What Do You Get When ...?

 

What do you get when you have two slices of bread that are too thin for a decent slice of toast, one egg, two and a half slices of Quorn ham, and a slice of cheese that is very quickly drying up around the edges?

Well, if you crack and beat the egg, pour it into an oiled pan and then top with the bread.

Flip the whole thing over ... the hardest bit of the entire procedure.  Then top with the Quorn ham and the cheese slice, folding the excess egg into the middle.

Then fold the other half over like a lovely ham, egg and cheese book.  Then toast it until it reaches your perfect shade of toasty-ness and crunchy-ness

You get a filled omelette toasted sandwich, that is delicious and remarkably filling considering the sum of it's parts.

You also get to use up lots of random leftovers from the fridge, and no wastage.

And ... you get something very random for a blog post.  😄

Sue xx

Blogmas Day Twenty Three - Charity Shop Purchases and Homemade Goodies

 

I called to two of my favourite charity shops while I was in town last week.  One day I was in town to visit the dentist and called to the Age Concern shop and the other I was in town with Alan and nipped into the local Children's Hospice shop.

In both I got a book and a little something that caught my eye.  It's Christmas time and it's a nice way to support any charity, something for me, something for them and a 'please put the change in the donation pot'.

I definitely felt more charitable towards them than the dentist did towards me!! 

At home after putting away the new shopping that I showed on yesterday's post, I used the last of my old bananas to make a batch of Banana and Walnut cakes.  Half each for me and Alan and nothing gone to waste.

To make a bit of space in the freezer I also took out all the lemon ends and apple cores and made a little batch of Compost Heap Jelly.  Two of the little jars were then labelled ready to go into Alan's stocking.

 A bit of charity, a bit of frugality and a lot of satisfaction.  

Sue xx

Sausage Roll ... and Slaw

 

Remember THIS post when I held my hands up to, and showed you the evidence of, me accidentally cremating a poor lonely sausage roll?

  Well I thought I would keep my wits about me this time and cook the other one yesterday.

Review ... they taste exactly the same as they used to when they were slightly smaller and there were four in a box.  The thing is I think my taste buds have changed a bit and I am no longer a fan.  

On my plate in the photo is a side of a simple cabbage slaw which is simply, 1/4 of a cabbage shredded, a couple of slices of white onion and a dollop of mayonnaise, all stirred together and enjoyed with ... perhaps even more than ... the sausage roll. 

Perhaps I have been seduced by the Greggs vegan sausage roll, which currently due to all the travelling seems to be at the very least a weekly event.  These are ten times tastier than the Aldi cook at home offerings.

I doubt I will be buying the Aldi version on a regular basis anymore.  

Sue xx

Chickpea, Quinoa and Turmeric Curry

 

Over the past couple of weeks I have been eating through all the bought-in components of meals and almost 'ready meal' style things in the freezer ... garlic Kyiv's, fish portions and the like ... so I have now made some space to be able to make up batches of the meals that I want to eat on a regular basis.  

The first one that I chose to cook up was a batch of Deliciously Ella's Chickpea, Quinoa and Turmeric Curry.  It's a recipe that I've used for years and is always a favourite. It also made a good dent in my stash of out of date tins in the top cupboard.

I added another tin of potatoes to the mix after taking the photo as I do like the potatoes in this curry, and using up the tins meant that I didn't have to do the peeling, chopping and cooking potatoes part of the recipe to start me off.  😀

It's a really simple recipe, and once everything is in the pan it can just be left to it's own devices while you get on with something else.  I do add the chickpeas right at the start of cooking, not later like the recipe suggests, as I like them to get a bit softer, and I also use frozen pellets of spinach to cut costs a bit.

It makes a huge pan full of curry, so I had one portion straight away, cooking enough rice for another meal after this one.

Once the curry was completely cooled I made up a 'homemade ready meal' with the rest of the rice to pop into the fridge, and portioned the rest of the curry out between four takeaway style containers which all went into the freezer.

Now I'm pondering on the next batch of ready meals ... I think it will be a lentil Bolognese style mix.  This could be eaten on pasta, on a baked potato or used as the base for a shepherds pie.   Having some tasty home-cooked meals all ready to go will make for easy cooking evenings when we have to get busy with new home renovations in the coming months.  While I don't mind an occasional 'real' takeaway, this will really help to keep costs down.

