Cheap Chicken Fajitas

We love a Mexican night in our house. It certainly helps with the decision of what to have for tea. As with my Banging Bargain Burritos, I wanted to show you with the same few spices you can make the fajitas without buying the kits. Don't forget to buy the wraps from the bread aisle, not the section near the Mexican food kits they do cost more. These are so tasty and can be altered to almost anybody's liking. Like B.B.Q fajitas? Use half B.B.Q sauce and half passata. Like them hot? Throw in some jalapenos or up the heat of the chilli powder. Play around with food and make it your own, experiment with flavours and involve the family. Have a themed night each week to help with tea ideas, we tried Mexican Monday, Meat free Wednesday and Fish Friday!

For the fajitas:

3 chicken fillets cut into strips

3 peppers sliced

2 red onions sliced

300ml passata 

3 tsp cumin

3 tsp garlic powder

3 tsp paprika

3 tsp mild chilli powder

Tbsp oil

Wraps

After you cut the chicken shake all the spices onto the meat to marinate for 30 minutes or more covered in the fridge.

In a frying pan with the oil fry off the chicken for 15 minutes.

Add the peppers, onions and passata and cook for a further 15 minutes until the sauce reduces.

Spoon the mixture into a warm serving dish and take to the table with the wraps, salad and trimmings for everyone to make their own.

Banging bargain burritos

I'm wondering how many of you buy the Mexican food kits that cost around £3 each and then 'only' require you to add the most expensive ingredient, the meat? I used to before I realised buying it separately and making your own sauce was way cheaper, just as tasty and you know exactly what you're eating. I did burritos but the principal is the same with fajitas, enchiladas, tacos in fact any of the kits you see ready made. They only include wraps and a sauce, so buy the wraps separately but make sure you get the supermarkets own brand, usually found on the bread aisle, not the ones they advertise near the ready done kits as these are more expensive to fool you into thinking you get a better deal buying the packs. The sauce is easily made with a few spices, again buy the cheap ones and once you have them in you can make a whole range of different recipes that you might normally buy a packet/ jar of sauce for, saving you loads of money in the long run. These went down a treat with my family last night, you could add sweetcorn, peppers or even baked beans if you don't like kidney beans.

500g minced beef

Pack of 8 wraps

2 x cartons passata (just use the cheapest supermarkets own brand)

Large onion

Tin kidney beans

Grated cheese (just to sprinkle on top of the burritos)

Tsp cumin

1-2 tsp garlic powder

Tsp chilli powder

Tsp paprika

On a high heat in a frying pan brown the mince and drain off any fat.

Dice the onion (and peppers if you are using.) 

In a separate pan on a medium heat with some oil, cook the onions and all the spices together until they are soft.

Add the onions and spices to the mince with the kidney beans and one of the jars of passata.

Cook these all together for ten minutes on a medium heat.

Place a serving spoon full of the mix into a wrap and fold the top and bottom into the middle and then each side creating a parcel.

Place the parcels into a roasting tin.

Pour over half the other carton of passata then sprinkle with cheese.

Cook for 15-20 minutes at 180 or until the cheese is bubbling and serve with a fresh salad, wedges or as they are!

Chilli gone barmy and nom nom nachos

With the cold spell we are having at the moment, (it makes for some beautiful pictures) this tea is perfect. It was going to be a chilli con carne, however I forgot to buy some of the ingredients and had to improvise and do you know what? It tastes better for it! This is a good one for this time of year as it's filling, healthy and cheap! Have it on it's own, with the nachos, jacket potato, rice, pasta or chips, it's your choice. I have a very slap dash approach to cooking just lately and want to stress to you all even though I give you a recipe, feel free to play around and make it your own. The nachos make a lovely supper or an accompaniment to a Mexican meal, these however are probably not as good for the waist line. Then again with the weather at the moment we need a little fat on our bones.....right?

Nachos

Tortilla chips (Asda's own brand are only 46p for a 200g bag!)

