The major haul.

I have shopped.

It was a remarkably uncomplicated shop as half of it was done at the butcher’s.2015-07-09 16.00.44 This butcher appears to be a local institution. You’ll often find him mentioned on menus in restaurants around here: “Made with John Harbour Porterhouse Steak,” that sort of thing. Apparently he grows and butchers his own beef and pork and he clearly loves his trade.

I spent  just under $40 on meat with which to stuff the freezer. There are:

  • 6 English pork sausages,
  • 500g chuck steak,
  • 600g Osso Bucco and
  • 3 of their own saveloys ! (the largest saveloys I have ever seen!)
    Doesn't look all that appetising, does it?

    Doesn’t look all that appetising, does it?

    Now, I could have bought an awful lot more for that $40 at Aldi, but it wouldn’t have been of the same quality. I had the money to spare this fortnight, so I spent it. This is going to make at least 12 meals, if not more, so around $3 a meal. Which means it’s actually affordable.

The major haul.

The major haul.

This is the rest of my purchases.

First, I stocked up on pasta and sauces and from Woolworths I bought:

  • 1 x 5 kg bag Laucke Multi-grain Bread mix   $12.57
  • 1 x 250 ml Chipotle sauce                                     $2.79 (my new thing this shop)
  • 1 x 500 g  Molasses                                                    $3.49
  • 1 x 320 ml  Hoi Sin sauce                                       $2.39
  • 2 x 500 g “curls” macaroni                                    $4.90
  • 1 x 500 g “Risoni” pasta                                          $1.10

Total = $27.24

Then I popped into Aldi to get the rest of my bits and pieces. These were all pantry staples being replaced or topped up. So:

  • 1 x 250 g Shredded parmesan cheese   $3.69
  • 1 x 500 g Dairy spread                                   $2.99
  • 1 x 500 g unsalted butter                            $2.59
  • 1 kg brown onions                                         $0.99
  • 4 x 400 g tin diced tomatoes                     $2.36
  • 2 kg white sugar                                              $1.79
  • 1 kg sweet potatoes                                      $1.99
  • 2 x 400 g tin kidney beans                           $1.18
  • 1 x 200 g Bicarbonate of soda                   $1.79
  • 2 x 250 g Microwave Brown Rice              $2.98
  • 1 x 500 g squeezable honey                       $5.49

Total = 27.84

So that comes to $95.08 all together. I have yet to buy eggs, which will use the last of the money allotted.

However, I’ve decided to go over a little anyway.

I want to go to the market on Saturday and stock up on some beans and grains. But, even if I go utterly berserk, I won’t spend more than $20 there AND those things will last for months.

Ahem.

You may have noticed a lack of fresh veg. Well, our crisper is still well-stocked and we have oodles of frozen vegetables as well. Don’t fret.

 

Our refilled biscuit barrel.

Okay, so my driving assessment didn’t happen today, because reasons. I have to go back tomorrow.

I came home and worked off the cumulative fury in my front garden, pruning pretty much 7/8 of the rose bushes off. It worked.

The bushes look like they’ll face the next growing season much better too!

Anyway, when I came in I remembered that a request had been made for some more cookies, preferably ones with chunks of chocolate and a touch of salt. So I thought I’d try a new recipe and made this one here. Coconut chocolate chunk cookies with sea salt.

Coconut chocolate chink biscuits

Coconut chocolate chunk biscuits.

The Boy says they are good. I haven’t tasted them yet. If I agree with him, then they may end up on a post sometime.

Pasta and other things mixed in a baking dish.

Pasta and other things mixed in a baking dish.

I decided to do a pasta bake for dinner. So I threw a few handfuls of pasta on to cook, diced up a zucchini and a capsicum, drained a can of chickpeas and cut up some of that BBQ chook we’ve got in the fridge. When the pasta was cooked, I mixed them all together in a pyrex baking dish with what was left in the jar of pesto we had. (Another thing for the list.)

Make a quick cheese sauce to bind.

Make a quick cheese sauce to bind.

Then I made a white sauce and mixed through a few handfuls of grated tasty cheese and some mixed Italian herbs, salt and pepper. The whole lot was placed into the oven (which had been on for the cookies) and baked at 180°C for about 40 mins.

The end result.

The end result.

At that stage, I took it out and sprinkled the top with some home-made wholegrain breadcrumbs that I keep in the fridge – for added texture. It was baked a further 10 minutes after that.

Then we tucked in. I had a small serving so I could follow it up with a bit of the leftover chocolate fudge pudding. The orange flavour from the zest was even more pronounced and it was amazing!

Dinner is served.

Dinner is served.