Sue xx

Cook Once, Eat Twice ... and Then Make Cake

 

I have a pack of salmon fillets in the freezer ... proper posh ones from M&S ... I must have picked them up when we went house-hunting to Cleveleys.  

We thought it might be a good town to live in with it's bustling high street and a good selection of well known shops, including an M&S Food Hall.  Also with it being by the sea but nowhere near as overrun and touristy as Blackpool which is just down the coast, it looked very promising.  Anyway after viewing the property and having a good look around town we decided it was too busy for us, which is ironic really as my son might be moving there from Blackpool as it seems so very quiet to them.  

But anyway, we shopped in M&S and Alan paid.  Now and then I seem to have a tendency not to always post photos of the purchases when Alan pays, and as these went straight into the freezer no doubt they were 'out of sight and out of mind', so they were a happy find.

I'm cutting right back on fish these days so I made one salmon portion last over two meals, with lots of fusilli pasta in a lovely homemade sauce. 

Cook once, eat twice ... and this is actually nice hot or cold, but with it being so chilly recently the second portion was also heated up in the microwave the next day.

Hobbit breakfasts continue, with fruit and a single weetabix followed an hour later by toast or something on toast.

While I had a dish of peaches in the fridge I decided to treat us to a Peach Cake.  It was just my usual recipe -

2 eggs

+

their weight in:

SR Flour

Spread or Butter

Sugar*

+

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Mix everything together in a bowl and then pour into a lined or well greased cake tin.  Top with sliced tinned peaches ... or any fruit of your choice.  Cook for around 20-25 minutes in a medium hot oven.

*I emptied out all the demerara sugar sachets from my stash for this cake and it made for a lovely crunchy texture.

Absolutely delicious with a coffee mid afternoon.  

We had two slices each, over two days ... well I have to repay Alan in some way for all the food he's been buying me in dribs and drabs on our outings.  😄

Sue xx

Much More Satisfying

 

It doesn't take many ingredients to make a very tasty and very satisfying Breakfast Wrap.

I was out early before the heat of the day ramped up yesterday ... I don't do heat at all, while I hide in the house, Alan basks in the garden like a snoozing sealion ... I was picking the four reddest tomatoes, one didn't make it as far as the house but the three that did were just about enough.  I picked the two largest courgettes and used half of the smallest one.

Added to the homegrown pickings were a couple of slices of red onion, two beaten eggs, a handful of cheese and a selection of spices from my tin.  In yesterdays case it was onion granules, garlic granules and cumin.

The veggies and spices were all sautéed together for five minutes, then the eggs were poured on top and the whole thing was topped with the wrap.  After a few minutes I checked under the edges to see if the eggs had set nicely, they had so I put my plate over the 'omelette', tipped the pan over and then slid it back in wrap side down. 

A few more minutes and the wrap had softened and warmed through nicely, then it was folded in half and tipped out onto the plate.

An absolutely delicious and healthy breakfast in around ten minutes.

It's funny because yesterday I was debating whether to buy a box of a Cheerio type cereal from Aldi, as the thought of cereal and ice-cold milk was very appealing.  I'm glad now that I didn't as this was so much more satisfying.

What is your current favourite breakfast?

Sue xx

A Virtually Free Meal

 

This recipe popped up on a Facebook Group that I am a member of a few weeks ago, and I photographed my screen so I would remember to have a go at making them.

I haven't as yet, but I am going to for sure.

It would be virtually a free meal wouldn't it as the ingredients are so minimal and cheap.  Schnitzels made from just oats and flavourings.  I hope they stay together well, I'll let you know once I make them.

I thought of them the other day as I was dividing a tin of beans into my usual three portions.  I usually have one of the portions on a baked potato, one on a slice of toast and then a spare, which I now think would go perfectly with my virtually free schnitzel. 😊

Sue xx

Two Leeks, One Carrot, One Onion, One Apple and One Pack of Pastry

 

Last week in Aldi leeks were in their Super Six, so I decided to buy myself a pack as I hadn't had any leeks for ages.  

 I've been on a mission to use up the large stock of onions that I seemed to have.  They have really lasted me well, perhaps mostly due to me buying the odd single onion here and there to take advantage of extra Sainsbury's Nectar points for onions ... one onion, or banana or any fruit or vegetable is enough to qualify you for between 20 and 50 points when they are listed amongst your specials for the week, an offer not to be sneezed at.

