Good Value Warming Suppers

When the weather's cold, a big pot of risotto simmering on the stove warms the heart and lifts you spirits. If you are looking for something comforting and a bit different for your supper than this warming good-value dish will go down a treat.

Barley Risotto with Carrots

I love to use barley as a delicious alternative to rice. It's filling, comforting and nutritious. Adding some whole grain barley to the soups, stews and other dishes will improve your health along with the flavour of your dish.  Barley has a great flavour and is a very good source of fibre and selenium, and a good source of phosphorus, copper and manganese.

Will feed a family of four

ingredients:

1.5 litres vegetable stock
1 onion
2-3 carrots, diced
2 tbsp vegetable oil
300g barley
handful fresh chopped parsley (optional)
grated cheddar to serve

method:

1. place the stock in a saucepan and bring to a simmer
2. in a separate large pan combine the vegetable oil, carrots and onions and cook until soft (3-5 mins) Add the barley and cook for 1 min, stirring to coat the grains in oil.  Season lightly, to taste
3. Add two ladles of stock to the barley and cook, stirring constantly, until the liquid is absorbed. Continue adding the stock a ladle full at a time and stirring regularly, for about 30-40 mins, or until the barley is tender and most (if not all) of the stock had been absorbed.
4. Season to taste and stir in the parsley if using. Serve immediately with a sprinkling of cheese.

The First of Many Frugal Shops

When looking at the frugal shopping list, one of the key objectives is to cut out all the unnecessary frills and shortcuts. We are all guilty of adding that packet of biscuits or supermarket special offer to the weekly shopping basket, but the reality is that all those little 'bargains' come at a price and lead to an inflated weekly shopping price and don't ensure that you've always got something in and able to rustle up a family meal out of store-cupboard staples.

It is absolutely essential to shop around and to plan your shopping trip and weekly meals, but this doesn't mean that meals have to be dull or boring. There can still be sponteity and creativity when preparing meals on a budget, but things just need to be a little better thought out. Starting with a well stocked store-cupboard and a good idea of what can be made with your ingredients. At times we all lack inspiration and this can lead to the process of nipping to the local supermarket and buying in more groceries at the midweek stage, this can lead to your 'frugal resolutions' going out of the window along with the shopping budget.

Once a good store-cupboard is established a weekly shop will start to look a little bit like the one below:

4			British Butter                                                                   £4.00
	1		Vegetable Fat 500g £2.60/kg	£1.30
	1		Dried Tritional Block Dates 250g £3.80/kg	£0.95
	2		Self Raising Flour,1.5kg £0.40/kg	£1.20
	2		Plain Flour,  1.5kg £0.40/kg	£1.20
	2		British Whole Milk 2.27L (4pint) £0.57/ltr	£2.58
	2		Free Range Eggs x15 £0.21/ea	£6.20
	2		Strong White Bread Flour, Unbleached 1.5kg £0.44/kg	£1.32
	1		Dried Active Baking Yeast 125g £5.12/kg	£0.64
	1		Fairtrade Caster Sugar 1kg £1.01/kg	£1.01
	1		Fairtrade Granulated Sugar 1kg £0.84/kg	£0.84
	1		Lemons, x4 £0.20/ea	£0.79
	1		White Closed Cup Mushrooms 500g £3.30/kg	£1.65
	2		Cauliflower, Single £1.00/ea	£2.00
	1		Extra Thick Double Cream 300ml £0.33/100ml	£1.00
	1		Cox Apples x5 £0.16/ea	£1.00
	6		Cooking Apples (each) £0.35/ea	£3.21
	1		Fairtrade Light Soft Brown Sugar 500g £2.70/kg	£1.35
	1		Coffee, Medium Roast 95g £3.78/100g	£3.59
	1		Macaroni 500g £1.90/kg	£0.95
	2		Leeks (loose) £2.59/kg	£1.67
	1		Vegetable oil  1L £0.20/100ml	£2.00
	1		Carrots,  1.5kg £0.59/kg	£0.89
	1		Desiree potatoes 2.5kg £1.00/kg	£2.50
			2 British Mild Cheese 400g                                                                    £.5.00 £7.25/kg

 

I have done this list up using supermarket prices, because whilst I think it would be wonderful if we could all boycott them and use small local independents, in reality this is impractical for the most people and just a dream for the majority.

