Halve your monthly shopping bills

2 weeks into our store cupboard challenge and it’s turning into quite a profitable start to the year. I’m reaping the rewards of no supermarket shopping and an imaginative cook.

While I’m no statistician, based on our fortnightly supermarket shops (average £130 per visit), we’ve been spending an extra £40 per week each on 'top up' ingredients. What’s clear is that if you put a stop to the 'top up shop', you can cut your food bills by a half. It’s just a question of planning. *

For the cook in our house, it’s tested much more than his patience. Neil’s had to think ahead and plan every meal carefully. So that when he comes home from work tired, and sees our pleading, hungry eyes, he’s able to magic something tasty out of limited ingredients in record time.

The real test came on Saturday night. While I was out munching delicious yakitori mackerel skewers with friends, Neil had drawn the short straw and had nothing but a near empty fridge for inspiration. I’d even given him the takeaway option, secretly hoping he wouldn’t, but feeling too guilty to say otherwise.

And what do I get, but a text halfway through our banquet saying he’d delved into the freezer and created: “one of the tastiest things ever”. I got to sample it the next day and crowned it the best dish yet this far: crack pho beef, you get the idea. Check it out here in all its glory: https://www.instagram.com/p/BAnUg6SBIG2/?taken-by=typographic

So next time you say there’s nothing in the fridge, perhaps ask yourself; what’s in the freezer… Next week we’ll be finding out what other treats can be made from the freezer.

Meal highlights this week:

Crack beef with udon noodles

Risotto with roasted butternut squash, cavolo nero and garlic croutons

Buttermilk fried chicken with a side of kimchi

Buta No Kakuni (Japanese braised pork belly) with helga beans, wakame and wild rice

Aubergine curry with tarka daal and carrot, sweetcorn and onion hajis

*I’m under no illusion that when we finish this challenge, we’ll have a massive shopping bill when we restock, but for now, we’re saving money in this our toughest month financially.

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Yaly Couture

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