What to Eat this Week

I wish the weather would make up it's mind.  Is it going to be cold miserable and grey, or lovely and sunny as it has been today?  Do I want salad or a nice warning bowl of spaghetti?  Weather won't you please make you mind up, so that I can decide what to eat.  Anyway this is the menu, provided the weather doesn't make to dish too inappropriate.


FRIDAY
Pizza - I do most often make my own pizza, but instead we ordered in the lovely pizza from Nibbles the best pizza in Sheffield.


SATURDAY
Sushi - I have never made sushi at home before, it took a bit of trial and error to make up the sushi rolls but it seemed to work okay. It also involved a trip to the local Oriental food shop.  


SUNDAY
Moussaka - this is in no way a traditional moussaka, for a start I use turkey mince, but it is tasty not the less.


MONDAY
Mezze - Falafel, Foul, Bulgar Wheat and any other dippy, picky thing I can think of.


TUESDAY
Mushroom and Stilton Pie with new Potatoes and vegetables.


WEDNESDAY
Stirfry Vegetables, Noodles and Potsticker dumplings.


THURSDAY
Spaghetti with Walnuts and Crumbs.

Stash Busting

So I've had this pattern so long that it is not discontinued.  This is Amy Butler Lotus Tunic (not the perfect tunic because it required a zip or buttons), made up in two different but coordinating Amy Butler cottons (now discontinued I as well I think).


The fit is really good on this pattern, it didn't require any adjustments.  Once again I have found the yardage requirements on a pattern truly ridiculous  How could a simple fitted top require 2.5 metres of fabric?.  With a few minor adjustments to the layout I got this pattern from only 1 metre of fabric.


I will definitely be making this pattern again, although the sleeves are a little puffy and I may need to tweak them. 

A Quest for a Perfect Tunic

I am on a quest for the perfect tunic pattern.  A quest and a pledge in one week, Fluffrick's current fantasy readings are obviously having a disturbing  influence on me.  I just want a little top, that is relatively relaxed but just a bit smarter than a t-shirt.  Is that too much to ask?

I do like the Tova top from Wiksten.  I have made it twice since I bought the pattern back in May.  But I was wanting something short sleeved and that doesn't need to be worn tucked in.

The pattern for the Poppy top by Make it Perfect also appealed, I really like the contrast yoke and border, but it is sleeveless and the neckline is a little high.  Oh and I'm not buying any patterns at the moment. 

These are three different tunic that I have made in the past and I like them all, but none of them are quite perfect.  They all just seem to be too full in the front, but they need to be loose enough to put on without having to insert a zip.

If I have any joy in my quest (without buying a new pattern of course) I will be sure to write about it here. 

The Pledge - The Sew Spend Stoppage

So at the end of Me Made May'12, I made a half-arsed pledge to stop buying sewing more patterns or fabric and use what I already have.  I didn't give myself any guidelines, any kind of time-scale, just a maybe I shouldn't buy more stuff.  And as a consequence I went the following days and bought Sew magazine, because I liked the Lisette pattern that was included free with it (hardly free as the magazine costs £5.99).

Now it's a nice enough magazine, like the dozens of other sewing magazines I have bought and kept and hardly ever made anything from. It was a typical sewing impulse purchase and when I got the pattern home and had a closer look I felt less and less likely that it would be a pattern I would make a great deal of use out of.  But with my new ethos fresh in my mind I have actually used this pattern and this is the result. 

I cropped the dress to make a top instead, the check fabric is a remnant from a shirt I made Fluffrick several years ago and I also used it to make my own bias binding.  The plain fabric I bought when we went to Bradford and blogged about here.  I even had the perfect colour of cotton already in my stash.


So mostly stuff I already had, but the purchase of a new pattern none the less.


So here is what I pledge.  


For the remainder of 2012 I, Katrina of RollingEyeballs, will not purchase any new patterns, fabric, notions or sewing magazines.  I will use what I already have and I will only purchase haberdashery if it is essential to the completion of a garment. 


We can just overlook the bag of 27 zips that I bought at Oxfam in Buxton for the princely sum of £2.99, how could I pass that up?

How I've saved a third on our weekly food bill

Right off I should say I hate going to the supermarket.  I am not one of those people who is happy to trawl around several supermarkets just to find the best bargain.  I love watching Extreme Couponing (not that you can get such deals in the UK) but the notion of spending eight hours or more in a supermarket makes my blood run cold.  So just how do you go about cutting your food bill (without cutting quality).


1  Make a Menu  
The lovely Fluffrick and I have spent many a Friday night (we know how to live it up) wandering aimlessly around Sainsburys putting stuff in our trolley, getting to the checkout and having very little to make a meal from.  
If you know what you are going to eat, you can plan what you are going to buy.


2  Write a List
This may seem obvious, but it is something I have only started to do within the last year or so.  It means you will get all the ingredients for all the meals you have planned and if you happen to put Chocolate on the list then you will just have to buy it.  Having a list does not mean you will never make an impulse purchase, but it will mean you will buy what you need.


