Easy and Cheap Vegetable Stew

People often say to me that they won't become vegetarian as it's too expensive.  I can tell you now that it's considerably cheaper to be a vegetarian than it is an omnivore.

Last night for dinner I had a delicious vegan meal which cost me next to nothing.

It contained:

1 carrot, sliced
1 parsnip, sliced
1 leak, sliced
Small portion of swede, diced
8 Brussels sprouts
Portion of chopped cabbage
Bisto gravy granules
Horseradish sauce

I placed the carrot, parsnip, swede and leak into a pan of boiling water.  I placed the Brussels sprouts and cabbage into another pan of boiling water.

I left them simmering on the hob for around 15-20 minutes.

I then drained some of the water from each of the pans into a jug, added some Bisto gravy granules (which are vegan) and half a teaspoon of horseradish sauce.

I put all the veg onto my plate poured over the gravy and enjoyed a delicious vegan meal for next to nothing.

I added the horseradish sauce to the gravy so that it gave me the feeling I had a roast beef dinner.  Sometimes I add mint sauce or a little bit of stewed apple to the gravy to give me a 'hint' of lamb or pork.

All of the vegetables are in season now in the UK so are cheap to buy.

I've cut down my carbon footprint as all the veg were grown in the UK, I had no meat - one of the major environmental factors in the world - and I was fed very cheaply

It was nutritious too.  I got loads of vitamins from the veg as well as iron from my greens.

I didn't add any protein to my meal last night but if you want to add something then try adding some beans or peas.  I sometimes add butter beans to mine.

It's Friday again – fish and chip night here in Spixworth

I love fish and chip Friday. I know fish can be expensive but I'm now opting for the cheap supermarket fish fillets in batter.  As some of you will know, I'm a keen environmentalist/animal welfare campaigner and I haven't eaten cod for years due to its having been over-fished in the past, but I can get four battered fish portions which I can cook in the oven for the sum of 85p.  I always look at the ingredients on the back of the packet and I was pleased to see that the fish is Pollock of which there's a relatively robust stock in nearby waters.  The only thing in the ingredients I'm not too happy about is palm oil but as there's a minuscule amount in the batter it seemed the lesser of two evils.

It seems, however, that I may not need to worry quite so much about eating cod in the foreseeable future as I read in today's Guardian newspaper that, following drastic cutbacks on cod fishing around our shores, these fish are now making an excellent comeback.  It appears we've learned our lesson here in the UK and the majority of fishermen I believe will think twice before they trawl our seas, killing not only fish stocks but all the other wildlife that gets caught up in their nets.  It's not our god given right to kill everything in sight including humans.  It's important that we live alongside our animal/fishy friends as, in the end, it will only benefit future generations.

I digress.  As the fish portions are slightly smaller than the usual ones that cost £3.00 for a pack of four Adam tends to have a fish cake or fish fingers with his (again, cheap and cheerful but very tasty).  Of course, fish and chip Friday wouldn't be the same without chips and peas and again, cheap and cheerful oven chips and peas make the meal complete.

I reckon our tasty tea costs us no more than £1.50 for the two of us.  It's a quick, easy and tasty treat to set us up for the weekend.  And maybe while we're eating we'll watch a FREE movie that we've recorded during the week from the TV.  Last night we watched Johnny English (again!).  It never ceases to amuse me.

Other bargains I got this week were a tenderheart cabbage at 50p, and four small frozen cheese and tomato pizzas. - £2  I have one for a meal piled up with jalapeno peppers, sweet peppers, onion, olives and sweetcorn and then I just have it with a salad accompaniment.  Dessert wasn't a problem – I grow rhubarb in my garden and had a tub of it in my fridge.  Add a couple of spoonfuls of bargain basement soft scoop vaiilla ice cream and I'm satisfied.  As far as my salad goes, I don't always have to pay out for lettuce as I grow nasturtiums out in a large pot in the garden.  They're so easy to grow and it's incredibly cheap for a packet of seeds.  They're happy spreading across relatively barren ground, hanging in pots or even growing up a trellis.  Both leaves and flowers are edible.  They basically taste like a slightly more peppery water cress.  Once the seed pods have formed on the plant these can be pickled and are a perfect accompaniment to pizza.

