Potato Bake

Hi everyone, I hope you're well.

Here's an easy recipe I'd like to share...

Potato Bake

Grease an oven dish.

Slice one onion and some potatoes (do enough to feed your family... I did half a bag)

Layer the potatoes and onions ending in a potato layer.

Dot with butter and sprinkle with nutmeg. Pour over a small carton of cream (or milk if you're really thrifty) so you can see the cream but not to the top. Loosely cover with foil and bake for 1hr 30mins @  180oC or 1hr @ 200oC (I cooked a gammon for sandwiches at the same time so just turned the temperature down to suit the gammon) 20mins before the end, remove the foil to make the top layer crispy.  

As you can see, you may need to soak the oven dish!

We ate this with cold beef left over from our Sunday roast and peas. 

Mandy x

This should have published yesterday! Hopefully the problem is sorted now x

Bacon Cakes...a recipe for Sooze

Hi Sooze and anyone else that would like this recipe!

Bacon Cakes

1). Cook 2oz bacon until crisp and cut into pieces.

2). Sieve together 8oz self-raising flour and 1/4 tsp salt. Rub in 1oz butter until you have fine breadcrumbs.

3). Add 1oz grated cheese and all of the bacon.

4). Mix together 1/4pt milk, 1tbsp tomato ketchup and a dash of Worcester sauce and add to dry ingredients.

5). Mix to a soft dough and roll out on a floured board to a 7" circle. Brush with milk and cut into 8 wedges. 

6). Arrange on a greased and floured baking tray in a circle with the edges overlapping. Sprinkle with 3oz grated cheese.

7). Bake at 180 for 30 mins until golden brown.

This is the photo from the book because I changed my meal plan at the last minute on Saturday, so didn't cook these after all...please let me know how you get on with this recipe xx

Retro Puddings...Chocolate Crunch Pie, Chilled Lemon Flan and Montelimar Pudding

Hi everyone and welcome to my new followers. I enjoyed reading your comments from yesterday and I have replied.

As requested, there are some recipes for you below. They all came from a great retro cook book Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook, my copy is from 1977 and I love it! I have altered the recipes slightly to suit me, so I will write them as I made them...

Mary Berry wrote some of the recipes in this book, including chilled lemon flan and Montelimar pudding. 

Chilled Lemon Flan

1). Crush 4oz digestive biscuits and stir in 2oz melted butter. Press into a flan dish with the back of a metal spoon. Chill.

2). Make the filling by mixing together 1/4pt double cream with a 6oz can of condensed milk (I used half of a 397g can). You don't need to whisk for long...just mix them together.

3). Slowly beat in the juice of 2 large lemons. As if by magic...the mixture thickens!

4) pour mixture on top of biscuit base and chill.

This was mine...

Not quite like the photo, but it was lovely!

Chocolate Crunch Pie

1). Crush 4oz digestive biscuits and stir in 2oz melted butter. Press into a flan dish with the back of a metal spoon. Chill.

2). Make up a packet of chocolate angel delight with single cream (instead of milk) and pour onto biscuit base. Smooth over and chill.

3). Whip 1/4pt double cream and pipe onto chocolate. Drizzle with chocolate sauce (I used the chocolate sauce for ice-cream).

This was mine...

Montelimar Pudding

Mine looks nothing like this!!!

1). Chill a 6oz can of evaporated milk  in the fridge (I used half of a 397g can).

2). Dissolve a raspberry jelly in a little boiling water then make up to 1/2pt with cold water. Cool until sloppy but not set. 

3). Whisk the evap milk until light and foamy. Then whisk in the cooled jelly...it will start to thicken.

4). Stir in the juice of 1/2 a lemon...and the magic happens again! Add 1tbsp caster sugar and 2oz chopped marshmallows (I used 7 large marshmallows and snipped them with a wet pair of scissors!) 

5). Mix and pour into a serving dish. 

We haven't eaten ours yet (today's tea) but it looks like this...

The original recipe uses lemon jelly and glacé cherries. We don't like those cherries and I already had the jelly, plus we have already had a lemon pudding this week, with lemon meringue pie coming up.

Eating a pudding each day means I can serve up smaller portions of our main meal which contains expensive meat. I am also trying to stick to three meals a day without snacking! 

Please let me know if you try any of these recipes and if you enjoyed them.

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x

Feeding the Family Friday...

Hi everyone 

Here is some of the food we've eaten since Friday...

Potato Cheese Pie

One Pan Pork Chops

This was lovely but the baking dish needed a soak!

