Monthly Archives: June 2011

Cooking From Scratch Cost Experiment – Day 5 – Or Not!

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Yesterday (or rather the bad planning and lack of time-management of yesterday) is the reason why I only plan for 6 days of meals.

I’ve said it before (and I’ll say it again), very rarely is there a week when one planned meal isn’t abandoned last-minute.

The last two weeks it happens to have been a Wednesday. Not emergency trips to the Dentist this week (thank goodness), rather collecting daughter from art club, having a friend to play and having to be back out the door for a school meeting all within an hour time slot meant something had to give. That something was the Salmon Fishcakes I had planned, I’d forgotten about the 20 mins chilling time after the prep! Pasta and garlic bread is was. I did make the garlic bread (as I had some dough thawed out ready to go) and could have posted a comparison on that, however struggled getting my Son to bed…and it all went down hill from there!

I may pop back to this post and do a comparison later, as I’d be interested to see how my garlic bread compares, but I don’t have time this morning. The UK is experiencing industrial action today and Leah’s teacher is on strike. We are back off to Wonderland (where we had Dan’s party earlier this month) as it is a lovely day and we have some free return passes (twas a washout at the party :-( ).

I also need to load Lil’ Bill my standard slow cooker before we leave with the Thai Green Pork Curry for dinner. I love my slow cookers. By getting ‘em loaded up early, it doesn’t matter what life throws at you (or how bad your time-management is) you still get a fabulous home-cooked dinner!

See you later Guys :-)

Cooking From Scratch Cost Experiment – Day 4 – Spag Bol

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Not sure how today’s cost comparison is going to go. Mainly because I don’t think I have ever purchased a Spaghetti Bolognese Ready-Meal in my life.

Here goes…

SimplyBeingMum’s Slow Cooked Spaghetti Bolognese – Serves 4

  • Approx 1lb of Extra Lean Scotch Beef = £2.50
  • 1 Onion = £0.15
  • 2 Garlic Cloves = £0.07
  • 1 Beef Stock Cube = £0.08
  • 1 Can of Tomatoes = £0.54
  • Mixed Herbs/Oregano = £0.05
  • 2 Tablespoons of Tomato Puree = £0.10
  • 300g Wholewheat Spaghetti = £0.53
  • Blackpepper = £Negligible
(normally I would add some red wine – but we don’t have any open (which is unusual and I don’t want to open a bottle today for fear of drinking it)
Total for 4 Servings = £4.02 (approx £1 per person)
Okay so you know the deal by now, I presume I can get cheaper ingredients – in fact I know I can. The tomatoes, for example, I can half the price by shopping elsewhere. If this experiment has taught me anything it’s that there are better deals out there and that the convenience of doing one online shop a week does have a price. This is something that I will certainly be looking at, in fact this is probably going to be my next experiment. the costings are based on what’s in the cupboard/fridge/freezer presently,
Also I initially claimed this is a cooking from scratch experiment, but in reality it isn’t. If it were, my toms would be fresh, I’d make the beef stock, grow the herbs or at least use fresh, and ultimately MAKE the pasta! To make the pasta was actually the plan, but I decided against that today for many reasons.
Sainsbury’s online offers two ready-made spag bol’s. The average price is £1.70. Although the fresh version is actually £2.10. I’ll go with the average of £1.70 as I cannot compare meat content etc…
SimplyBeingMum’s Spaghetti Bolognese £1 per serving
Sainsbury’s Spaghetti Bolognese £1.70 per serving

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Buon Appetito!

Cooking From Scratch Cost Experiment – Day 3 – Soup

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I have high hopes for today’s recipe :-)  

It’s also Meat-Free Monday over at Chez Wright…

Despite the UK embarking on a mini-heatwave, I stuck with my guns and made my favourite slow-cooked soup. How could I not do a comparison on my signature dish?