Rocket (optional)

Sweet chilli sauce

Cheese grated

Layer the crisps and cheese and grill until the cheese melts

Dish up on top of the rocket (it makes you feel less guilty)

Dribble on the sauce and enjoy!

My son Chase, hubby Paul and Louie the lab enjoying the snow!

For the chilli

500g minced beef

Red pepper diced

Onion sliced

Passata 500g carton (Lidl)

Tin kidney beans

Tin baked beans

Tsp cumin

Tsp chilli powder

Tsp paprika

300ml beef stock (oxo and water)

Fry off the mince and drain off the fat

In a pan with some oil add the pepper and onion and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes with the cumin, chilli and paprika

When the onion and pepper are soft add the drained mince, passata, beef stock and give a good stir

Add both tins of beans and leave to simmer for at least 20 minutes serve as suggested above!

Its that easy...Here are some more of my snow pictures to enjoy

Louie is such a poser

Barbeque bean bake that won't break the bank

Try saying that after a few...Okay so this one is thanks to the fantastic Jamie Oliver and his money saving meals however I have tweaked it slightly and you are welcome to do the same. That's the secret to cooking, there is no right or wrong, just somebody else's way and yours! I also did this with Jamie's cheesy croutons (ciabatta torn into chunks, cheese grated over the top and oven for 20 minutes at 180) however, with the jacket potato as well, it was a bit too much for me. I would suggest these deliciously smoky, sweet beans with either the jacket potato and some salad, maybe as a spicy version of beans on toast with the ciabatta halved and grilled or throw in some sausages! Have fun with it, throw in the remains of the tomato pasta sauce that's been sitting in the fridge all week (I did) Also the best part, it's good for you! I used good old baked beans for this but you could use kidney, cannellini, mixed beans, any you like.

2 tins baked beans

2 carrots chopped

2 red onions sliced

500ml passata (It's just tomato sauce, use chopped tomatoes if you like)

100ml bbq sauce (I'm intrigued to know how brown sauce would taste with this too!)

Tsp cumin powder (Leave it out if you haven't got it)

Tsp chilli powder/flakes

1 and half tsp paprika

Rosemary

4 large potatoes 

Preheat the oven to 180

Pierce the potatoes, rub the skins in oil, sprinkle on some salt and place in the oven on a baking tray

Place the chopped carrots, onions, rosemary, spices and a drizzle of oil in a roasting tray and put in the oven for 20 minutes

They should be nice and sticky and soft

Pour on the beans, tomato and bbq sauce and give it all a stir before returning to the oven for 40 minutes

It should be reducing nicely now, stir it again (if you are having the croutons stick them in now) and return for 20 minutes when everything should be ready together. 

Don't blame me for the aftermath....you know what they say.....beans, beans good for the heart...

Simple steak and ale pie

I actually thought I had already blogged this, my memory is terrible at the moment, something I'm blaming on the kids. I just have to walk through a door and my memory is wiped clean. So my steak and ale pie is a delicious winter warmer, don't forget it is actually still winter put those salads away!! As with the beef bourguignon, it really doesn't matter what beer you use. For mine I used the cheapest bottle I could get my hands on, Golden goose 90p from Lidl and it tasted yummy! Perfect served with mashed sweet potato and some greens.

350g diced stewing steak

250g mushrooms chopped
Onion chopped
500ml bottle ale/beer/stout whichever you like
Tbsp tomato puree (leave it out if you have none it doesn't matter)
Flour tbsp
Oil tbsp
Puff pastry

Coat the meat in flour and pepper
On a high heat brown the meat in the oil
When the meat's browned place into a large pan and pour over the beer, add some water if not covered
In the frying pan cook the mushrooms and onions for 5 minutes and add to the pan with the meat
Stir in the tomato puree and place on a medium heat until simmering
Turn down low and leave for a couple of hours remembering to stir so it doesn't burn
If the liquid is not as thick as you want it after it's been cooking then add some gravy granules
Pour the mixture into an oven proof dish and top with puff pastry
Cook in a preheated oven at 200 for 25-35 minutes or until pastry is golden

Posh nosh for less dosh!

