Weekly Wrap Up

We have come to the end of another week.

I won't attempt to do two weeks together again,  I totally messed up a lot of that and mixed some days and ingredients :(

At the end of the first part of the $50 fortnight, if you followed the actual menu.

you should have plenty of ingredients leftover for week 2 menu.

By the end of this week we should have had another week of satisfying meals and be starting to build some pantry staples.

We should have....
1/2 bag of pasta
1/2 bag of rice
1/2 of our block of cheese ( 250 g)
Most of a loaf of bread
1/2 box of frozen spinach
Curry Powder
1/2 packet of Taco Seasoning
A couple of carrots
A couple of onions

Please follow along next week and see how we go :-)


Comments I have had recently have asked for recipes for some dishes.
I will start to compile a cookbook that I will put into the downloads section.
I am very much a "throw it all in and hope for the best" cook, but I will do my best to write out some legible instructions. :-)

Quite a few times over the past couple of weeks I have served the budget menu dishes to the "Man of the House" as well as myself.  He has often said "That is not your $25 menu" when it actually has been.   Some of  tricks to making a dish not so "budget" are (I think) ; in no particular order. 

• Presentation.. We do eat with our eyes first, so a clean plate and food arranged nicely makes a good start. A pop of colour even in the form of a few grated carrot strips or a couple of salad leaves can lift an otherwise boring looking meal into something that resembles a more expensive dish.
• Size.   Now on a budget we are watching portion sizes purely from the fact that a large serve costs more. Some sneaky size stretching can be spreading a layer of mashed potato out over the plate instead of serving a small compact mound.  Grate or finely slice vegetables rather than large chunks.  Try to add air.. My souffle omelette for instance uses just ONE egg but fills the plate ( and the belly) possibly even more than 2 eggs on toast.
• Heat.  Have ever noticed how a hot meal fills you more than a cold one?  That is one reason why I will often toast a sandwich or have a hot lunch rather than meat a salad.
  Same ingredients, just add heat.