Posts filed under ‘frugal friday’
eggs in baskets- Frugal Friday
I always thought Toad in the Hole was an egg cracked into a slice of bread and then fried. Turns out I’m wrong. (Thank you for the correction wikipedia) Apparently Toad in the Hole involves a sausage and instead my fried egg is called Egg in a Basket. I’m not sure that’s got quite the same ring to it, but it will have to do until I think of something else. I always liked the sounds of Toad in the Hole… makes me think of Wind in the Willows.
What you’ll need is some
small round bread rolls and
free range eggs
hollow them out, enough to hold a whole cracked egg
into a low oven (they are a good thing to pop in on your second shelf of the oven while something else is cooking up top)
eat them when you think they are ready
and serve with a little capsicum chilli sauce
(For me an egg is ready when it’s cooked right through, Mr Chocolate likes ‘em runny.)
******
As for a new name…any ideas?
Bunnies in Burrows?
Fat Cat on a Cushion?
summer salad- Frugal Friday
This is my standby summer salad at the moment. It’s finding itself teamed up with a whole heap of dishes, as you can make a big batch of it and it’s not going to go soggy when left in the fridge for a few days.
Summer salad
Chopped up raw kale leaves, (don’t worry about the stalks, too chewy)
Steamed and diced carrots
Steamed corn cut off the cob
Sliced capsicum (peppers)
Pecans
If you have any other seasonal goodies hanging around, pop them in too.
Dress with your favourite dressing.
Summer Roasted Tomatoes- Frugal Friday
Roasted Summer
some summery heirloom tomatoes chopped in half
a small roughly chopped eggplant
a few cloves of seasonal local garlic
some great local olive oil drizzled all over
pop in a few potatoes/ sweet potatoes if you feel like it
then roast at about 200C until it smells wonderful and looks how you want it.
Just before you finish the roasting add some
ripped up basil leaves
and sliced soft fresh mozzarella (not the salty waxy yellow type)
Eat with some chunks of sourdough for mopping up those juices.
Simple, seasonal, locally produced, frugal… oh and tasty.
pepperonata- Frugal Friday
The first time The Monkeys saw yellow capsicum, they raised a skeptical eyebrow or two. Even after my assurance that yes, it was still a capsicum, yellow it may be.
Capsicums are red or green mama…
Yes, but they are also yellow.
Now come on, eat it.
A tentative bite, eyebrows still cocked…
It is capsicum! They happily declared.
(Saying that, they wouldn’t touch this dish, they like their vegetables on the raw side.)
Pepperonata
A couple of good slurps of wonderful local olive oil
as much diced seasonal garlic as you fancy
and sliced capsicum
cook it through for a few minutes, and then pop a lid on and wilt it down until it becomes soft. Salt to taste and serve with some crusty bread, and perhaps a little chorizo, (the chorizo alway wins points with The Monkeys and Mr Chocolate.)
Chocolate Hazelnut Surprise- Frugal Friday
So, desserts don’t usually make it in to my Frugal Friday posts. But drown me in amaretto if this one isn’t frugal.
Mr Chocolate’s parents were coming over for lunch and my thoughts had been else where. The lunch bit was sorted, but it would be nice if there was a little sweetie something to follow it up with. Now what do I have?
some cooking mistake freezer brownie
some old cream
some sad looking strawberries
oh and some chocolate (50%)
Now I hate tossing food out. I can generally give something a new lease of life well after it has looked it’s best. I like the challenge of it, and it let’s me be a little creative in the kitchen. I was a little nervous with this one though, as it wasn’t just the usual culprits eating it.
Hmmm, thinking cap on, and…
Chocolate Hazelnut Surprise
crumble up some freezer brownie
then whip up
300mls of cream that needed using
add a good shake
of some hazelnut meal through it (approx 50g)
and
1 tsp vanilla into the whipped cream
and then slowly drizzle some
melted dark chocolate (about 100g- I used 50%)
in as well (don’t over whip it)
layer it with your brownie (or an old chocolate/plain cake you may have hanging around)
add a few
chopped up sad looking strawberries on top and then
drizzle a little more chocolate on
******
So how did it taste?
Delicious.
Did the inlaws suspect anything less than a well planned dessert.
Hell no.