Firstly, let me take this opportunity to thank you all for taking the time to read my posts and wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year! I hope none of you are planning on rushing out and buying the latest exercise gimmicks for the new year, new you con, as I will be doing healthy lifestyle for less posts in January. As promised on my Facebook page, I'm going to share my goats cheese tart with you, definitely not for slimming this one. It's not the cheapest as the goats cheese was £1.70 per person however the end result is nothing short of spectacular (if you like goats cheese that is, otherwise it will be gross!) A child could put it together it's very simple. The onion relish is the perfect accompaniment. Another fancy looking meal that's easy to throw together for a special occasion costing very roughly £2.00 per person it's a cheap alternative to eating out!

4 circles of goats cheese
Block of puff pastry
4 small/med red onions
2 tbsp sugar (I use brown but white will work to)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
20g butter
Salad to serve

Preheat the oven to 200 and place a handful of salad on each plate

Stand the goats cheese on the rolled out puff pastry and cut a circle an inch wider than the cheese, as you can see I did a cheddar and tomato one for my son Chase
Scrunch (it's a technical term) the pastry around the sides of the cheese so it's surrounded
Season with pepper
Place in the oven for 30 minutes or until the cheese is golden
While the tarts are cooking slice your red onions and place them in a frying pan with the butter on a med/high heat

Add the sugar and balsamic and cook until sticky and soft

All that's left is to plate up make pretty and enjoy!

Bargain beef bourguignon

After a very successful teatime shop at Lidl I managed to bag some great bargains! Among them I got lots of meat including a great big pork carvery joint for Christmas for just £6.99 (last year I paid £14 for the same joint!) and some stewing steak reduced. We have not long had a steak pie so I wanted to do something different so I thought I would do beef bourguignon. I'm sure there will be wine snobs out there demanding I rename it as I haven't used Burgundy but I wanted to prove you can have a tasty meal without using the expensive ingredients. Of course the more expensive and tastier the wine, the tastier the meal, but I had no complaints and I used a £2.99 bottle of house red. This meal is such a delicious winter warmer. You can serve with a pile of creamy mash, or in a bowl on its own with crusty bread. My husband demanded a pastry lid so mine was a pie. What hubby wants....

                                                

Pack stewing steak

5 shallots sliced/ or 2 onions

2 carrots sliced

300g mushrooms chopped

Tsp dried or fresh thyme 

75cl bottle red wine

Flour 

                                                

Coat the meat in flour seasoned with pepper and fry in a hot pan with tbsp oil until browned.

Transfer into a deep pan.

In the same pan you browned the meat, add the chopped vegetables, thyme and a glass of the red wine to deglaze the bottom of the pan.

Cook these for about ten minutes or so then add to the pan with the meat.

Pour in the whole bottle of red (okay no-one will notice a glass missing wink wink!)

                                                       
When it begins to simmer leave for at least 2 hours on a very low heat.
When you come to serve if it needs thickening add some gravy granules or corn flour.
                                     

Bob's bargain bacon one pot panhaggerty

Having looked at a few variations of this recipe for panhaggerty, mainly because I wondered why I'd heard so many names for it, I've discovered the dish varies slightly depending on the region. Pan haggerty is a dish from Northumberland involving cheese, potatoes and onions, while panackelty is the Sunderland version with corned beef, onions and potatoes. They all have one thing in common, they're extremely cheap to make, can all be done in one pot, very tasty and very inexpensive. I'm going to give you the lovely Bob's recipe from Whitby for panhaggerty as he called it. I made this for our tea and it tasted absolutely beautiful. So meaty, filling and warming. Perfect for this time of year. Even the kids loved it.