SimplyBeingMum’s Carrot and Ginger Slow Cooked Soup – Serves 4

Ingredients + Cost

  • Approx 7 (1lb/500g)  Medium/Large Carrots = £0.50
  • 1  Onion = £0.15
  • 8oz (200g) of Dried Red lentils = £0.35
  • 2 cubes of Frozen Crushed Ginger = £0.13
  • 1 Vegetable Stock Cube = £0.08
  • 1 Large spoon (approx a heap tablespoon) of Curry Paste = £0.20
  • Blackpepper = £ Negligible
  • Hot Water = £0.00
Total for 4 Large Servings = £1.41 (£0.35 per serving)
Now the same rules apply as yesterday – this recipe probably (definitely) isn’t made up of the cheapest ingredients. Frozen Ginger isn’t the cheapest way of adding ginger, but for me is more economical long-term as it is frozen. It’s also more convenient and labour-saving. The curry paste I know could be purchased cheaper from another supermarket as they do own-brand, I use Pataks Paste as I use it for my other dishes, equating to less storage and using up the paste etc… I acknowledge that using a paste and stock cube technically means this dish isn’t from scratch, more half scratch?
It’s also going to be hard to find an exact match to my soup. So for this comparison I will select the closest I can find. It will be a quality soup as I believe my soup is of great quality, texture, sustenance and flavour.
There are a lot of fresh soups to choose from, and I can see why. It makes commercial sense without a doubt to a food retailer. I have selected to take the average of two different soups to compare the price.
1. Sainsbury’s Dhansak Soup 600g at £2.20 (contains toms, squash and lentils)
2. Sainsburys Carrot and Coriander 600g at £1.70
An average of £1.95 per 600g which I believe is 2 servings so £0.98 per serving.
I knew my soup wouldn’t let me down!
SimplyBeingMum’s Soup £0.35 per serving
Sainsburys Soup £0.98 per serving
(And I bet mine tastes better!)
Add to this the very large 2/3 white 1/3 wholemeal baps I made and there’s a meal for under 50p per person.

Cooking From Scratch Cost Experiment – Day 2 – Burgers

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So we are onto Day 2 and the good ole British weather had a surprise in store for me and my meal planning.

(**Please note this post was updated right at the end on 3rd July**)

We have the sun! And as Sharron commented on the last post – “too darn hot to cook a roast”. She’s right… I hadn’t quite got a Sunday Roast planned, but did have Toad In The Hole up my sleeve. That was soon shelved. Fortunately I buy frozen low-fat sausages (as they slow cook better – keep their shape/structure) so they just got left in the freezer for another (cooler) day. I also buy frozen minced beef, so had some to hand.

An impromptu barbecue was decided upon – and may I add the first of the year! Continue reading →

No Waste Tastes Great 24 June 2011 – We Have Waste!

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Hi Guys, it’s Friday and it’s time for No Waste Tastes Great.

I’m not proud of this fact, but I do have waste this week and it is non-salvageable.

Okay – ready for a grim photo of non-edible bolognaise? Continue reading →

No Waste Tastes Great 17 June 2011 Plus Birthday Update

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It’s Friday Guys so time for No Waste Tastes Great…

I can confirm that there is No Waste at Chez Wright!

This is mainly because I did not purchase any groceries this week in line with my usual routine.  I normally receive my online delivery Saturday morning, but this lucky lady was off to see Take That at Manchester City Football Stadium as a pre-birthday treat!  And what a treat it was. There I stood amongst 55,000+ fans feeling anonymous and free. Being entertained by the greatest boy band of all time.

I didn’t do any filming, as I was so compacted in the scrum it would have been impossible (had a great position though) – but I did lift this clip off You Tube from someone who was sitting high up. It’s quite long but the best quality one I could find - they start singing at 3.40 mins and Robbie does his mini bungee at 7.18mins.

Take That Progress Tour 11 June 2011 Manchester – The Flood

Sunday 12 June was Mine and Dan’s Birthday and it was also the wettest day in the UK since 1/10/10. So the outdoor party planned at Telford Wonderland was a bit of a washout, but our party host The Mad Hatter did a fantastic job. At least we had the park to ourselves. On the way home our party popped to Frankie and Benny’s where I was surprised with a birthday cake (as I never make one for myself!)… Dan blew out the candles. You can tell what a cold wet day we had by my ultra red nose in this photo. Absolutely nothing to do with the two bottles of Corona I had just drunk!

