Slow-cooked Goulash

I got a slow cooker for my birthday this year, and only just managed to use it. I wanted to make goulash with the good deal I got on casserole beef, as well as the paprika in my cupboard.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp oil
1/2 onion
2 carrots
1 stick of celery
1 tomato (optional)
1tbsp tomato puree
100g tinned tomatoes/ passata
1/2 pepper
3tbsp plain flour
Herbs: pinch salt, 1tsp mixed herbs, 1tsp paprika
300g diced casserole beef
200ml beef stock
200ml red wine

Serves 3-4

Method:
1) Heat the oil in a pan, and prep the veg. Toss in the veg and cook for 10 mins
2) Add the tomato puree and stir
3) Tip the cooked veg into the slow cooker

4) Mix the flour, salt, herbs and paprika on a chopping board. Coat the beef in the seasoned flour, then fry until browned for around 10 mins
5) Whilst the beef is cooking, boil the water for the stock. Make up the stock, and pour it and the wine (proportions variable, doesn't have to be 1:1) over the veg. Also add the tomato products
6) Add the beef to the slow cooker
7) Turn the slow cooker on low, and cook for 6-8h
8) Serve with a dollop of sour cream, and bread or potatoes. Tastes even better the next day!

Budget:
Oil = 2p
Veg = £1
Flour = 5p
Herbs = 6p
Beef = £3
Stock = 10p
Wine = 60p
Total = £4.83, £1.21

Poached Egg on Toast = Breakfast of Champions

I got a 1/2 hour lie-in this morning, so decided to treat myself to a tasty breakfast.

Ingredients:
1 egg
2 slices of toast
Strawberry jam
Pinch of salt

Serves 1

Method:
1) Boil a saucepan of water, filled about halfway up
2) Put the bread in the toaster
3) I used a silicone pouch thing to make my egg, in which case you put the lid on and cook on medium for 5 mins. Otherwise, crack the egg in whilst stirring the water (tricky) and boil with the lid off for 5 mins
4) Butter the toast, and spread jam over one
5) Slide the egg on to the other, with a pinch of salt

Budget:
Egg = 17p
Bread = 15p
Jam = 3p
Salt = 1p
Total = 36p, 36p/ person

Chicken Risotto

I used some of the leftover roast chicken and chicken stock, along with some pepper and passata (from the pizza!) to make one portion of risotto.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
50g risotto rice
100g chicken
2 ladles of chicken stock
1/3 pepper
2 tbsp passata

Serves 1

Method:
1) Heat the oil in a pan, then add the rice and cook until translucent (onion optional here)
2) Tip in the chicken, 1 ladle of stock, and the vegetables. Stir, then heat on medium heat for 10mins
3) Add the last ladle of stock, then cover and heat on low for 10 mins

Budget:
Oil = 2p
Rice = 13p
Chicken = 30p
Stock = 10p
Pepper = 15p
Passata = 10p
Total = £0.80, £0.80/ person

Apple Crumble

I'm really struggling with switching from cooking for five to cooking for one...this is my mini version of apple crumble (which tastes great hot or cold).

Ingredients:

Apple sauce (1 cooking apple, splash of water, sprinkle of sugar)

25g margarine

25g plain flour

25g sugar

Serves 2

Method:

1) Make the apple sauce - peel and chop the apple into chunks, and tip it into a saucepan with a splash of water. Simmer gently until it looks like sauce, then add sugar to taste. Preheat the oven to 180 deg C

2) Make the topping - mix the margarine, plain flour and sugar together until fine

3) Pour the sauce into a small ovenproof container, then tip the topping over the apple

4) Cook for 30mins in the oven (until golden on top)

Budget:

1 apple = 40p

Sugar = 10p

Flour = 5p

Margarine = 10p

Total = 65p, 33p/ person

Homemade Pizza

There are two parts to making your own pizza:
1) Making the dough
2) Adding toppings and cooking

I based my pizza dough recipe on Jamie Oliver's but halved the quantities and tweaked it a bit.

