So easy and, I think, so delish.
Oat pancakes with bacon and soft cheese.
Ingredients: (serves one)
2 rashers streaky bacon
Oat pancake batter (half amount - I used the other half yesterday!) http://fooddiaryofteacher.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/frugal-oat-pancakes.html
Soft cheese http://fooddiaryofteacher.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/frugal-soft-cheese.html
Drizzle of maple syrup
Method.
Gently fry the bacon until it is crisp in a non stick pan - don't add any fat as loads will come out of the bacon. Keep the bacon warm.
Make the pancakes in the same pan, using the bacon fat. It makes three or four little ones.
Spread the soft cheese over the pancakes. Arrange them on a warm plate.
Break up the bacon and spread over the pancakes.
Drizzle over some maple syrup.
Eat while still hot.
Gorgeous. Filling. Satisfying.
Mmmmmmmmm . . .
Sunday, 31 May 2015
Saturday, 30 May 2015
Frugal: oat pancakes
This recipe can be found here: http://www.mirror.co.uk/money/recipes-cheap-rice-chilli-egg-pancakes-5760390
(scroll down to the last recipe)
It didn't take long to zizz the oats into flour and it really is the easiest batter to mix. No lumps! I let it stand for a time and it thickened quite a lot but was fine with the addition of a dash of water.
I wish I had taken a photo because they were really delicious, very filling and so, so easy. I suppose, when you think about it, I usually have 40g oats for my porridge and this also had an egg (two, in fact, because I have some titchy pullets eggs at the moment) so they're going to be filling.
I made two pancakes, not huge but certainly not blini-sized, topped them with some pineapple and some melon, added some dollops of natural yogurt and drizzled a little maple syrup over the top. So, so good. Thank you to Faith Archer for the recipe.
And I only used half the batter. The rest in now in the fridge for tomorrow. I might have bacon with it tomorrow and fry the pancakes in the bacon fat.
(scroll down to the last recipe)
It didn't take long to zizz the oats into flour and it really is the easiest batter to mix. No lumps! I let it stand for a time and it thickened quite a lot but was fine with the addition of a dash of water.
I wish I had taken a photo because they were really delicious, very filling and so, so easy. I suppose, when you think about it, I usually have 40g oats for my porridge and this also had an egg (two, in fact, because I have some titchy pullets eggs at the moment) so they're going to be filling.
I made two pancakes, not huge but certainly not blini-sized, topped them with some pineapple and some melon, added some dollops of natural yogurt and drizzled a little maple syrup over the top. So, so good. Thank you to Faith Archer for the recipe.
And I only used half the batter. The rest in now in the fridge for tomorrow. I might have bacon with it tomorrow and fry the pancakes in the bacon fat.
Friday, 29 May 2015
Mushroom pate the conventional way
A friend commented that she would need to adapt yesterday's recipe because she hasn't got a Thermomix. Seeing as I adapted it FOR Thermione, it seems only sensible to give the original method as well. So here we go!
Ingredients
I used five ordinary mushrooms and four chestnut mushrooms
a splash of oil and a knob of unsalted butter
about 1/3 tsp lazy garlic puree
a pinch of salt
some parsley
about 1/4 pot of soft cheese (very roughly)
about 40g unsalted butter
Method:
Wipe and slice the mushrooms
Heat the knob of butter and the oil in a pan on a high heat. Add the sliced mushrooms, mix and fry them for about 30 seconds until they are all hot.
Add the salt, the garlic and the herbs, lower the heat and gently cook until the mushrooms are softened (about 6 mins or so).
Remove from the heat and allow the mushrooms to cool for a few minutes.
Pop them into a food blender/processor, add the butter and the cream cheese and blend for half a minute. Scrape down the sides and zizz again until it is the texture you want.
Spoon it all into a dish, smooth over the top, cover, cool and then chill.
Ingredients
I used five ordinary mushrooms and four chestnut mushrooms
a splash of oil and a knob of unsalted butter
about 1/3 tsp lazy garlic puree
a pinch of salt
some parsley
about 1/4 pot of soft cheese (very roughly)
about 40g unsalted butter
Method:
Wipe and slice the mushrooms
Heat the knob of butter and the oil in a pan on a high heat. Add the sliced mushrooms, mix and fry them for about 30 seconds until they are all hot.
Add the salt, the garlic and the herbs, lower the heat and gently cook until the mushrooms are softened (about 6 mins or so).
Remove from the heat and allow the mushrooms to cool for a few minutes.
Pop them into a food blender/processor, add the butter and the cream cheese and blend for half a minute. Scrape down the sides and zizz again until it is the texture you want.
Spoon it all into a dish, smooth over the top, cover, cool and then chill.
Thursday, 28 May 2015
Thermomix: mushroom pate
This was nice. My daughter, who loves mushroom pate, said it was nicer than the expensive kind you can buy. She ate a lot and took the rest home. Success!!