So this week while they were still nice and fresh I decided to use them up over the course of two days.

Day one was soup.  A nice simple leek, carrot, onion and odds and sods concoction, making use of the last of a lettuce, a couple of dessertspoons of bouillon powder and some onion and garlic powder.

Five good portions, one for immediately after it was made, one for the fridge and three for the freezer.  It's a good job there was a bit of space in there after me eating from it at least once a day over the last week.

Day two was Potato and Leek Slice from Miguel Barclays 'Meat-free' cookbook.

This is a firm favourite and I've made it a few times now, this time I made it rather large as both my potato and leek were very generously sized.  So when it came out of the oven looking super-sized, I shared it with Alan as he hadn't started prepping his tea.  I had the two end pieces as I love pastry and he had the middle section as he prefers the filling to the wrapping. 😄

Here's the recipe.

https://youtu.be/0hT4A3BGerQ?si=o1yWxW-_sRaVbf7B

And here's the man himself making it, very speedily!!

Of course from the pack of ready rolled puff pastry ... one of the packs of pastry that I rescued from Mum's freezer ... there was some left over.  So here's where the 'one apple' comes in.

Just one apple thinly sliced and laid out in the centre scored section of two rectangles of puff pastry, sprinkled with the contents of one of the rescued brown sugar sachets from my stash, and baked alongside the main course.

It was supposed to be for dessert, but Alan had his for supper and I saved mine until this morning as the potato and leek slice was just so filling.

Apple, pastry and squirty cream for breakfast ... I don't mind if I do.  😁

Sue xx

Bananas, Freebies ... and How Much?

 

I was reading up on bananas the other day, like you do when you are busy and something pops up on your computer!!  I discovered the many benefits from eating them regularly, the potassium they contain is good for heart health, for lowering blood pressure and the tryptophan they contain helps your body produce serotonin which is really good for sleep regulation ... all of which are things that I need.  They are also rich in fibre, vitamins B6 and C, manganese and also traces of copper.  

It all sounds very good, however, can eating more than six bananas in a day really kill you?  Not according to THIS report from the BBC a few years ago.  Now who even thought they could in the first place!!  😄   

Anyway I will be making an effort to eat more bananas, perhaps one a day along with the occasional Satsuma ... I don't like fruit that much. 🍌🟠

Perhaps that is why one of my favourite ways to consume bananas is in banana and walnut muffins. 😀

This batch may have been in the oven for two minutes too long, but the main reason they are so brown is that when I went to measure out the sugar I had no white sugar left at all so I decided to use my Demerara sugar.

And there wasn't enough of that, so I emptied out all my little rescued freebies from cafes over the last few months, and believe it or not the final weight came to exactly the amount that I needed.  Fate is telling me that the best way to eat bananas is in cake form.  😁

They had a delicious crunch to them, so I'll be doing this again for sure.

Alan was going to Booths for some bread for himself earlier and he asked me if there was anything I needed.  Yes, eggs I said.  He came back with my usual choice and they had increased in price from £4.50 last week to £5 this week.  

Now that is a bit of a steep rise in just seven days!!

He said that there was a sign on the shelf edge that said they worked out at 42p per egg.  Which, if you put things into perspective, means that two eggs on toast still works out at a very reasonable £1 for a good breakfast or lunch.

Or of course for two eggs added to Banana and Walnut muffins.

Sue xx

Banana and Walnut Muffins

 

I had taken two eggs out of the fridge to come to room temperature ready for my breakfast last weekend, but then we ended up going to Booths for our breakfast and for some shopping at Aldi.

What to do with them?

Then I spotted my banana, it was to speckled for me to want to eat it as it was.  I'm a fussy so and so when it comes to the over sweetness of ripe bananas.  So I immediately thought of Banana and Walnut Muffins and sprung into action as soon as we got back.  It's one of those recipes that I don't have to think twice about as it's just so easy to remember, they are my favourite sort. 😀

Weigh the eggs, in the shell or out it doesn't matter the shell weighs virtually nothing.

Gather together all the other ingredients and weigh them into the bowl in the exact same weight.

SR Flour (or plain and a teaspoon of baking powder)

Butter or Spread

Sugar

and of course,

your banana ... which can be any weight.

A measure of some sort of vanilla essence, extract or paste and finally a handful of walnuts.

