Pea & Ham Soup

This pea and ham soup is not only very cheap to make (less than 50p for the peas) it also makes use of leftover gammon that I'd boiled in Dr Pepper at the weekend. There wasn't enough left to make a meal, but it was the perfect amount to add to the soup.

Whilst I'd cooked this in a saucepan it would be an ideal slow cooker recipe, which could be left cooking all day on low.

Pea & Ham Soup - serves 4/5

300g dried marrowfat peas

cold water

splash of olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 litre stock (vegetable, chicken, pork or ham)

salt & black pepper

200g ham or gammon, diced

• add the peas to a large bowl and cover with cold water
• leave to soak for 6 hours, or overnight
• heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion for 2-3 minutes over a medium heat
• drain and rinse the peas and add them to the saucepan with the stock
• bring to the boil and simmer for around 30 minutes, until the peas are soft
• remove from the heat and blend until smooth, with a stick blender
• add salt & pepper to taste, and the diced ham
• return to the heat until the ham is heated through 

The kids absolutely loved this with fresh crusty bread, and have asked me to make it again very soon!

Simple Student Pasta

The time has come for my final #RespectThePasta challenge with ASK Italian. This challenge was to involve the kids in something, so I took the opportunity to encourage my teenager to cook his own dinner. I do most, if not all, of the cooking in this house, but I really should encourage them more as they really quite enjoy it when they do.

I jotted down some basic instructions to cook the pasta, add the passata etc, and then left him to it. Twenty minutes later, he proudly presented his bowl of pasta.

Simple Student Pasta - serves 3/4

500g Pasta

500g Passata

1 tsp dried Oregano

Grated cheese

• Cook the pasta according to the directions on the pack, and drain
• Add the passata and herbs to a pan and bring to the boil
• Turn off the heat and stir in the cooked pasta
• Divide between bowls and top with grated cheese to serve

I think this may be a weekly event now, and you never know, he may even make his own pasta one day.

#RespectThePasta Challenges

Challenge 1 - Respect the cook

Challenge 2 - Doing it right

Challenge 3 - Re-respecting the pasta

Challenge 4 - Respect from scratch

Sous Vide Pea & Potato Soup - A Budget Recipe

I've had the Sous Vide Thermo Circulator for a couple of weeks now and had only tried cooking meat in it. Whilst browsing the Internet I spotted some recipes for soup so I thought I would try it out for myself. One of the benefits of cooking vegetables in the sous vide is that they keep their colour - great for butternut squash or carrot soups but less so when it's potato as I was doing. I decided to add some peas to give the soup some more flavour as well as colour but in hindsight I should've added them to the water bath towards the end of the cooking time as they don't really need cooking as such and would have been a more vibrant green.

This recipe can of course be made in a saucepan or slow cooker, in which case you would cook the potatoes in the stock and add the peas towards the end of cooking. I only added a little rosemary, and a lot less than I would normally add if I was making this soup in a pan, but you could really taste it in the finished soup.

Sous Vide Pea & Potato Soup

1kg potatoes, peeled and chopped
350g frozen peas
pinch of salt, pepper and dried rosemary
1 litre of vegetable stock
Creme Fraiche for serving

• Seal the potatoes and peas in vacuum bags, ensuring that they are spread evenly within the bag
• Set the water bath to 82C
• Immerse the bags and cook for around 2 hours
• Blend the vegetables with the stock until smooth and heat through before serving
• Serve with a blob of creme fraiche

This is another of my budget recipes coming in at a little over £1 for the whole recipe which served all 5 of us.

Baked Chilli & Wedges - a Budget Recipe

In a bid to save for Summer holidays I'm attempting to cut down on the weekly shopping bill by including more potatoes, pasta and rice in meals and cutting down on the meat further than it is already.

This recipe is similar to my lentil and brown bread bolognaise, however I have included red kidney beans instead of lentils before pouring over baked potato wedges and topping with grated cheese. The bread is a great alternative to minced beef and nobody ever realises that the dish doesn't contain meat!

It's a very thrifty recipe and came in at only £2.57 for the whole meal, which serves 4 people.

