COVER
ABOUT THE BOOK
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TITLE PAGE
DEDICATION
INTRODUCTION
A NOTE ON THE RECIPES
SHOPPING ON A BUDGET
ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS
THE SAVVY SHOPPER’S GUIDE TO DISCOUNT SUPERMARKETS
MY DISCOUNT SHOPPING LIST
ONE WEEK MEAL PLAN
CONVERSION TABLES
1 SOUPS AND SNACKS
ROASTED ONION AND PARMESAN SOUP
10-MINUTE TOMATO SOUP
SWEETCORN SOUP
MARMITE BROTH
REALLY SUPER NOODLES
RED PEPPER HOUMOUS CRISPBREADS
RED PESTO, SPINACH AND RED PEPPER PASTA
SPICY TUNA MELT
SPICY COUSCOUS PITTA BREADS
CHEESY ASPARAGUS AND BROCCOLI WHEELS
CARAMELISED ONION AND GOAT’S CHEESE TART
NAAN BREAD PIZZAS
CUBAN SANDWICH
CHEESE AND BASIL FRENCH TOAST
2 SIDES AND SALADS
CHEESY HERB BREAD
CHEESE, POTATO AND ONION ROSTI
GARLIC AND SOY ROAST POTATOES
LEEK AND CABBAGE
COURGETTE, FETA AND CHILLI
ROASTED LETTUCE
CARROT, CUCUMBER AND CHILLI MINT SALAD
CUCUMBER AND MINT RAITA RICE SALAD
ROAST POTATO AND HALLOUMI SALAD WITH BALSAMIC GLAZE
MUSTARD AND HONEY GREEN BEAN SALAD
BACON, SPRING ONION AND SOURED CREAM POTATO SALAD
ICEBERG WEDGES WITH FETA DRESSING
3 FISH
CRISPY FISH BITES
FISHCAKES
SMOKED MACKEREL PÂTÉ
SMOKED HADDOCK AND POTATO SOUP
THREE WAYS WITH TINNED TUNA
LOADED TUNA POTATO SKINS
TUNA RISSOLES
TINNED TUNA MEATBALLS
SALMON, POTATO AND DILL CRUMBLE
CURRIED MACKEREL RICE WITH TOASTED ALMONDS
TUNA PESTO PASTA
SARDINE BUTTER TAGLIATELLE WITH GARLIC BREADCRUMBS
SWEET CHILLI MACKEREL PASTA
COD IN LEMON BUTTER AND PARSLEY SAUCE
COUSCOUS-COATED SALMON
4 VEGETARIAN
MOROCCAN CHICKPEA CURRY
BUTTERNUT SQUASH RISOTTO
QUORN MOUSSAKA
RED PESTO, SUNDRIED TOMATO, FETA AND PISTACHIO SCONE-BASED PIZZA
SUNDRIED TOMATO, SPINACH AND GOAT’S CHEESE SPAGHETTI
SIMPLE VEGETABLE KORMA
VEGETARIAN TOAD IN THE HOLE
HOMITY PIE
CAULIFLOWER CHEESE WITH A KICK
VEGETARIAN MEATLOAF
QUORN CASSEROLE
5 CHICKEN
CHICKEN, POTATO AND CHORIZO TRAYBAKE
CHICKEN, CHEESE AND LEEK PATTIES
SAUCY CHICKEN AND PEPPER PIE
SPICY BREADED CHICKEN
CORIANDER, CHILLI AND LIME CHICKEN
CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD
THAI CHICKEN NOODLE BROTH
CASHEW CHICKEN STIR-FRY
FIERY PEANUT AND HONEY CHICKEN NOODLE SALAD
THAI GREEN CURRY
SATURDAY NIGHT CHICKEN BALTI
6 BEEF AND PORK
SAUSAGE AND ROASTED VEGETABLE PILAF
BOSTON BEANS
PORK LOIN STEAKS AND SAGE MOZZARELLA SAUCE
GORGONZOLA BURGER
SMOKY SAUSAGE AND BACON PASTA
SAUSAGE MEATBALL MARINARA SUB
CHILLI BEEF CANNELLONI
STEAK AND POTATO SALAD WITH CREAMY HORSERADISH DRESSING
THE BEST STEAK DINNER EVER!