While your oven comes to temperature (about 180C fan, 200C degrees non-fan, gas mark 6, 400F) beat everything together, mashing the banana well and then crumbling in the walnuts at the end.

I put mine in muffin cases but you can also just spoon the mix into silicone cupcake trays if you have them.  The amount you get varies each time, due to the varying weight of eggs and bananas but it will be an average of 10-12.

Cook them for approximately 20 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. 

Enjoy with a nice cup of coffee.

Warm Banana and Walnut Muffins are the chefs perk.  😃

While the oven was on I baked a couple of bought half-baked baguettes to have for a packed lunch at Mum's

After sharing the rest of the muffins with Alan, I had two more for my breakfast the following morning, what a lovely treat.

I used the last of my white sugar to make these, which rather spookily weighed out exactly right!!👻

Sue xx

What Do You Do on a Wet Bank Holiday Monday?

 

What do you do on a wet Bank Holiday Monday ... well after a day of working up in his office for Alan, reading for me, and then a bit of television while my cake baked, when Alan said he was going shopping you just know I was going to say "yes, I'll come too" don't you.  

I told myself that I would only buy some fresh things and a loaf of bread ... I really have got to stop lying to myself.  😄

I'm only joking as those of you who know my wacky sense of humour will realise, I actually did quite well.  Somehow wine and chocolate biscuits have now fallen into my 'fresh foods' category, although the odds of them living here long enough to go even slightly 'off' are miniscule.

My receipt.

I bought a larger than usual bag of baking potatoes as Aldi were completely out of loose baking spuds and the packs of four were so light as to not be worth the 75p cost.  So for twice the price I have definitely got more than twice the potatoes.

I have now totally blown the August budget and used up most of my savings from previous months too.  😳

Earlier I had gotten all the ingredients out to make a cake.  Banana and walnut this time, using my trusty, never fails 'all one weight and virtually all in the bowl at once' method.

My egg weighed 60g ... so the flour, margarine and sugar were all weighed out to that weight too, then all mixed thoroughly together with a dash of vanilla extract, before adding the banana and mashing that in.  Finishing off with the chopped up nuts and a quick stir before baking at 180° for around 25 minutes in a lined 1lb loaf tin.

Then I forgot to take a photo of the finished loaf ... this is a very similar looking one that I made in January 2023 and shared on my old blog, just to give you an idea of the finished article. It was very tasty and we had half each over the course of the evening.

Now the Bank Holiday over and we have  a long wait until the next one, which of course will be Christmas Day ... I bet it's still raining then!!

Sue xx

 

Day Five - Swapsies and Homemade Fishcakes

It was a 'non-hungry' morning, I have them occasionally and just go with the flow.  So today for my breakfast I just had a slice of toast with a smear of spread and the dregs of the marmalade brought home from Dobbie's the other week. 

It was enough.

But by lunchtime I was definitely ready for something more substantial and decided on a sausage bun.

I simply cooked some homegrown red onions with a sprinkle of chilli flakes and some mixed herbs and the sausages in the small frying pan.  The sausages looked really good.

I split the sausages and layered them up on the bun with a generous spreading of the posh tomato ketchup.  Now, while the flavour of this was great the texture of the sausages was just not for me.  I'm finding I'm really going off a lot of the replacement meat products ...which can only be a good thing really!!

I was debating throwing the rest of the pack away, but I decided to offer them to Alan first and he said an immediate yes, he's not as fussy about food texture as I am so I think they will suit him just fine.  He offered me a swap for them and as I was already thinking about what to have for my tea, I chose one spring onion, about a quarter of a cucumber and half a punnet of cherry tomatoes as my little plum tomatoes are nearly all used up.

Tea was to be homemade fishcakes with these ingredients, none of them from the fridge.  The mash was thawed from the freezer, Alan's spring onion, a whizzed up bread crust and a tin of salmon from the cupboard.

Once everything was chopped, mashed and mixed together I made four good sized fishcakes ... and aren't they nice and round and well-formed, I usually struggle with this but it just worked out so perfectly for once much to my surprise and delight.

They even stayed nice and round, and held together well in the pan while I cooked them.  I had two for my tea with Alan's cherry tomatoes and cucumber and some of my lettuce.  It was a really nice fresh tasting meal and surprisingly filling.

But it's got me craving more cucumber ... I'm going to have to go shopping. 😄

Sue xx