In pursuit of happiness - the kebabmeister's debt diary!

LookingAhead

OK I will do....will just go & find recipes...back shortly...

LookingAhead

OK first up....carrot & coriander. This I think serves 4 people so either make it and freeze half a batch or halve the quantities.

Ingredients:

1 litre of vegetable stock
1 lb of carrots
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
1 handful of fresh coriander
1 teaspoon of slat OR curry powder OR the juice of half a lemon (not all of them!)

Method:

* Chop all the vegetables (and the coriander) and simmer in the stock until the vegetables are soft.

* Then use the hand blender to blend the veggies until they are smooth.

* Then add the salt or curry powder or the lemon juice and warm through.

* Serve with crusty bread.



Note: I found that if you use too much coriander it tastes a bit 'soap like' so don't go mad with it - less is more. You could try dried coriander as well I guess.

donner_kebab

Here are some of my DD's I pay out for each month...getting them on here so that when I have worked out childcare etc I can put these figures up too and then combine everything to give me some sort of SOA...

Rent £289.36 per month
Council Tax £83.00 per month (but no payment Feb or March)
Cahoot Loan £174.94 per month (£4883.55 left on this)
WFTC overpayment £25 per month...for a very long time!
Electric and Gas £61.50 per month (they have recently dropped this from £81.50 which it was before!)
Water £34.38 per month (but no payment March or April)
Petplan Cat insurance £9.84 per month
Washing machine insurance £6.00 per month
Mobile £10 per month on a special Virgin deal here...300 anytime anynetwork mins and 300 free texts per month
TV license £11.37 per month (done quarterly at £34.12)
Virgin telephone, broadband and cable tv £75.00 per month...but this is being dropped later today so should come in at a lot more!!!

Only thing not included is childcare as need to work that out. Listed above is the DD and loans etc. Also have to pay out for all these dam Credit Cards each month. Need to work out my definite wage each month too and WFTC and Child Benefit for mini-me too!

Also need to work of a good way to budget. Gonna have to start meal planning so not a case of popping to the local shop where everything costs about 10 times as much...Dunno whether to divide money up into a daily amount or a weekly amount? Will have to think long and hard about this...what I can say though is that since positing on here each day, I have actually been thinking before spending which is a great help! Haven't spent too much today, about £7 in total but needed a few bits and pieces...will be better when I meal plan though! Also good as making conscience choices before I buy...e.g needed some coffee from the shop, rather than go for the rip off stuff I usually buy (and would be a load more being that it was in a local shop!) I decided to opt for shop brand and fair trade range had 20% off so got some of that and saved several £££! Woo hoo!

LookingAhead

OK next up we have red lentil and tomato soup....drum roll please....oh and again, this serves 4 people, definitely enough here to freeze a batch.

Ingredients:

About one third (or slightly less) of a bag of red lentils.
1 onion
2 large carrots
2 medium sized potatoes (we use the baking potato type)
1 tin of chopped or plum tomatoes (value ones!)
Squirt of tomato purée
Couple of garlic cloves
Salt & pepper to taste
500ml vegetable stock
A dash of vegetable oil

Method:

* Chop up the onion and cook in the oil for a few minutes

* Roughly chop up the potatoes & carrots into small pieces and add to the pan.

* Then add the stock, the tin of tomatoes, the puree, the garlic cloves and salt & pepper to taste.

* Allow to simmer for 10 minutes then add in the red lentils.

* Allow to simmer for around 20 more minutes until the vegetables are tender & lentils are cooked.

* Use the hand blender to blend well - be careful & take off the heat whilst you do this as it will 'spit'!

REALLY FILLING. And very orange!

Karmacat

Hi donner

Just catching up on the day, you sound like you've had a good one too. You posted on the last page about the side dishes - they don't have to stop, but you have to make them yourself - batch cook and freeze, if necessary! And *absolutely* ditch the bagged salads - throw it together yourself, all the benefits, and takes about 3 minutes longer.

Says she, having gone to Waitrose. But all we bought was some gluten free bread and some chocolate mousse, honest....:p

donner_kebab

Thanks for that LA...will give that one a try in the week! Sounds yum!

LookingAhead

Oooh I found a couple more soup recipes as well which you might like as they are tomato based. Again both very healthy.

The first one is Sweet Potato and Tomato:

Ingredients:

A little olive oil (or vegetable oil if you only have that)
1 onion
2 - 3 cloves of garlic
2 large-ish sweet potatoes (pink fleshed variety) - peeled & roughly chopped
1 tin of tomatoes (value!)
Salt & pepper to taste

Method:

* Peel, chop & fry the onion in the oil for a few moments.

* Add the chopped sweet potatoes and the tin of tomatoes and simmer for around 20 minutes - or until the sweet potatoes are just tender.

* Add the salt & pepper to taste and liquidise/blend until smooth.

You can serve with bread or (apparently) on top of rice or pasta though I have not done this.

donner_kebab

And a thank you for that one too! That sounds equally as yummy!

Hiya Karmakat! Chocolate mousse mmmmmmm! Bagged salad is such a rip off...I would end up buying it, having a tiny amount and then binning the rest as it would not get eaten. At least with meal planning I wouldn't get so much waste I suppose! Could try freezing some of the sides if I was mega hungry, usually it is just a case of me having eyes bigger than my stomach! Desperately need to get my oven working again. Hope that cooker element turns up soon...what with this postage strike!

Have just been and listed something else on ebay, gonna look for a few more bits and pieces!

LookingAhead

OK final one - so you have 4 new recipes now - is Hearty Tomato & Borlotti Bean Soup.

(You can get cans of Borlotti Beans from Sainsburys - they do a deal with various beans/pulses for 3 cans for £1.....)

Ingredients for 2 people

1 onion
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
Half kilogram of ripe tomatoes - chopped
1 cup of water
1 vegetable stock cube
Half a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce (I use Soy Sauce!)
Handful of dried parsley
1 can of Borlotti Beans rinsed & drained

Method:

* Coat a large pan with cooking spray or simply heat up a big splash of oil. the cook the chopped onion & chopped garlic, stirring until onion is soft.

* Add the chopped tomatoes and keep stirring until the tomato softens.

* Then stir in the combined water, crumbled stock cube and the soy or Worcesteshire sauce.

* Bring to the boil then lower the heat and cover. Simmer for 15 minutes.

* After 15 minutes blend the tomato mixture until it is almost smooth.

* Then stir in the Borlotti beans and the dried parsley. Simmer uncovered for around 5 minutes or until hot.

LookingAhead

OK you have 4 recipes there - can you see them all?