Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

rtandon27

@BrilliantButScary - I'm wondering if the marrow bake is a riff on this WW stuffed eggplant recipe?

foxgloves

Hi @rtandon27 , No, it's different to that one (though that looks nice too). Will try to remember to post the recipe tomorrow.
F

foxgloves

As promised.......
Lamb & marrow bake (I'm sure this was a WW recipe but from a very long time ago. I do like to credit the source. I have never been a WW member but did occasionally buy their magazine years ago so am assuming that's where I found the recipe)
Anyway....serves 4 & as there are 2 of us, we find it re-heats well for a 'cook once, eat twice' win.
2 tsp oil
800g marrow (or annoyingly large courgettes) cut into 1cm cubes
1 onion, finely chopped
400g lean lamb mince
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 tsp mint sauce * (see note)
2 tbsp cornflour
300ml skimmed milk
50g reduced fat cheddar, grated
450g potatoes, peeled & thinly sliced
Seasoning

Pre-heat oven to Gas 4. Fry marrow cubes in the oil until starting to brown. Remove & set aside.
Add onion & cook for 3 - 4 mins, then add mince to brown for about 5 mins. Stir in the puree & mint sauce & cook for a further 1 min. Set aside.
Make sauce from the milk & cornflour, season with salt & pepper & stir in half the cheese.
Layer it into a lasagne-type dish - marrow cubes, mince, potato slices, marrow, mince, potato slices. Spread the cheese sauce over the top & sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
Bake for about 45mins until golden on top & potato slices are cooked.

Tasty & filling. One of our favourites during courgette glut season & worth snapping up any yellow sticker lamb mince🐊 you happen to see.

* Just a note about the mint. We've never used mint sauce as it isn't something we buy, though I've occasionally made it. We use either a little chopped fresh mint from the garden or a couple of spoonfuls of homemade apple & mint jelly. Have also used redcurrant or hedgerow jelly if that's what we've got in. However, I've listed mint sauce in the ingredients, as it was in the original recipe. 
F x

BrilliantButScary

Thanks @ Foxgloves,
Definitely giving this a whirl, we have a glut of courgettes too!
I've made courgette fritters this week, from this recipe:

https://www.tamingtwins.com/courgette-fritters-recipe/

and one of our go to recipes is this:


https://www.allotment-garden.org/recipe/1868/courgette-bacon-chilli-garlic-pesto-pasta-recipe/

I thought both web sites might be of interest to you, and your devoted followers,  although you may well be already familiar with them

BBS x

foxgloves

Thanks for the links, @BrilliantButScary. I regularly make pasta with home made pesto & courgettes, but hadn't thought of adding bacon. If I mention that to Mr F, he'll defo want it, so I may as well make it anyway & surprise him.
F

Makingabobor2

Sounds brilliant, thanks for posting

Suffolk_lass

foxgloves said:

Thanks for the links, @BrilliantButScary. I regularly make pasta with home made pesto & courgettes, but hadn't thought of adding bacon. If I mention that to Mr F, he'll defo want it, so I may as well make it anyway & surprise him.
F

Oh yes, with some streaky, smoked bacon, cooked to the point of almost no return - burnt-on-crispy bits (Mr Sl maintains this is this is the additional flavour after hot, sweet, sour, salty, and umami). He (Mr Sl) applies this to lasagne dishes and baked homemade rice pudding, and much residue removal!!

My Mum's mint sauce was minced through a handle-winding herb mill, sprinkled with a little granulated sugar and then some vinegar - so simple. I remember making it with her from about four years old!

foxgloves

Hello Frugalistas & thanks for all your comments & contributions.
Not that many things to report today but it's definitely been a useful day so far.
*Big Budget Day. Usual drill.....I shan't bore you with the detail, except to say that I reconciled August's budget, as usual, then worked on setting September's. Only one bit of weirdness. A transaction which I made last week with my Visa debit card, & which I DEFINITELY saw listed as a 'pending' transaction on our bank account (I even made a note that it was pending) has vanished into the ether. Most odd! I shall keep an eye on our account over the next few days to see if it turns up. 
*Budgeted what I consider a reasonable amount of money for forthcoming holiday expenses. Cottage is paid for, fuel will pretty much just replace the fuel from the days Mr F is on holiday rather than doing over a week of commuting to work, so it was really only food, coffees, etc, I needed to cover. Have looked at how the holiday integrates into our normal grocery budget cycle & after we've bought a few edibles to take with us (we can take most of it from our own pantry), we will also be able to add the remaining grocery budget from that week. Ran it past Mr F as I know he's keen to go out for a nice meal at a pub we visited last time we were there, & he thinks it will be fine. As with all self-catering holidays, it makes sense not to waste money buying essentials which could have quite easily been taken from home. I'd rather spend the money I've put aside for more treaty things - a cream tea, lunch by the sea, dinner out, etc.
*Big filing session. My in-basket is looking a lot more organised now.
*Did a survey. 
*Garden pickings: Blackberries, french beans.
*Kitchen economies: Found a bunch of carrots in the pantry which aren't going to be eaten. Now prepped & frozen together with some of the beans.
Apart from making dinner later, that's me done with jobs for the day. I just need to contact my S-i-L to find out how many of them are coming over for dinner at the weekend as will be useful catering knowledge.
I read @Sun_Addict's diary today, about all the things which need doing before her holiday, using up food, etc, & it really struck a chord with what needs to be happening here too, so that was a little bit of a kick up the proverbial for me, @Sun_Addict! 
The rain has stopped so maybe a couple of chapters out on the reading bench with any felines who fancy a treat & a stroke.
F x

foxgloves

Ha! My Sewing Day has dawned & I'm NOT bumping it for a 3rd time, even if it means I need to deliver a quick training session to Soot & Ash on gathering windfall pears & being helpful little soldiers. Soot is currently helping by being asleep (full of breakfast) & Ash is engaged in performing an extreme pedicure on the living room rug.
Dinner is from this week's 'use-it-up' meal plan (tandoori-baked salmon fillets, shared portion of the bombay potatoes I batch-cooked a while ago & courgettes) & won't take long to prepare.
Just off to open the greenhouse & empty the coffee machine ready for my breakfast at 10am, then straight onto sleeve-gathering. Am hoping it will be a positive productive session & that I don't bog it up (also possible, as I'm not a confident dressmaker & have gone back to basics to build actual sewing, rather than fabric-bodging skills). 
Wishing everyone a pleasant, trouble-free Friday,
F x

joedenise

A tip for gathering in case you don't know (or your sis hasn't mentioned it) - use the longest stitch on your machine and sew 2 parallel rows of stitching.  The reason for this is in case one lot of sticking breaks (I think!) so all is not lost as you'll still have the other row to continue with.

Hope I'm not teaching "your granny to suck eggs"!