I thought a couple of weeks ago that I'd gone over the top when a bought a tin of Heinz spicy lentil and vegetable soup for £1 but I had it last night with some toast and it was delicious.  I'm pretty certain I could eat this zooped up a bit with some more curry paste and have it accompanied by naan bread or onion bhajis/vegetable samosas.  It only took about 5 minutes to heat up and serve so great as a quick meal.

On the survey front, this week I've cashed in £30 from GlobalTestMarket, £2.50 from Opinion Outpost and received a £15 Amazon voucher from one of my newer survey sites and this morning I netted another £5 Amazon voucher from Swagbucks.  The £15 couldn't have come at a better time.  Adam's just about finished reading the last of my David Baldacci books that I won in a prize draw.

We've been watching a programme on the History Channel about the search for treasure on Oak Island  The treasure is thought to have connections to the Knights Templar.  Both Adam and I have always been interested in the tales of the Holy Grail etc etc so, with party of my £15 I bought him three books.  One of them was by an English author, Alan Roberts, who the American explorers met when they made a trip up to Scotland to visit Rosslyn Chapel and hear more about its history and was basically a history of the templars themselves.  The second was a book about Rosslyn Chapel and was written by Lord Rosslyn.  The third was a bit of deviation from the Knights Templars but went a little bit further back in history to the Bronze Age and the so called 'computer discs' that had been discovered.  Right up Adam's alley.

I do just have one bit of bad news for all you animal lovers out there.  Our 17 year old cat, Kizzie, has gone blind so we're having to be very gentle with her.  She loves spending time outside and refuses to be shut in the house so we're just hoping that she stays in the back garden.  At the moment she seems to like spending her days either under my sage bush or under the rhubarb.  However, we did have a cat that went blind at the grand old age of 20 and we managed to cope with him.  As long as our cats are eating, purring and aren't in distress or pain when we pick them up we see no reason why they shouldn't live out their lives in relative peace and comfort.  So, there's another reason to grow your own herbs and rhubarb … they provide an excellent shelter for your pets or other animals.

I think now my work here is done and I hope, wherever you are in the world, you can find something to think about if you're trying to save money or make money.  I'm also hoping that it'll encourage more people to look at the ethics of where our food comes from and how the animals we farm are treated.  I no longer eat meat but more and more I'm finding cheap vegetarian products out there in the supermarket so have a look in the freezer cabinets or chillers when you next go shopping.

Before signing off, I've just read that Justin Bieber has been banned from visiting China on account of previous bad behaviour.  Well done China!  I went off the fresh faced young pop star when I read about him moving properties and abandoned his dog in his old house.  Whatever sort of an influence is he going to be on the younger generation?  Sorry all Baby Bieber fans but his inhumanity just makes me want to lock him in a  house with no food or water for a few days and see how he likes it!

Midweek Munchies

Since having an accident back in October last year and being unable to work my partner and I have been 'making do' with relatively cheap and cheerful food.  

I shop online each week and get a delivery every Wednesday so today was stock up day.

Our delivery arrived just before lunch so I had a toasted crust left over from our old loaf of bread which had gone a bit dry, some vitalite (vegan) spread and topped it off with some garlic and herb cream cheese.  In order to ensure I got part of my five a day fruit and veg I had a handful of baby plum tomatoes, gorgeously juicy and extremely sweet.  I topped this off, rather naughtily, with a custard filled donut (we have to have some treats - five in a packet for just 65p - 83 US cents).  Tried not to lick my lips while I was eating my sugary treat but just couldn't hack it.

Being English I couldn't survive without a cup of tea to wash down my repast and now, at 3.30 in the afternoon, I've had another portion of my 5 a day (a handful of dried cranberries and another refreshing cuppa.

This evening we're having supermarket bought pizzas.  Adam, being a meat eater is having a meat feast and I've gone for a cheese and tomato one but will add some onion, sweet red peppers and sweetcorn to mine.  Each pizza costs £1 - $1.28 - but I'll manage to save half of mine for a meal later in the week as I'll add some salad to it.  Adam, on the other hand, being a typical man, will eat all of his in one sitting.  For a dessert I'll probably open up a tin of fruit which costs no more than 50p and that tin will last me about three days.

So, no major food prep involved, no special cooking skills but a really cheap meal.

Oh, and to wash down my pizza, this week I'm trying a supermarket brand flavoured water - mango and passion fruit.  Another little treat but I got 1 litre (2 pints) of it for just 40p - 51 cents.

I'll keep you tuned as to what cheap and cheerful and easy prep/cooking meals I decide on tomorrow.