1) Dough

Ingredients:
7g sachet dried yeast
340ml warm water
1 dsp caster sugar
2 tbsp olive oil

500g strong white bread flour
Pinch salt

Makes 3 pizzas

Method:
1) Mix the yeast, water, sugar and oil together and leave for 5mins
2) Tip the flour and salt into a large bowl and make a well in the middle
3) Pour the liquid mixture into the middle and work the flour and liquid in together, starting with a wooden spoon
4) Then lightly flour a work surface and tip the dough onto it
5) Knead the dough for about 15 mins
6) Leave it to rise in a warm place for about 1h, until it doubles in size:

7) Poke all the air out of the dough, and divide it into 3 balls

At this point you can freeze the dough if you don't want to use it all at once

2) Pizza

Ingredients:
About 200ml passata
Vegetables (I used some sliced tomato and pepper)
Grated cheese (I used cheddar, but you can posh it up with mozzarella if you have it to hand)
Mixed herbs

Makes 1 pizza

Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 180 degC
2) Stretch out the dough into a circle or rectangle
3) Use a palette knife to spread the passata
4) Top with vegetables
5) Finish off with a sprinkle of cheese and mixed herbs

6) Cook in the oven for 15mins

Budget:

Yeast = 7p
Sugar = 5p
Oil = 5p
Flour = 25p
Salt = 2p
Passata = 20p
Cheese = 20p
Tomato = 10p
Pepper = 30p
Total = £1.24 (if you eat 2/3 now, and 1/3 later then about £1/ person)

Back to uni

Since I'm back at uni with a couple of days to spare before term starts, I thought I'd get some batch cooking out the way to set me up for when things get busier. Here's what I made today:

L to R: 3 x sweet and sour sauce, 6 x tomato sauce, 2 x apple sauce, 1 x cranberry sauce

Recipes to follow when my internet's less sloooooow...

Creamy Bacon and Pea Pasta

I actually have an alternative version of this where I make a bright-green pea puree, but I didn't have enough peas or cream for that this week.

Here's what I came up with instead:

Ingredients:

1/2 brown onion

1 tbsp oil

3 rashers of bacon 

Small glass of white wine

200ml single cream

2 eggs

300g tagliatelle

150g frozen petit pois

Serves 6

Method:

1) Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg C, and cook the bacon for 20 mins (I like it crispy)

2) Heat the oil in a large saucepan and chop the onion up small

3) Fry the onion for 5 mins on low heat, then add the wine and turn the heat up to medium for 5 mins, then just keep the pan warm on a low heat

4) Boil the water for the pasta, and cook it (fresh - 4 mins, dry - 12 mins)

5) Whisk the eggs and cream together in a jug

6) Cook the peas in the microwave/ on the hob for 5 mins, then drain

7) Drain the pasta, and tip into a cold serving dish

8) Chop up the bacon and tip on top of the pasta

9) Add the peas

10) Pour the eggy cream over the top, and stir round (carefully!) 

Budget:

Pasta = 50p

Onion = 10p

Oil = 2p
Bacon = 60p
Cream = £1
Eggs = 40p
Wine = 40p
Peas = 30p
Total = £3.32, 55p/ person

Chicken Vegetable Pasta Bake

A tasty variation on my sausage vegetable pasta bake.

As you can see, I've used carrots, yellow pepper, broccoli, red onion and tomato as well as chicken that was leftover from the night before. 

Serves 6

Same process as before - I pre-cooked the pasta, prepped the veg and started layering. There was an offer on jars of pasta bake sauce, so I've used that and tinned tomatoes to make my sauce. 

Layer 1 - pasta

Layer 2 - tomato sauce

Layer 3 - vegetables

Layer 4 - chicken

Layer 5 - vegetables and tomato sauce

Finished off by stirring (carefully!) before cooking in the oven at 180 deg C for 40 mins.

