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In these times of the alleged 'credit crunch', where our bills of every sort are apparently going up and surely the financial world is on the verge of collapse, everyone, even those who don't necessarily feel affected very much, are tightening up expenditure. I don't feel particularly affected, I can't claim to monitor my food expenditure, my electricity bill may have gone up, but not by a vast amount, and I catch the train to work every day so the cost of this hasn't changed (although I'm sure come January when the annual price-hike comes around again I'll have plenty to complain about).
But, oddly, I am still finding myself being more careful in buying food. Going for the cheaper stuff. Not buying something unnecessary just because it looks tasty. And I've also been cutting out other stuff which I may normally have had. Oh, I'm not skipping meals or anything, I'm just buying cheaper food, but this doesn't mean I'm buying Tesco Basics. Actually, I'm cutting out a lot of meat. I find a lot of people find this strange, wonder where I'm getting my protein from, ask if I'm losing weight... It's very strange that people regard cutting out some meat as an extrodinary measure. It seems ingrained in peoples heads that we need meat in every meal. If it doesn't have meat in, it's not a real meal. But this is completely untrue, and I'm not some hardcore vegetarian/vegan. I still have one or two meat dishes and a fish dish a week.
But anyway. I thought I'd make an effort to convert people to reducing their meat intake, which is:
- cheap (meat is usually one of the most expensive items on a shopping list)
- healthy (it ensures you get your 5-a-day and I hear a lot of red-meat is bad for blood pressure or some other such thing)
- environmentally friendly (all those cowes/pigs/etc give off a lot of methane!)
- fun (yes, it is actually fun discovering new ingredients and cooking new things)
- and it means a cute furry animal (or a fat smelly one) doesn't end up on your plate...
So, here are a couple of recipes I enjoy:
Veggie Chilli (also vegan friendly!) - serves 4
Requires:
- Oil
- 1 Onion (peel & chop up)
- 1 Red/Green Pepper (chopped)
- 1 Garlic Clove (chopped)
- 1 tin Tomatoes
- 1 tin Red Kidney Beans
- 100g Green Lentils
- Paprika, Chilli Powder, Salt & Pepper
- First, you need to simmer the Lentils in boiling water for about 45 minutes. You don't need to watch over it the whole time, just stir every 10 minutes or so, so you can relax and do something else.
- Second, using a saucepan, fry the onion and pepper in the oil until tender (onion should be soft and go a bit see-through, it should not go brown/black or it's burning!)
- Third, you need to add the garlic and tin of tomatoes to the saucepan, then drain the kidney beans and from their tin and add them. Finally drain the simmered lentils and add them as well.
- Season to your tastes with the paprika, chilli, salt and pepper to your taste and heat through for another 10-15 minutes, before serving
I suggest serving with rice or a baked potato, or if you're feeling extravagent, some potato wedges and tortilla chips!
Tasty Spaghetti Sauce (this is vegan friendly too!) - serves 4
Requires:
- Oil
- 1 Onion (peel & chop up)
- 1 Celery Stick (chopped up)
- 1 or 2 Carrots (chopped up)
- 1 Garlic Clove (chopped up)
- 2 tins Tomatoes
- 1 mug Water (or Red Wine if you're feeling fancy!)
- Mixed Herbs, Salt & Pepper
- First, fry the onion, celery and carrot in a saucepan until tender (again, the onion should go a bit see-through, and the carrot/celery should be soft)
- Second, add garlic, tomatoes, some mixed herbs and the water/wine. Simmer this until the mixture is reduced (usually takes 20-30mins)
- Finally season with salt & pepper, and some extra herbs if necessary.
Serve on pasta of any variety, either plain, or with some other vegetables (I like using some chopped peppers and courgettes), or even with some mincemeat if you can't do without meat.
If anyone gives these a go, let me know. Or indeed if you have cheap and cheerful recipes of your own, with or without meat, then share them here! Happy cooking.
But, oddly, I am still finding myself being more careful in buying food. Going for the cheaper stuff. Not buying something unnecessary just because it looks tasty. And I've also been cutting out other stuff which I may normally have had. Oh, I'm not skipping meals or anything, I'm just buying cheaper food, but this doesn't mean I'm buying Tesco Basics. Actually, I'm cutting out a lot of meat. I find a lot of people find this strange, wonder where I'm getting my protein from, ask if I'm losing weight... It's very strange that people regard cutting out some meat as an extrodinary measure. It seems ingrained in peoples heads that we need meat in every meal. If it doesn't have meat in, it's not a real meal. But this is completely untrue, and I'm not some hardcore vegetarian/vegan. I still have one or two meat dishes and a fish dish a week.
But anyway. I thought I'd make an effort to convert people to reducing their meat intake, which is:
- cheap (meat is usually one of the most expensive items on a shopping list)
- healthy (it ensures you get your 5-a-day and I hear a lot of red-meat is bad for blood pressure or some other such thing)
- environmentally friendly (all those cowes/pigs/etc give off a lot of methane!)