 

At the risk of repeating myself frugal cooking does not mean a wartime ration diet nor does it mean a bland and price governed menu, it's all about getting the most out of your ingredients, shopping smartly and minimising the waste coming from he kitchen.

Drawing Inspiration from War-time Cookery

 

I love war-time cookery books and enjoy reading about the thrifty kitchen ways that were developed out of necessity, but are any of these recipes and suggestions relevant to todays cook? Well certainly I think a lot can be learned and with a bit of adaptation many of the recipes can be enjoyed by modern cooks and their families.

If nothing else perusing wartime cookery books certainly gives you inspiration for cooking on a budget, indeed with recipes as comforting as steamed brown bread and apple pudding who needs a big grocery budget.

 

 As much as I enjoy looking at these old recipe books and just can't resist trying out some of the recipes, I am not looking to base my diet on World War II ration book cooking as whilst they are highly commendable and no better source of thrift could be imagined, we are thankfully living in a time when rationing is not applicable and I want to bring frugal cooking into 2013.

 

 

But now for a  vintage sweet fix, here is a lovely recipe for thrifty war time honey cakes.

 

Ingredients
1 teaspoon sugar,
2.5 oz. margarine/butter,
 2 teaspoons honey,
6oz. Self Raising  Flour,
1 teaspoon cinnamon.
Method
Beat sugar and margarine/butter together, Sieve flour & cinnamon and add to mixture, Mix with a wooden spoon until it binds together,
then knead until you have a soft dough.
Break off pieces of the dough and roll between your palms into balls. Bake on a lightly greased tray. Allowing space between the cakes for spreading.

 

 

Modern Frugal Cooking

According to the Daily Mail, 'Weekly family food bill tops £77 a week as food prices in Britain soar to twice the EU average. Food prices in Britain have risen 32% since 2007 - twice the EU average.Costs of weekly shop expected to go on increasing by 4% a year for the next decade.Fuel prices, bad weather and a rising global population are blamed for price increases. You can read the full article at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2210048/Rises-import-fuel-taxes-push-British-family-food-32-cent-higher-rest-Europe.html#ixzz2IWUZxMhr

As the economic climate looks uncertain many families look to reduce their weekly food bills and the phrase, 'frugal food' starts to be bantered around, but how exactly can families reduce their grocery bills?   To me frugal food is not  just about reducing the shopping bill every week it's about shopping smart and clever cooking; it's about reducing kitchen waste and increasing output.

So in the face of the ecomomic climate I am on a mission to demonstrate how frugal food can be truly fabulous, with the aim of making my kitchen efficient and making my budget work hard.

In short my Frugal Food Mission is all about 'more' not 'less'.

Devising a Weekly Menu

My thinking is that my shopping lists need to be orderly, with categories so that I can spend minimal time in the stores. I will also be launching attack on my pantry and making sure that I am well stocked up and that I never need to do an unscheduled stop to the corner shop for a staple ingredient again. For more tips on making an effective shoping list read my article http://suite101.com/a/thrifty-shopping-modern-cook

For now its back to menu writing and costings.

Cutting the Weekly Shopping Bill

I am on a mission to make my grocery budget go further.As a heritage food researcher and historical cookery demonstrator I will be looking to the rich wealth of British Culinary History to help me in my Fabulous Frugal Food Mission, but I am intending to bring thrifty cooking into a modern context. I am not looking to live on powdered egg and sugar-free sponges, nor am I about to live on no frills, my mission is about living frugally without feeling deprived.  Indeed my main focus is upon shopping smart and running my kitchen and household efficiently.  I want to see more food for less money, I am not looking to live on a World War II diet, but instead making my grocery budget stretch farther and look towards using every last ingredient to it's fullest potential.

I am an avid cook and do a lot of preserving, pickling and baking, but there is always more that can be done. I have spent the last few months radically reviewing my shopping habits and cooking patterns and have been making many changes that have saved me money and in some instances saved me time and in all cases made positive changes in terms of nutrition.

If you are looking to live on a diet of fabulous frugal food then I would love to hear from you and your thoughts on the recipes and tips I will be posting on here.