3  Cut Down on the Meat
I know not everyone will approve of this notion, but meat is expensive especially if you want to buy higher welfare meat (as I do).  Meat Free Mondays is a fantastic idea (although personally I don't find Mondays a good day as it is the only day we are likely to have leftover chicken).  Just one day a week will save you money, but we now have 3 or 4 days a week meat free (sorry Mum) and it has definitely had an impact on what we spend.  I have found that the more spice you have the less you miss the meat, try a mushroom curry and lovely dahl and gobi aloo with naan bread and see if you miss the meat.


4  Don't Waste Food
 If you have made a menu and written a list, you shouldn't end up with a fridge full of things going out of date or spoiling.   I like to buy apples and bananas, but invariably don't always get them eaten before they start to go a little sad, but don't bin them, make an Apple Cake or Banana Bread.  Love Food Hate Waste is a great resource for ideas to use up leftovers and to guide you about not making too much to begin with.


5  Make Your Own Lunch
Today (well everyday this week actually) the lovely Fluffrick will be having Spiced Couscous with Vegetables, last week he had Brie, Cranberry sauce, salad and a homemade bread roll, next week it might be spicey bean tortilla wraps.  It costs a whole lot less to make you own lunch than to buy a sandwich everyday.


There is nothing earth shattering here, but there is no doubt it is saving us money.  We could undoubtedly save even more money if I was willing to cut down on quality.  I don't really "do" brands, that doesn't say quality to me, shop own brands are fine with me. To me quality is buying high welfare meat, sustainable fish and organic or locally produced fruit and veg.  


It does pain me to say that the way to save money is to plan, a menu, a list and the eat what you buy.  The added bonus of using a shopping list is that I can get round the supermarket a whole lot quicker and that is always a plus to me.

What to Eat this Week

I've missed a couple of weeks as we've been on holiday.  We didn't go very far, just twenty miles away in the Derbyshire Dales and but wasn't a resounding success,  We (Me, Fluffrick, both Mums and two dogs) were staying in a very pleasant cottage that was supposedly dog friendly, personally I would only regard it as dog tolerant. I completely understand the rule of no pets on the furniture, but this is the first time I have encountered a rule about no pets in the bedrooms and that didn't end well for us.  In brief a spooked Hagrid vaulted the stair gate at the bottom of the stairs, ran up to our bedroom and in his attempt to clamber under our bed knocked the radiator off the wall.  We ended up cutting our holiday short and coming home the next day.  We did all get a break, but not quite the one we intended.


But now we are back and so is "what to eat this week".  So in the veg box this week we got, the lovely tomatoes above, courgettes, an aubergine, red onions, a pointed cabbage, flat green beans and sweet potatoes.  We were meant to receive spinach rather than sweet potato, so I had to jig the menu a little and drop the Spouffle.


FRIDAY
Pizza - well that is if I get off my backside and start proving some dough


SATURDAY
Sweet potato and Peanut gratin with salad - another lovely recipe from Hugh which I tried last week and everyone said they liked. 


SUNDAY
Roast Chicken with potatoes, stuffing and vegetables.


MONDAY
Chicken with rice - using the leftover chicken, this is an Allegra McEvady from Economy Gastronomy.


TUESDAY
Spaghetti with a salmon, mushroom and cream sauce - especially asked for by Mum, previously blogged about here


WEDNESDAY
Vegeree - another recipe from River Cottage Veg Everyday.


THURSDAY
Veggie Sausage and Chips.


I'm watching the European Athletics Championships at the moment from Helsinki which puts me in mind to look at my Nordic Bakery book and rustle up some yummy Scandinavian treats. 

Easy Apple Cake

This is a really easy, but very delicious Apple Cake.  It's derived from a Delia Smith recipe for Sticky Tea Bread, I think from her Frugal cookbook, although I don't stick to her instructions.

Ingredients:

150ml Water

150g Caster Sugar

75g Sultanas

100g Butter

1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

175g Plain Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 Large Egg

3 small or 2 large Apples

Place the water, sugar, butter, sultanas and bicarbonate of soda in a saucepan and heat gently.

The mixture will froth up, don't let it boil over.  Let it gently simmer for 10 minutes, so that the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved and the sultanas have plumped up a little. You can use this time to peel and chop the apples into 1cm dice.

This is where I diverge from Delia's instructions (she would leave this mixture to cool), but you have to work quite quickly.  Add the flour and baking powder to the hot mixture and mix well, then add the egg and mix again.  Finally stir in the apple and tip into a greased 20cm square tin.  And place in an oven preheated to Gas Mark 4.

No cake mixture looks particularly appetizing before it is cooked.  And this is quite a wet batter.    As the batter is warm before it goes in the oven it only need to be cooked for 30 minutes.  If you let the mixture cool before adding the egg, flour and apple, it may need cooking a little longer. 

Here is the finished result, great eaten warm, but also keeps well and is lovely cold.