Food for Thought

For visitors to this site I hope you will find this site useful in budgetting, inspiring you to cook, saving money, and bringing an opportunity for you and your family to be healthy, wealthy and wise.   I am not a professional cook or photographer, but for over 50 years have used these recipes on a regular basis, although with many favourites not usually in a forty day period.

These recipes are free to use, to print down for your own use, but please inform us if you wish to circulate them as a whole.   We welcome your feedback about this site at    recipes@emanuel-publishing.com

Thank you for journeying with me on this experiment and hope you have enjoyed the recipes we eat on a regular basis.  The last few have been more time consuming, but well worth it.  To begin with I didn’t take photos believing people knew what the food looked like, but in seeing that pictures do separate and brighten up each recipe I will continue to add them as I cook them.  However, not being not a professional cook, or photographer, what you see will be as it was cooked and served!

The daily blog is now at an end, but will remain in place as the recipes are transferred to the relevant week, under the Menu & Shopping List making it easier to find the one you need with an overall Index of the Weekly Menus to assist you.   Despite prices going up and down, hopefully you have found this useful, will continue to live to a budget and find you are becoming more healthy, wealthy and wise!

Throughout, including the Breakfast and Lunch suggestions at 50p per person, per day, you have found the family adequately fed, if not filled, without the need of crisps, biscuits and cakes.  However, main meals were far cheaper than expected in my original budget of  £3.00 per day per person.  With budget and room for ‘Sweet Treats’ I have added those  inexpensive pudding and cakes we have from time to time.

I was astonished that the majority of the main meals were under £1.00 per person, per day, yet still had all the nutrition and filling capacity needed.  And, if you aren’t feeding four adults, you will have either gained more frozen meals, or eaten them up rather than cooking another meal.

This trial has provided a 40-day selection, but I am sure you too will want to eat your favourite meals regularly.  Chilli con Carne is one of ours and each time I cook it I freeze the uneaten portions for next time, thus on the third occasion I only have to defrost the four stored portion for a quick meal only having to cook the rice.  This is really useful after a busy day.  And you will have noticed some aren’t recipes just ideas and examples to make a cheap dinner with little cooking.

I hope you will revisit this site, continue to use the recipes you like and maybe print them down and pass them on to others.

If you wish to comment on the recipes, or other Food for Thought on this site, email: FoodforThought@emanuel-publishing.com.

Ruth Johnson
March 2021

Feeds 4   (with meat for enough of 2 x 4 more meals)

Ingredients:  £2.42
920 grams joint of beef  (£6.88)
This meal uses a third of joint:  371 grams     (£2.29)
Beef stock cube               (13p)

Method:
1 .Place the whole beef joint in oven proof dish with a little water
2. Sear meat fat uppermost in 220 degrees oven for 10 mins
3. Meat takes approx 25 mins per 500 grams at 160C = 45 mins
4. Subtract 15 mins for rare meat or add 15 mins for well done
5. Lower temperature for remaining time to 140 degrees.

Microwave alternative:
Place beef in m/w dish with stock cube and water
Cook on SIMMER for one hour, stand until cold before cutting
If you don’t like red meat, microwave slices for a few seconds.
When cutting leave the brown meat to eat cold tomorrow.

Yorkshire Pudding Mix:  40p
230 grams Plain Flour            (10p)
3 eggs                                      (24p)
Cup of milk to mix                  (6p)
Water

Method:
1. Similar to pancake mix, but slightly thicker pouring consistency
2. Add the three eggs and stir with just enough milk to beat it out any lumps
3. Add water as if making pancakes, and leave to stand, it will thicken itself.
4. Use muffin or tart tray. Put a little lard into each section put in oven
5. When sizzling, take out. pour in mixture to make 8-12 puddings.
6. They take about 20 mins, put on top shelf, with plenty of room to rise.

Vegetables:            £1.49
1 kg  Roast potatoes                (40p)
8 carrots sliced                         (35p)
1 Savoy Cabbage                      (48p)
¼ pk Frozen peas )                 (26p)

Method:
1. Peel your potatoes and cut all into a regular size, eg a small potato
2. Shake flour over the top of them, turn over do the same
3. Drizzle, or with oily hands rub potatoes as you place on baking tray.
4. Oven temperature should be 220F and after 40 mins place on lower shelf
to make room for Yorkshire Puddings.
5.  Peel and slice carrots cook in boiling water 10-15 mins
6.  Chop and slice Savoy cabbage in boiling water takes 5 – 8 minutes
7.  Add frozen peas to carrots 5 mins before serving up.
8.  Gravy without stock cube use cabbage water and gravy granules
9.  Meat cooked with stock cube, use cornflour and water.