My cake, My Beautiful Son and I

Dan’s cake

A good week all in all, no food waste, I’m back in the healthy eating and exercise groove with lots of great things planned for the summer. Look’s like the blues have been blown away finally! Who’d have thought turning a year older could kick it all into gear?

Oh and if you hadn’t noticed I have a new domain! It was my birthday present to myself. I’m now www.simplybeingmum.com – got a nice ring to it don’t you think?

Hope all going well with you guys, and that the fridge is nice and empty. Back tomorrow with the first Saturday Simple Meal Plan in ages plus some other stuff. No takeaway for us tonight as usually Friday Night is Date Night at Chez Wright. The eating is going so well I cannot bear to deviate so have picked up a few bits and pieces for a chicken salad.

Have a good friday y’all.

No Waste Tastes Great 10 June 2011

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It’s Friday Guys and time for No Waste Tastes Great!

Once again, first thing on the agenda – decorate a two-tier Birthday Cake. Yes again!

I’d baked the actual cakes last night and left to cool, I’d also noticed 3 leeks in the fridge, so slow-cooked a potato and leek soup in anticipation of No Waste Tastes Great.

This is where I have got to with the cake. It’s for my Son. We share our Birthday this Sunday, he’ll be 3 and I’ll be 37 :-)

Still work to be done, but I am carrying on later – probably with a glass of wine in hand watching Channel 4′s Comedy Gala (I’ll admit I have a TV in the kitchen! It works well for me, very productive, I watch some good stuff whilst pottering away – Secret millionaire, Katie: My Beautiful Friends, The People’s Supermarket to name a few – notice the common link here? Wonder why I work in the not-for profit sector?)

So how did No Waste Tastes Great go this week?  I had all the ingredients left to make Slow Cooked Coconut and Jerk Chicken with Rice – because we had missed one of the planned meals this week and had pizza instead.

How’s your Fridge looking this Friday?

Taking it a drawer at a time…

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When I first stumbled across the concept of minimalism, life simplification or however you personally define it, the first thing I started doing was decluttering. Decluttering physical stuff. I believe this is where most people start.

For me, the journey of life simplification is so much more than just throwing a few things out, particularly as momentum builds, but initially that was what it was all about. If I need a feel-good fix decluttering still hits the spot.

2 years and counting and I am still battling the clutter. Some weeks are good, some not so good and there are setbacks. Take your eye off the ball and it is as if stuff starts breeding. Things appear from nowhere (aka – well-intentioned family! to name one culprit).

You wake one day to find

But what I have learnt is rather than turning a blind eye, tip the entire contents onto a flat clear surface and start sifting through.

Then PEEP (place for everything and everything in its place) – put everything that has a home in it, find a home for anything that is absolutely essential and chuck the rest.

10 minutes later and…

What a beautiful sight!

Just take it a drawer at a time, it’s what you do every day that will make the difference, little steps… there’s no miracle cure to clutter, as there is no miracle diet, keep going and the reward is there.

Is your perseverance paying off?

The Spring Sale Starts! May-Jun 2011

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The Spring Sale has started in a push to reduce our stuff further

So far I have;

  • Recycled two old phones = £30
  • Returned 3 items of clothing = £40
  • Returned a pair of boots = £120 less £12.50 the cost of having my old ones re-heeled and re-soled = £107.50
  • Participated in a car-boot sale =£45
So £222.50 in the black
Now the Hubby isn’t convinced I should add in the returns. He is incredibly pragmatic, and believes that I could therefore go out and spend £1000 and take it all back to the shop – stating we would be £1k in credit.  I get his logic, but in my defense, the 3 items I purchased I could easily have kept and worn as my wardrobe now really is down to the bare basics.  The boots are a pair I have loved for almost a year, and have not purchased until last week doing the school run I realised my right foot was soaking wet from standing in a puddle. My 2-year old black knee-high boots (which may I add I purchased second-hand off eBay for £35) had a stinking huge hole in the sole! However upon receiving the new boots realised I did not love them enough and that actually my old faithfuls may be salvageable – and they were…
So I claim the returns also – we are £222.50 better off than we were! and we’ve reduced our stuff – Win Win!
eBay next on the list – give me strength to complete this task – purlease! It’s not my favourite pastime listing items for sale. But it needs doing…