Baked Chilli & Wedges - serves 4

1kg potatoes, scrubbed clean & cut into wedges

Olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tbsp Oregano

2 400g tins chopped tomatoes

2 slices wholemeal bread, whizzed to bread crumbs

Knorr beef stock pot (or vegetable if you want to make this vegetarian)

1 tsp smoked paprika (you can add 1 tsp chilli powder to make it spicier)

1 400g tin kidney beans

150g mature cheddar cheese, grated

• Place the wedges into a large baking dish and drizzle or spray with olive oil
• Bake in a preheated 200C oven for approx 40 mins, turning once
• In the meantime make the chilli
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and fry the onions and garlic over a low heat for 2-3 minutes
• Add the Oregano, tomatoes, breadcrumbs, stock pot and paprika
• Cook over a medium heat for around 30 minutes until the sauce is thick & rich
• Stir in the kidney beans
• Remove the wedges from the oven and pour the chilli over
• Sprinkle with grated cheese
• Return to the oven and bake for around 15 minutes until the cheese is golden and bubbling

Minted Two Pea Burgers

My kids surprised me last week when I asked them if they preferred beef burgers or Mums homemade veggie burgers, and they said veggie burgers. I wasn't as surprised by Hanna as she loves salads and vegetables but teenage Sam does like his meat and I really thought that he would prefer beef burgers. I must say that it did please me, not only because veggie burgers are healthier but they are also cheaper - these cost under £1 for 8 burgers.

Minted Two Pea Burgers - makes 8

400g Chickpeas

200g Frozen peas, steamed & drained

1 tsp dried rosemary

2 tbsp Mint sauce

Olive oil for frying

• Place the peas & chickpeas into a bowl & mash with a potato masher
• Stir in the rosemary and mint sauce & mix well
• Divide the mixture into eight and form into patties & set aside
• Heat a little oil in a frying pan and fry the burgers for a few minutes on each side

Serve on a toasted English muffin/bread roll with lettuce and yoghurt, cucumber & mint dip

Take a Bag of Veg - Vegetable Burgers

This is the final recipe for my 'take a bag of veg' posts. A 1kg bag of frozen mixed vegetables has been used in 3 recipes, the other 2 being a ham & vegetable pie which used leftover Christmas ham and cheese, and vegetable pancakes. At only £1 for the 1kg bag it's great to have in the freezer to use in easy recipes such as these when all the fresh veg has been eaten up and the weather is too nasty to get to the shops.

Vegetable Burgers - makes 6

2 slices of wholemeal bread, toasted
400g Frozen vegetables, defrosted (mine included sweetcorn, peas, cut green beans & mini carrots)
400g can of Baked beans, excess sauce drained
2 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp Garam Masala
handful of fresh coriander, chopped
1 egg, beaten
3 tbsp plain flour (approx)
Olive oil for frying

• Whizz the bread in a food processor to make breadcrumbs
• Mix the vegetables, beans, breadcrumbs, spices & coriander together and mash with a potato masher to get rid of any large pieces of vegetable
• Mix in the egg and enough flour for the mixture to hold together as a thick batter, don't add too much or it will become dry and the burgers will fall apart
• Add a small amount of olive oil to a frying pan and drop a large ball (tennis ball size) of batter into the pan and flatten out
• Fry for 3-4 minutes on each side until browned
• Place on a baking tray & bake in a preheated 180C oven for 20 minutes to finish off the cooking

Delicious served between a wedge of home made Focaccia and salsa...

These were a massive hit with the kids and at only around 25p for each burger they are incredibly frugal too! The Focaccia is very cheap to make too at only around 60p for 2 loaves which slices into 4 good sized buns.

As there is paprika in the burgers it's another recipe that I can link up to The Spice Trail on Bangers & Mash.

 

I have also linked this up to Laura & Nazima's One Ingredient Challenge, which for January is all about Healthy Eating,

as well as Michelle's Less Than a £1 per portion challenge as this recipe comes in at well under £1 per portion.

Take a Bag of Veg - Vegetable Pancakes

In the second of my 'take a bag of veg' recipes I've made some tasty vegetable pancakes. They are really easy to make as well as being quick, and are perfect for a lunch with salad or as a main meal to accompany meat or even a fried egg. If I was making them just for myself I would've added some chilli flakes but I didn't want to make them too spicy for the children so instead added Paprika, which also gives them a great colour. Adding the paprika also makes this recipe eligible to be entered into this month's The Spice Trail on Bangers & Mash.