Tip 1:  You can use slices of beef and wrap inside either leftover or pre-cooked vegetables chopped up small.  Can be held together by mashed potato.  This is a pseudo beef olive, which has nothing to do with the olive!  You can mix with other little leftover ingredients to wrap up vegetables and a green vegetable, using vegetable water to make a tasty and nutritional gravy.

Tip 2:  Sliced beef can be frozen and used on another occasions

Tip 3:   Little slivers of beef slices go well in a Stir Fry, which basically is uncooked vegetables shredded or thinly sliced, eg Carrot, Cabbage, Onion, Pepper, Celery, tossed in a little oil and stirred for about 5 mins until cooked. Add to that a packet of noodles reconstituted in water and flavouring (13p) which you add to your pan, and it is a surprisingly taste meal.

Cost of today’s meal:  £4.31
Cost per person:  £1.07

This is a family favourite, made by our son in 1986 aged 10.

The picture above has sprinkles on the chocolate topping, and shows only half the amount these ingredients make in a 12 x 15 inch tray = 48 x 2 inch squares, and 96 bite size pieces with a Smartie in the middle.

Basic Ingredients: £1.70
1 pkt of 400 gram Digestive Biscuits (31p)
1 pkt of 300 gram Rich Tea                 (29p)
6 ozs of margarine                                (25p)
6 ozs golden syrup                                 (20p)
2 tbsp of drinking chocolate                  (5p)
2 packets of cheap milk chocolate     (60p)

Our chosen extra ingredients:  32p
4 ozs of sultanas                                     (12p)
2 ozs  of peanuts finally chopped        (20p)

Add or exchange into the mixture:
4 ozs of chopped marshmellows
Shaved or tiny pieces of chocolate
Peanut butter as part substitute for margarine
2 ozs of finely chopped mixed nuts or dried fruits eg. dates

Method:
1. Lightly grease a shallow plastic box/oven roast tray with margarine.
2. Put similar quantities of each biscuit in plastic bag and place on flat surface
3. With a rolling pin or similar, squeeze and crush them to crumbs
4. Using a large heavy saucepan melt margarine and golden syrup
5. Turn off heat add the drinking chocolate, peanuts and sultanas*
6. Gradually add all the biscuit crumbs, try to crush any lumps
7. Its hard to stir everything in, but keep going for an even coating,
8. Turn out into tray, press down with the back of a spoon
9. Make a tightly packed, smooth and even surface
10.Place your tray in the refrigerator, preferably overnight
11.When solid from refrigeration, make your topping.

Topping:
1. Break up the two chocolate bars into pieces in a heavy saucepan
2. Add several tablespoons of milk before slowly heating
3. Stir continually with wooden spoon. DO NOT OVER HEAT
4. Similarly using a microwave keep checking and stirring
5. Once the majority of chocolate has melted remove from heat
6. Stir until fully melted. Chocolate will set quickly on biscuit base
7. Have a knife in hot water to help spread it over the biscuits
8. Pour half the mixture down the centre of the base
9. Spread quickly, and evenly into the corners
10.Repeat the process for the second half from joining the chocolate seam
11.Two people, one pouring the other spreading makes this easier
12.Decorate as desired.

Decorations:
Quickly press Smarties in rows up and down to be centre of your squares.  This is very rich and moreish, so suggest keep pieces small.

This fridge cake was left in the box it was made in as had to travel a hundred miles. We cut this out of one big square after pouring on the chocolate.  It’s decorated blobs of melted white chocolate as snow and used to hold each Smartie in place.

The following Christmas we cut out the different shapes before adding the chocolate. Each piece was individually coated and decoration quickly applied. This filled two similar containers making appoximately 80 pieces.  We used plastic pastry cutters to make the shapes.

Lidl sold these in a plastic bottle for £1.30 which included sprinkles, silver stars and gold balls.

The grandchildren enjoyed the variety, and from both we enjoyed the off cuts.

