We ate so cheap, and yet we discovered two new favourites. I barely contained myself from eating all the leftovers that usually become next day’s lunch. We also kind of cheated on Monday, since Aaron’s parents have gone away for an extended period of time and told us to take anything perishable in the fridge. Well. If the will leave so much…
I was eating fine again until I sent another email to my agent saying, “hahaha here’s what I want for the ending of my novel thaaaaanks” and have not heard back yet… I mean it’s been two days, I’m fine. Totally.
Tuesday
Grandad, stop buying so much cheese. Tuesday was another cheese and…assorted bits night at Grandmama and Grandad’s. I finally remembered that posh Babybel is called Port Salut and made sure to contribute. Also, I tasted Wensleydale for the first time and the polls are in favour.
Wednesday
Can’t stop, won’t stop, du-nah-nuh-nah-du-du~ I will eat this forever.
Thursday
French Style Pistou
This recipe came with my soup maker, and I love it. It requires: 1 onion, 1 medium potato, 50g spaghetti, a handful of green beans, 1 carrot, 400g tin chopped tomatoes, 1 courgette, 1 stick of celery and 425ml of boiling vegetable stock. Twenty-eight minutes later and voila: beautiful soup. Finish off with a blob of tomato pesto and grated parmesan.
Friday
This was so good I can tell you already that we started our new week making this again. Easiest risotto to ever risotto. The recipe says to bake this for 20-25 minutes, but I’ve ended up baking it closer to 45 minutes on both attempts (which came out perfectly, if I do say so myself). Wait until almost all of the liquid has been absorbed before taking it out the oven. A thin looking layer of liquid on top is fine (our casserole dish is made of glass so we can see it from all sides) but don’t wait for all of it to disappear if it’s taking a long time to bake, as I worry it’ll burn the rice at the bottom.
Everyone, including a guest appearance from my dad, went back for second helpings.
Saturday
Creamy Courgette & Bacon Pasta
This was so good Aaron had to practically pry the leftovers from my greedy fingers. I will be making this as often as possible. The recipe says four courgettes, and it seems like a hell of a lot. But it’s not. Trust the recipe. Give it your heart. Enjoy.
Sunday
Scraps.
A friend taught me something great. Heat the oven (fan assisted) to 180-190 C. Flatten the middle of a slice of bread with the back of a spoon to create a little well. Butter the edges of the bread. Sprinkle cheese (don’t go overboard yet) and cracked black into the middle of the well. Crack a raw egg on top of this cheese bed. Sprinkle with more cheese. Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes.
As for the random slab of chicken, that was a parting gift from Aaron’s parents. I wrapped it in foil, covered it in garlic and herbs, then drizzled soy over it because I didn’t have lemon, but it helped keep the chicken moist.
Add tinned beans and sausages. Simple, but lush.
Monday
Frittata Sans Potato
We raided Aaron’s parent’s house and found 6 eggs, 8 sausages, and 5 mushrooms. Following this frittata recipe (sans all the ingredients other than egg and onion) we made our own delicious invention. All we added from our own cupboards was an onion and spring onion. It was so good. We basically shared a damn big sausage omelette. I wish there had been more!
Shopping cost us £16 ALL TOGETHER! Whaaaaat. And actually, we ate pretty good, especially at only £8 each. We ate for £1.14 every evening. Hot damn. Remember: we do bulk buy onions, rice, pasta, and often eggs, which means we only really need to top up on fresh veggies. Most of the time.
I hope you’ve been feeling inspired these past five weeks to try and cook stuff for yourself and maybe save a few pennies, too. Do you plan your weekly food shop yet?
Willow H. Wood 