Cheap Veggie Chilli

It's down to -8 here in Spixworth and, having just been out to give the birds a top up of Asda cheapo cornflakes I was glad to stick my feet in front of the fire and have a lovely hot cup of tea.

I really need something hot and spicy for my evening meal so decided to have a veggie chilli - cheap, cheerful, hot and filling - just perfect.

All it takes is:

1 x baking potato

1 x sweet pepper

1 x onion

1/2 x chilli pepper

1/2 x clove of garlic

1/2 a large tin of tomatoes

1/2 a large tin of kidney beans

Pinch or so of Oregano and Basil (to your taste)

A couple of tablespoons of Bisto gravy granules.

Put the baking potato in a hot oven and set it cooking for around 1 hr 15 mins.

While it's cooking, soften the onion in a pan with a tablespoon of oil, add the pepper (both sweet and chilli) and continue warming through for about 5 minutes until soft.   Add the crushed garlic, kidney beans, tinned tomatoes and herbs and simmer for about 20 mins.

Now all you need to do is wait for your baked potato to cook through and then, while you're dealing with cutting the potato and adding a bit of sunflower spread or whatever you like, heat through the chilli mix.  When it starts to bubble stir in the gravy granules to thicken and add that meaty flavour but without the meat!

Tip the chilli onto the potato and enjoy!!!

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.

Vegetarianism Saves Money,Saves the Planet!

Strictly, I'm not a true vegetarian as I eat fish but, as I do the shopping each week (I do it online and get it delivered), I have noticed that my part of the grocery list costs considerably less than my meat eating partner Adam's portion.

These days we tend to each cook our own food but use a common theme so we at least have some of the same ingredients.

The other night Adam decided he fancied a bolognese so he got out his minced beef to which he added chopped onions, tinned tomatoes, garlic, oregano and basil. His meal in total cost around 75p to £1. My bolognese used some of the chopped onions, the tinned tomatoes, garlic, oregano and basil but I added some celery, some frozen green beans and frozen sweet peppers. I've learnt that if you don't have meat you should have some form of beans, peas or pulses to ensure you have all the necessary nutrients to remain healthy. My meal cost less than 50p.

For many years I was a bit dubious about the nutritional value of frozen and tinned vegetables and fruit but I've now seen so many programmes that produce compelling evidence to that I'm now a great fan of tinned and frozen. Another thing I love about these products is that they're cheaper than buying fresh, plus you don't have rotting fresh veg hanging around for days which only have to be thrown out. This, in turn, means that although your fresh vegetables might be in season and relatively cheap, they're not so cheap if you have to throw half of them out.

Since 1986 when Adam and I moved in together I'd been used to doing the cooking for both him and me and I'm now finding it difficult to judge one portion so, needless to say, my bolognese sauce lasted for two meals. The next day Adam had a corned beef hash so he basically used half a can of corned beef which isn't cheap but me, being frugal, just added a few kidney beans and half a fresh chilli. Again, I didn't need a whole tin of kidney beans so they were put in the fridge to use another day. I had six fresh chillies in a bag costing 50p and as I only needed half a pepper my meal cost me next to nothing.

I wouldn't want Adam to give up meat but I think he is now coming round to my arguments and he isn't averse to having the odd vegetarian meal.

Going back to the frozen vegetables, I've recently discovered frozen cabbage. My supermarket introduced it a few months ago and as it was £1 for a big bag I gave it a whirl and was very pleasantly surprised and, again, I didn't have a smelly old cabbage mouldering away in my veg rack so money well spent. Having started my Asda order online today I've now noticed that they're doing frozen kale. Some of you may know that this is the latest superfood so, although two ½ lb bags of fresh works out the same as a 1 lb bag of frozen, I'm mindful that I may end up wasting some of the fresh so it's bound to work out cheaper.

When it comes to tinned vegetables I always have a good stock of sweet corn, peas, kidney beans, green beans and carrots … oh, and of course baked beans! The carrots are not as good as fresh but they're fine for sticking in a casserole.

So, don't dismiss the frozen veg aisles of your supermarket. You could be pleasantly surprised by just how cheap and versatile they are.

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!

DON'T YOU HATE WASTE?

I've always loved Masterchef UK and, as in past years, I've been recording each episode of the latest series to watch at my leisure.  It's always good to be able to rewind if you've missed some minutiae of the preparation or presentation of the dish.  However, this year I've been more aware of some of the not very ecologically friendly aspects of the show.

The contestants cook up some extremely unusual dishes which I appreciate is the point of their entering the competition but, presumably due to the time pressures, more often than not at least of the contestants in each round totally cocks up; their 'mistake' ends up in the bin and they are then let loose to have a second attempt.  Once the time limit is up, these amateur chefs prettify their plates of food and take them up to the judges.  In many cases the fish/meat is either underdone or overdone - the judges reject it and presumably if it's overdone whatever remains on the plate is also relegated to the bin.  If the judges don't like the taste of some of the items on the plate again, these are taken back to the contestant's work station and I'm assuming are also thrown into the bin.

