Weezl's phase 1- recipe testing and frugalisation- come one, come all!

weezl74

phizzimum wrote: »

well we had a go at Borscht - we home educate the girls so we made it a learning opportunity: adapting a recipe, weighing ingredients - also ties in with a project they've recently completed on Russia!

one medium onion - 150g - diced
one medium potato - 200g - diced
red pickled cabbage, with some vinegar from jar - 200g
beetroot, chopped - 250g
half tin tomatoes, chopped - 200g
500ml stock made up according to packet
knob of margarine

in a large saucepan we sweated the onion and potato for about 5 minutes in the melted margarine.

we added all remaining ingredients and brought to boil, then reduced to simmer for about 35 minutes.

we gave the soup a mash with the potato masher as some of the beetroot pieces were a bit large, but this could be avoided if I'd chopped them properly in the first place

Cool! It's very popular in Poland too for when you're doing your next project .

Erm, you haven't said how it tastes, is it foul and you're sparing my feelings?!

phizzimum

the above ingredients gave enough soup to provide 4 hearty portions - we served it with bread.

DH - liked the soup's flavour and texture but found it a bit salty as he's used to homemade stock. agreed the soup would be filling enough as a bloke's lunch. 9/10

Me- didn't know what to expect tastewise but was pleasantly surprised. wouldn't want to eat it every week but makes an interesting change. 7/10

DD1 (age 11) "better than I thought it would be but not the best soup ever, kids might not like it" didn't like the texture and suggested more potato might improve it. has to be taken in the context that she doesn't like any soup much! 3/10

DD2 (age 8) "nice and sweet - I love it and the texture but I am a weird 8 year old!" (her words not mine) agreed it could do with more potato, but asked for seconds. 9/10

phizzimum

weezl74 wrote: »

Erm, you haven't said how it tastes, is it foul and you're sparing my feelings?!

sorry, weezl - thought I'd split it into 2 posts for ease of reference

weezl74

aless02 wrote: »

PP, you're right of course. Iwas thinking weezl does her chickpeas and lentils in the SC, but I suppose one could easily do without it if stripped down to bare essentials. I haven't looked at the recipes closely - perhaps a large soup/stock pot should be added to the list? I'm trying to think of things that maybe 50% of families might not have even if they do cook regularly - so not things like knives and graters, but more specific like the darned loaf tins!

I was thinking too that if we're saving Bob and Shirley £5000 in the year then maybe a £20 hit in month one of 4 loaf tins a pie tin and a few other bits isn't too bad an investment? And back to Allegra's great post, give a man a fish-feed for a day, teach him to fish (and empower him to buy/find his own rod on Freecycle) and you feed him for life....

weezl74

:T:T:T:TThanks to all at Phizzimum towers, we are all very grateful .

Dear DD11 what is your favourite flavour of soup, even though you don't like it much? :)And DD8 do you think other people who are 8 might like a different taste soup? What might it be?:)

Thank you lots from the 50p lady x

aless02

weezl74 wrote: »

I was thinking too that if we're saving Bob and Shirley £5000 in the year then maybe a £20 hit in month one of 4 loaf tins a pie tin and a few other bits isn't too bad an investment? And back to Allegra's great post, give a man a fish-feed for a day, teach him to fish (and empower him to buy/find his own rod on Freecycle) and you feed him for life....

not a bad investment at all! I was just pointing out they should be listed somewhere so Shirley doesn't get to Day 1 and realise she doesn't have half the utensils/equipment to make her lovely hummus sandwiches, which is a definite set-up for failure before she's even begun!

weezl74

aless02 wrote: »

not a bad investment at all! I was just pointing out they should be listed somewhere so Shirley doesn't get to Day 1 and realise she doesn't have half the utensils/equipment to make her lovely hummus sandwiches, which is a definite set-up for failure before she's even begun!

completely agree. I think we need a build up to the plan...month before eat up perishables and freezer stock, week before... buy some kitchen kit, get the family on board.....day before, make bread soak chick peas.... etc etc...

phizzimum

Tinned tomato soup is the best .But i do like my dads morrocan spicy soup its really nice.DD1:oMy sister says they might like lentil soup but with less letils .DD2:D

weezl74

excellent reporting DDs 1 and 2, I shall incorporate your thoughts in my planning.

Mrs 50p xxx

newlywed

The favourite soup in our house (14 and 11 yr old step sons) is minestrone made with chopped bacon and added pasta (instead of beans).

This the main recipe I use as a base - easy to stretch it to 6 portions with a bit of extra pasta
http://shirleygoode.blogspot.com/2008_09_29_archive.html