Cost of sweet:  £2.02}
Cost per 2 x 2 piece:  5p

Feeds 8  (Makes 8, freeze 4 for another day)

Ingredients:  £3.95

Pocket Contents:   £3.02
250 grams of cod fish   (£2.75)
½ pt of milk                   (12p)
1 knob of butter
Pepper
A handful of frozen peas  (10p)
Cooked carrot in tiny cubes  (5p)
Cornflour

Method:
1. Cook the fish in the milk and butter – 3 mins in microwave
2. Or gently in frying pan and until softened
3. Put fish on to plate and if has black skin carefully remove it.
4. Add to milk and butter from fish the cooked carrots and peas
5. Thicken with cornflour and leave to cool while making pastry.

Pastry:  93p
1 lb of Plain Flour    (23p)
170 grs  hard margarine  (40p)
170 grms  Lard               (30p)
Water to mix

Method:
1  Cut up both margarine and lard into very small cubes
2. In large bowl place flour and drop in cubes
3. If using mixer add about ½ pt of water, mix to a gooey elastic!
4. By hand work the cubes into the flour and gradually add water
5. Tiny lumps of fat are good use heavy spoon to get right consistency
6. Coat the worksurface with flour and put half the mixture in centre
7. Cover with flour, roll  out in straight line up, press ends into centre
8. Turn over and at a right angle repeat rolling out 5 times
9. On 6^th roll stretch it across your floured surface
10.The aim is to have 4 squares 15 x 15 cms from that half
11. Try and get at least 3,  and make fourth from what’s left
12. Do the same with the other half of the mixture.
13. Keep each square well coated in flour and lay out to one side

Tip 1:  Cut out a square of paper that size and cut round it.
Tip 2:  Halve pasty and filling ingredients, if unable to freeze 4 portions

Combine:
1. Divide cold white sauce mixture into 8 portions and fish into 8 fish bits
2. Grease a large baking sheet or roasting pan
3. Put a little milk in dish, if no brush use your finger to coat pastry
4. For each square, place a blob of mixture and fish piece in the centre
5. Don’t worry if it seems too little! The ingredients spread inside
6. Paint milk 1 cm wide on inside edge of the square
7. Fold one corner just beyond the centre, and the opposite one over it
8. Do the same with the two other corners, making an envelope
9. Lift carefully and place on your baking sheet. Do the same for all 8.
10.Use your brush/finger to paint milk over all 8 pockets.
11.Refrigerate or cook at 180 degrees until risen and golden = 20 mins
12.Serve immediately. The other 4 let get cold and then freeze.

Tip. 1  This might seem time consuming but you have a ready meal for another day and the fluffy pastry with filling is far cheaper than anything you would be able to buy. Another recipe to impress!

Tip 2:  Obviously you will have bits of pastry over, make jam or lemon curd tarts, or even try you hand at making individual or very small apple pies with pulped apple.  Or freeze pastry in a plastic bag for another day.

Tip 3:  Easy and cheap to make using leftovers.
1. Cheap bacon bits with tomato and onion sauce.
2. Chicken ends with a with mushroom or bacon with white sauce above.
3. Add cheese sauce with ham.
4. Potato and vegetables in curry sauce.

Tip 4: Never overfill the pastry it should easily fold into an envelope, and vegetables must be cut up small so don’t  pierce the pastry covering it.

Serving suggestions:  80p
These go well with salad, but equally with any green vegetable e.g. runner beans and broccoli

Cost of meal:   £4.75  (for 8 people)  £2.38 for 4
Cost per person:  60p.

An age old recipe, but with a twist that the children will love.

Feeds 6

Basic Crumble Ingredients:  60p
230 grams/8 ozs  Plain Flour     (12p )
180 grams/6 ozs hard margarine chopped into small cubes (42p)
100 grams/4 ozs ozs sugar (6p)

Method:
1: Place all the ingredients in a bowl and use your hands to lift and work the margarine into the flour.

2. You want it as tiny lumps, not a sandy mixture, this will go crunchy on cooking.  Stir in the sugar.

3.  Add a handful of porridge oats to this mix, use the dust at the bottom of a packet of muesli to add to crunchiness and sweetness.

The inner twist:  £1.10
1. Open a tin of peaches (80p) remove peaches from liquid and place at bottom of dish. They will be fairly wet, but should soak up while crumble cooking

2. Lay them as flat as possible in the bottom of the dish.

3. Mix a tsp of cornflour and water with half the peach liquid and heat to make a clear glaze, add more liquid if necessary.  Pour over top of peaches.