PORK, MUSTARD AND CIDER STEW
7 SWEET TREATS
BLACK FOREST FROZEN YOGHURT
BLUEBERRY CRUNCH
PEANUT BUTTER SEED BALLS
MINT AND PISTACHIO CHOCOLATE POTS
15-MINUTE APPLE AND BLACKBERRY CRUMBLES
LEMON AND GINGER CAKE
FLAPJACK CAKES
EARL GREY MALT LOAF
CHOCOLATE BRIOCHE PUDDING
BANANA AND CHOCOLATE MUFFINS
MIXED BERRY AND WHITE CHOCOLATE COOKIES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
COPYRIGHT
If you love delicious food, spending less on your weekly shop and saving time, this cookbook is for you!
This book will show you how to navigate discount supermarkets and shop for fewer ingredients at low prices, without compromising on your favourite meals, flavour or satisfaction!
Open up for mouth-watering dishes including Caramelised Onion and Goat’s Cheese Tart, Steak and Potato Salad with Creamy Horseradish Dressing, Moroccan Chickpea Curry, and 15-minute Apple and Blackberry Crumbles.
Amy Sheppard is a busy mum of two boys, living in Cornwall. Amy grew up in Cornwall and was taught to cook by her Mum. There was never very much money, so the key was cooking great food on a budget, by shopping smart and using up leftovers. When Amy became a stay-at-home mum, the reduction in income meant that she had to be more frugal and imaginative in the way that she shopped and cooked. Returning to the cooking style she was brought up on, Amy began to develop simple budget recipes for her own family.
This book was written with busy people in mind; enabling them to get everything they need from discount supermarkets, by providing simple, healthy meal ideas that don’t cost the earth.
Like everybody else, I had heard about the meteoric rise of discount supermarkets. Friends had tried for ages to convince me of the savings and quality that they were offering; but I didn’t want to change – I hate change! When I finally ventured into my local discount supermarket, I felt like I was walking into a party I hadn’t been invited to. There was an aura of contented smugness to the customers, wandering around as though part of a special secret club. It was confusing at first, but I did what I’d come to do. I shopped. I shopped and I saved – massively. And then I understood the smugness...
These shops are not the size of aircraft hangars, which require an hour of careful navigation to fill even the smallest of trolleys. They do not sell 18 different types of tomato ketchup (that’s right, I counted). You do not have to wade through overcomplicated special offers or have discounted food dangled in front of your trolley. They are simple, direct, and they do what they say on the tins(!). I was fully converted, and have never looked back.
However, there can be a few drawbacks. When I first made the switch, I continued to get at least one bag of shopping from another, more traditional, supermarket each week. I was making the same meals I always had, and I simply couldn’t get all of the ingredients I needed. What’s more, neither could my friends. Then, it occurred to me that it was the recipes that I needed to change, not the supermarket. So I went back to the drawing board.
I realised that these discount supermarkets are a cook’s heaven. They are ingredient-led and, as a result, ingredient rich. I was even able to come up with recipes using ingredients that I would never have dreamt of using in a midweek meal before, because of the high cost of them when purchased elsewhere.
So there it is: my concept for a cookery book. Soups and Snacks, Sides and Salads, Fish, Vegetarian, Chicken, Beef and Pork and Sweet Treats, all made using simple, discount supermarket ingredients, all of which can be bought from the leading discount supermarkets.
To get the best out of a discount supermarket, you need to think like a discount supermarket!... These recipes aren’t just about budget cooking; they are about scaling down your food shop and making more from less. You won’t find complicated methods or long ingredient lists. It’s about simplifying your shopping and your cooking. That’s where the real savings lie, both in time and money.
If you’re looking for a cookbook to make impressive dinner party food, this one might not be for you! If, however, you’re looking for simple but delicious, cheap and, for the most part, healthy midweek dinner or lunch ideas to match your shopping habits, this might be just what you’ve been searching for.