There was enough pasta left for two or three servings. I love cooking things in that glass dish. It is one of a set of three that I bought from Kmart some time ago and which came with clip lock lids. They don’t seem to have the sets any more, but you can buy singles like this one.

Hot fudge pudding and ice cream. I'd earned it.

Hot fudge pudding and ice cream. I’d earned it.

They’re very affordable and it means that, when the dish is cool, you can pop the lid on and put it in the fridge. No fiddling with cling wrap, no transferring to a different dish, easy to reheat in – gotta be happy with that. 🙂  They are available in square and rectangle and several different sizes and I’d recommend them, especially to those just starting out. You want stuff that is versatile and that you love using. I think perhaps I should do a post on this…

Anyway, I am now very tired from my gardening exertions and ready to crash.

TTFN

 

 

Tikka Masala lentils and steamed millet.

Today was much quieter in our kitchen.

We added some Hoi Sin sauce to the last of the dumpling stuffing from yesterday and opened another packet of won ton wrappers. 10 Dumplings were eaten for lunch and another 20 were added to the freezer stash.

We had a few wrappers left in the packet, so I decided to make lentils for dinner tonight and try a bit of dal in a dumpling later on.

2015-07-06 19.47.21So I made Italian Lentils – but with less Italian and more Indian. After I added the bacon to the pot at the beginning, I then added a couple of teaspoons of Tikka Masala paste from the pantry and fried it off for a few minutes before continuing on as normal.

Tikka Masala lentils.

Tikka Masala lentils.

The Boy followed his nose into the kitchen fairly soon after that. I added a small can of corn kernels, just because…

Tikka Masala lentils and steamed millet.

Tikka Masala lentils and steamed millet.

Then I served them up with the leftover millet from last night. It wasn’t too bad, considering the minimal effort expended!

I also decanted the first batch of Kombucha and started a new one. I’m still rather unsure about it all, so shan’t be blogging anything on it until I think I might know what I’m doing.

Tomorrow bread will be made and I’m off now to figure out which cookies will be baked. I have the first half of a damnable driving assessment tomorrow -*expletive deleted* – which is going to cost me a small fortune. I have a feeling some comfort eating may find itself in progress after some comfort baking tomorrow afternoon.

Resuming normal transmission.

Sorry folks, last night I had a bad turn with my sugars and went into a hypo with my diabetes. It left me very much on the exhausted side – so I didn’t post.

I’ll try to make up for that a little here.

Firstly, this is the chilli we had the night before last. It was scrummy.

Chilli con Carne

Chilli con Carne

Last night we had this rather tasty lentil and barley casserole, which was just the trick given the bitterly cold day.

Barley and Lentil Casserole

Barley and Lentil Casserole

This takes only minutes to get on the go and ticks all sorts of nutritional boxes. We worked out that it cost about $1.50 for the entire pot, or 50 cents a serve.

Also, I remembered that I had that handful of Tuscan kale in the refrigerator, so I added it at the end for a touch of colour and a spark of flavour.

Tonight I made a Cornbread Cobbler topping and divided the leftover chilli into individual oven dishes to make Chilli and Cornbread pies.

Chilli and Cornbread pies

Chilli and Cornbread pies

I overestimated the topping a bit, so we decided to split one between us. The other will either be frozen or had for lunch.

I have my book group tomorrow night, so we will be ‘shopping the fridge’ and there won’t be a diary note.

See you soon.

Fruit of the Forest Muffins.

Hello, my lovelies.

I’m having a few issues with my eyes at the moment, so this shall be short and sweet.

Today I learned we were to have a visitor at some time during a 4 hour window, so I made muffins for when they finally arrived. I’d discovered a few bags of tiny (ridiculously small) amounts of frozen berries when I was doing my freezer stock take the other day. A quarter cup of raspberries in a bag, for example. So, I mixed them all together and dubbed them Fruits of the Forest.

Waste not, want not.

Waste not, want not.

Then I added a scant handful of dark choc chips and turned them into muffins. It used the last of the buttermilk I’d bought for The Boy’s work muffins the other day.

Fruit of the Forest Muffins.

Fruit of the Forest Muffins.

It took about 10 mins and a few of my pantry staples to have something yummy for my guest. Win.

I didn’t know when they would be leaving, so I rescued a bag of my Asian Flavoured Beef from the freezer too and popped it in the smallest crockpot. That’s ready now and I’ll be serving it with the leftover rice from last night’s curry adventure. Another win.

I hope to do my green grocer shopping tomorrow, and will probably be listing this fortnight’s haul on the post after next. All while wondering if everyone wants me to keep doing this?

Please let me know!

Happy eating.