Budget:

Pasta = 35p

Tomato sauce = £1.20
Vegetables = £1.20
Chicken = £3

Total =  £5.75, 96p/ person

Tomato-Gazpacho Soup

I was going to try gazpacho soup until I discovered you don't cook the tomatoes, and I am not the biggest fan of uncooked tomatoes. So I took a couple of the ingredients you'd use in gazpacho (spring onions, red pepper, garlic) and a couple from traditional tomato soup (onion, carrot, celery, tomato puree) and combined the two.

Ingredients:
1kg tomatoes
1 onion
1 carrot
1 stick of celery
2 spring onions
Half a red pepper
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1tbsp oil
1tbsp tomato puree
1tbsp sugar
2 bay leaves
2 pints of vegetable stock

Serves 6

Method:
1) Prep all the vegetables - peel and chop roughly. Quarter the tomatoes, and then scoop out the seeds and stems with a teaspoon
2) Heat the oil in a large pan, and tip in all the vegetables except the tomatoes. Heat on medium with stirring for 10 mins

2) Squeeze in the tomato puree, and add the garlic. Stir until everything is red

3) Boil the water for the stock
4) Then add the sugar, some salt and pepper, and 2 bay leaves. Tip in all the tomatoes and cook until they are squishy and the skin is coming off

5) Make up the stock, and tip it in
6) Cook for 25 mins with stirring

7) Remove the bay leaves and leave to cool for a couple of mins
8) Puree the mixture and serve

Budget:
Tomatoes = £1
Carrot = 8p
Onion = 10p
Celery = 20p
Spring onions = 15p
Pepper = 30p
Garlic = 7p
Oil = 3p
Tomato puree = 10p
Sugar = 4p
Herbs = 4p
Stock = 30p
Total = £2.41, 40p/ person

I've entered this recipe into Made with Love Mondays:

Fish Pie

I'm working on a more streamlined, straightforward version of this recipe, but for the moment this is the best I have. It tastes great, but takes more work and time than I'd typically like. If you already have a batch of white sauce (e.g. from the freezer) then it's actually quite easy. Otherwise, it takes a while.

I like new potatoes on the top because I'm not a big mashed potato fan

Ingredients:
400g fish pie mix
500ml milk, or a mixture of milk/ water
1 small onion
Couple of cloves (optional, but nice)
2 bay leaves (also optional, but nice too)
3 eggs (there isn't much fish to go round, so this helps bulk it up. Plus it tastes good)
Sprinkle of parsley

White sauce - made from the poaching milk, 50g hard marge, some plain flour
Sprinkle of nutmeg

1kg potatoes (mashed, or sliced and boiled)

Serves 6

Method:
1) Quarter the onion and push the cloves into the quarters
2) Put the fish, milk, onion, cloves, bay leaves and parsley into a large pan and heat on medium for 10 mins
3) Boil water in a separate pan, and hard-boil the eggs for 10 mins
4) Boil the water for the potatoes. Peel, slice and boil in the water
5) Take the eggs out of the water, shell and quarter
6) Make the white sauce if you need to: melt the hard marge, add the plain flour until it forms a ball and cook for a couple of mins
7) Meanwhile, take the fish out of the poaching milk and put into a large dish
8) Remove the leaves, onion, cloves etc from the milk
9) Add the poaching milk to the hard marge/ plain flour to make the white sauce. Stir and heat until it thickens. Add the nutmeg
10) Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg C
11) Put the eggs in with the fish pieces
12)  Pour half the white sauce over the fish and eggs
13) Layer the potato slices over the top
14) Pour the rest of the sauce over the potatoes
15) Cook in the oven for 30 mins

Budget:
Fish = £4
Milk = 30p
Onion = 10p
Herbs = 10p
Eggs = 60p
White sauce = 7p + 10p
Potatoes = £1
Total = £6.27, £1.05/ person

*Freezes well

Homemade Hummus

I was clearing out the cupboard this week and found a kilo of dried chickpeas at the back. Rather than chuck them out, I thought I'd try an experiment and make some hummus out of them. Delicious with pitta bread or breadsticks!