Ingredients:
I used five ordinary mushrooms and four chestnut mushrooms
a splash of oil and a knob of unsalted butter
about 1/3 tsp lazy garlic puree
a pinch of salt
some parsley
about 1/4 pot of soft cheese
about 40g unsalted butter
Method
Toss the wiped mushrooms, the oil and the knob of butter into the bowl and zizz at 6 for a few moments.
Cook on 100, speed 2 for about 2 to 3 mins (it doesn't take long to heat up).
Add the garlic and the parsley and cook at 100, speed 2 for about four minutes.
Take the bowl off the base and allow the contents to cool a bit.
Add the soft cheese and the butter, replace the bowl and zizz it all together on 6 until it is the consistence you want. Scrape down the sides from time to time.
At this point it is quite 'runny' but will set as the butter and cheese cool. Scrape it all into a dish, smooth down the top, cover and chill in the fridge.
I think a bit of nutmeg would be nice or a bit of chilli. You could add black pepper or change the herb to thyme or oregano.
Ingredients:
I used five ordinary mushrooms and four chestnut mushrooms
a splash of oil and a knob of unsalted butter
about 1/3 tsp lazy garlic puree
a pinch of salt
some parsley
about 1/4 pot of soft cheese
about 40g unsalted butter
Method
Toss the wiped mushrooms, the oil and the knob of butter into the bowl and zizz at 6 for a few moments.
Cook on 100, speed 2 for about 2 to 3 mins (it doesn't take long to heat up).
Add the garlic and the parsley and cook at 100, speed 2 for about four minutes.
Take the bowl off the base and allow the contents to cool a bit.
Add the soft cheese and the butter, replace the bowl and zizz it all together on 6 until it is the consistence you want. Scrape down the sides from time to time.
At this point it is quite 'runny' but will set as the butter and cheese cool. Scrape it all into a dish, smooth down the top, cover and chill in the fridge.
I think a bit of nutmeg would be nice or a bit of chilli. You could add black pepper or change the herb to thyme or oregano.
Frugal: soft cheese
I got this recipe from Faith Archer's blog 'Much More with Less' and she got it from Ceri Jones' blog 'Natural Kitchen Adventures' (scroll down to find it). It is a very easy way of making a soft cheese using natural yogurt.
I won't reproduce the ingredients or the method as it is only one click away. Well worth a look.
I made this yesterday and it was dead easy. The cheese that results is soft and fresh tasting and very delicious. I wouldn't call it cream cheese because I used skimmed long life to make the yogurt but next time I will use full fat long life and see if it makes a difference.
Suffice it to say, as I said on my diary blog, I won't be buying much soft cheese from now on, I will be making it as it is so very easy and way more frugal than even the supermarket value soft cheese when I use my own home made yogurt. Using supermarkey 'value' yogurt, it is still better value.
Now all I have to do is find out what to do with the whey! I wondered about bunging it is my next bread dough.
Any ideas?
I won't reproduce the ingredients or the method as it is only one click away. Well worth a look.
I made this yesterday and it was dead easy. The cheese that results is soft and fresh tasting and very delicious. I wouldn't call it cream cheese because I used skimmed long life to make the yogurt but next time I will use full fat long life and see if it makes a difference.
Suffice it to say, as I said on my diary blog, I won't be buying much soft cheese from now on, I will be making it as it is so very easy and way more frugal than even the supermarket value soft cheese when I use my own home made yogurt. Using supermarkey 'value' yogurt, it is still better value.
Now all I have to do is find out what to do with the whey! I wondered about bunging it is my next bread dough.
Any ideas?
Tuesday, 26 May 2015
Peanut butter
I love peanut butter. Recently I've been buying Morrison's Savers crunchy which is not bad actually and, at 60p a jar, is manageable on Breadline. However, last time I looked it had gone up, as have many savers/value items recently (but don't start me on that!).
I got a jar from Approved Foods which was very nice (and cheaper) but I won't be making another order from them for a while and it may not be available next time anyway.
However, there is a problem and that is the ingredients. Neither had added sugar or whatever but . . . palm oil! Oh, dear. Not such a good thing and not something I want to encourage, I have decided, although easier said than done, I know.
So I have decided to make my own from now on. I used to, when the children were little, but got out of the habit.
To be fair, you do need a good, robust blender type thingy. It used to take me quite a while in the dim and distant past but using Thermione it didn't take all that long to produce virtually smooth peanut butter which is what I wanted. To make crunchy, zizz about two thirds to smooth, then add the rest and zizz again until the right texture for you.
All I added was a bit of oil and I do now wonder if that was necessary: I won't next time and see what difference there is.. I didn't wash the salt off and dry the nuts because, shocking as it sounds, I like salty peanut butter. Bad me!