3.  Break a (30p) packet of chocolate up into lumps place at regular intervals over the top of the peaches.

4. Spread crumble mix on as evenly as possible.
5. Place this in a hot oven at 180 degrees until top looks cooked.
6. Serve immediately, goes well with ice cream.

Fruit suggestions:
500 grams fruit minimum – fresh*,  frozen or tinned   (80p)
100 grams of sugar (dependent of fruit sweetness and your taste)
Tsp of cornflour and water mix

*Apple is best sliced or pulped, add sultanas or use with fresh ‘berry’ fruits. eg. blackberries and apple makes it easier to add crumble mix as you can spread over the more lumpy fruit!

Method:
1.  Place fruit in the bottom of the dish, sprinkle across the sugar. Mix a tsp of cornflour with two cups of water and pour over the top.  If using apple layer/spread it on top.

2. On top of that spread your crumble mix making it deeper at the edges and corners, hopefully it won’t then bubble through.

3. Cook on a Combination m/w oven at 180 degrees with SIMMER for 10-15 mins. The same temperature for an oven but needs 20-25 minutes until brown on the top. You can microwave on MEDIUM for 10 mins and put under grill to brown.

Serving Suggestions:
Custard and ice cream are good with crumbles.

Tip 1:  It’s cheaper to use a fruit in season, especially if you can pick it! Street markets often do cheap bowls of fruit, or will sell you cheaply their damaged goods.

Tip 2:  Apples are good because they don’t need sweetening so the cost is just the crumble mix.

Tip 3:  Buy frozen fruit, put in bowl before its defrosted so you get the juices eg. raspberries, and that way you won’t damage the fruit as just add sugar and the cornflour mixture before adding the apple or just crumble mix.

Cost of sweet:  £1.70  (for peach crumble or using frozen fruit)
Per person:  29p + ice cream or custard  (6 portions)

Feeds 6

Ingredients:  £3.64
8 sheets of Lasagne Pasta       (39p)
500 grams of mince                (£2.00)
1 large onion                             (10p)
1 tsp Oregano
1 finely chopped garlic
1 beef stock cube                    (13p)

1 tbsp of lentils                        (8p)
1 tsp oil

For the sauce:
3/4 pt of milk                           (28p)
150 gams mature cheddar cheese  (66p)
2 tsps Cornflour
Garlic
1/4 tsp of pepper

Garlic bread (Optional)         (42p)

Method:
1. Heat a saucepan of water with a tsp of oil
2. Place the pasta sheets in the water and cook until soft (10 mins)
3. Drain water and soak in cold water.
4. Meanwhile fry  mince and onion together in a saucepan
5. Finely chop garlic and add with oregano into mince
6. When mince browned add stock cube and pint of water
7. Bring to the boil, add lentils and simmer for 20 minutes
8. Use ends of unsweetened cereal so mixture is solid.

For the sauce:
1. Mix two piled teaspoons of cornflour with water
2. Boil milk in saucepan, turn down heat
3. Gradually stir in  cornflour mix until it thickens to a sauce
4. Remove from heat.  Stir in pepper and grated cheese
5. Leave enough cheese to sprinkle over the top of the dish

Combine:
1. Use half the meat to cover the bottom of an oblong dish
2. Cover the meat with two and a half sheets of pasta
3. Use roughly a third of cheese sauce to spread over those
4. Add two and a half sheets of pasta to cover that
5. Use and spread over remaining meat. Cover with remaining pasta
6. Tuck the edges down the sides meat to stop it mixing with sauce
7. Top with remaining cheese sauce and grated cheese
8. Cook in oven at 190 degrees until topping browned = 20 mins
9. Heat up garlic bread 5 mins before end of cooking time.

Serving suggestion:
Cut into six servings (freeze two)
Serve with slices of garlic bread
Best with a five piece salad (not coleslaw)   (£1.40)

Tip 1:  Slightly damp garlic baguette with hand before putting in oven as this will give it a lovely crunchy crust.

Tip2 :  Lasagne looks good with half a large tomato on the top, but you can cut two small ones in half and place on the top.

Cost of Meal:  £5.46  (with garlic bread)
Cost per person:   91p  (for six people)

In helping to cook for the elderly in 2007 I learnt the Lemon Curd version of this recipe and have used it many times since.