Vegetable Pancakes - makes 6-8

250g Frozen mixed vegetables (mine included sweetcorn, peas, cut green beans & mini carrots)

1 egg

100ml milk

100g plain flour

1 tsp Paprika

salt & pepper

oil for frying

• Defrost the vegetables fully - I do this by covering them in boiling water, in fact this is how I cook my frozen peas & corn to avoid over cooking.
• Whisk the egg, milk, flour, paprika and salt & pepper together until smooth
• Stir in the vegetables
• Heat some oil in a large frying pan or skillet
• Pour some of the vegetable mixture into the pan & allow to spread - I have a large skillet & cook 3 at a time.
• Cook for a few minutes until browned on one side and flip over & cook on the other side
• Repeat until all the mixture has been used up
• Serve warm with yoghurt and mango chutney or reheat later in the oven

If you're watching the pennies this month then this is a great one to make - the whole recipe came in at under 60p!

 

Take a Bag of Veg : Ham & Vegetable Pie

Take a Bag of Veg - Ham & Vegetable Pie

Following all the Christmas festivities I found that we had some of the delicious 'ham in coke' left over. Instead of eating more sandwiches filled with leftover meats and stuffing I decided to make it into a quick pie for the family.

It was a nice easy pie made using ready made puff pastry. I've made my own puff pastry previously but always try and keep a block or two of shop bought in the fridge or freezer ready for quick meals like this. Frozen veg is also something that I always try and keep in the freezer as the fresh fruit & veg in this house gets eaten in a flash, so having the frozen variety always means we have some kind of vegetable available for dinner.

This pie is the first of a few recipes that I have coming up that use frozen vegetables, and the low cost (£1 for a 1kg bag) makes the meals incredibly frugal as well as convenient - and unlike frozen ready meals you have control over exactly what ingredients go into your meals.

Ham & Vegetable Pie - serves 4/5

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

150ml milk

2 tsp cornflour

300g frozen mixed vegetables, defrosted (mine included sweetcorn, peas, cut green beans & mini carrots)

300g cooked ham, diced

100g cheese (I used a mixture of soft goats cheese and grated Red Leicester leftover from the Christmas cheese board)

500g ready made puff pastry

1 egg, beaten

• Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion to soften
• Mix the cornflour with a little of the milk and add to the pan with the remainder of the milk
• Stir in the vegetables and ham
• Bring gently to the boil for the sauce to thicken
• Meanwhile roll the pastry out to form a base and a lid for your pie (I used just over half for the base and the rest for the lid)
• Line your pie dish with pastry, prick all over with a fork & bake for approx 6-7 minutes in a preheated 200C oven
• Stir the cheese into the ham & vegetables
• Fill your part baked pastry base with the filling
• Brush around the edge of the pastry with the beaten egg & lay the pastry lid on top (doesn't matter about being neat!)
• Press the edges together with a fork to seal
• Brush with more beaten egg
• Bake in the oven for approx 20 minutes, until puffed up and golden

I need to get into the habit of doing my cooking earlier in the day until the Spring comes as I hate those night time food photos!

Chicken 3 ways {review}

I don't tend to cook a big Sunday roast very often, mainly because I'm not a great fan of them myself. There's also a lot of peeling and steaming and roasting involved, not to mention the mountain of dirty pots and pans afterwards. All this said, my family do like their Sunday roast so I have been making more of an effort recently and have so far produced three Sunday roasts on the trot, hurrah for Mum!

Last weekend I had a helping hand with the roast from Asda who now have a range of fuss free chickens, all ready for the oven. There is no need to season the bird as it is all done for you, you don't even need to touch it as it comes in it's own roasting tin inside it's own roasting bag. All you need to do is pierce the bag once (you are even told where to pierce), pop it onto a baking tray and into the oven, as simple as that.

There are a variety of flavours - extra tasty, garlic & herb, lime & coriander, Mexican, Piri Piri, sage & onion stuffed and tikka. They are a minimum size of 1.6kg but I was lucky enough to find one that was 1.79kg!

I wanted the Mexican chicken but unfortunately they didn't have any at my local store and instead opted for garlic & herb. 

There are exact cooking times on the package so you don't need to worry about calculating the time based on the weight of the bird. The packaging advised cooking for 90 minutes but by using my trusty meat thermometer it was ready after 80. If you wish you can cut the packaging open before the end of cooking time to brown the chicken off. I decided not to as I was going to remove the skin anyway.