(This is not a recipe. Not really any way. Just use what you have and play. You will probably end up with a lovely tasty surprise.)
houmus- frugal Friday
Tahini was one of those food items that I had long since written off as something I didn’t particularly like. I didn’t mind it in other peoples cooking, but I certainly wasn’t going to be eating it by the spoonful from the jar. If you can imagine a cat coughing up a fur ball, that would be me trying to eat a spoonful of tahini.
Then I decided that I wanted to make houmus for The Monkeys though. When making houmus it needs tahini, everyone knows that, so I was going to have to revisit my spoonful of fur ball.
I decided to try the unhulled darker type as it had been the hulled version I had always tried in the past. With teaspoon at the ready, I dipped in.
Holy houmus, it was delicious.
It tried another small piece to see if my taste buds were tricking me. Nope, it really was. It was like peanut butter…but sesame butter. Now I don’t know if my taste buds have simply changed over time or unhulled tastes ridiculously better than hulled. Either way, it’s now a staple in the fridge and The Monkeys can have as much houmus as they want, as this dip is dead easy to make.
Houmus
400g canned chick peas
1 clove raw garlic
1/4 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
4 tbls olive oil
3 tbls lemon juice
1 tbls unhulled tahini
salt and black pepper to taste
Whiz it all up in a hand held blender. Spoon it out on to a dish, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a little paprika.
Cauliflower Curry- Frugal Friday
Cauliflower.
I think you either love it or hate it. Is there a middle ground with this much loved/hated vegetable? If you hate it, find something else to substitute it. If you love it…well tuck in please.
Cauliflower Curry
a good slurp of vegetable oil
then add
1 chopped spring garlic
a diced onion
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
salt to taste
fry until smells delicious and then add
1 whole roughly chopped cauliflower
5 small chopped length ways zucchini
2 cups water
cook until the vegetables are just cooked through, (you don’t want them mushy and disintegrated)
then add
200mls coconut milk
serve with some roasted cashews on top
eggs two ways- Frugal Friday
Eggs are always a quick and easy thing to prepare. Cool or warm weather, these little fellas are easily adaptable to what ever your taste buds fancy.
For warmer weather or an easy lunch try and egg salad. Dictated by what’s in season, what’s in the fridge and pretty much what you fancy eating.
Egg Salad
boiled eggs
lettuce
celery
walnuts
parmesan shavings
olive oil
Baked Eggs
In a baking dish add some tomato passata or left over pasta sauce. This one was a eggplant and zucchini pasta sauce. Make some slight hollows and crack the eggs in. Bake at 200 until golden. If you like your eggs still runny, bake until just the whites are cooked. Serve with some crusty bread.
Almond pesto- Frugal Friday
Pesto is one of those dead easy, whiz it up and away you go kind of meals. The only thing that stops me is pine nuts. Yes, I love them, they are delicious. However I can’t source any local ones and they are really quite expensive. Swapping the pine nuts to a cheaper and more local nut works just as well though.
I’ve made it with pecans, walnuts before and for this one it was almonds. Blitzing whole almonds in a blender (skins on) then adding 2 bunches of fresh basil, some grated parmesan and some great local olive oil. It’s an accompaniment to lots of dishes. It never lasts long in this house, but this amount will give a good sized jar, which I just top up with some extra olive oil, and then keep it in the fridge.
Eat it stirred through pasta, a little chopped up chilli and extra parmesan.
Mixed with rice, baby spinach, and crumbled fetta.
Or simply on some toasted sourdough, bruschetta style.
Moroccan Chickpeas- Frugal Friday
Super quick, and super easy. If you prefer dried chickpeas just soak them before hand, and for the tomatoes if you have fresh ones available in abundance use them. Garlic is also another thing I would usually put in here, but not having access to Australian garlic for the moment, most dishes are garlic less. If you have it at home though, whack it in.
Moroccan Chickpeas
In a pot add a couple of good slurps of olive oil
a diced onion
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp cumin
1 can chickpeas
1 can tomatoes
rinse the can out with half water, pop it in
2 bunches of chopped English spinach
2 chopped carrots
and whack the lid on for about 10 minutes.
Salt to taste and serve with basmati rice or cous cous, a dollop of natural yogurt, a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkling of turmeric.
10 minutes to prepare, and ten minutes to cook
