A Simple Tea...

Hi everyone!

Thank you for your comments, kind and loyal considering my gap in blogging. I would be lying if I said I was back on track (even more trouble as expected) but I am trying to focus on the simple things that make me happy. One of these is food! 

Daisy has been off her food for a while because of illness and teething, but she does love what I call a 'gravy dinner'. Yesterday I made the most simple of mince dishes - mince in gravy. It was plain, easy, simple, but really tasty! Daisy ate quite a lot which makes me happy too.

I browned some mince with a chopped onion, added a sprinkle of parsley and a little water to prevent it from sticking to the pan. I made up some gravy (we use Aunt Bessie's gravy granules because most others contain milk!) and stirred that in. I left it to simmer while I boiled some potatoes. I served them as mash (OH is much better at mashing than me and adds dijon mustard...yum, yum) and peas and baby corn (frozen veg so quick and easy). It was a lovely tea which I thought would lack flavour, but didn't.

We were full up for pudding, but Daisy had a treat for eating her tea of soya ice-cream with a few sprinkles and broken up dairy-free chocolate buttons. She ate all of that! The soya ice-cream has real vanilla pods in it and is actually lovely. She is still on her first tiny packet of chocolate buttons, so this was a real treat that she enjoyed...nice and soothing on the gums too.

The crap may continue...but I will try and make things as 'normal' as possible for Daisy (she's 14 months old today!)

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x

Frugal tea-time... Sausage and Bean Casserole

Hi everyone,

Last night we had sausage and bean casserole for tea:

Sausage and Bean Casserole

6 sausages (chopped into 3 pieces)

2x tins of baked beans

1tbsp worcester sauce

2tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tbsp bbq sauce

1tbsp black treacle

black pepper

1. Put sausages in casserole dish.
2. Combine beans with the remaining ingredients and pour over sausages.
3. Cover with foil and bake for 1hr at 180oC.
4. Check on the casserole every 20mins and stir.
5. I served it with mini jacket potatoes (new potatoes baked in the oven).

This makes a nice change from bangers and mash. It was plenty for three adults so would serve four. There isn't much sausage in there, but we are cutting down on our meat intake and the extra tin of beans makes up for it. One tin may be enough, but they could cook dry and start to stick to the dish while cooking.

I'm not normally on my laptop at the weekend, so I'll be back with another frugal recipe on Tuesday (my daughter is 18 on Monday, so I'll be a bit busy!)

Sorry about the lack of photos - I can't upload from my computer now :(

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x



Frugal tea-time... homemade fish pie

Hi everyone,

I've decided to write about my frugal meals and cooking. I don't seem to be getting many page views now, or comments, or followers :(

I suppose my posts are too boring and I talk about my life with Daisy too much for a thrifty blog, but this is me right now!

I am trying to move away from baby jars for Daisy, so have to put more thought into what we are having for tea each day. I need to be able to adapt it to suit a lactose intolerant 8 month old.

Last night we had fish pie. I always think a pie should have a pastry lid, but with fish? No thanks... I had this as child (made with tuna) and it made me feel sick! My fish pie has a potato lid. I thought I would share my recipe (if anyone out there is interested).

Fish Pie

pack of 4 frozen pollack blocks

pack of instant parsley sauce

frozen peas

half a small tub single cream

small bag of potatoes

knob of butter

black pepper

sprinkle of parsley

1. Poach fish in water for 15 mins from frozen (that's what it said on the packet).
2. Meanwhile, peel, chop and boil spuds.
3. Remove fish from pan and flake into serving dish.
4. Boil kettle and make up parsley sauce mix. Add to fish with most of the cream.
5. Cook peas and add to fish.
6. Drain and mash spuds with butter and remaining cream. Season.
7. Pile on top of fish and spread with a fork. Sprinkle on parsley.
8. Pop in the oven for 20 mins at 200 oC.

You could add grated cheese to the mash, but I didn't and it was lovely! This was a cheap and easy meal which made plenty for three adults and the baba.

I hope someone will take an interest!!!

Mandy x