If the contestants manage to get through the next round they quite often get to work in a top Michelin starred restaurant.  They're shown, by the head chef, how to prepare and cook the dish they've been entrusted with but, again, the standards of the restaurant are so high that I've often seen plates of food rejected by the head chef and on occasions I've seen the contents of the plate being scraped into the dustbin.

I'm a pescetarian; I've given up eating meat but still eat fish.  I was appalled to see that a diner in one of these 'posh nosh' restaurants had ordered a mackerel dish.  The mackerel skin was to be fried in oil until it was crisp and brown but the poor amateur chef didn't take the fish out of the pan quickly enough and hence it was a little more brown than it should have been.  The head chef rejected the whole pan of fish fillets as they weren't up to scratch and these fish ended up in the bin.  Not only could they have been offered to the kitchen staff to take home and reheat but it didn't seem to occur to the restaurant that these half a dozen fish had died in order to end up here and their lives meant so little that they could just be disposed of in a bin.  I'm a great believer that you should respect your food whether it's animal based, vegetable/fruit or even simple everyday things like bread, but unfortunately so many humans don't think that their Sunday roast comes from a living, intelligent and feeling thing.

But, even apart from the posh restaurants, pubs, fast food chains and your average small restaurant also have a huge amount of waste.  I've recently read an article in the Guardian regarding how much waste there is in the 'eating out' industry.  The article isn't up to date (it goes back to 2014) but I suspect very few of the statistics have changed drastically.  It seems that fries/chips are the things that are most wasted.  I suspect this is in part due to fast food chains - KFC, MacDonalds, Burger King - who tempt you with 'extras' as part of a deal which means that the chips go uneaten.

Veg are next on the 'leave list'.  As a pescetarian I must admit that I eat all my veg as it's vital that I get other vitamins etc to balance the lack of nutrients I get from meat.  In particular peas and beans are good for that.  I'd rather go without a starter and just have the main meal and, if I still have room, a dessert.  If I do have a starter it's normally fruit juice or maybe melon.

At Number 3 on the list is meat - again, I'm horrified that diners have such disregard for the animal that's given it's life so they can have a jolly night out - wasn't so jolly for the poor cow, pig, sheep, chicken etc when they were queuing up at the abattoir.

I think we all need to be trained to make sure our eyes aren't bigger than our belly.  I've been in that position myself but since I've been living on a tight budget I'm far more aware of food waste  If I do have a takeaway, which is rare, I avoid the mega meal deals.  You may think you're getting a bargain but in actual fact you probably waste a lot of the food so you're better off buying a few dishes without all the tempting sides/drinks, desserts etc.

We really should be ashamed of the fact that so much food gets thrown away and hopefully some of you out there might see that we can live a much cheaper and healthier lifestyle if we just cut back a little bit on what we eat.  I was a massive eater a year ago but, little by little, I've been changing my lifestyle and, in the past year, I've lost over two and a half stone in weight and feel better for it.  

As an incentive to (in the main) women, I'm also now able to pay less for my wardrobe.  I don't have to buy clothes in a certain style or pattern to hide my lumps and bumps.  In fact, case in point, yesterday I was able to buy one bright red summer skirt and another in bright blue from Amazon.  One cost me 98p and the other 99p.  I wouldn't have dreamed of wearing such bright colours a year ago as I would have been worried that it would show off my over abundant figure but now I'm confident that I can wear more or less whatever I like which means I can find cheaper options.

I do hope this'll help some of you on a tight budget - but be sure I'll let you know what other interesting 'bargain bucket' ideas I can impart!

Still Living on the Breadline

I haven't blogged since we received our grocery order last Wednesday but needless to say, I'm still budgeting and sorting out cheap, healthy and tasty meals.

On Thursday night I had the remains of the previous evening's pizza but to ensure the topping didn't burn when I reheated it I decided to add some chopped spring onions (scallions), chopped baby plum tomatoes and sweetcorn on the top.  I then decided to sprinkle a little bit of extra cheese on the top so my newly added veg didn't burn and I'm wondering if all this cheese gave me one of the weirdest dreams I've had in years!  You'll be pleased to know that I'm not normally that fractious with people.

Yesterday I spent just about all day doing online surveys which netted me a not inconsiderable sum of money.  Today, I went back to complete more surveys and was fortunate enough to be offered a free sample of breakfast cereal.

i think today must have been my lucky day ... made some more money from surveys, was offered a free sample and, in this morning's post I received a DVD of The Accountant with Ben Afleck.

I won the film in a magazine prize draw. Looking forward to watching that tonight while I'm eating my garlic and herb tortellini with seafood in a tomato and basil sauce.

I'll give you my views on it maybe tomorrow.  

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.