Cheesy Gammon Rolls

4 slices gammon or ham

4 leeks

25g butter

1tbsp plain flour

150ml single cream

1/2 tsp English mustard

Pinch of ground nutmeg

75g granted cheese

Method

1). Boil leeks for 5 mins. Drain well (reserve 150ml of the water)

2). Roll gammon around the leeks and put into a shallow ovenproof dish.

3). Melt butter and add flour, stirring. Gradually add leek water, cream, mustard and nutmeg. Bring to the boil, stirring all the time. Add most of the cheese.

4). Pour sauce over leeks and gammon and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

5). Bake for 25-30 mins @ 190oC

I also made a really simple cheese cake...

Bash some digestive biscuits (depends how big you want to make it) and add melted butter to bind it together. Press into a serving dish with the back of a metal spoon. Chill in the fridge while you make the filling...empty a tub of soft (philidelphia) cheese into a bowl and stir in some lemon curd. I used 8 heaped teaspoons to get it right. Spread over the chilled base and chill until ready to eat (photo at the end because once again I couldn't type under a photo!)

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x

Feeding the Family Friday...

Hi everyone,

I am hopeless at remembering to take photos of our tea! Only two so far this week...

This is Mondays tea as I was making it...chicken risotto.

The wedges meal was a really lovely recipe but I ate it before taking a photo. Here's the magazine clipping...

I'm including the recipe because it was cheap and tasty. I made my own BBQ sauce too.

Wedges and Beans with Cheese

Potatoes cut into wedges (enough to feed your family as a main dish)

1tbsp oil

A shake of paprika

1can baked beans

1-2tbsp brown sauce

3tbsp chopped parsley

100g grated cheese

BBQ sauce - 2tbsp soy sauce, 3tbsp honey, 1tbsp vinegar, 1tsp Worcester sauce, 4tbsp passata (mix together in a jug and adjust to your taste...you could add a tsp of Dijon mustard but I didn't because Daisy is allergic to mustard seeds) 

1). Toss wedges in the oil and sprinkle with paprika. Put in an ovenproof dish.

2). Bake for 30 min @ 200oC turning once, until crisp and golden.

3). Make the BBQ sauce (see above).

4). Mix together the beans, BBQ sauce, brown sauce and parsley.

5). Remove wedges from the oven and cover with the beans mixture. Sprinkle over the cheese and return to the oven for 20 mins until pale golden and bubbling.

This is well worth making!

This is the sausage and tomato bake. The recipe was requested by Jane...

Sausage and Tomato Bake

Pack of sausages (I chopped each sausage into 3 pieces)

Little oil

1 chopped leek or onion

1tbsp plain flour

Beef oxo

3floz water

Dash of Worcester sauce

1tsp mixed herbs

Tin of chopped tomatoes (I used passata)

1). Fry sausages and leek/onion in oil.

2). Add flour and cook for one minute.

3). Stir in oxo, water, Worcester, herbs and tomatoes. Bring to the boil and stir until thickened.

4). Transfer into an oven proof dish with a lid. Bake for 30 mins @ 180oC.

I served this with small baked potatoes and broccoli.

This was really lovely too.

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x

Feeding the Family Friday...

Hi everyone,

Here's a few pics of what we've been eating this week...

Corned beef hash pie.

Pasta carbonara...I'm not going to make this again (Daisy had a lactose free version, but really doesn't like a white sauce). Yo be honest, if didn't have much flavour!

I am terrible at remembering to photograph our meals! Tea time is such a busy time, but I will try harder.

Two recipes were requested from my meal plan this week...

Sausage and Sweetcorn Quiche

8oz short crust pastry

1oz butter

1 onion (chopped)

6oz Sweetcorn

4 sausages (cooked and chopped)

2 tomatoes (chopped)

1/4 pt milk or cream or a mixture of the two 

3 eggs

1tsp mixed herbs

3oz cheese (grated)

Method

1). Look at the ingredients list for preparation...particularly that the sausages need cooking first for this recipe.

2). Roll out the pastry (you can make your own or buy ready rolled like I did because it's still on offer in asda) to line a 10" flan dish.

3). Melt the butter and cook the onion until softened. Put in pastry case.

4). Add the Sweetcorn, sausage and tomatoes to the pastry case.

5). Put the milk/cream, eggs and herbs in a jug and beat.

6). Pour over the pastry case filling and sprinkle with the cheese.

7). Bake @ 180oC for 35 mins or until filling is set.

Rooftop Pie

Both of today's recipes are magazine cuttings from the '80s! I love a bit of retro cooking.

Serves 4

2 tbsp oil

1 onion (diced)

3 small potatoes (diced)

2 carrots (diced)

1/2 green pepper (chopped)

450g mince

275ml beef stock

1tbsp tom purée 

50g button mushrooms (sliced)

Pack of puff pastry

1 beaten egg

Method

1). Heat the oil and fry onion, potato, carrots, pepper until browned. Remove from the pan and put aside.