- fun (yes, it is actually fun discovering new ingredients and cooking new things)
- and it means a cute furry animal (or a fat smelly one) doesn't end up on your plate...
So, here are a couple of recipes I enjoy:
Veggie Chilli (also vegan friendly!) - serves 4
Requires:
- Oil
- 1 Onion (peel & chop up)
- 1 Red/Green Pepper (chopped)
- 1 Garlic Clove (chopped)
- 1 tin Tomatoes
- 1 tin Red Kidney Beans
- 100g Green Lentils
- Paprika, Chilli Powder, Salt & Pepper
- First, you need to simmer the Lentils in boiling water for about 45 minutes. You don't need to watch over it the whole time, just stir every 10 minutes or so, so you can relax and do something else.
- Second, using a saucepan, fry the onion and pepper in the oil until tender (onion should be soft and go a bit see-through, it should not go brown/black or it's burning!)
- Third, you need to add the garlic and tin of tomatoes to the saucepan, then drain the kidney beans and from their tin and add them. Finally drain the simmered lentils and add them as well.
- Season to your tastes with the paprika, chilli, salt and pepper to your taste and heat through for another 10-15 minutes, before serving
I suggest serving with rice or a baked potato, or if you're feeling extravagent, some potato wedges and tortilla chips!
Tasty Spaghetti Sauce (this is vegan friendly too!) - serves 4
Requires:
- Oil
- 1 Onion (peel & chop up)
- 1 Celery Stick (chopped up)
- 1 or 2 Carrots (chopped up)
- 1 Garlic Clove (chopped up)
- 2 tins Tomatoes
- 1 mug Water (or Red Wine if you're feeling fancy!)
- Mixed Herbs, Salt & Pepper
- First, fry the onion, celery and carrot in a saucepan until tender (again, the onion should go a bit see-through, and the carrot/celery should be soft)
- Second, add garlic, tomatoes, some mixed herbs and the water/wine. Simmer this until the mixture is reduced (usually takes 20-30mins)
- Finally season with salt & pepper, and some extra herbs if necessary.
Serve on pasta of any variety, either plain, or with some other vegetables (I like using some chopped peppers and courgettes), or even with some mincemeat if you can't do without meat.
If anyone gives these a go, let me know. Or indeed if you have cheap and cheerful recipes of your own, with or without meat, then share them here! Happy cooking.
you haven't told us how much it cost you to make. Still i bulk make and i use value labelled goods when it comes to making food.
In these times of the alleged 'credit crunch', where our bills of every sort are apparently going up and surely the financial world is on the verge of collapse, everyone, even those who don't necessarily feel affected very much, are tightening up expenditure. I don't feel particularly affected, I can't claim to monitor my food expenditure, my electricity bill may have gone up, but not by a vast amount, and I catch the train to work every day so the cost of this hasn't changed (although I'm sure come January when the annual price-hike comes around again I'll have plenty to complain about).
But, oddly, I am still finding myself being more careful in buying food. Going for the cheaper stuff. Not buying something unnecessary just because it looks tasty. And I've also been cutting out other stuff which I may normally have had. Oh, I'm not skipping meals or anything, I'm just buying cheaper food, but this doesn't mean I'm buying Tesco Basics. Actually, I'm cutting out a lot of meat. I find a lot of people find this strange, wonder where I'm getting my protein from, ask if I'm losing weight... It's very strange that people regard cutting out some meat as an extrodinary measure. It seems ingrained in peoples heads that we need meat in every meal. If it doesn't have meat in, it's not a real meal. But this is completely untrue, and I'm not some hardcore vegetarian/vegan. I still have one or two meat dishes and a fish dish a week.
But anyway. I thought I'd make an effort to convert people to reducing their meat intake, which is:
- cheap (meat is usually one of the most expensive items on a shopping list)
- healthy (it ensures you get your 5-a-day and I hear a lot of red-meat is bad for blood pressure or some other such thing)
- environmentally friendly (all those cowes/pigs/etc give off a lot of methane!)
- fun (yes, it is actually fun discovering new ingredients and cooking new things)
- and it means a cute furry animal (or a fat smelly one) doesn't end up on your plate...
So, here are a couple of recipes I enjoy:
Veggie Chilli (also vegan friendly!) - serves 4
Requires:
- Oil
- 1 Onion (peel & chop up)
- 1 Red/Green Pepper (chopped)
- 1 Garlic Clove (chopped)
- 1 tin Tomatoes
- 1 tin Red Kidney Beans
- 100g Green Lentils
- Paprika, Chilli Powder, Salt & Pepper
- First, you need to simmer the Lentils in boiling water for about 45 minutes. You don't need to watch over it the whole time, just stir every 10 minutes or so, so you can relax and do something else.
- Second, using a saucepan, fry the onion and pepper in the oil until tender (onion should be soft and go a bit see-through, it should not go brown/black or it's burning!)
