Friday, January 16, 2009

I wanted...I bought...I made

Fennel, carrot and celery salad with good oil dressing
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The temperature has gone from minus whatever to nudging double figures and feels positively tropical. Think I should have a salad this week to celebrate... Tonight it will be laksa from the freezer with noodles and beansprouts I can pick up in chinatown on the way home as medicine for the man who has come down with manflu. Poor baby. Saturday will be something with rice in order to join in the Guardian's new bite club - risotto perhaps or am tempted by the stuffed pheasant breasts to copy the inauguration dinner for the new President. the man requested chicken and mash - proper comfort food - and we had peas and the gravy from xmas out of the freezer and it was incredibly good! I have a hankering for fish cakes which might be nice Sunday with salad risotto with chorizo and beans, very fine indeed and good for lunch boxes for a couple of days. Monday I am out so the man can have lasagne from the freezer, Tuesday the belly pork from last week with sea spice, dry fried green beans and rice and cold for lunch next day, Wednesday pasta I made pasta with parma ham and raddichio that sounded like it would be a proper treat with half the ham and raddichio cooked with butter and rosemary and the other half stirred through raw but the result was slightly bitter so not a triumph just okay and just okay for lunch Thursday after class, Thursday lentils topped with an egg steak and salad dressed with Good Oil, a light oil made from hemp seed that made for a delicate dressing with crusty bread - lovely and Friday, maybe steak. Or maybe not. Dinner out for a change!

My man was very very ill - struck down by manflu - and so I trekked alone to Borough Saturday morning with a short list. It was cold and wet and very quiet. At Ginger Pig I bought two chicken breasts with mash and peas and gravy for a wonderfully comforting meal Saturday night for £5.99 - probably the least I have ever spent there!

Then to Booths for potatoes, rosemary, clementines, raddichio (I had to ask which of the red leafed items it was - thought it was the round vaguely lettuce looking one but then wondered if it might be the longer thinner chicory looking one - it's the round one) and onions for £3.30 - another record low spend

I bought parma ham and buffalo mozzarella from the Italian stall - £9.90 - hoping to tempt my sweetheart into trying a little lunch didn't work but I liked it! Then had ham on toast for Sunday breakfast - too too decadent!

Then bought a baguette from the marché shop just for a change Saturday lunch and the rest in the freezer for some crumbs, it was nice enough but not as good as the english stick from Neals Yard - £1.30

At Neals Yard I bought only milk - £1.45 - and only one litre at that! did have some still in the fridge and so we just had enough to get to Friday

From Flour Power I bought a cottage loaf and asked for one brownie but they were having a sale and it was £2 for one or £3 for 2 and my sweetie had asked for chocolate to soothe his throat so, needless to say, it was £4 I spent

Feel I did really well - only spent £25.94 - a definite record low! Only possible really because we are having things from the cupboard and freezer as well as the food I bought but it was easy to carry home on the bus.

Also bought frozen peas, parma ham from Gazzanis in Clerkenwell and a baguette for Thursday night - so a fairly cheap week indeed

Nothing much thrown away except the last of the salad, but I had used the fennel, chicory, celery and carrots I'd bought the week before so it's not bad

This time last year we were mostly eating stir fry pork, cabbage and wood ear which is very like the dish we had Tuesday. We spent nearly£75 - so this week at least I can believe I've economised!

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