2). Brown the mince then return the veg to the pan. Add the stock and tomato purée. Cook gently for about 20 mins until the sauce has thickened.

3). Add mushrooms and pile mixture into pie dish. 

4). Roll out pastry to 1/2cm thick. Cut out rounds and arrange them overlapping , over the mince, sticking down and glazing with beaten egg.

5). Cook @ 200oC until the pastry has risen and is golden brown.

I hope you like these recipes and thank you for reading,

Mandy x

What I've baked Wednesday...

Hi everyone

Well I've discovered that thrifty tips is my most popular of posts. Yesterday I received 400 page views! I normally get less than 50, so I'm thinking you want me to share more of these?

On to today...

Lately I've been trying to reduce my grocery spending and reduce my food waste. This means I only bake small amounts so it all gets eaten. This week Daisy and I have baked chocolate cake! Daisy was in charge of her lactose free recipe of little chocolate cakes and I made a chocolate sandwich cake...

It's a moist cake and doesn't rise much!

 

Tastes good though :)

Here's the recipe...

Dark Moist Chocolate Cake

125g marg

125g sugar

2 eggs

75g self-raising flour

1tsp baking powder

3tbsp cocoa

Icing sugar, cocoa and real butter to make the icing...plus a little icing sugar to dust on the top.

Method

1). Beat the marg and sugar until pale.

2). Add beaten eggs slowly with a little flour.

3). Add remaining flour, baking powder and cocoa. Fold in.

4). Spoon into two greased and lined sandwich tins. Level the top.

5). Bake for 30mins @ 170oC until it springs back when touched. Cool.

6). Make the icing and use it to sandwich the the cake together. Dust the top with icing sugar.

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x

A bit of baking...

Hi everyone

Sorry for the gap in blogging, but things have been pretty busy here. The beautiful weather has meant that I've been spending much more time outside with Daisy. She will happily play outside whatever the weather, but we've been trying out different activities and taking advantage of the sunshine while it lasts.

Sorting, tidying and decluttering have also been happening (while Daisy naps) and I have thrown so much stuff away.

I really feel like I'm getting somewhere now.

Today we played out in the garden for a while then came in to do some baking...

Gingerbread men

200g plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt 

1-2 tsp of ground ginger

75g butter

3tbsp golden syrup 

75g soft brown sugar

Decorations

1. Preheat the oven to 170 oC.

2. Sift the flour, bicarb, salt and ginger into a bowl...

As demonstrated by Daisy!

3. Melt the butter, syrup and brown sugar in a pan...

4. Leave to cool and pour onto dry ingredients...

5. Mix to form a soft dough...

6. Bring together and gently knead...

7. Sprinkle a board/ work surface with a little flour to prevent sticking and roll out to 2-3mm thick...

8. Cut out your gingerbread shapes and put on a lightly greased baking tin...

9. Bake for 10 mins...

10. Don't put them too close together as they will join hands! Leave to cool slightly on the tray before transferring them carefully to a cooling rack (limbs are easily lost at this stage!)...

11. Decorate and add eyes, mouth and buttons...

We used the tube of icing up as glue to stick the bits on. 

This is Daisy's own work...she is so independent now! 

We also made some vanilla cakes but I will put up the tutorial for these tomorrow as it's getting late now. I know I promised small cakes next, but this is how I bake...spontaneously! The gingerbread men were planned as an activity for Daisy   and the vanilla cakes just followed! 

I hope you're enjoying my recipes and tutorials.

Mandy x

Packed lunch ideas...savoury

Good morning everyone,

This one is for you frugal in bucks :)

Packed lunches can simply be a sandwich, apple and a piece of HM cake, but this isn't suitable for the times when you're 'being good'! Here are a few ideas:

Salad...

I would start with a base of lettuce (plenty of different choices there and easy to grow), cucumber and tomatoes. To that you could add different things to make it more exciting:

Baby spinach leaves

Watercress

Cress (easily grown on the windowsill)

Celery 

Grated carrot

Sliced red onion

Chopped peppers

Sweet corn 

To your chosen salad you could take a HM salad dressing (then you know what's in it) in a little pot to add when you're ready to eat. 

I would add some protein at this point:

Low fat cottage cheese 

A little grated low fat cheddar

Hard boiled egg

Tuna

Sardines

Pilchards

Other ideas

HM veg soup in a flask

Sticks of celery filled with low fat cream cheese

Spread low fat cream cheese on rice cakes

Pasta salad

Chicken drumsticks and HM low fat coleslaw (made with yogurt)

HM hummus and veggie sticks to dip

I found a recipe for hummus although I haven't made it because I don't like hummus! I hope this helps?

