Tag Archives: cooking from scratch

No Waste Tastes Great / Ready To Do A Double Take?

6 Replies

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

Click here to learn more about my Friday routine

Ready to do a double take?

Simply Being Mum’s Friday Fridge

IMG_3051

The inventory? Here goes…

Cheeses, Actimel probiotic drink, Yogurt, Olive oil spread, Grapes, Strawbs, Toms, Houmous, Peppers, Cuke, OJ, Pizza (shop bought!), Ham, Natural yogurt, Milk, Pesto, Olives, Buttercream, Limes and White wine.

Not my fridge’s normal Friday look.

This is due to 3 things;

a) I’m ill. Okay, so not quite as under the weather as I was. But still not firing on all four cylinders.

b) Being ill has played havoc with my routine. I shopped Tuesday not last Friday as I would normally, hence much more food around at the end of the working week.

c) I purchased items I wouldn’t typically. Can you see the ready-made pizza? The houmous? Actimel? The list goes on…

IMG_3052

As I wrote Monday’s post, I decided to start cutting myself some slack.

Buy pizza? No not me… not usually, but I’m going to forgive myself :-)

Those who follow the blog, regularly, know I’m not a fan of convenience food. In fact I did a costing experiment in 2011 on ready-made versus home-cooked. However, I have decided to allow a ready-meal night, say every fortnight or even once a week so I get a night off. And I’m going to do it guilt-free!

A teeny-tiny bit of guilt remains, but hey, we all experience that emotion from time to time, don’t we? Whether justified or not?

I’m sure the purchase of the convenience pizza is a glitch. Particularly after seeing what can be cooked up in the kitchen. Here’s hoping I can replicate The Frugal Girl’s fabulous recipe and do it justice. But as I have decided to go a little easier on myself, I’ll be satisfied with good enough!

The good news is that there is no waste within the fridge. It may be stacked but it all has a purpose and place. Next week’s meal plan will incorporate all the items. In fact the olives, peppers and pesto will rustle up another one of these. I may be ill, but I haven’t totally lost my way ;-)

I do have waste though – boo.

IMG_3045

Totally forgot I had carrots in the cupboard. Duh!

If you are missing the sight of an (almost) empty fridge this Friday, then why not pop over to The Minimalist Mom? If you leave a comment Rachel has generously offered to make a donation to Feeding America.

How’s your Fridge looking this Friday? Anything to declare? Or is it nice and bare? Please share…and don’t forget to drop a link in the comments if you’ve blogged about it!

No Waste Tastes Great is bought to you (as always) with thanks to The Frugal Girl for the original inspiration.

FoodWasteFriday

 

Food Waste Friday / Time For A Talk

12 Replies

It’s Friday Guys – My turn once more to host Food Waste Friday!

FoodWasteFriday

Each week since March 2008, in order to motivate her to waste less food, Kristen The Frugal Girl, has posted a picture of any food that has gone bad over the last seven days. She found this embarrassing practice so helpful, to her, that she invited other bloggers to post their own photos, and Food Waste Friday was born.
I started participating in October 2010 and have found, that 2-years on, the amount of food I waste is minimal. In fact every Friday, as part of my No Waste Tastes Great routine, I account (and devise a plan) for all my potential food waste as well as confessing to any items that I failed to save.
Kristen has kindly asked me to host Food Waste Friday, alternate weeks (when she doesn’t post herself), and her initial invite for everyone to join in is cordially extended here!
———————————————————————
Simply Being Mum’s Friday Fridge

IMG_2846

Continue reading →

Going Back To Basics

22 Replies

We survived our 4-day impromptu processed food diet. Just.

Time to go back to basics.

This is an experiment I’ve had planned for a while. Looking for the ideal week to try it out, this week seemed as good as any. Better in fact, as we had just emptied a fridge of ready-meals.

Having recently reduced the weekly grocery spend by 50%, I’ve been very impressed with the quality and price of products at the supermarket I’ve been using.

But, there’s been a nagging doubt in the back of my mind. I’d like to eat more local produce whilst supporting local farmers.

Continue reading →

No Waste Tastes Great 15 July 2011

9 Replies

It’s Friday Guys! It’s time for 

No Waste Tastes Great

Fridays I take a little time first thing to strip down the fridge and perishables cupboard, clean both of them, take note of anything that needs replenishing, return any items back to the fridge leaving what needs using up on the counter.

Click here to find out more about my Friday Routine

So what is sitting on the counter in anticipation this week?

I’ve been blogging every Friday for almost 10 months about food waste, after being initially inspired by The Frugal Girl and Food Waste Friday. It would seem that my potential food waste is diminishing. By meal planning, keeping my eye on the ball and then accounting for my perishables it does indeed reduce waste. There are “not so good weeks”, but this tends to be when life gets in the way.

You know you are doing well when on a Thursday evening your Daughter opens the Fridge and goes ‘Awww Mom there’s nothing in it!” when peckish on her return from school.

We have a friend to play after school today and pancakes have already been requested. So it would seem it’s yorkshire puds and frozen low fat sausages (toad in the hole) with frozen veggies for the kids followed by pancakes with sugar and lemon. That’ll use up 2 eggs, and the remaining 3 I have a birthday cake to bake at the weekend and freeze. Job done.

