Sunday, 29 July 2012

Chilli con carne to feed six for just £2!


Once again another #SOS corker - lean steak mince down from £3.60 to just 54p! One pack in the freezer and one pack for my chilli - thank you very much Tesco!



I was also lucky enough to have some #SOS potatoes at hand as well - £2.08 down to 31p! Chilli and potato wedges for tea it is then!



Here's how I made it:


1) Heat a glug of olive oil in a saucepan, add a chopped onion (I used half a leftover red onion as well as a normal brown onion), and cook until soft for about 5-10 mins.

2) Add two chopped garlic cloves, one teaspoon of sugar, one teaspoon of paprika, one teaspoon of cumin, one teaspoon of chilli powder, half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, chopped red pepper, chopped green pepper, one chopped and deseeded green chilli and some chopped fresh coriander stalk – keeping the leaves aside for later.

3) Cook for a minute or so and then add some minced beef and brown it for a few minutes.

4) Add a glug of Worcestershire sauce, some salt and pepper, two tins of chopped tomatoes and a tin of kidney beans and simmer for 30 minutes or an hour or so if you have the time.

5) I served it with potato wedges (roasted in the oven with salt and pepper, olive oil and chilli flakes), spooned over some left over tomato salsa and sprinkled the remaining coriander leaves for the finishing touch.

If I have any bacon or chorizo left over in the fridge I often add them to my chilli for a nice smoky flavour. A glug of red wine adds a certain je ne sais quoi too.

So 33p a portion for the chilli when I added in the tomatoes, peppers, kidney beans etc. and 5p a portion for the potato wedges. Dinner for 38p - can't be bad! I'm starting to begrudge paying full price for food now - #SOS food is the way forward! I'm an #SOS addict!

Saturday, 28 July 2012

Strawbfest - strawberries six ways!


Folks have asked what I did with the six punnets of #SOS strawberries I hunter gathered for a paltry £1.80. Well, I have to admit that six punnets turned into eight... I couldn't say no on a #SOS trip last night when I saw they were down in price even more to just 20p a punnet! What's a girl to do?! Can't ignore a good shelf bargain, now can we?!


So, here's what we've had so far:


Strawberry ice cream
My strawberry ice cream was really simple to make. Mr Kate bought me an ice cream maker for my birthday last year and I have to admit this was only the second outing it's had since then! But I will certainly be using it again as the soft, luscious ice cream it produced was delish! And ready in just 30 minutes! All it contained was two punnets of strawberries, a carton of double cream, a dash of Jif lemon juice and a few spoons of sugar. Simples.


Strawberry and orange ice lollies
I knew these ice lolly moulds would come in useful one day! These were so quick and easy to make and healthier than the average ice lolly! I blitzed a punnet of strawberries with a hand blender and then added about 200ml of economy orange juice - half a dozen healthy ice lollies for 40p for the lot! My god-daughter-to-be Jemima seemed to enjoy them!





And the rest in brief:


Strawberry, orange and banana smoothie

Peach, orange and strawberry smoothie
(with a 4p #SOS bagel!)

Apple, peach and strawberry fruit salad

Strawberry milkshake
(made with strawbs, milk and vanilla ice cream)

And the stragglers were washed and hulled and popped in the freezer - they'll be perfect to use in smoothies.

No more #SOS strawberries for a while please Tesco - we've had more than our fair share of five a day for the past few days! Apparently strawberries are good for gout though... Mr Kate will be pleased - anything to see him through the cricket season!

Friday, 27 July 2012

Jubilympic #SOS foody bargains!


Just to try and get in the Olympic spirit, (Mr Kate thinks it's just a big old sponsored school sports day) I couldn't resist these #SOS bargains from Co-op. They may well be end of line Euro2012/Jubilee tat, but at 75% off I've decided to re-brand them as Olympic tat! £1 for three packs of chocolate lollies and two packs of cupcake cases. Olympic chocolate cupcakes anyone?! Jubilympic!

Thursday, 26 July 2012

Cheat's tomato salsa recipe and two-course lunch for four for £3.50!


So the parentals came round to do a bit of gardening for me (with the operation recovery I actually have a valid reason not to do any myself!) and Mr Kate came home from work for lunch - opportunity to use up some #SOS bargains for a quick lunch methinks!


I whipped up a quick tomato salsa to add a bit of freshness and vibrancy to the proceedings. I cheated and didn't bother discarding the tomato seeds as you're supposed to - what's the point in wasting food afterall?! 