Ingredients:
55g dried chickpeas (these will double in mass to 110g when they've been soaked, which is the correct amount. Not 220g as I discovered)
5tbsp tahini paste (ish - it's pretty hard to get it out of the jar)
3 cloves garlic
3tbsp olive oil
2 lemons
2tsp cayenne pepper or paprika
1tsp salt

1) Soak the chickpeas in water overnight (leave about 6cm water above the top of the chickpeas because they will expand)
2) Boil the chickpeas in fresh water for 1.5-2h over a low heat with a pinch of salt
3) Blend the chickpeas and garlic in a (large) food processor until they look more like a paste
4) Add the tahini and olive oil and blend
5) Juice the lemons and add the juice, followed by the spices, and blend again. Keep going until it's smooth

Serves 4 

Budget:
Chickpeas = 20p
Tahini = 50p
Garlic = 10p
Oil = 5p
Lemons = 30p
Spices = 5p
Total = £1.20, 30p/ person


...now what to do with the remaining 890g??

Sausage Vegetable Pasta Bake

Back from sunny Italy now - at least it's still warm here so the cultural shock's not too much!

I've been busy since we got back, but I've also been suffering a bit from writer's block - so I'm turning to a family favourite to get things restarted. Here it is - a tomato-y pasta bake.

Half-eaten (and scraped clean!) 

Ingredients:
250g pasta (I like fusilli because it holds the sauce well)
800g of tomato-based products (I like half/ half passata and tinned chopped tomatoes)
8-12 leftover (i.e. pre-cooked) sausages (feel free to economise the more vegetables you add)
Many vegetables - I used carrots, peas and sweetcorn here because that's all we had left, but I'd recommend broccoli (cauliflower too if you're into that), peppers, mini corn, beans etc.

Serves 6-8

Method:
1) If your sausages aren't being used up from another meal, you need to cook them first (180 deg C, about half an hour). Skip this step and go to 2) if they are
2) Boil water for pasta, then start cooking the pasta. Pre-heat oven to 180 deg C
3) Prep the veg (if they're frozen, don't bother defrosting them first but just get them out the freezer)
4) Chop the sausages into slices
5) Pasta should be done by now (about 12 mins) so drain it but keep the cloudy water for later
6) Take a large dish and tip the pasta in to make the bottom layer. (I normally discover I've made too much at this point, but then it just becomes tomorrow's lunch)
7) Tip in half the tomato stuff and stir the dish contents to coat the pasta. To speed the cooking time up, you could heat the tomatoes on the stove until it's bubbling before doing this
8) Now add the sausages
9) And finally the veg
10) Add the rest of the tomato stuff and stir (carefully! It might be a bit overflowing by now). Add a splash of the pasta water if there's not enough and stir in
11) Cook in the oven for about 30-40 mins (about 45-50 if you didn't heat the sausages first)

Budget:
Pasta = 35p
Tomato stuff = 90p
Sausages = £1.50
Veg = £1.20
Total = £3.95, 60p/ person

*Heats up well the next day for a hearty lunch

Variations

 - Take out the sausages and replace with more vegetables for the vegetarian version

- Also great with a couple of tins of tuna instead of the meat

Bargain Bruschetta

More bruschetta than bread?

Traditionally more of an appetiser, I like to double up and have these as a proper meal with a bit of salad and mozzarella (if I'm lucky). There are lots of ways to save money here too.