Feeds 6

Ingredients:   90p
8 slices of bread buttered        (10p)
4 eggs                                      (32p)
100 grams sultanas                  (20p)
1 pint milk                               (26p)
25 grams sugar                        (02p)
½ nutmeg (optional)

Method:
1. Grease an oblong dish
2. Cut buttered bread into triangles
3. Interleave bread triangles with sultanas
4. Warm milk do not boil eg 2 mins in microwave MED power
5. In a bowl beat together the eggs and sugar
6. Add to milk and stir well, pour over bread (sprinkle with nutmeg)
7. Leave to stand for 15 mins before cooking.
8. Cook 20 mins in combination m/w at 180 degrees, simmer power OR
9. Or 30 mins in 180 degree oven until it looks set and browned
10.Best served immediately, but enjoyable at any time.

Alternative fillings:
Substitute sultanas for cheap Orange Marmalade or Lemon Curd.

Make generously filled sandwiches of one of those.  Cut into triangles and stand them up in the dish.  If you have a lemon or orange add squeeze a little juice over the sandwiches for a tangier effect.  Pour on the above mixture and cook.

Tip:  If you find cheap lemons you can make your own a delicious curd in minutes with this Australian recipe.  It’s easy and delicious.

1 ½ cups of sugar,                                        (12p)
1 cup of lemon juice (about four lemons)   (49p)
4 eggs,                                                        (32p)
1 tbs cornflour,                                            (20p)
125grams of margarine/butter at room temperature (30p)

Place all ingredients except the butter in a microwave bowl and mix well. M/w on HIGH stir at 2, 4, and 5 mins. If it hasn’t thickened use MED for 2 more mins.  Allow to cool, beat in the softened butter.  It makes about 1½ jars and if lemons are free costs less than the shops, however this came to £1.33 but is without preservatives, is delicious, and when bottled in sterilized jars needs to be stored in refrigerator and used within a month.

Basic Sweet Cost:  90p
Portion: 15p

Feeds 4  –  (Freeze 2 chicken breasts from pack of four)

Ingredients:  £2.99  (using chicken leftovers £2.15)

2 tablespoon of oil
225 grams rice                         (20p)
1 large onion chopped              (10p)
2 chicken pieces                      (84p)
100 grams chopped mushrooms  (65p)
1¼ pints boiled water
Chicken stock cube                  (13p)
100 grams peas                       (10p)
100 grams sweetcorn              (10p)
1 Red pepper chopped            (33p)
100 grams of grated cheese    (50p)

Method:
1. Ideal for chicken/bacon pieces, or just vegetables
2. Or cut up chicken fry gently in tbsp of oil with onion
3. Remove from pan
4. Add a little more oil along with 225 grams of long grain rice
5, Cook and stir until rice becomes transparent
6. Boil water and add stock cube, sir and gently pour over rice
7. Bring to the boil and add chicken and mushrooms
8. Along with peas, sweetcorn, and chopped red pepper
9. Simmer for about 20 mins until rice is cooked
10.Stir frequently to prevent risotto from sticking to pan
11. Serve with grated cheese

Cost of Meal:   £2.99
Cost per person:  75p

Feeds 4    (2 chops left from packet of 6 – freeze and use another day)

Ingredients:  £2.68
 4 pork chops
2 tablespoons of Orange Marmalade
2 cups of Orange Juice
1 tsp of cornflour mixed with water
Pinch of ginger if liked

Method:
1. Put chops in large frying pan and brown on both sides
2. Transfer to casserole dish if having to fry separately
3. Add to the pan the orange juice and marmalade
4. Simmer until marmalade is melted
5. If chops fit frying pan cover and leave them to simmer 20 mins
6. If in casserole dish pour over sauce and cook
7. M/w on low or oven 180C for 20 mins.
8. Remove the chops and slowly stir in cornflour mix to thicken
9. Add a little vegetable water if too thick. Jus = between sauce/gravy.
10.Pour over the chops and add vegetables

Serving suggestions:
Boiled potatoes, broccoli and carrot go well with this dish   (£1.00)

Tip 1:  Slice up an orange and place on top of the chop.  This dish is simple but always the taste always impresses.

Tip 2: This is an easy way to make an orange sauce to use over a simple sponge recipe.

Cost of Meal:  £3.68
Cost per Person:  92p