portions):

Necessary:
1 tin sweetcorn (35p)
6(ish) seafood sticks (pack of 20 for £1 = 30p for this recipe)
1 fish stock cube (£1.50 for pack of 8 = 18p)
2 tablespoons cornflour (75p for 250g = 9p)
Hot water (I just tend to fill my pot up, I estimate about 2 pints)
salt (to taste)
1 egg (89p for 6 FREE RANGE - something I will not compromise on = 15p for 1)

price = £1.07 = 27p per portion (all prices at Tesco 11th June 2015)

Optional:
dash soy sauce (£1.19 for 150ml = about 15p)
dash fish sauce (£1.39 for 150ml = about 18p)
dash sesame or peanut oil (£1.60 for 250ml = about 13p)
tsp fresh ginger grated (about 30p)
additional egg (15p)
2 spring onions, chopped (about 10p)

total price = £2.08 = 52p per portion (all prices at Tesco 11th June 2015)

With the 'luxury' version coming in at only 52p per bowl this is a huge saving on your takeaway version. If Chinese cooking is something you do a lot of, it's work going to a Chinese Supermarket and bulk-buying things like soy, fish sauce and sesame oil - you'll get a much better price there than at a normal supermarket.

How to make:

- heat the water and add to pot with stock cube.
- pour in the tin of sweetcorn.
- roughly chop the seafood sticks and add
- grate ginger if using and add
- if using, add soy sauce, fish sauce and oil
- bring gently to the boil.
- mix cornflour with a little water and then add a spoonful of the hot soup. Pour this mix into the soup and stir while simmering until thickened.
- crack the egg or eggs into a bowl and beat until mixed. Take the soup off of the heat and, while stirring, slowly pour the egg mixture into the pot in as thin a dribble as you can manage. The egg will cook as soon as it hits the hot liquid, making textured strands of egg.
- top the soup with the chopped spring onions and add salt to taste if necessary. Serve. =)

Resourceful Cook Mealplan

Last week I thought I would try something a little different, and try out a mealplan website. Resourceful Cook allows you to pick how many people you want to plan for, and then you can choose from a few weekly plans, and customise a few of the meal options.

I decided to choose their 'Frugal Favourites' for two, as it included some items I already had in the cupboard and I like to cook enough for two and have the leftovers for my lunch the following day. As I sometimes deviate from the plan though, I switched the customisable options to 'for one', that way I knew I had some leeway if I had something else for lunch or dinner one day.

Choosing the plan was easy enough, and it was cool that I could switch between options. The meals that I settled on are the following:

Chilli Con Carne (for two)

Spaghetti Bolognese (for two)
Sweet & Sour Pork (for two)
Italian Pork & Bean Stew (for two)
Stir-fried Chicken & Veg (for one)
Chicken Tagine with Couscous (for one)
Easy Tuna Pasta (for two)

The site provides you with a shopping list and estimated prices, and off I went to the shop. When I got there, I found that the shop was doing a meat deal, so I decided to get frying steak instead of chicken, which made my mince and pork cheaper.

The first meal I made was the Tagine.

I substituted beef for the chicken, and used some flavoured couscous that I already have in the cupboard. In place of 'mixed spices' (what does that even mean?) I used cinnamon, paprika, ground coriander and allspice. The recipes on the site are obviously written to assume that you only have basic herbs and spices, if any at all. I know they are an expensive investment, but I think they make a big difference. I also had an open pack of cashew nuts, so I added a handful of those too. The resulting meal was delicious, but obviously quite different from the recipe. lol.

The next night, I made Bolognese.

I borrowed some courgette and red pepper from the stir fry recipe, but otherwise followed the recipe, and it was nice enough, but not as delicious as my usual bolognese. 

[I had bought some half-bake ciabattas and decided, as I had a friend coming over for dinner, to make garlic bread by mushing butter, minced garlic and a small amount of pesto sauce together to make a garlic butter. I cut the ciabattas in half, spread the butter thickly on each half and then baked as per the instructions of the bread. I also made a mozerella and tomato salad with pine nuts (which I had in the cupboard) and pesto. Not a part of the meal plan, but just something to make dinner a bit more exciting for my guest.]

The next night, was the stir fry, using beef instead of chicken, and with added cashews and only 1/3 red pepper and 1/3 courgette as I lent some to the bolognese. This meal didn't provide any carbs, so I had mine with brown rice, which I had in the cupboard, but I thought it was odd that it didn't include this.

The following night I made Chilli Con Carne.

I couldn't believe that the recipe had no cumin in it, which is, in my opinion the signature flavour of the dish. So I included cumin and paprika as well as chilli. I didn't have the soured cream, as I'm not a fan, so I just had it with brown rice.

Then I took a break from the meal plan for a couple of days, as I was hosting a meal for my church group, and then going out for dinner with my brother. 

Picking it up again, I made the Tuna pasta. Or rather... I didn't. Because I realised, looking at the recipe that it wasn't a pasta bake and it had tomatoes in it.. and what I really fancied was lovely cheesy comfort food. So instead, I made a Tuna Pasta bake by making a white sauce, mixing that with a tin of tuna and a tin of sweetcorn and topping it with cheese and crushed up cheese-flavoured crisps, which I had left over from hosting my church group, then baked it. The crushed crisps give it a lovely crispy topping, which is really yummy.

Next, I made the Sweet & Sour.

I have to admit that whereas I am normally a big ambassador of making things from scratch, sweet and sour is one of those things I just normally buy a jar of. I mainly followed the recipe, except I added less of everything sauce-wise, as there just seemed to be such large quantities there. I substituted some of the sugar for honey too and used the last of the cashews. This turned out really yummy, definitely something I will make again.

Finally, the Pork & Bean Stew.
Besides using chicken stock instead of vegetable, I followed this recipe exactly. It was delicious, and something I've never made or even tried before. Again, though, a lack of carbs.. I suppose it's meant to be eaten with bread?

In summary, I think this proves that I cannot follow recipes without changing things lol. The resulting meals were delicious, but as I changed things up, I can't really judge if the recipes themselves are any good. It was nice to have the initial planning done for me though with a shopping list to work from and I tried a couple of new things I haven't made before which is good. I think I'll definitely use this site again, when I get into a making-the-same-things rut, but I will go into it expecting to adapt the recipes.