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Budget Recipes


sonnetjie

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Here is one of ours. I have shared it in the ladies lounge, but thought all could benefit from it

Quick and easy lentil soup

[A].In a pot bring to boil 1 litre of homemade lamb, beef or chicken stock with 2 cups orange lentils. Let the lentils cook till they start disintegrating usually 45-50 min. Fry in a little olive oil the following: 7 garlic cloves you have pushed through a garlic press, 1 teaspoon ground coriander and 1 teaspoon ground cumin, and about 1 1/2 teaspoon to 2 1/2 teaspoon of ground sea salt. Fry till you see the garlic has cooked about 2min. Add to [A] and simmer for another 25-30 min. Soup is ready to serve. If the soup has gone really solid or concentrated due to liquid reducing, just add a little hot water. When soup is very thick, I add half the soup in a soup plate and then just add a little hot water for each soup bowl to thin it. The soup freezes well. The quality of your stock will increase the flavour of your soup. You can use water, but the stock gives it heaps more flavour and body. We serve this with a nice crisp green salad - so far even the fussy eaters enjoy it. The garlic cooks into the soup so it becomes really mild.

(We use the stock made while cooking a roast in the Romertopf for the soup, so no added effort. Because the meat stays so moist in the Romertopf you don’t need to add any gravy to it. All the juices that usually get lost are “captured†in the Romertopf. After a roast is cooked it usually has lots of liquid below it. I pour this liquid into a glass bowl & allow it to cool down. Pop it into the fridge. A fat layer then forms over the liquid, which goes hard. I remove the fat layer and then a jelly like stock substance is left behind preservative and additive free. I freeze this and use it to flavour stews, soups and vegetables etc.)

We had this last night and it was very nourishing, tasty and great on the budget.

Edited by sonnetjie
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I will try to post some actual recipes, but some general points:

* Soups as a whole are great.

* Hubby is vegetarian and i cook very little meat. I find that if i cook veg that is in season you can save a lot of money. Freeze tomatoes when they are cheap in season.

* Pasta, rice dishes are also really well priced, especially if you use veggie based sources.

* Try to avoid processed food although it is easier.

* Beans and lentils can "pad" out meat dishes if you do use meat and when i do cook meat i stick to mince etc. You can use cheaper cuts of meat if you cook them in stews etc.

* For the last two years i have been growing my own veggies, which is such a money saver. I also like it as the stuff is so fresh and you can pick what you need.

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