- Third, you need to add the garlic and tin of tomatoes to the saucepan, then drain the kidney beans and from their tin and add them. Finally drain the simmered lentils and add them as well.
- Season to your tastes with the paprika, chilli, salt and pepper to your taste and heat through for another 10-15 minutes, before serving
I suggest serving with rice or a baked potato, or if you're feeling extravagent, some potato wedges and tortilla chips!
Tasty Spaghetti Sauce (this is vegan friendly too!) - serves 4
Requires:
- Oil
- 1 Onion (peel & chop up)
- 1 Celery Stick (chopped up)
- 1 or 2 Carrots (chopped up)
- 1 Garlic Clove (chopped up)
- 2 tins Tomatoes
- 1 mug Water (or Red Wine if you're feeling fancy!)
- Mixed Herbs, Salt & Pepper
- First, fry the onion, celery and carrot in a saucepan until tender (again, the onion should go a bit see-through, and the carrot/celery should be soft)
- Second, add garlic, tomatoes, some mixed herbs and the water/wine. Simmer this until the mixture is reduced (usually takes 20-30mins)
- Finally season with salt & pepper, and some extra herbs if necessary.
Serve on pasta of any variety, either plain, or with some other vegetables (I like using some chopped peppers and courgettes), or even with some mincemeat if you can't do without meat.
If anyone gives these a go, let me know. Or indeed if you have cheap and cheerful recipes of your own, with or without meat, then share them here! Happy cooking.
But, oddly, I am still finding myself being more careful in buying food. Going for the cheaper stuff. Not buying something unnecessary just because it looks tasty. And I've also been cutting out other stuff which I may normally have had. Oh, I'm not skipping meals or anything, I'm just buying cheaper food, but this doesn't mean I'm buying Tesco Basics. Actually, I'm cutting out a lot of meat. I find a lot of people find this strange, wonder where I'm getting my protein from, ask if I'm losing weight... It's very strange that people regard cutting out some meat as an extrodinary measure. It seems ingrained in peoples heads that we need meat in every meal. If it doesn't have meat in, it's not a real meal. But this is completely untrue, and I'm not some hardcore vegetarian/vegan. I still have one or two meat dishes and a fish dish a week.
But anyway. I thought I'd make an effort to convert people to reducing their meat intake, which is:
- cheap (meat is usually one of the most expensive items on a shopping list)
- healthy (it ensures you get your 5-a-day and I hear a lot of red-meat is bad for blood pressure or some other such thing)
- environmentally friendly (all those cowes/pigs/etc give off a lot of methane!)
- fun (yes, it is actually fun discovering new ingredients and cooking new things)
- and it means a cute furry animal (or a fat smelly one) doesn't end up on your plate...
So, here are a couple of recipes I enjoy:
Veggie Chilli (also vegan friendly!) - serves 4
Requires:
- Oil
- 1 Onion (peel & chop up)
- 1 Red/Green Pepper (chopped)
- 1 Garlic Clove (chopped)
- 1 tin Tomatoes
- 1 tin Red Kidney Beans
- 100g Green Lentils
- Paprika, Chilli Powder, Salt & Pepper
- First, you need to simmer the Lentils in boiling water for about 45 minutes. You don't need to watch over it the whole time, just stir every 10 minutes or so, so you can relax and do something else.
- Second, using a saucepan, fry the onion and pepper in the oil until tender (onion should be soft and go a bit see-through, it should not go brown/black or it's burning!)
- Third, you need to add the garlic and tin of tomatoes to the saucepan, then drain the kidney beans and from their tin and add them. Finally drain the simmered lentils and add them as well.
- Season to your tastes with the paprika, chilli, salt and pepper to your taste and heat through for another 10-15 minutes, before serving
I suggest serving with rice or a baked potato, or if you're feeling extravagent, some potato wedges and tortilla chips!
Tasty Spaghetti Sauce (this is vegan friendly too!) - serves 4
Requires:
- Oil
- 1 Onion (peel & chop up)
- 1 Celery Stick (chopped up)
- 1 or 2 Carrots (chopped up)
- 1 Garlic Clove (chopped up)
- 2 tins Tomatoes
- 1 mug Water (or Red Wine if you're feeling fancy!)
- Mixed Herbs, Salt & Pepper
- First, fry the onion, celery and carrot in a saucepan until tender (again, the onion should go a bit see-through, and the carrot/celery should be soft)
- Second, add garlic, tomatoes, some mixed herbs and the water/wine. Simmer this until the mixture is reduced (usually takes 20-30mins)
- Finally season with salt & pepper, and some extra herbs if necessary.
Serve on pasta of any variety, either plain, or with some other vegetables (I like using some chopped peppers and courgettes), or even with some mincemeat if you can't do without meat.
If anyone gives these a go, let me know. Or indeed if you have cheap and cheerful recipes of your own, with or without meat, then share them here! Happy cooking.