I have tried to make the recipes in this book as simple as possible, both in execution and explanation. I am assuming that, as you have bought this book, clearly you have an interest in food, so I don’t need to explain in exhaustive detail how to chop an onion. You know how to chop an onion!
I don’t include total cooking or preparation time in any of my recipes. This is for two reasons. Firstly, I find that few people ever look at cooking times in recipe books. Secondly, you don’t know how long it takes me to chop a carrot, or grate some cheese, and I don’t know how long it takes you! I will, of course, tell you how long something needs to be in the oven, on the hob or in the microwave, but the prep time is up to you as you juggle everything else you might be doing that day.
You won’t see long lists of ingredients in this book either. I love simplicity in cooking. All of the ingredients I use bring something to the table or they don’t go in the dish. You can be sure that if the recipe calls for it, it needs to be included.
Having said this, it’s really important to make the recipes work for you. So feel free to swap out or add ingredients to suit your family. It makes me really happy to hear how people have adapted my recipes. Not only because it gives me ideas(!) but because, if you’ve made it work for you, you will probably keep cooking it.
Most of the dishes in this book are created for four people. We are a family of four so it made sense to make the recipes with this quantity in mind. You can obviously scale down all of the recipes to feed two, or even better, stick with what is listed and freeze half for another day!
a note on FISH
I use a mix of fresh and frozen fish depending on where I buy my ingredients and what is on offer that week. As long as they are thoroughly defrosted you can use either. However, I try to use frozen where possible as it tends to be cheaper and you can defrost what you need for that recipe, and save the rest for another time.
I nearly didn’t include this section in the book. I was worried that I might sound a bit preachy about shopping on a budget. Especially when I have weeks myself where my food recycling is overflowing and meal planning is thin on the ground! This list is a useful reminder to me.
It is so hard when life is busy to pay attention to your supermarket shop. Let’s face it, it’s boring. But making just a couple of changes will have a big impact on your weekly spend. These are some of the rules I try to live by:
BUY FROZEN AND TINNED FRUIT AND VEG
They cost less and are just as good for you (so long as they’re not packed in juices with added sugar). They won’t go off as quickly and, with frozen vegetables, you can simply use as much as you need.
SWITCH BRANDS
It sounds obvious, but we get very used to buying the same brands every week. Try swapping some of your branded items for ‘own’ brands. Some of the savings are huge!
PAY ATTENTION TO PRICES
We can get so used to our regular supermarket that we often don’t check the prices. Check the cost of everything you put in your trolley – you may change your mind about some items!
SET A BUDGET AND TRY TO STICK TO IT
I know that it’s easier said than done but when you focus on a maximum spend, it’s amazing how much you will realise you don’t need!
PLAN YOUR MEALS
Choose seven dinners and seven lunches that you are going to eat that week and write your weekly shopping list around them. It’s difficult to plan for more than a week ahead and you’ll usually end up spending more money doing ‘top-up shops’ if you do. Think little and often.
MAKE YOUR OWN LUNCH
It’s really hard to find affordable food on the go, so make your own to take to work. Packed lunches are cheaper, healthier and a good way to use up leftovers.
MAKE EXTRA PORTIONS OF FOOD
That way, you can freeze portions, so you aren’t tempted to buy expensive ready meals on nights when you’re too busy to cook.
GO VEGETARIAN
Veggie meals are usually significantly cheaper than cuts of meat. Try going meat free at least one day a week.
KEEP A NOTE OF THE FOOD YOU’RE THROWING AWAY EACH WEEK
It’s easy to buy things out of habit without noticing that it’s never used. If you’re throwing away the same things – stop buying them!
HAVE A PLAN FOR EVERYTHING YOU BUY
Don’t buy food just because it’s on offer. When you write your meal plan, try to think about ingredients that might be left over and what recipe would use them up.
There are a few staple ingredients that you will find you need to use for most recipes in one form or another, so I have included some notes about the herbs, spices and oils that I use most often, all of which are available from most discount supermarkets.
HERBS AND SPICES