I Don’t Know How To Make Cauliflower Cheese.

I really don’t, never cooked it and never buy cauliflower as it is just too big a vegetable when you are only cooking for one.

However, my parents went on holiday early this week, and Mum very kindly emptied her perishables into a bag for me.

I picked up a huge cauliflower.

Not every having made cauliflower cheese before I checked a few online recipes.  I did seem to remember my Mummy used to make it as a main course when I was knee high to a grasshopper.

It is lovely to have the luxury of following a recipe. However, with supplies limited I decided to make it up as I went along.

You can all send me your thoughts on what I did wrong.

First I cut the cauliflower into hefty florets and gave them a wash. I then put them into a pan of boiling salted water and left them to cook whilst plumbing cupboards and the fridge for additional ingredients to bulk it up.

So I fried the one red onion I had left with two chopped sticks of rather bendy looking celery and a teaspoon of garlic granules.

I left that to cool and hard boiled 4 eggs (another freebie from Mum's fridge) whilst making a cheese sauce.

Once everything was ready I assembled the cauliflower in a pie dish arranging the quartered eggs in between with the onion and celery over the top. It still looked a little bare, so a tin of tuna and a tin of sweetcorn got dumped in too.

I then covered the lot with the cheese sauce, some bread crumbs over the top and then more cheese.

I then baked the lot for 20 mins at 200. It was sooooo yummy. And by my reckoning should last 4 meals.

This is my favourite type of cooking, the “Ah Hell, Give It A Go Abigail” school of cuisine.

Plus apart from the milk I picked up yesterday, I still have not been back to the supermarket this month.

Brilliant!

Frugally yours

Abigail

x

Slow Cooked Guinness Stew, Nom Nom.

A couple of weeks ago I got some Tesco loyalty vouchers. They send them out every quarter in recognition of what you spent in their supermarket over 12 weeks.

I obviously have been a very frugal shopper for the last 3 months as I only got £2.50 plus some money off vouchers.

So over the weekend I went off and bought a bottle of Guinness using the 50p off a 500ml bottle of Guinness token I had and my vouchers. I also bought an onion and a Tesco Everyday value tin of mushrooms. It came to practically nothing with my vouchers / tokens.

I had bought some stewing beef months ago and only used half, so I defrosted the other half over the weekend. Cost £2.25 (for the half that was left).

I chopped the beef up, my goodness it was so tough I had to keep resharpening the knife! I then coated the beef in a dusting of plain flour, and fried it to brown it off with the chopped onion.

I transferred the lot to my slow cooker, then put the Guinness into my pan to collect all the tasty bits for 20 seconds before then adding it to my slow cooker too with the tin of mushrooms and 3 "about to put into a Food Waste Friday post" mushrooms which were gasping their last breaths.

Hmm, a scooch through the cupboards. Yup, add a reduced salt stock cube, and "Oh thats brown, so what the hell" big dollop of Reggea Reggea Sauce.

I put the lid on and left on high for 3 hrs (7.30pm - 10.30pm) before reducing it to low overnight.

Tuesday I woke up to an amazing aroma permeating the flat at 7am. I quickly turned it all off and transferred the contents to a cold mixing bowl and sat it in a sink of cold water for 20 minutes whilst occasionally stirring to get the heat out.

As the sauce was still thin I was planning on thickening it when I got home, however after I had covered it with tin foil and left it in the fridge during the working day it thickened up by itself.

So last night I got home decanted a bowl full into the microwave and nuked it for a couple of minutes, I served it sitting on the sofa watching rubbish tv with a defrosted buttered Warburton's roll (reduced aisle 12 for 10p). Probably should have had some vegetables too, but Aww Heck it was too delicious to wait and I had a salad for lunch. The meat after 12 hours of slow cooking just fell apart.

I know I should not say how delicious my own cooking was, but "Oh My It Was So Yummy!" and I always love being able to walk in from work and eat something homemade within 5 minutes. It will do 4 meals, so at 56p per portion. Frrrrrruuuuugal!

Frugally yours
Abigail
x

44p!

Last night, I faced my fear..

I tried a 44p chicken kiev from the Tesco Everyday value range. Whilst I have bought from this range before I have never tried this product expecting it to be pretty nasty for that price.

It comes in a pack of 2 for 88p.

It was about 5 inches by 4 inches in size and looked fine. Lots of breadcrumbs.

25 minutes in a hot oven, and I coupled it with half a pack of couscous and some peas.