Friday Night is Date Night at Chez Wright and typically we have a takeaway if the cupboard is bare. However since conducting my Cooking From Scratch Cost Experiment a couple of weeks ago, I am feeling some resistance to ordering one. I know I can chuck a couple of free range chicken breasts and peppers in Lil’ Bill my slow cooker to make a Chicken Rogan Josh, hand make some chapatis and accompany it all with a  bottle of very reasonably priced chardonnay from Home Bargains. This will be half the price, and I’m happier with the quality of the meat. So I popped out and got the ingredients I needed to do just that.

How’s your Fridge looking this Friday? 

No Waste Tastes Great / In Case Of Emergency

4 Replies

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

Following on from my Cooking From Scratch Cost Experiment last week, I decided to forego my usual online grocery delivery Saturday morning, and take a couple of days to consider how I am shopping, budgeting etc…

The plan was to post Mid-Week with some findings and actions going forward.

Then Monday there was a problem. My Mom was taken into hospital, where she still is.

All plans out of the window, and survival kicks in.

Continue reading →

A Bit Of A Wrap-Up And Moving On Into July…

2 Replies

Day 3 into a new month, and finally the UK is getting some sun.

The Wright Clan actually managed its first strawberry picking expedition of the year on Saturday… with my daughter wearing the most outrageous headband for such an occasion :-)

So as we move into the second part of the year I decided it was time for a bit of a wrap-up…

  • SimplyBeingMum’s Facebook Page has gone live thanks to a helping hand from Robert over at Untitled Minimalism. I’m still getting to grips with it (showing my age here!) – but I’d really appreciate it if you popped over and gave me a like! I’ll be updating that page with all sorts of things that don’t justify a post on the blog.
  • Sentimental Hoard – still waiting to be completed – but I have made a start… maybe by December?
  • Half Marathon Training – I have entered The Great Birmingham Run and have started putting a  team together to raise money for the local school’s outdoor classroom. There will be some running posts popping up no doubt!
  • Spring Sale – is now the Summer Sale. To add to my efforts last month I have now generated £65 off eBay and £40 from a private sale – Total getting on for £350 and still more to be done
  • Productivity – I am working on being more productive with my time (even reading Tell Your Time last week **not an affiliate link). I’m hoping to work on reducing waste (of time). This is one area I definitely need to brush up on and have started looking at in more depth. Every day is a gift, and I need to keep that in mind.
  • Grocery Budget – following my experiment last week, I have been thinking a lot about changing the way I budget and shop. It made me wonder if I am resting on my laurels and whether I could spend less and yet get the same results. This is something I will be blogging about, I just need a day or two break. The daily blogging last week was a bit intense!
Have a lovely Monday everyone and a Happy 4th July to the Guys over the pond!
Hope the sun is shining where you are!

Cooking From Scratch Cost Experiment – Day 6 – Thai Curry

2 Replies

Firstly an apology. This should have been posted last night.

I’ve learnt two major lessons this week:

1. I could be spending less on ingredients

2. My time-management skills leave a lot to be desired

By attempting to post everyday it has made me realise that time runs away with me, particularly from 7pm onwards. Thursday is now my 10km run night, and by the time I had got back showered and had done the usual routine it was late… too late…

Anyhow I’m here now :-)

SimplyBeingMum’s Slow Cooked Thai Green Pork Curry – Serves 3 

This recipe is still a work in progress. I made it for the first time last week, and it was okay. I made it again yesterday (with less ingredients) and it was even better. However I think it needs bulking up slightly to make it serve 4. In reality what I made yesterday would serve 3 adults (medium portions).

I’m going to do the costing on what I used yesterday, and base it on 3 servings. I will be posting this recipe soon as it is pretty good but I need to have another shot at it to get it to serve 4, and for the taste and consistency to be right. Slow cooked dishes with rice take some patience to perfect. In fact last night I microwaved the rice and added last thing, and it was a better texture.

  • 450g (1lb) of cubed lean pork = £4.49
  •  1/2 Jar of Thai Green Curry Paste (150g – 3.5floz) = £0.50 (on special)
  • A few grinds of black pepper = £Negligible
  • 2 Crushed garlic cloves = £0.07
  • 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary = £0.05
  • 400ml of chopped tomatoes (14fl oz) = £0.54
  • I Vegetable Stock Cube = £0.08
  • 125g (4.4oz) of Easy Cook Rice = £0.17
Total for 3 Servings £5.90 (£1.97 per serving)
I think this is expensive (pork usually is!), but do not really have much to compare with. The problem with doing such a comparison (or perhaps rather lack of planning on my part) is that I can’t really find a comparable ready-meal at Sainsburys. I looked on other sites, and found a Thai Green Chicken Curry from Asda and also an old thread on a forum that mentioned a Tesco Thai Green Pork Curry Ready Meal. Both of these meals were priced at approx. £2.
Nothing in it then?
This meal could definitely be stretched to make 4 servings, and the price per serving would lower, as the “stretching” ingredients would be the lower cost items such as toms and rice. I will recost this once I have the recipe perfected.  Not sure we are working on a level playing field here!
And just in case you think I’ve forgotten – I haven’t…
Friday is No Waste Tastes Great… Post coming out after dinner tonight! Definitely!

Cooking From Scratch Cost Experiment – Day 4 – Spag Bol

18 Replies

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

————————————————————–

Buon Appetito!

Cooking From Scratch Cost Experiment – Day 3 – Soup

Leave a reply

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

5 Replies

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 →