The meat was lovely and succulent and I served up a roast dinner with all the trimmings.

Roast chicken dinner

I filled everyone up with plenty of stuffing and roast potatoes to ensure that there was still some chicken leftover for the next day as I had plans for it. The husband would have been even happier if I'd included some Aunt Bessie's Home BakeYorkshires which he absolutely loves with any roast dinner! I do love these ads from Aunt Bessie's with Mabel & Margaret showing how quick & easy it is to cook up a roast dinner (even midweek!) with a helping hand from Aunt Bessie's.

Sponsored video 

Chicken & Sweetcorn soup

I boiled up the carcass with a couple of onions, strained it and blended it before adding some sweetcorn and a little cornflour to thicken it

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

 

I fried up some onion and peppers before adding the remaining chicken and some barbecue sauce. Once heated through I lay a tortilla in a frying pan, covered with the barbecue chicken and some grated cheese, added another tortilla on the top and heated gently on each side.

Butcher's Selection Simply Roast in the Bag chickens are available from Asda for £5

I was provided with a giftcard to enable me to purchase the chicken & other ingredients

Three Course Summer Family Meal for under £10

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® #CBias #SocialFabric.

It was due to be a scorcher of a weekend so when I was asked to shop in Asda to create a family meal for under £10 I knew it had to be something that we would be eating outside, and with as little preparation and cooking as possible - who wants to spend all day in the kitchen when the weather is good.

We were having friends over on Saturday so I decided that we would have the family meal on Sunday afternoon. Most of the weekend was spent in the garden, playing and splashing around in the swimming pool.

I was up early as usual on Saturday morning to take Hanna to swim training and then onto Asda for some shopping. I'd decided on a 3 course family meal and checked the prices of ingredients needed online on the Asda website the previous evening. You can read more about my Asda shop and see photos here.

The menu was as follows :

Starter :

Melon boats

Main :

Beef Koftas

Flatbread

Salad

Lemon, parsley & mint Cous Cous

Yoghurt dip

Lime wedges

Dessert :

Lemonade lollies

I prepared the lollies and koftas in advance and kept the lollies in the freezer and koftas in the fridge until we needed them.

I listed down the ingredients I needed and they came in at a total of £9.78

Melon £1

Lean Beef Mince £3.33 (part of a 3 for £10 deal)

Self Raising flour 40p

Smart Price natural yoghurt 45p

Fresh Mint 78p

Fresh Coriander 78p

Cucumber 50p

Lettuce 50p

Spring Onions 50p

Lime 27p

Lemon 27p

Ainsley Harriot Cous Cous 50p

Cloudy lemonade 50p (part of a 4 for £2 deal)

Unfortunately there was no fresh mint or coriander on the shelf but luckily I had some growing in the garden and used that.

If you fancy giving the menu a try here's how I made everything:

Beef Koftas

675g Lean Beef mince

handful of fresh coriander, chopped

Spices from storecupboard (optional but not essential) : 2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp paprika

• Mix the ingredients together with your hands
• Form into sausage shapes and squeeze around a wooden skewer if you have them (I used wooden coffee stirrers)
• Cook on the bbq or griddle until cooked right through (which will depend on how hot your bbq is)

Flatbreads

350g Self Raising flour

350g Natural yoghurt

pinch of sea salt

• Mix all the ingredients together, starting with a fork and then using your hands
• Turn out onto a well floured surface and divide into 8 equal pieces
• Roll each piece flat with the palm of your hands, using extra flour if the dough is sticky
• Cook on a bbq or griddle for a couple of minutes each side until puffed up

Yoghurt Dip

Mix the remaining yoghurt with a small handful of chopped fresh coriander and mint

Cous Cous

Follow the directions on the back of the pack (adding boiling water)

Salad

Slice the cucumber and spring onions lengthways and shred the lettuce, top with fresh coriander and lime wedges

Lemonade Lollies

Squeeze the juice of the lemon into a jug of cloudy lemonade and pour into ice lolly moulds

Freeze for at least 4 hours

The meal went down very well, although Jack was only interested in eating the melon, bread and lolly as I think the heat had got to him.

Spice up your leftovers

I had a bowl full of beef stew left over which wasn't enough for everyone as it was so I eeked it out a bit and spiced it up by adding a can of baked beans and a teaspoon of chilli powder.