It made such a tasty dinner. Lots of chicken, probably reformulated but tasty and the garlic sauce was delicious. It also turned to a golden brown during baking, which makes it look so much more appetising.

Will definitely be buying it again, and for that price I am sure it will be gracing my table every month.

Frugally yours
Abigail
x

A Shopping Trip

Firstly, Hello and Welcome to my new follower - Mrs M. Thank you so much for visiting and your supportive comment. x

I did a shopping trip late last week which I forgot to photograph, but I thought you might be interested in how much I managed to get for £13.76. This list will cover me for 8 evening meals, 2 weeks of work lunches, and breakfast.

Tesco Every Day Value = TEDV

2 x 2L bottle of own brand diet cola          78p
2x peach barley squash                           1.59 bogof
TEDV Antibac surface cleaner                    25p
TEDV Bleach                                           29p
TEDV Value Instant Mash                         20p
2x loaf                                                  20p (reduced)
12x baps                                               10p (reduced)
TEDV 2 x cottage cheese                         1.18
TEDV Kitchen Towel                                1.10
tin of mushrooms                                    41p
TEDV Cornflakes                                     31p
TEDV Caramel wafers                              40p
TEDV 2x chicken kiev                               88p
TEDV 2x Baked beans                              52p
Beef mince                                            2.00
2x milk                                                  1.10
I x cabbage                                            76p
reggea sauce                                          1.00
Tom puree                                              29p
3 x mushrooms                                       25p
Total -                                                  £13.76

I am really pleased with the frugality of this shop. The mince lasts me 3 meals, I do not buy the TEDV mince as £2 is cheap enough for mince.
By changing and buying the low cost alternatives that Tesco have I was able to reduce my shop by quite a considerable amount.

For example in Tesco the Daisy Kitchen antibac in a spray bottle which is their cheap range is about 89p. By buying the TEDV Antibac which comes in a screw top bottle I reduced the cost by approx 50p, and only need to decant it into a spray to use. Plus it is larger than a spray bottle.

I am nervous about 2 chicken kievs for 88p, but I suppose the taste test will let me know if it is worth purchasing again.

The TEDV Cornflakes at 31p a box are indistinguishable from Kelloggs, and the TEDV cottage cheese is....um... well as nice as cottage cheese can be, but again no difference from more expensive brands.

I also then over the weekend popped into Iceland for a freezer fill up.

3 x Sweet Chili Chicken Pizza   £4.50 (for those days when you cannot be bothered)
1 bag of chips                         £1
1 bag of mixed frozen veg        £1
1 box of Mr Brains faggotts      £1
Total                                     £7.50

So for about £21 I think I should have the majority of the month's food covered, with maybe a trip for some milk later on in August. 

A convert to the frugal brands at Tesco? Time will tell and I think next month I might try similar frugal own brands at Morrisons.

Any recommendations on TEDV products to try?

Frugally yours
Abigail
x 

Tasty and Nutritious!

It is a week to pay day. For those who read my blog regularly, you will know from past history that I am always skint about now. July is no exception.

I have £40 in my current account to last until Thursday 2^nd. Hopefully another £20 in petrol will cover me and the final £20 I have will cover the Indian meal TC and I have booked for Saturday evening.

Unfortunately though I am entering a baking competition this weekend and need another £10-20 to cover the ingredients. Even those with the most rudimentary maths, will see the figures just do not add up.

So save hitting my savings which are at an all time low, I will try to magic some cash up from somewhere.

Meals now consist of raiding the nooks and crannies of cupboards and freezer compartments in the search for something tasty.

Yesterday a good rummage in the freezer led to the discovery of a piece of seabass with only the slightest burn on the edges. I defrosted it in some cold water, patted it dry and covered it with some fajitas dry mix I opened 2 weeks ago.

Wrap it in tin foil into a hot oven for 20 mins.

Veggies are running a little low too. But, I did find a packet of own brand cheese and onion instant mash, that I bought 6months ago and never plucked up the courage to try. That’ll do.

Actually, following the instructions led to some very tasty accompaniment to the fish in about 30 seconds start to finish that was very cheesy. I would definitely buy it again for 59p. Plus enough to do something with tonight too.

Finished the whole meal off with a tin of peas 36p which also provide veggies for tonight.

So my tea looked like this (sorry for the poor quality photos) and meant no more trips to the supermarket for the foreseeable future. Good news!  

Frugally yours
Abigail
x