£41.27 worth of Waitrose food for £7.18!

£41.27 worth of Waitrose food for £7.18

Well I'm ashamed to say that this is my first blog of 2014 - life and a busy job has got in the way. But I'm back in action now and back on the cut-price food hunt! Oh and I found myself a new day-job too and will be starting in a few weeks time - new year, new me!

And what a good haul I got tonight in my local Waitrose for my first blog of the year - plenty of quality meat for the freezer makes me a happy bargain-hunter!

I was very surprised to find such good bargains at 5.30pm on my way home from work - the reductions were the sort usually kept for just before closing!

Here's what I bagged:

- Five packs of pork fillet varying in price (according to weight) but the most expensive was £5.66 reduced to 83p!
- Lamb neck fillet reduced from £3.60 to 64p
- Rack of lamb reduced from £7.92 to £1.15
- Three packs of smoked haddock fishcakes reduced from £1.29 to 49p
- Scotch bonnet chillies reduced from £1.50 to 49p

A grand total of £41.27 worth of food reduced to £7.18. The meat and fishcakes are now safely packed away in the freezer, other than one pork fillet which will be used to create a Valentine's Day cut-price romantic dinner of some description! And to spread the cut-price love I will be sharing some of the meat with my mum too - happy Valentine's Day, mother!

Recipe: Mum's apple cake

Mum's apple cake

I'm really not much of a cake baker. After all, if you make a cake you have to eat it and I really don't need the extra calories! But my cousin Jess (a keen cake baker) came to stay and as we had lots of apples to use up I thought it was a good opportunity to try out my mum's faithful apple cake recipe. 

And you know what, I could get used to this baking lark as this recipe was so easy and made such a lovely moist cake - even I couldn't go wrong with this recipe and there certainly isn't much of it left! And it was cheap as chips to make as the apples were from Mr Kate's parentals' garden. A great one to use up any late fallers.

Here's my mum's recipe:

8oz plain flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

4oz margarine

4oz sugar

1 egg

8oz peeled apple

Milk to mix

A sprinkling of brown sugar

1) Heat the oven to gas mark five, 190C or 375F. 

2) Sieve flour into mixing bowl. (Although I didn't bother sieving as I'm far too lazy for that lark!). 

3) Rub the margarine in with the flour until like breadcrumbs. 

4) Add the sugar and egg and stir well. 

5) Dice the apple, add to the bowl and mix well.

6) Stir in enough milk to give a slow dropping consistency until the spoon needs a hard shake before the mixture drops into the bowl.9

7) Put the mixture into a greased and lined seven inch cake tin. I actually used a silicone cake tin).

8) Sprinkle a few teaspoons of brown sugar over the top of the cake. 

9) Bake for one hour. 

This really is a deliciously moist cake. Lovely on its own but even better served with a dollop of custard. Would also be good adding in a little mixed spice, cinnamon or currants. 

I've always loved it when my mum makes this cake - now I've realised how easy it is to make I think I'll be making it more often myself now too! Thanks for the recipe, mum!

Cousin Jess gets her bake on!

£10.77 worth of food for £1.65!

£10.77 worth of food for £1.65!

A great little haul on the way home from the gym tonight when we popped in to our local Tesco Express and mini Co-op. £10.77 worth of food for just £1.65!

Here's what we got:

Greek yoghurts - £2.39 down to 65p
Milkbread - £1 down to 25p
Wholemeal rolls - 85p down to 9p
Multiseed loaf - £3.15 down to 32p
Houmous - £1.38 down to 14p
Two lettuces - £1 down to 10p each

Plenty of bread to stock up the freezer!

Recipe: 'Out of time' swede, celery, carrot and thyme soup

Swede, celery, carrot and thyme soup

Do you get confused by sell by dates, use by dates, best before dates? No need. Just ditch them. Yep, that's right, ignore them. Use your senses instead. Sight, smell, taste, touch. Only ever use a date on food as a guide.

Since I've been writing this blog, so many people have told me they throw food out as soon as the date has passed. Or worse still... BEFORE the date has passed. Fifty years ago did our parents and grand-parents have dates on food? No, they just used their common sense - and their senses.

Many people these days would turn their nose up at what I did this afternoon - I cooked soup using a swede that had been left in my fridge for three months. Yep, you read that right - three months. And I've survived to tell the tale!

I must admit, I did approach the three-month-old swede with a little caution. But after a quick whiff, peel and chop, I realised it was absolutely fine. To reassure Mr Kate I did have a quick Google and read on several websites that swede can keep in the fridge for several months. In which case, why do the supermarkets put such a short date on them? I'd hazard a guess they're just playing safe in this health and safety obsessed blame culture we live in these days.

And it's not just swede. I had some month-old celery to use as well. And yes, that was absolutely fine too. Not as crisp as you might like it for a salad, but fine for a soup. I only used four sticks so still have some left - another week or two left for the rest of the packet I reckon!

So my plea to you, if you're not already a convert to yellow stickers and using your senses, ditch the dates and use your brain. If it smells bad and is moulding - bin it. But please check before you bin perfectly good food. And think about the money you're, literally, throwing away.

