A little Housekeeping goes a long way

Whilst storm Brian is making a nuisance of itself outside (the wind has been getting gutsier and gutsier as the day has progressed) and is increasing in howling level. The temperature outside has really dropped and I have just put the heating on for a short while just to warm things up a little.  However after my trip to the Hairdressers this morning I have been out to the Co-Op and bought some items for use during the week.

I have come back with two packs of bacon, two packs of chipolata sausages, two packs of chicken thighs, a block of cheese, two packs of stewing meat, a pack of mince, a loaf of bread, 

The bacon was £4 for two packs - there is a lot you can do with that, make a Quiche, make an egg and bacon flan, add to Brussel Sprouts, cooked breakfast, bacon sarnie.

The chipolata sausages were £5 for two packs.  Will be used in pigs in blankets, toad in the hole, sausage sarnies, with roast chicken and roast pork, tomatoes and sausages grilled and then served on thick slices of toast.

The chicken thighs were £4 for two packs.  These will go towards soup, Home made Chicken pie, Hawaian Chicken (using frozen peppers or fresh ones, and tinned pineapple) or home made curry.

The stewing meat was £7 for two packs but this will make a big stew using both packets made on the cooker and then transferred to the slow cooker to finish cooking - I normally get at least three meals out of this for both of us and if there is any left over this is frozen, but plenty of veggies go in as well so it is a substantial meal in itself.  Sometimes it is served with mashed potato, at other times just with thick slices of bread to mop up the juices.

Alternatively it can be made into a large family sized beef pie or mini pies. I have a couple of electric pie makers (one for bulk cooking x 4 pies and the other a 2 portion one) and so I have the option of making individual pies from one main ingredient or using up bits and bobs like chicken veggies and cranberry or redcurrant pies.  There is a lot that you can do with one of these gadgets and use up the bits left over.  There are tasty ways of using up the leftovers.  You can of course also make individual fruit pies whether using fresh ingredients or buying tinned pie fillings some of which are quite nice.

I am also a big advocate of fresh veg where I can but equally I absolutely love the frozen pea. 

I have also been to the veg shop today mainly to top up on the veggies I do have.  Now we are into the colder months I need to keep us fed with good hearty unfussy food.  This in our household is made up of stews, pies, soups, casseroles for during the week with plenty of veggies on the side.

Starters and or/pack-ups this week include:

French Onion Soup

Leek and Potato Soup

Worcester Pea and Ham Soup

Veggie soup

Waste not want not soup (a chuck everything in version using up odds and ends) usually made with the remnants from the chicken

Cream of Chicken soup

A sandwich can also be taken to eat with this

The soups we can have as a starter or take to work with us as part of our lunch.  Both of our employers have microwaves available to the staff to warm food up in.  Sometimes all I need is a bowl of soup it very much is a meal in itself for me.

The idea of having soup as a starter is that it is a good filling meal on its own.  So a little before the main event will help pad out the meal more and mean that you will get more out of your meat portion than just one meal.  The logic being that you will not need as much.  Especially if then followed with a pudding (which again helps pad the whole meal out and which does not have to consist of much) just a bit of something either lighter or sweeter, or a piece of fresh fruit and/or cheese and biscuits.

The following come under main meal heading

Beef stew

Chicken stew

Home made Chicken pie

Shepherds/Cottage Pie

Liver and Onions

Roast Pork

Lasagne

Stir fry

Bubble and Squeak with any left over veggies

Bacon sarnies or fry up

Baked potatoes

Cornish style pasties

I also pad my main meals out with home made sausage, sage and onion stuffing, Yorkshire puddings, Bread sauce, etc, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, roast pumpkin...

However do not throw the veggie peelings away.  Make sure they are cleaned (carrots just need a good scrub outer leaves of cabbage need washing, stems of broccoli need fine slicing etc.) and you can use the vegetable peels to make veggie stock for use in the soups and stews.  Do not waste a thing.  After all you have paid out for them and the stock is the key that holds the rest of the meal together. If that is nice and tasty the whole meal will be.

I would just mention that there are more ingredients on the above list than we will actually use but none of it will go to waste and if I am not going to use them they will get frozen.  I make sure that I have the choice as sometimes what we had planned to eat gets substituted for something else because we just do not fancy it.  OH is particularly difficult in this regard.  However you have to react to your own circumstances and needs which is why I deal with matters on this basis.  For me it is just not about counting the pennies it is about making sure that there is good food on the table at all times.  I know I am lucky in this respect.  However a lot of my meals were born out of a 4 1/2 year period of time when my OH was out of work and we were surviving on my meagre income without any assistance from the Government at all.

Puddings

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Treacle or Cherry Sponge pudding

Queen of Puddings (using some of the jam out of the cupboard)

Pancakes

Lemon or Orange self-saucing pudding

Bread and Butter Pudding

Bread Pudding (for pack up box or nibbles)

Rice Pudding

Semolina Pudding

Other half likes Tapioca or as we used to call it Frogspawn I cannot bear it.

Home made Fresh fruit salad

I have bought two trays of eggs today, some leeks, some swede, some carrots, (some swede and carrot crush is on the cards) plus swede on its own, two nets of onions (I am thinking onion relish/marmalade), two cauliflowers (one earmarked for Cauliflower cheese), Broccoli, spinach, Hispi/spring heartshaped cabbage or Savoy cabbage, mushrooms

One tray of eggs has been earmarked for pickling. I bought two trays of eggs the other day and one of the cats got where he should not and demolished both trays.  Talk about scrambled eggs - not one of them was saved. I was not a happy bunny.

One has therefore been earmarked for general use and baking.  But we will also get scrambled eggs, (not by courtesy of Bumble this time round but by choice) omelettes, boiled eggs, fried eggs, poached eggs out of if so required.  A bit of baking and also for use in egg custards, quiche etc. etc.

I always keep a sack of potatoes in.  On average one large sack of potatoes lasts me 6 to 8 weeks and we don't have potatoes every day

I always have milk in anyway as we use a lot so this coupled with the other ingredients will indeed go a long way. In effect I have more than a week's shopping here with careful use of the ingredients.  Quite filling meals for the two of us which is what you need at this time of year.

So you can eat well if you choose your ingredients sensibly.  I do not plan my meals they evolve from the ingredients I have in store,  from the fridge, freezers, pantry, fresh veg store and the jam store.  This is one of the reasons I concentrate on making sure that all these resources are kept stocked - one month we might need stuff for the pantry i.e. tinned stuff and it is on offer which is a bonus; another it will be stuff for the freezer when it is meat month it is always most expensive as a rule but when this happens very little other stuff is bought so it always equals out.  I always cook plenty.  This way round if there is any left over it is not wasted and forms the basis of another meal, but equally if other half is in a hungry mood he gets to have what he needs to make sure that he has had plenty to eat.  I am not a fancy cook but we eat relatively well.  Yes we have some meat, but most of our meals are padded out with lots of vegetables as well and we make the most of what we have as best as we can. 

I know I am not the only one to deal with things this way a lot of you ladies who read here also do, but there is very much a younger generation who do not understand the logic and the reasoning behind the older way of cooking or indeed the basics of constructing a meal i.e. with a soup starter, then a main meal and then a pudding or indeed how to use up left overs and turn them into a different meal and something that will tempt the taste buds.  Most of them go for more exotic eating without thinking about the basics.  I do so wish that they would bring back domestic science classes for young ladies and young men alike as a necessary skill.  We used to get about five hours a week.  The practical skills are just as important as academic skills if not more so as no matter what our situation we all need to eat to keep fit and make our way through life.

Homily over.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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