Monday 18 March 2013

Day one of my four week challenge

Day one of my challenge !
I forgot to record  the cost so far, which are  - Lidl £14.51;  Sainsburys  £1.86;  Grocers £1.50  Eggs £1.00  Bread ingredients £1.17   -  Total  £20.14  -  Less than £8 left for the rest of the month !! I'm also going to have to factor in a spoonful of sugar on my porridge. ..Yes I know I'm a wuss!

Started the day with a bowl of porridge, which will be my usual breakfast for the next 4 weeks I think! Not a a bad start to the day and keeps you feeling full until lunch.

This morning I've had a bit of a prep session.
Firstly I made some batter with half a pint of milk and my largest egg. Reserving a cupful I made 6 pancakes.
I then made half a pint of cheese sauce. Reserving about a two thirds of this I chopped and cooked in the microwave a quarter of an onion. I mixed the onion with the cheese sauce and rolled the mixture in two of my pancakes.

I then fried 2 sausage and  some chopped bacon from my bacon bits. I cut each sausage into 5 pieces and then added half an onion and a carrot chopped. When these were just about cooked I added three quarters of a tin of chopped tomatoes, half a pint of stock, salt, pepper, garlic granules and a pinch of chilli powder. I returned this to the heat, covered it and cooked it slowly for an hour.
 The fat that I had trimmed off the bacon pieces I put aside to render for the evening meal.

Lunch was an egg cob, made with salad cream  ( there was a small amount of egg mixture left which I put in the fridge ) with carrot sticks as a side.

 Tonight I have rendered the bacon fat, poured most of the fat off into a tin, into which I have put two sausage and into the oven with the batter mix poured over, on a high temp. I have boiled and mashed two large potatoes and some cabbage and made gravy with the veg juices.
So tonight's dinner was toad in the hole, mashed potato, cabbage and gravy
Into a bowl went the extra potato, cabbage and the last of the onion, chopped. This is now in the fridge with the last of the tomato, grated cheese and a portion of sausage and bacon casserole


In the freezer - 2 thick bacon steaks
                        4 sausage
                        4 pancakes
                        2 cheese and onion pancakes
                        2 servings of sausage and bacon casserole
                        1 Portion of Cheese sauce
I don't intend to give a blow by blow account of my kitchen doings everyday. I think an update of my challenge every three days will suffice, otherwise you will all lose the will to live!

 Just back from an interesting talk, organised by the Canal Society of which we are members, so this blog is a little late tonight.
 Will post tomorrow with some more random stuff ( I promise you no cooking)
Good Night All
Gill
                     

7 comments:

  1. If I am doing my math right the 2 pounds would be equal to approximately $3 US. That is slim amount for a day.

    You are off to a good start.

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    1. Hi Shara. The challenge is £1 a day and I am told that lots of people do it, but I think the challenge is for the food to be varied and well balanced for that amount.
      Again. congrats to you and your on the birth of a grandchild
      Gill

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    2. Wow! 1 pound a day is amazing.

      Thanks -- I'm enjoying snuggling him every change I get.

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  2. Talking of bacon. I buy "cooking bacon" costs just £1, from Sainsburies for my DH. The pieces are huge and make several meals with potatoes and cabbage (yes he's Irish). The packs are a bit pot-luck, but you can generally see through the plastic to get some nice big chunks. I also make bacon badgeer, suet pastry roll, stuffed with bacon, sage, toms, chutney and onion.
    I am very interested in what you are cooking today.

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    1. That's the bacon I have bought Kath! Great minds think alike ! There were three good thick slices and I used the first for the casserole and have frozen the other two for later in the month. I was going to make a bacon and stuffing dish later and I reckon I shall make some sort of roll as you suggest. Thanks for the idea
      Gill

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  3. We dont really have the same sort of bacon/gammon/ cooking bacon here in the States. We have huge hams though. I buy smoked ham hocks for pea soup. I buy chicken livers which are about a quid for a tub; four meals out of them. I flour them and saute them very gently in olive oil and add a splash of sherry or brandy at the end. Serve them with lots of english mustard.
    I bought two pork tenderloins last week, about 4 quid. 8 meals out of them.
    We spend a lot of time in the good weather biking or walking the I & M Canal here in Illinois; so historic.......


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    1. I like your menu, and also the way you have prepped and stored the food - I think I'll give it a try that way next week, it would help the menu planning I think.
      I am also a fan of cooking bacon. The last packet I bought gave me 2 big and one small chunks of smoked bacon. One chunk was braised and served sliced, the other made a pan of pea and ham soup and the third was cut into small pieces and went into a frittata and a macaroni cheese. Good value for just over a pound.

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