I then stirred through some cooked pasta and it made 3 generous portions.




What do you do with your leftovers?

Beany Turkey & Chorizo Meatballs

Baked beans are a staple food in this house, the kids love them and they form part of the husband's speciality tea, which he makes from time to time - egg on beans on cheese on ham on toast.

As soon as we received a couple of cans of the new Branston Baked Beans range Jack was was first to clap eyes on and bagsy the Beans with 2 large Lincolnshire sausages.

Rather than serve the Beans with Spicy Chorizo the same way I decided to experiment with them...

Beany Turkey & Chorizo Meatballs - serves 4 (approx 24 meatballs)

Meatballs

1/2 can Branston baked beans & Chorizo

200g Turkey breast mince

2 slices of wholemeal bread

Sauce

1 tbsp Olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1-2 Peppers, sliced (I used frozen mixed peppers)

3 mushrooms, sliced

1/2 can Branston baked beans & Chorizo

Can of chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp Harissa paste

• Mash the baked beans and chorizo (1/2 can)
• Mix in the turkey mince
• Blend the bread into crumbs, or break into very small pieces and mix into the mince & beans
• Form into meatballs the size of large marbles
• Bake in a 200 C oven for 15 minutes, until cooked all the way through
• Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion gently for a few minutes
• Add the peppers and mushrooms and fry for a further 2-3 minutes
• Add the remaining beans & chorizo, tomatoes and harissa
• Simmer for approx 15-20 minutes until the sauce is thick and rich
• Toss in the meatballs and heat them through

Serve with rice or cous cous for a very tasty and extremely frugal family meal - less than £1 per serving.

or in a bun, sloppy joe style

The beans are sold in Sainsbury's stores, priced at £1.29 for beans & sausages and £1.09 for beans & chorizo or beans & chilli

I was sent the baked beans for the purpose of this review

Meat Free Cottage Pie

With the latest horse meat scandal, there has been no better time to eat more meat free meals, it definitely saves money and is no less tasty.

I bought a pack of dried soya mince, and used only 50g in the dish which works out at only 25p - that's not per portion, that's for the whole amount. You mix it 1 part soya mince to 3 parts boiling water and then use it in place of regular mince. It doesn't have a lot of flavour on it's own but soaks up the flavours of the rest of the dish if cooked for long enough. My Mum always used to add baked beans to a cottage pie, which not only gives it a sweeter taste but also makes it stretch further, making this a very frugal family meal.

Everyone loved this cottage pie, and all plates were cleared, including that of Hanna's friend who came for tea. I don't like offering 'different' food when friend's come round but it was a last minute invite and thankfully she liked it.

Meat Free Cottage Pie

1 Cup dried Soya Mince (approx 50g)

3 Cups Boiling water

1 tbsp Olive oil

1 onion

3 carrots, peeled & diced

1/2 medium butternut squash (approx 300g), peeled & diced

1 heaped tsp Marmite

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce*

1 tbsp HP Sauce (brown)

1 can Baked beans

1 tbsp fresh herbs, chopped (I used Thyme)

1kg white potatoes, peeled & halved

25g butter

100ml milk

herbs & salt & pepper to taste

• Pour the boiling water onto the soya mince & leave for 5 minutes
• Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof stovetop/casserole pan
• Add the onion, place the lid on & cook for approx 3 minutes
• Stir in the carrots, squash, marmite & worcestershire sauce, replace the lid and cook for 5 minutes
• Add the soya mince along with the liquid and the HP sauce
• Place the lid on & simmer for approx 20 minutes
• Stir in the baked beans and fresh herbs, simmer for approx 5 minutes uncovered until the sauce thickens

* If you want to make this vegetarian then use double the amount of marmite & omit the worcestershire sauce

• Meanwhile boil the potatoes until tender
• Mash the potatoes with the butter, milk, herbs, salt & pepper
• Top the pie with the mash and rough up with a fork
• Bake in a 180C oven for 20-30 minutes until browned & crispy

Fridge Bottom Soup

'Fridge Bottom' was a concept that I heard from Mum In The Madhouse, who makes a delicious looking fridge bottom curry. Fridge bottom soup is, as the name suggests, made using the vegetables left in the bottom of the fridge at the end of the week. I used to work in a restaurant and tomorrow's soup was always made from yesterday's vegetables and salad, and was always delicious.