Ingredients:
Old bread - I had half a stale French stick that was perfect
Tomatoes - if using whole/ salad tomatoes, budget for about 1 tomato/ slice (I used 3 anaemic salad tomatoes + 5 squishy cherry tomatoes). I reckon you could use tinned tomatoes here if you strained off the liquid
1 small onion - red is better, but if you only have brown then go with that
1tbsp tomato puree if available
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Splash of oil (olive is better), about 1tbsp
Splash of vinegar (balsamic is better, but malt will do)
Basil - dried is OK but fresh is a lot better

My basil plant passes through a death/ regeneration cycle once a week when I remember to water it

Quantity variable - 1/2 a French stick gives about 8 slices

Method:
1) Slice up the bread and lay out on a baking tray. Preheat the oven to 180 deg C
2) Roughly chop up the tomatoes. I like to leave a couple of larger chunks in there too, and I'm not fussy about the seeds. Feel free to take them out if you are
3) Finely chop the onion (a mini food-processor is perfect if you have one)
4) Stir the tomato and onion together in a small bowl. Add the tomato puree if your tomatoes were a less-than-vibrant red like mine
5) Mince the garlic into the bowl
6) Add the oil and vinegar and stir so everything is evenly distributed
7) Scoop the mixture onto the bread. Sprinkle basil over the top if using dried
8) Cook for 10-15 mins. Add the basil leaf after if using fresh

Budget:
Tomatoes = 50p
Onion = 8p
Tomato puree = 5p
Garlic = 5p
Oil = 4p
Vinegar = 5p
Basil = 2p if dried, less if fresh. I grow mine from a pot I got for £1, and it's given me >50 leaves so far
Total = 80p, 13p/ person if one each as an appetiser, 40p/ person if as a whole meal

Cheat's Paella

Stage 11

If my Spanish and Catalan friends ever find out I wrote this, I will probably be dead to them. In my defence, I love paella but making it on a budget is very difficult for two reasons:

1. There are so many ingredients. Seriously. 
   
2. In traditional paella, there are 3 'meats' - chicken, chorizo and prawns, none of which are particularly cheap.

When I first made this, I based my recipe off the Delia version, and made some changes. I've marked essential ingredients with a *. Feel free to swap/ compromise as you go.

Ingredients:

2tbsp oil

*2 large/ 3 small chicken breasts or equivalent e.g. chicken thighs (you can get away with even less because there is so much other stuff in here), cut into chunks

*1 onion, chopped

*2 peppers (or 1), in chunks without seeds

*100g chorizo sausage (if you can, get the 200g cooking version for £2.00 and not the diced one which is also £2.00 but only 130g. Whatever you do, don't get the salami-style slices. I've also seen normal sausages with pork and chorizo which might work out cheaper too). Take off the ammonia-smelling skin, and slice into rounds which you can then quarter

*3 cloves of garlic, crushed

Spices: *2tsp paprika, 1/2tsp cayenne pepper, 0.2g saffron (NB: this is super-expensive and in my opinion, not worth adding. My mixture ended up being really yellow anyway, but if you wanted that colour you could add a couple of drops of yellow/ red food colouring instead!) 

*200g tomatoes, in chunks without seeds (I reckon you could substitute tinned tomatoes here. If you do, make sure to sieve them to remove the seeds - how-to video here)

*2 pints of boiling water

*300g risotto rice (there are fancy paella versions out there, but we only had arborio risotto rice and it still tasted good)

*2 handfuls of cooked prawns (I used small frozen ones because they were reduced to half price. Use bigger prawns for a treat. If you use raw ones (grey) then make sure to cook them properly first, in a separate pan)

*50g of frozen peas 

Splash of lemon juice

Serves 6 (or 5 greedy family members)

Method:

1) Prepare all the vegetables and meat first (this will take a while)

2) Heat the oil in an enormous pan

3) Fry the chicken pieces until they are properly cooked

4) Remove the chicken, then add the onion and fry for 4 mins on low heat

5) Next add the chopped peppers and chorizo and fry for 5 mins (put the kettle on for the boiling water)

6) Bung in the garlic and spices and cook for 1 min

7) Tip in all the tomatoes and the boiling water

8) Put the chicken back in

9) Simmer for 15 mins

10) Add the rice, and leave to simmer uncovered for 15 mins (stir it occasionally)

11) Add the prawns and the peas and cook for 5-10 mins (if prawns are frozen, err on the side of 10 mins)

12) Sprinkle the lemon juice over it and you're done - serve in the pan for minimal washing-up!