Here's how I made my 'out of time' swede, celery, carrot and thyme soup to serve four:

1) Peel and chop a whole swede, an onion, two carrots, and four sticks of celery.
2) Soften the onion in a large saucepan with a glug of olive oil for a few minutes.
3) Add a clove or two of chopped garlic.
4) Add the chopped swede, carrots and celery for a few minutes.
5) Add a teaspoon of dried thyme.
6) Add a litre of chicken or vegetable stock and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the veg is all soft.
7) Add a good grind of black pepper and rock salt to taste.
8) Serve and enjoy!

With the 19p swede, about 4p worth of reduced celery and a reduced chicken stock cube added to the cost of the other ingredients, this soup came in at around 60p. That's 60p for four healthy servings which are now portioned up and ready for lunch tomorrow and our packed lunches on Monday.

Ditch the dates!

£21.98 worth of food for £5.61!

£21.98 worth of food for £5.61!

My first blog for a month or so - I've still been hunting out bargains but just a little too busy with the day job to blog! But I had to let you know about this cracking haul of cut-price bargains from Co-op on my way home from work tonight. I was surprised to see such good reductions at 5pm!

Here's what I popped in my basket:

3 x fish pies down from £3.69 to 89p
2 x Muller Corners down from 71p to 18p
Roast chicken breast down from £4.05 to £1.09
Fresh tortellini down from £1.95 to 55p
Roast veg cous cous down from £1.49 to 39p
Fresh blueberries down from £2 to 55p

Should have cost £21.98 and I got it all for £5.61! Weekend lunches sorted, fish pies in the freezer and I'm planning on treating Mr Kate to a breakfast in bed of porridge and blueberries. Result!

Recipe: Aubergine and coriander dip

Aubergine and coriander dip

I've never been a particular fan of aubergines and as they're not at the top of Mr Kate's veggie list I've never actually cooked them myself. But when I saw two reduced from £1 to 15p each I thought it would be worth giving them a shot.

We were having fish and veg for dinner so I thought I'd whizz them up into a dip to serve on the side. With some fresh coriander on the windowsill waiting to be used, aubergine and coriander dip it was!

Here's how I made it:

1) Pre-heat the oven, wash the aubergines and dry.
2) Prick the skin of the aubergines with a fork.
3) Place in a baking tray and drizzle a little olive oil over the aubergines.
4) Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the skin is all wrinkly.
5) Leave to cool for a few minutes and then scoop out the flesh.
6) Whizz the flesh up in a food processor along with the juice of a lime, a finely chopped garlic clove, a few handfuls of fresh coriander and a glug of olive oil.
7) Add salt and black pepper to taste.
8) Serve with a little fresh coriander sprinkled on top.

This dip would be great with carrot sticks or pitta bread and I certainly would try aubergines again after this tasty experiment!

Restaurant review: La Pazienza, Northampton

La Pazienza, Northampton

I’ve walked past La Pazienza on Northampton’s Wellingborough Road several times since it opened earlier this year but never ventured in. So when a two courses for two (and coffees!) for £17 Groupon deal popped up I thought it was the ideal opportunity to try out the new Italian eatery.

My experience didn’t get off to a very promising start when I called to book a table – I asked if I could book and was told to ring back in 10 minutes as they were busy… Why answer the phone if you’re busy? If I call a restaurant and no one answers I take that to mean they’re either closed or busy serving and I’ll call back later. To actually answer and be told to ring back… well, that’s just not good customer service in my book.

As a result, I wasn’t expecting great things when we arrived but I was pleasantly surprised to be welcomed into a pretty dining room – spotlessly clean, tastefully decorated and neatly laid tables with pristine pale green tablecloths. Someone has clearly paid a lot of love and attention to the room.

Our waiter was perfectly pleasant but we were surprised that our starter order was taken and he left before taking the order for the mains – coming back ten minutes later! Mr Kate asked for fritata for his starter and was told they had none left. He then asked for octopus salad and was told they had none left. He then asked for the coppa salami and was told (can you see a theme developing here?) they had none left… Three out of the eight starters were off the menu so we both went for the easy option and ordered bruschetta with fresh tomato sauce.

With the fuss of ordering, our expectations were lowered once again but were soon raised when the bruschetta arrived. A very generous portion of two huge slabs of bruschetta each but we devoured every bit of the bread laden with delicious finely chopped garlicky tomatoes. Things were looking up!

Bruschetta

The mains arrived in good time and I went for fusilli pasta with a tomato and tuna sauce whilst Mr Kate plumped for a classic spaghetti carbonara. Both dishes were thoroughly decent and we ate every last bite. Good home-cooked comfort food.

Tuna and tomato pasta

A nice touch during our meal was the chef coming out to every table to enquire how their meals were – something that doesn’t happen very often in restaurants these days but was a happy addition to the experience.

Carbonara

We were both too full to sample a dessert but as coffees were included in the Groupon deal I did opt for a hot chocolate to get a little post-dinner chocolate hit! And the hot drinks certainly didn’t disappoint – Mr Kate’s Americano coffee hit the spot and my hot chocolate was deliciously frothy (as all good hot chocolates should be!).

The total of our food and coffees bill should have been £30.15 but was just £17 with the Groupon deal.

If you’re after a warming bowl of comforting pasta then La Pazienza is a good place to try for a quick bite and ideal for families. If you’re after something a bit more ‘restauranty’ then it might not be for you but it is well worth a visit for decent home-cooked food in pleasant surroundings.

La Pazienza, 268 Wellingborough Road, Northampton.

01604 949017

www.lapazienza.co.uk