I used two packets of Aldi's peanuts (the cheapest ones) and simply zizzed them in Thermione with a bit of veg oil until they were the texture I wanted. You can tell when it's ready - the sound changes significantly - and in a blender you can see. I then simply decanted it into an old Morrison's jar. It filled that and made a quarter as much again so it's not that much dearer really. And it's lovely! Well worth doing.
I got a jar from Approved Foods which was very nice (and cheaper) but I won't be making another order from them for a while and it may not be available next time anyway.
However, there is a problem and that is the ingredients. Neither had added sugar or whatever but . . . palm oil! Oh, dear. Not such a good thing and not something I want to encourage, I have decided, although easier said than done, I know.
So I have decided to make my own from now on. I used to, when the children were little, but got out of the habit.
To be fair, you do need a good, robust blender type thingy. It used to take me quite a while in the dim and distant past but using Thermione it didn't take all that long to produce virtually smooth peanut butter which is what I wanted. To make crunchy, zizz about two thirds to smooth, then add the rest and zizz again until the right texture for you.
All I added was a bit of oil and I do now wonder if that was necessary: I won't next time and see what difference there is.. I didn't wash the salt off and dry the nuts because, shocking as it sounds, I like salty peanut butter. Bad me!
I used two packets of Aldi's peanuts (the cheapest ones) and simply zizzed them in Thermione with a bit of veg oil until they were the texture I wanted. You can tell when it's ready - the sound changes significantly - and in a blender you can see. I then simply decanted it into an old Morrison's jar. It filled that and made a quarter as much again so it's not that much dearer really. And it's lovely! Well worth doing.
Thursday, 21 May 2015
Frugal flatbread
I wanted to make some flatbread to go with
a) some hummus for my lunch and
b) a chickpea korma for dinner
so I googled around and made this.
Ingredients to make four not terribly large flatbreads (or two bigger ones, if that's preferred)
100g SR flour (Morrisons savers, 3p)
10g veg oil (Aldi veg oil 1p)
25g yogurt (used home made, 1l for 49p so well under 1p)
cold water
seasoning, if wanted - salt, pepper, garlic, bit of chilli, whatever!
Method:
tip the flour, oil, yogurt and seasonings into a bowl and mix. Add water bit by bit until a dough forms. If it's too sloppy, add a bit more flour. If it's too stiff, add a bit more water.
Lift the dough onto a floured surfqce and knead for a couple of minutes. I did 100 stretch and folds which seemed about right.
While you are kneading the dough, heat a pan to upper medium heat. No oil needed.
Divide the dough into four equal bits.
Shape and roll each bit out. I rolled mine quite thin and they puffed up nicely when dry frying. Shape doesn't matter but a sort of circle will fit in your pan better.
Cook one at a time, around a minute on each side, until each side has just started to brown.
Either eat immediately or this is what I did.
I cut two into strips and bagged to take with me to work. They will be nice with the hummus.
The other two I placed in a poly bag, sucked the air out and tied the top in a knot so it's a sort of gentle vacu-pack, which should keep them fresh. I will have them tonight instead of rice with my chickpea korma.
Really, really easy and most satisfying to make. Good for kids to make (supervise the cooking part) and you could use cookie cutters to make different shapes, re-using the cut off bits to roll again.
Cost: between 1p and 2p each, if you make four.
a) some hummus for my lunch and
b) a chickpea korma for dinner
so I googled around and made this.
Ingredients to make four not terribly large flatbreads (or two bigger ones, if that's preferred)
100g SR flour (Morrisons savers, 3p)
10g veg oil (Aldi veg oil 1p)
25g yogurt (used home made, 1l for 49p so well under 1p)
cold water
seasoning, if wanted - salt, pepper, garlic, bit of chilli, whatever!
Method:
tip the flour, oil, yogurt and seasonings into a bowl and mix. Add water bit by bit until a dough forms. If it's too sloppy, add a bit more flour. If it's too stiff, add a bit more water.
Lift the dough onto a floured surfqce and knead for a couple of minutes. I did 100 stretch and folds which seemed about right.
While you are kneading the dough, heat a pan to upper medium heat. No oil needed.
Divide the dough into four equal bits.
Shape and roll each bit out. I rolled mine quite thin and they puffed up nicely when dry frying. Shape doesn't matter but a sort of circle will fit in your pan better.
Cook one at a time, around a minute on each side, until each side has just started to brown.
Either eat immediately or this is what I did.
I cut two into strips and bagged to take with me to work. They will be nice with the hummus.
The other two I placed in a poly bag, sucked the air out and tied the top in a knot so it's a sort of gentle vacu-pack, which should keep them fresh. I will have them tonight instead of rice with my chickpea korma.
Really, really easy and most satisfying to make. Good for kids to make (supervise the cooking part) and you could use cookie cutters to make different shapes, re-using the cut off bits to roll again.
Cost: between 1p and 2p each, if you make four.
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