Budget:
Oil = 4p
Chicken = £3
Onion = 8p
Pepper = 70p
Chorizo = £1
Garlic = 6p
Spices = 10p
Tomatoes = 80p
Rice = 66p
Prawns = £1
Peas = 10p
Total = £7.54, £1.26/ person

Toast Pizza

One of my favourite snack creations - I'm eating it right now whilst typing one-handed.
Double it up for a simple lunch.

Ingredients:
1 slice of bread
2tbsp ketchup (I used the homemade ketchup I made earlier in the week, but bog-standard is obviously fine)
15g of cheese (aka the manky double gloucester I found lurking at the back of the fridge)

Serves 1

Method:
1) Make toast
2) Spread ketchup on toast
3) Grate cheese onto toast

Budget:
Bread = 8p
Ketchup = 4p
Cheese = 6p
Total = 18p

Homemade Tomato Ketchup

We had burgers for tea last night - it was the perfect opportunity for me to experiment with ketchup recipes, one of which I found here. The end-product is very different to Heinz - but still completely delicious!

Ingredients:
2 cans of tinned tomatoes
1 medium brown onion
2 cloves of garlic
2tbsp oil
1tbsp tomato puree
Spices - I went with 1/2 tsp salt, 1tsp actual mustard (we were out of powder), 1tsp paprika, 1tsp mixed spice (if you have cloves, use those too), 1/2 tsp turmeric
100g brown sugar
About 70ml vinegar (I used cider vinegar)

Makes 2 medium-sized jam jars

Method:
1) Chop the onions whilst heating the oil in a large saucepan, then sautee for about 7 mins until soft and transparent.
2) Crush the garlic and add to the pan, cooking for 1 min
3) Stir in the tomato paste
4) Add all the spices, and stir thoroughly so they are evenly distributed
5) Add the sugar, vinegar and tinned tomatoes and stir
6) Heat gently for about 45 mins, until the amount of liquid has reduced
7) Use a blender (hand-held is best) to puree the sauce (NB: beware hot splashes of sauce - I wrapped a tea towel around my arm)
8) Transfer the sauce into clean jam jars - although it smells a lot like chutney when you're cooking, I doubt it would last as long on the shelf. But it's so tasty it wouldn't anyway!

Store in the fridge

Budget
Highly dependent on which spices you use, but the tomatoes, onion, garlic, sugar and vinegar add up to:
2 tins tomatoes = 75p (don't get the cheapest ones)
Onion = 10p
Garlic = 7p
Sugar = 25p
Vinegar = 8p
Total = £1.25

Roast Vegetable Pasta

Great for when you feel like pasta but don't have any tinned tomatoes left - a colourful dish that works in summer and winter! I like it with root vegetables in autumn.

Ingredients:
50g pasta (spaghetti/ those twirly ones/ etc. all fine) per person - the packets typically recommend 70g/ person but I have never met anyone able to eat that much pasta in one sitting
Oil for roasting
1 carrot/ person
1 parsnip/ person
2 cloves of garlic/ person (leave the papery skin on)
1tbsp creme fraiche/ soft cheese per person
Optional - 1/2 red pepper/ person
Optional - 1/4 onion (red or brown)/ person

Method:
1) Peel and chop the root veg into chunks about 3cm long
2) Set the oven to 180 deg C and roast the veg and garlic in the oil for about 45 mins, until soft
3) After 30 mins, boil the water and tip in the pasta, cooking for about 12 mins (see packet for details)
4) Drain the pasta, take the veg and garlic out of the oven and tip into the pasta saucepan (you might want to take out some of the oil if there's loads)
5) Stir in the creme fraiche/ soft cheese - you might need to heat the saucepan a bit until it all melts nicely
6) Serve!

