Food Challenge: Week 1

Following the examples of Sue over at The Quince Tree and Thrifty Household, I have set myself the challenge of living on a food and drink budget of £52 per week.  This is apparently the equivalent to the value of  food stamps the US government pays to people on a low income.  My figure is calculated by multiplying the daily rate of £2.50 by 3 (the number in our household) and then again by 7 to reach the weekly figure.

Now I'm not on a low income and can afford to spend more that £52 per week on food but, like many others it appears, I have developed the habit of buying more and more food when my fridge/freezer and cupboards are already stocked with more than enough to feed us for some time.

Yesterday I reached the end of my first week and calculate that I spent £51.11, just short of my my target.  I was greatly helped by the donation of almost half a chicken and a huge bowlful of boiled new potatoes, left over from the church's harvest supper and dinner with friends one evening.  They provided one dinner and a couple of packed lunches.

Apart from that I raided the freezer for tortillas when bread ran low, we ate our way through our organic vegetable box and made inroads into our stockpile of beans and pasta.

In addition to the vegetable box I did buy mince and chicken and bacon, and added on what we spend on our milk delivery.  I even included the money I spent on a pot of tea and a cold drink after our walk through the woods on Sunday.  I could have done it for less if we'd gone veggie or delved deeper into the freezer but   the constraints of time and a carnivorous daughter precluded any further savings this week.

I love a challenge and this one has been such fun that I'm going to carry on with it for at least another week and, who knows, possibly even longer.  

Vegan MOFO

My blogger friends Sime and Kay over at Just Humans Being have signed up to Vegan MOFO and will be posting on all things vegan during the month of October.  As a carnivore it would not have been appropriate for me to do likewise but I have decided, nonetheless, to try and explore this meat and dairy free diet over the next few weeks.

The day I first read of Vegan MOFO I realised that my dinner that evening had quite coincidentally been vegan, a runner bean curry and rice.  If there had been any yoghurt in the fridge I'd have dolloped a spoonful of it on the side, but there wasn't, and it was perfectly respectable without.

As I've said, I am a carnivore.  I've considered vegetarianism and even veganism, but although I'm persuaded that I should eat less meat and question its provenance, I'm not convinced that I should give it up altogether. However it's clear that eating less meat makes sense for the sake of my health and the welfare of the planet and its people.  It will help me to live more frugally and perhaps even shed a few pounds.

So I'm looking for inspiration, ideas and recipes.  Knowing Sime & Kay I'm sure they will not disappoint!

A Month of Dinners: 18 June

Late Spring Green Vegetable Risotto

Comfort food

I need it

My Top Ten Cookery Books

Today I bought a new cookery book.  Heaven knows I don't need one but that's never stopped me before and it didn't this time when our Book People rep came calling with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's latest offering.  Besides, it provided me with the perfect opportunity to publish a post I've been mulling over for some time now.

So here it is, my definitive(?) Top Ten Cookery Books

1. Good Housekeeping -  This was one of the first cookery books I bought and its the one I turn to most often to find out how long to roast a joint, the ratio of flour to butter to milk in a white sauce or the correct way to sterilise jam jars.  It cost me 50p in an introductory offer to a book club in my final year at university and has been with me ever since.  It has lost both back and front covers and its pages are scuffed and stained, but I wouldn't trade it in for any other book.
2. Real Food (Nigel Slater) - It's not just the recipes but Nigel Slater's attitude to food that appeals to me.  This is solid everyday cookery, the sort of food you would be happy to eat time and time again.  And we do!
3. How to Eat (Nigella Lawson) - Nigella Lawson is another of my food heroes.  This is a chunky book and it took me a while to justify the expense.  But it's one I've never regretted.  It's the kind of cookery book I can sit and read just for the pleasure of the prose.  And as I read it I can hear her voice in my head.  Gosh, I must have been watching too much TV!
4. The New Covent Garden soup Company's Book of Soups - We Scots are brought up on soup.  It practically runs in our veins.  I love it.  It's warm and nourishing and easy to prepare and is the perfect way to use up odd bits and pieces lying around the kitchen.  But sometimes it's good to start from scratch and boil up something special and this book has plenty to chose from.
5. The Good Cook (Simon Hopkinson) - I've come late to Simon Hopkinson, through his recent TV series.  He came across as a gentle man and his recipes are a reflection of his manner.
6. Indian Cookery (Savitra Chowdhary) - I inherited this book from my mother, although I have a feeling that it was my Dad who made more use of it.  I don't use many of its recipes but it's where I turn for a basic dhal and gajar halwa, my all time favourite Indian sweetmeat.
7. Mediterranean Cookery (Claudia Roden) - I love the aromatic flavours of Middle Eastern food and Claudia Roden's book is a veritable feast for the senses.
8. Delia Smith's Christmas (Delia Smith) - No list would be complete without a Delia Smith and this is my favourite.  In  years when I've opted for a traditional turkey dinner I've followed her countdown to Christmas dinner almost to the second.  And it's her mincemeat recipe every time!
9. How to be a Domestic Goddess (Nigella Lawson)  Nigella's second appearance but as this is the book I turn to first when I get the urge to bake she deserves it.
10. The Book of Children's Party Cakes (Ann Nicol) - From when they were old enough my daughters have been presented with this book a couple of weeks before their birthdays and asked to choose their cake.  Even the most complicated cakes are simple when you follow the instructions step by step.

So this is my list.  What about you?  Would any of these books feature on yours?  Have you any personal favourites to recommend?

Pasty Presto!

The other day Sue, over at The Quince Tree, made pasties to use up leftovers.  This, and a quick flick through the lovely Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's new book, River Cottage Veg Everyday, resulted in my abandoning my menu plan and baking four veggie pasties. 

There was a turnip (swede to the English) lurking in last week's organic vegetable box and a packet of puff pastry in the freezer.  All the other ingredients were store cupboard basics.

My mum used to make passable Cornish pasties and we gorge on them every year in St Ives, but this is the first time in many years that I have attempted them myself.  Having realised how surprisingly easy they are to knock out, I'm hoping it won't be my last.  Next time I may even include the carrot and onion that I inadvertently left out on this occasion!

We ate two for dinner.  The others will make a welcome break from sandwiches tomorrow.

PS  I nicked the title of my post from a pasty shop in St Ives which produces an aromatic chick pea variation on the original.