Morning, all!
I made a nice soup yesterday. I think I'll call it bitsa soup. Bitsa this, that and the other, specifically onion, leek, carrot, potato, lentils, stock cube, garlic and so on. The usual stuff. And I did what I always do now when the soup contains potato - make up the rest right to zizzing, then chop the potato into small bits and add, cook and mash in. To zizz the soup to smooth would make the potato go gloopy and this way avoids that as well as keeping a nice potato texture in the soup..
It was perfect for a cold winter day and used up veg that needed using up.
Today's plans:
B: porridge, marmalade or jam, natural yogurt
L: soup - ham and split pea sounds nice
D: I shall make a fish pie using a piece of the smoked basa I got a little while ago and use some garlic and herb quark in the sauce. Hopefully the two will work together. I've got mushrooms to add in and I am umming and ahing about buying a small bag of prawns and adding four or five of them for extra flavour, texture and colour (the rest will go in the freezer).
Ss: apple and orange
From the freezer
The fish and maybe prawns but I will have bought them today so that doesn't really count, does it?
The soup - I'm running out of soup in the freezer now but I know I have a few more servings.
The frugal factor
Porridge! Also the jam or marmalade is home made
Home made soup too. The last time I had tinned soup - a 'good' brand too - I thought it was nothing compared to my home made and four times the price!
The fish pie won't be pound a day cheap but it won't be outrageous either. I trawled around My Supermarket and you can't get a decent fish pie under about £3.00. Even a value one was £1.50 and mine will be a lot nicer for a lot less. Home made usually is more frugal, whatever the quality, especially comparing like with like but often compared to an inferior product too.
Thanks for all the comments on yesterday's crumble post. It was lovely to hear from you all. Welcome to my new readers too - make yourself at home. :-)
Hubby craved Heinz tomato soup when he was ill. I bought some on offer at 50p a can. I tasted a mouthful as I used to love it to. But it is do sweet I almost spat it out. Once the pack of 6 is gone I won't buy it again. Much prefer my home made, cheaper, tastier and less calories!
ReplyDeleteI always have soup in the freezer and there is usually a pot on the stove at least once a week, no wasted veg in this house. I wash all my veg before prepping and the peelings go into the stock pot, stock cubes and powder all taste far too salty and seem to have a chemical aroma.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean, Tania, it is almost disgustingly sweet and, after home made, such an artificial taste.
ReplyDeletePan, I think bought stock has improved quite a lot over that last few years. I particularly like Knorr chicken granules and Marigold vegetable bouillon. Both are reduced salt and make rather nice savoury drinks as well as stock.
Or maybe my palate is showing its age, just like the rest of me. :-D
J x
Pan??? I mean Pam, of course, so sorry!
DeleteNot keen on tinned soup, but I do like some of the Covent Garden fresh ones. I've bought a few when very much reduced but generally not as good as homemade, and as Tania mentions, homemade is the way to go to keep the calories low.
ReplyDeleteNote to Joy - try Kallo Low salt stock cubes. I find these the best.
Thanks for the tip. :-) Home made is the only way to be in control of what actually goes in (including, for me, fats/oils). And there are some fab recipes easily available too, if needed.
DeleteJ x
I don't like tinned soups anymore, I think once you get used to homemade you can't beat it. I had vouchers for free packs of Covent Garden soups but every single one of them except the tomato had milk in, so they're no good for me :-(
ReplyDeleteI've tried them in the past but found them a bit tasteless. They've probably improved since then.
DeleteJ x