Budget:
Pasta - 3p
Oil - 2p
Carrot - 7p
Parsnip - 10p
Garlic - 5p
Creme fraiche - 10p
Total = 37p/ person

Sweet and Sour Sauce

So much healthier (and tastier) than the supermarket or fluorescent takeaway versions - and surprisingly straightforward! It freezes nicely if you've got leftovers.

Ingredients:
250ml orange juice
2tbsp vinegar (malt is fine)
2tbsp tomato ketchup
Squirt of tomato puree
2 tbsp sugar
2 carrots (diagonally sliced looks nice)
1 bell pepper (I like yellow because of the colour contrast but it really doesn't matter)
2 spring onions, chopped (optional)
Handful of mange tout/ sugar snap peas (optional)
Handful of pineapple chunks (optional because I can't stand pineapple)
3tbsp cornflour

Serves 5-6

Method:
1) Tip everything except the cornflour into a large saucepan and heat on medium until bubbling in the centre and the carrots are cooked
2) Put the cornflour into a separate bowl and gradually add small amounts of water, mixing in between, until you have a smooth white paste
3) Add the paste a spoonful at a time to the sauce and stir in until the sauce thickens and is gloopy
4) Heat for 5 more mins
5) Done!

Suggestions:
Bake or fry chicken pieces and pour the sauce over at the end. Great with rice or noodles

Budget:
Juice = 15p
Vinegar = 2p
Ketchup = 2p
Puree = 3p
Sugar = 5p
Carrots = 14p
Pepper = 50p
Cornflour = 2p
Total = 93p, 19p/ person

Frozen Fruit Fool

Raspberry - I went to get a camera and someone tried it...
I froze it a bit too quickly (you can tell from the lumps), needed a bit more stirring

I invented this in the throes of what we in the UK like to call a 'heatwave' - it's been hotter than 25 deg C for a week so naturally the country is in meltdown! This refreshing dessert is a cross between frozen yoghurt and fruit fool. I've tried it with strawberries and raspberries, but I reckon it would work with blueberries, cherries, other red fruit, etc. too.

Ingredients:
100g soft fruit
1tbsp icing sugar
200g fat-free Greek yoghurt
2tbsp caster sugar

Serves 4-5

Method:
1) Blitz the fruit in a blender until it forms a puree
2) Transfer to a container that can be frozen, and stir in the icing sugar
3) Add the frozen yoghurt and caster sugar, and whisk until mixed
4) Freeze and stir approx. every 30 mins until frozen solid - or remove earlier if a more liquid consistency is desired

Serve with a shortbread biscuit and mint leaves for a more sophisticated dessert.

Budget:
Strawberries =  50p
Icing sugar = 3p
Yoghurt = 50p
Caster sugar = 5p
Total = £1.08, 22p/ person

Fail-safe Tomato Sauce

One of my freezer staples - I'll make a big batch and freeze it in portions to whip out when I get back from the lab and am too tired for anything more challenging than reheating this, and cooking pasta!

It's really flexible - use up whatever veg you have left at the back of the fridge or freezer - and is a great way to get in several of your 5-a-day.

For a change, I won't list ingredients but instead suggestions of things to include. The only compulsory component is the tomatoes.

Makes 4-5 portions

Method:
1) If adding onion and/ or garlic and/ or celery, put 1tbsp of oil in the bottom of a large saucepan and fry gently for around 8 mins
2) Add the 2 tins of chopped tomatoes
3) Add everything else:
        Fresh veg - carrots, broccoli, mange tout/ sugar snaps, mini corn, bell pepper, celery,                         mushrooms
        Frozen veg - peas, sweetcorn, broccoli
        Meat - cooked bacon, leftover cooked sausages
4) Heat until the liquid in the centre is bubbling
5) Done - use straightaway or leave to cool

Budget:
Obviously the final cost depends on what you put in.
2 tins tomatoes = 62p