350g Cooking bacon cut into chunks
200g Black pudding
2 onions sliced
4 large potatoes thickly sliced
2 oxos
Flour

In a large pan or oven dish (can be done on the hob or in the oven) line the base of pan with a layer  of sliced potato
Sprinkle some onion over the potatoes
Crumble some black pudding and some oxo on top
Scatter the bacon chunks over the top and a dusting of flour and repeat the process until you have a few layers of each ingredient.
Finally pour boiling water over the ingredients (I poured too much on and have been left with a lovely thick ox-tail soup like gravy which was yummy with bread!)
Bring to the boil and leave to simmer on a low heat for an hour or more until nice and thick and serve immediately. (If doing in the oven put in a casserole dish on 200 for an hour or more)

Tea so easy the kids made it

I have to start by admitting this doesn't look the most appetising dish granted. But it's so tasty and you can run wild with this one using up whatever vegetables you have left and turning them into a tasty  treat that the kids can get involved in making. Letting the little ones help is the best thing you can do for them after all its one of the biggest skills they will need in life. So these tasty vegetable fritters are pretty much open to being played with as you see fit try adding spices or herbs anything you like.

Med. Potato grated
Onion sliced
Carrot cubed
Red pepper cubed
Spring onion sliced
2 med tomatoes skinned, deseeded and sliced
2 tbsp sweet corn
2 tbsp frozen peas
100g flour
2 eggs
Salt and pepper
Oil for frying

Put all the vegetables in a bowl
Add the eggs and flour and mix well and season
Heat a frying pan with some oil on a medium heat and preheat oven to 180
Fry a tablespoon of the mix for two mins each side until golden and finish off in the oven for 10 mins.

Cheap winter warmer or fancy starter? You decide!

Today's recipe is cream of onion soup, so simple and tasty. Considering it costs pence to make you can make it look like a starter in any top restaurant with a couple of finishing touches. It's a nice, filling winter warmer served as either a lunch with crusty bread or toast, or as indeed a starter with some croutons and a cheese crisp, if you fancy cooking a meal for your other half on the cheap. My husband and kids love it, even the dog polished off some I spilled on the floor and he seemed to like it too!

Serves 4
3 med-large white onions
1 pint chicken stock (ideal if you have some leftover from the chowder like me)
40g butter/marg or 2tbsp oil
2 tbsp flour
1/2 pint milk or 300ml single cream (richer with cream but still as tasty with milk)
Salt and pepper to taste.

For the croutons

1 slice bread sliced into squares
Oil

Fry in a pan until golden. Done! (You could always toast the bread for a healthier alternative)

 For the cheese crisps grate some cheese, I just used mature cheddar, and place on some greaseproof paper in little mounds and cook on high for a few minutes (just keep checking them until they bubble and melt) leave them to cool.

For the soup, chop the onions into slices roughly and on a medium heat melt the butter. Sweat the onions in the butter for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally so they don't stick to the pan.

 When they are clear and soft add the flour and stir in. Turning the heat up a bit higher add the chicken stock gradually to the floury onions stirring constantly until the flour dissolves and you have added all the liquid. Boil for a few minutes and turn down to a lower heat stir in the milk/cream. I prefer to leave salt and pepper for people to season as they like it individually. Dish up and add your croutons and cheese crisp and a drizzle of oil for presentation!

Cheap and easy autumn tea

Leek and potato soup with warm cheese scones.

Soup ingredients.
Onion
4 leeks
3 potatoes
Half pint veg/chicken stock

Chop the onions, leeks and potatoes into chunks and sweat in butter or oil in a pan until soft. Add the stock and boil for about ten minutes. Blend to desired thickness as salt and proper to taste. If too thick thin with a bit of milk or water.

Cheese scones.

225g plain flour
2 and a half tsp baking powder
50g butter
125g cheese
Tsp mustard/powder
140ml milk

Mix flour and baking powder together, rub in the butter and mustard and then add the grated cheese. Moving with a knife add the milk until dough is formed. Roll out as thick as you want scones and cut. Put in preheated oven at 180 for 20 mins.

Hope you enjoyed my autumn cheap tea!