To make my cheat's tomato salsa:


1) Chop up some fresh tomatoes - whatever size or type you have.
2) Finely shop a red onion.
3) De-seed and finely chop a fresh green chilli (or keep the seeds in if you like it extra hot!).
4) Chop about two tablespoons worth of fresh coriander.
5) Mix in the juice of a fresh lime (mine cost 3p from the #SOS!)
6) Add salt and black pepper to taste.


Yum!


Add a pack of 15p rolls and various #SOS ham and pate, yesterday's leftover broad bean and ham pilau and a few carrot and cucumber sticks - one thrifty yet tasty lunch is served!


And to top off the proceedings fresh fruit salad of peach, apple and #SOS strawberries, complete with home-made #SOS strawberry ice-cream!




Two-course lunch for four = £3.50!

£16.70's worth of food for £3.28!


Quite a spectacular #SOS haul to report today - £16.70's worth of food for just £3.28! That's six punnets of strawberries, two 450g packs of mince and two packs of mini pains au chocolat. Straight to the freezer for the pains au chocolat - they'll come in handy for weekend breakfasts - chilli for dinner and time to get creative with a whole heap of strawberries!

Wednesday, 25 July 2012

Spiced broad bean and ham pilau


Now this was a cracker of a BBQ accompaniment and came in at the princely sum of approx £2.00 - with a generous six portions from this that's 33p per serving!


It was an adaption of a recipe in the latest issue of Waitrose magazine. The recipe called for bacon but with my 55p #ShelfOfShite (#SOS) ham safely secured I, of course, opted for the cheaper version! I also chopped and changed the cooking method and ended up with the following:


1) Boiled a cup of brown rice
2) Chopped up an onion, red chilli, two cloves of garlic and some green beans
3) Stir-fried them in a wok with a touch of olive oil and two spoons of Thai green curry paste
4) Added a chicken stock cube with a touch of water
5) Stirred through the cooked rice, chopped up ham and previously boiled, shelled and skinned broad beans
6) Topped off with some roughly torn coriander leaves


Mr Kate had his with a gammon steak from the BBQ (gammon bought by Mr Kate's mother who does have a marvellous habit of bringing us bags full of free meat) and I had some #SOS turkey escalopes (75p). A grand total then of 33p for Mr Kate's tea and £1.08 for mine! Bargainous!


It's been a particularly cheap food day today:


Breakfast: #SOS Bagel with Marmite and peanut butter (trust me, it's a great combo!) = 5p
Lunch: #SOS Houmous, carrot and salad seeded roll = 5p
Dinner: #SOS Ham and broad bean pilau and turkey = £1.08


Might be time to celebrate with one of yesterday's leftover #SOS chocolate muffins - four muffins for 15p! Warmed up with a dollop of ice-cream they'll be as fresh as a daisy!


Dessert: #SOS Choc muffin and a dollop of economy ice cream = 10p


GRAND TOTAL: £1.28


Hard to beat but I will give it my best shot!



Today's #ShelfOfShite hunter-gatherings!

Contrary to popular belief, it's not just at the end of the day that the #ShelfOfShite spurts forth bargainous offerings. No siree!


A quick afternoon stroll (I'm off work at the moment recovering from an operation and need to stretch the legs at least once a day - the local mini supermarket is the venue of choice) and Mr Kate's lunch for tomorrow is now secured. Ardennes pate with apple and calvados (£2.39 down to 60p) with his choice of nine mini malted wheat brown rolls (£1.04 down to 15p). The spares can, bien sur, be frozen for later consumption.


The cut-price ham (£2.05 down to 55p) will be used in this evening's BBQ accompaniment of an adaption of a Waitrose magazine recipe - spiced broad bean and ham pilau.


Shelled these bad boys (another Mr Kate's Uncle Gerald freebie) this morning in preparation! Will put the recipe to the test later.





The 5p lunch!

From zero...
...to hero!
How to take one #ShelfOfShite stale roll and create a scrumptious lunch for a mere 5p!


Mr Kate and I have developed a recent obsession with hunting out #ShelfOfShite bargains - trawling the local supermarkets for their latest cut-price offerings. But once procured, the real skill comes in turning the end-of-life bargains into something to satisfy our hunger for top-quality foodie treats.


Today's lunch was quite a triumph - both in flavour and frugality.


1) A stale multi-grain roll for a budget-busting 4.5p - sliced and toasted
2) A smattering of houmous
3) A grating of fresh carrot (free from Mr Kate's Uncle Gerald's veg patch)
4) A few salad leaves picked freshly from their home on my kitchen windowsill
5) A snip of garlic chives, again freshly cut from their kitchen windowsill home


5p lunch - DONE!


Now, I wonder what time they'll be reducing the shelves today...? The hunt for the next cheap meal continues!