The soup always has a different flavour depending on which vegetables are left. Butternut squash usually appears in there, along with carrots and onions. I've also used sprouts, cabbage, parsnips as well as the odd tomato and wilting rocket.

Combined with garlic and chicken or vegetable stock I cook in the slow cooker for a few hours and then blend until smooth. It makes a great after school meal on a Friday, as well as lunch on Saturday, served with home-made bread or pitta bread.

Harissa & Vegetable Cobbler

I'm loving having Good Food Magazine on my ipad, not only is it very portable but it means I can search for recipes that I've seen without having to flick through pages and pages. One of the recipes that caught my eye was in the budget cooking edition for tomato & harissa stew with cheddar dumplings. I'm always looking for ways to save money on the weekly shop and making more veggie recipes is definitely helping.

I amended the recipe by adding a few more ingredients (vegetables from the bottom of the fridge) and using my recipe for cheesy scones for the top (leaving out the chilli) instead of the dumplings.

Vegetable & Harissa Cobbler

1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Onion, chopped
2 sticks of celery, sliced
1 heaped tbsp of Harissa paste
1 Can of chopped tomatoes
1 Can of water
1 Can of chickpeas, drained
1 Large Courgette, chopped
1 Red pepper, de-seeded & chopped
2 Large Chestnut Mushrooms
1 Knorr Herb Stock Pot
75g Red Lentils
1 Egg, beaten

• Heat the oil in an ovenproof casserole pan and fry the onion gently for 3 minutes
• Add the celery, harissa paste, tomatoes, water, chickpeas, courgette, pepper, mushrooms & stock pot and bring to the boil
• Place the lid on and bake in a 180 C oven for 1 hour
• Stir in the lentils and return to the oven (lid on) for 10 minutes
• Make up the scone mixture and cut circles out
• Place the scones on top of the stew, brush with beaten egg and bake (no lid) for a further 15 minutes until golden brown

Make use of puff pastry scraps

If you are left with any scraps when you've been using puff pastry it's not a good idea to roll it into a ball and re-roll it, like you would do with shortcrust. The layers of fat between the pastry would no longer be there and the pastry wouldn't puff up. If you need more then you can press the scraps together, trying to keep them roughly in the same direction, and roll them flat.

Alternatively you can brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with cinnamon and icing sugar, bake for 8-10 minutes and enjoy them with coffee...

Or dipped in chocolate sauce.

To make the chocolate sauce mix a spoonful of Nutella with enough hot water to make the sauce as thick as you like.....and enjoy.

One Chicken 3 Ways

Last week I bought a couple of chickens, froze one and decided to use the other one to see how frugal I could be and see how far it would spread rather than just roasting it and sharing it out at one mealtime.

Firstly I slow cooked the chicken for around 3 hours with just a few herbs on it and a stuffed with a lemon. I then separated the meat into two - breast meat and dark meat. The carcass then went back into the slow cooker in the juices and some extra boiling water for another few hours to make some stock, which I then froze until I needed it.

I used the dark meat to make a Chicken Biryani which was served with a Butternut Squash and coconut curry and accompaniments, plenty enough for all 5 of us.

The breast meat was then sliced and layered with cumberland sausage to make a large Chicken & Sausage Pie, using the same pastry recipe as I used in my Turkey & Apple Picnic Pies, just increasing the quantities. It can be eaten hot with vegetables and gravy or (like I served it) with jacket potatoes and salad.

I forgot to add the second layer of chicken in the pie so I instead used it to make a couple of Waldorf Salads (Marco Pierre White style).

The third meal was a lovely Chicken and Mushroom Soup made from the stock. The stock was brought to the boil with mushrooms and an onion and then blended until smooth. A tablespoon of cornflour was added to thicken it up as no cream was used. This was then served with large chunks of tear and share bread, which this time I added rosemary to the dough.

It just shows how far you can stretch a chicken if you need to, and apart from the addition of the sausages most of the other ingredients used in these dishes are just from the store cupboard. Pastry is actually easier than you think to make, especially if you're lucky enough to own a food mixer or processor, and adding rosemary to the pastry makes it so much tastier.

I would also thoroughly recommend investing in a meat thermometer to enable you to check when your chicken is cooked, without overdoing it and running the risk of it drying out.