I must start by apologising for the lack of photos in this
post – that’s because everything was eaten before I stopped and thought it
might actually be interesting to blog about it!
I started off by checking the fridge and cupboards – no use
replenishing things that are already there and ending up with so much that some
of it goes off – to make sure I had the basics that I consider essential:
herbs (mostly fresh from the garden)
spices – I keep a good selection because of my love of
curries
dried fruit of some kind
tinned tomatoes (these are getting expensive now, so I
always stock up when there’s a BOGOF offer)
tinned chickpeas or other pulses
baked beans
tomato purée and/or ketchup
soy sauce
plain flour
garlic
onions – have you noticed that some supermarkets now have
them in sacks at a fraction of the price of loose ones? I keep a sack in the
cool, dark garage where they last for weeks, bringing a few into the kitchen as
I need them
rice (long grain and risotto)
pasta
red lentils
bread or flour and yeast
milk
eggs
butter and/or oil
cheese suitable for grating or cooking
lemons
ready made mayonnaise
If I didn’t keep “ice cubes” of home made pesto in the
freezer, I’d probably add a jar of pesto to this list too.
Actually if you have all of the above, you can cobble
together a meal without even visiting the shops: a risotto, pasta with tomato
sauce, herb omelette or macaroni cheese, for example. I make sure I have
everything on the list and if anything is running low, add it to the shopping
list straight away. Things that aren’t immediately perishable can be bought when on offer and stored to use later.
Now on to my shopping list for the week’s meals. I planned
the meals so that leftovers from one meal would form the basis for others later
in the week. As well as the above basics, which I already had, I bought (for two people)
1 small chicken
a 400g pack of sausage meat
a 99p pack of leeks (5 leeks)
500g carrots
a 99p punnet of mushrooms (300g)
a 99p pack of dwarf beans (250g)
a pack of ready-rolled puff pastry
a bag of potatoes (I had to buy a large bag as it was all
they had but will use them up next week)
Here are the meals – I’ve only planned for 5 days on the
assumption that most of us are less disciplined at the weekend but stay on
track during the week!
Day 1
Roast chicken, leeks, carrots, roast potatoes, gravy, using about half of
each of the leeks and carrots. Keep the leek trimmings, carrot peel and onion
trimmings and skin (from the sausage nuggets) for tomorrow’s stock.
And sausage nuggets:
take a third of the pack of sausage meat and mix in a bowl
with a couple of tablespoonfuls of
chopped dried fruit (I used apricots). Finely chop a very small onion
and fry until soft in a little oil. Allow to cool then mix into the sausage meat
mixture. Season – you can add fresh herbs or spices at this point too – mix
together well and form into balls about the size of a walnut in its shell. Pop
round the chicken for the last 30 minutes of roasting.
After eating, save the rest of the chicken plus the carcase,
skin and bones, any left over gravy and any left over veg (in the unlikely
event of there being any sausage nuggets left, they are great cold on
sandwiches)
Day 2
Make stock – remove
the meat from the chicken carcase and set aside, then chuck the skin and
bones into a pan with the leftover gravy, any left over veg (except potatoes, save
them for day 3), yesterday’s veg trimmings and any or all of the following,
depending on what you have: a few peppercorns, cloves, mace, thyme, parsley or
bay leaves. Cover with water, simmer for a couple of hours and strain. Keep
this stock for later in the week.
Dinner today is chicken and mushroom pie.
Preheat the oven to the temperature suggested on your pasty
pack. Cut up the left over chicken into bite sized pieces. Cut a piece of the
puff pastry sheet to fit the top of your pie dish. Wrap the remaining pastry
tightly so it doesn’t dry out, you’ll need it tomorrow! Slice a third of the
mushrooms and fry gently in butter until tender and the water has evaporated.
Dust in about a tablespoon of plain flour and stir in enough milk to produce a
thick sauce. Season and allow to bubble for a minute then stir in the chicken and tip the mixture into your
pie dish. Cover with the pastry, crimp the edges, cut a steam hole in the
centre and brush with beaten egg, saving any left over egg for tomorrow.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until risen and well browned. Serve
with boiled potatoes (cook one or two extra if there were no roast ones left
from yesterday) and two thirds of the pack of green beans. Keep any left over
veg.
Day 3
Sausage rolls
Roll out the left over pastry thinly into a rectangle, and
place the remaining sausage meat along one edge of the rectangle. brush the
free edge with beaten egg, roll up and cut into sausage rolls. Brush the tops
with beaten egg then bake, giving them 20 minutes in a hot oven then 20 minutes
in a moderate one. You may need to cover them with foil or greaseproof paper to
stop them over browning.
Serve with braised mixed vegetables – trim the rest of the
dwarf beans into matchstick lengths, cut an equal quantity of carrots into
batons, and slice half the remaining mushrooms. Put them all in a pan with a
tight fitting lid, along with a knob of butter and any fresh herbs you have to
hand – chopped thyme is delicious – place the pan on a very low heat and cook
for about 20 minutes until the veg are tender. Don’t remove the lid until
you’re ready to check they are cooked – shake the pan every few minutes so nothing
sticks and burns.
Dice the potatoes
you’ve saved over the last couple of days and mix with mayonnaise for a quick
potato salad to go with the sausage rolls and veg. If you have some chives to
add to the mayo, so much the better.
Keep any left over veg.
Day 4
Vegetable risotto.
Put 75-100g of rice per person in a measuring jug and make a
note of the volume. For the rice, ideally use risotto rice. If it seems too
expensive, pudding rice is a good substitute, although you will find some
broken grains, otherwise use long grain rice but watch out for it going mushy
rather than creamy like a proper risotto.
Measure double the volume of rice out of your home made
chicken stock into a saucepan, bring to the boil and keep just below simmering
point.
Chop the last of your bag of leeks finely and cook in oil or butter in
a non-stick pan until tender. Slice the remaining mushrooms and add them to the
pan. Cook for another minute or two then stir in the rice and mix it well. Pour
in about a third of the stock and allow to bubble gently until absorbed. Repeat
with the next third and the final one. If the rice is still not tender, cover
the pan and leave it for a few minutes over the lowest possible heat. Season
well and serve. There is no real protein in this dish (well, mushrooms have a
bit, but you might want to add more) so if you like you can stir in a handful
of grated cheese before serving. It adds to the creaminess of the risotto too.
Day 5
Lentil and vegetable soup
You will need 50g of red lentils per head, any left over
cooked veg you have saved, any left over fresh veg, 1 medium onion, oil or
butter and the rest of your home made chicken stock. For two people you’ll need
about 750 ml of stock – if you don’t have
this much left, dilute it with water, or milk if you prefer a creamier soup.
Chop the onion and fry in oil or butter until lender. Chop
any left over fresh veg and add them to the pan with the lentils. Fry for a
minute or two, then add the lentils, stock and left over cooked veg, roughly chopped,
then stir in the stock. Don’t season yet or the lentils will go tough! Simmer
until the veg are tender and the lentils disintegrating. This will take between
20 and 35 minutes depending on how old your lentils are. Then either whizz in a
blender or with a stick blender until smooth, season, reheat and serve.
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