Hummus

410g tin of chickpeas

100g sesame seeds

2tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic

3tbsp natural yogurt

Juice of 2 lemons (4-6tbsp)

Salt &pepper 

1. Put sesame seeds and oil in a blender and blitz for one minute.

2. Drain chickpeas and add with all other ingredients.

3. Blend for a few minutes on high.

4. Taste and check seasoning. Chill for a few hours and serve.

This will keep in the fridge for approx a week.

This recipe was taken (but not copied word for word) from a fantastic book that I cook from quite a lot...

'How to feed your whole family a healthy, balanced diet with very little money..and hardly any time, even if you have a tiny kitchen, only three saucepans (one with an ill-fitting lid) and no fancy gadgets- unless you count the garlic crusher...simple, wholesome and nutritious recipes for family meals'

Gill Holcombe

It's quite a title! Basically, no excuses, everyone can try to cook. It's  great book!

I hope this gave you a few different ideas to what you're already eating frugal in bucks. 

------------------------------------------------

Other news...I'm still busy sorting, throwing stuff out, recycling and preparing things to sell at the boot sale. 

I am trying to fit other activities into my day like baking and hopefully sewing soon. The house is getting easier to keep clean and tidy because we have less stuff! I'm currently looking at storage ideas to pack things away neatly. I went to Dunelm Mill for the first time the other day and they have some cute storage baskets that I'm thinking of buying. I did pick up a couple of bits for baking

I've been looking out for a cake storer/carrier for a while and this was far cheaper than what I've previously seen...£3.99

The gingerbread cutters were £1.49 and perfect for baking with Daisy as she loves the gingerbread man story and can chant the 'run run as fast as you can' bit! We also got Daisy a gruffalo tabard apron. 

I got some new piping bag nozzles. These were quite pricey at £5.99, but I want to make more pretty cakes and need a wide star nozzles for what I want to do. I looked for a single nozzle but the one I wanted came within a set of seven. I will use them all and this means I can pass my other nozzle set onto my son's girlfriend as she loves to bake too. See..the one comes in...one has to go rule is working for me now!!

Hopefully I will find time for more baking later for my next tutorial of small cakes. I have also noted the requests for choccy puddings. We still eat puddings (not every day), are we in the minority? Does anyone else eat puddings??? I have a lot of those recipes and all of them tried and tested!

Please keep the suggestions coming.

Mandy x

Baking tutorial...fruit rock cakes and chocolate rock cakes

Hi everyone,

As promised, I've been baking this evening. Starting off my baking tutorials with rock cakes. I also made chocolate rock cakes with a slightly different recipe. I hope you enjoy!

Rock cakes

5oz self-raising flour 

Pinch of salt

1tsp mixed spice

2oz marg

2oz caster sugar

1 egg 

4oz dried fruit

1tbsp demerera sugar

1. Weigh out your ingredients  (I find it easier to be organised so you're not rushing about looking for things half way through mixing etc)

2. Put the flour, salt and spice into a large mixing bowl. Rub the marg in using your fingertips until it looks like breadcrumbs (shake the bowl gently from side to side so the larger lumps surface to check)

3. Stir in the caster sugar and fruit.

4. Beat the egg and stir into the mixture.

5. Place heaps of the mixture onto a baking tray (I used baking parchment to prevent sticking, but you could just lightly grease the tin instead). I made 6 rock cakes.

6. Sprinkle each cake with demerera sugar.

7. Bake @ 200 oC for 10-15mins. They should look crispy and a big cracked on the top when they're cooked. If you gently press the top, it should be soft but not sticky.

Mine came out of the oven a bit flat! 

You could easily double up the ingredients to make more cakes.

Chocolate rock cakes

8oz self-raising flour

1oz cocoa 

4oz marg

3oz caster sugar 

1 egg

2-4tsp milk

Chocolate chips or buttons 

1. Weigh out all the ingredients.

Please excuse the mess on the table...Daisy was doing a drawing while I got ready!

2. Put the flour and cocoa into a large mixing bowl and rub in the marg with your fingertips until it looks like breadcrumbs...

3. Stir in the sugar...

4. Add the beaten egg and milk and stir.

5. Add the chocolate (I chopped up 15 squares of cadburys dairy milk) and work into the mixture (it should come into a ball now).

6. Put heaps on a baking tray (as before) and bake for 10-15 mins @ 200 oC.

These are my own recipes  that I've been making for years! 

Coming up... Low calorie packed lunch ideas and small cakes.

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x