Hello lovelies! I hope are enjoying the weekend. 🙂
I’m so sorry. I was supposed to announce the winners of the Whole Earth Giveaway last night, but after a lovely meal and a major catch up with my friend I got home late and was so tired. So to end the suspense for all of you peanut butter lovers, without further ado:
The winner of the main prize is:
Candy:
The winners of the 3 runner’s up prizes are:
Laura:
Suze:
CONGRATULATIONS lovely ladies and a BIG thank you to everyone that took part! Please could all of the winners email your addresses to celeryandcupcakes@gmail.com so I organise the delivery of your prizes.
This weekend I have been enjoying some delicious eats starting with yesterday’s breakfast:
This bowl of heavenly Strawberry and Chocolate oats included 1/4 cup of oats, 1 cup of hemp milk, 2 cups of water, 2 tbsp of chia seeds, 1 scoop of strawberry protein powder, 1 tsp of organic cocoa powder and frozen strawberries, perfect! I topped it with apricot kernels, sunflower seeds and smooth peanut butter. This was such a great start to my weekend.
This morning I headed out for my usual run. Since I’m not training for anything anymore I decided to keep my run to a shorter distance and ran 6.1 miles in 58 minutes. I was really happy with my pace on this run as I seem to be retaining some kind of consistency on all of runs at the moment, which I’m loving. After getting in from my run I made a really simple but delicious green smoothie to refuel:
Spinach, a conference pear, hemp protein, maca powder, acai berry juice, xanthan and guar gums topped with sunflower seeds and Dorset Cereals strawberry and raspberry cereal.
My breakfast was more like lunch as I had a lovely lie in this morning- my body really appreciated the extra sleep. So in the afternoon I decided to make a snack plate to tide me over till dinner, which consisted of toasted sunflower seed rye bread, raw cucumber, raw carrot, raw carrots and Sabra hummus and two plums. I know I’m on a budget cinching mission, but I just couldn’t resist the lure of Sabra. It’s just to good!
Talking of food budgeting I whilst grocery shopping I decided to stock up on some dried beans and pasta and rice:
Dried red kidney beans, long grain wild rice, pearl barley, dried chickpeas, green lentils and wholewheat spaghetti.
I also raided my cupboards to check for dried beans and grains and found a whole treasure trove of stuff:
Yellow split peas, green split peas, broth mix, bulgar wheat, buckwheat, wholemeal cous cous, pearl barley, millet, dried black eyed beans, dried black turtle beans, dried mung beans, red lentils, dried adzuki beans, dried soya beans…phew I think that’s everything!
I think all of this lot should keep my going for a few months! All I really need to do now is to just restock my veggies, fruit and condiments (when necessary). As a result of digging out all of this dried bean and grain loveliness I thought it would make perfect sense to use them. I decided to cook a gorgeous dhal for dinner:
*Chick Pea and Red Lentil Curry*
Ingredients (vegan, serves 2-3)
- 1 sliced onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 inch of ginger sliced
- 6 cherry tomatoes sliced
- handfuls of spinach
- runner beans beans (optional)
- 1 red pepper diced
- 1 cup of red lentils
- 2 cups of chickpeas
- 1 tbsp of hot madras powder
- 1 tbsp of tomato puree
- 1 tsp of turmeric
- 1 tsp of dried coriander
- 1/2 tsp of dried chilli flakes (optional)
- 1 tsp of cumin
- 2 star anise
- 1 bay leaf
- water
- seasonings
Cook the sliced onion in some canola oil until softened and then add the garlic and ginger and cook for a few minutes. Add the spices and the tomato puree and cook out the spices until the onions are coated and the pan becomes dry. Next add the red pepper, broad beans, tomatoes and red lentils cook until the pepper and beans become tender. Add enough water to cover the red lentils and also add the bay leaf and star anise to the pan and allow to simmer for 15 minutes. If you feel that the sauce has reduced to much you can add more water to the pan. When the red lentils are cooked at the chickpeas to heat through and stir in the the spinach until it has wilted.
Serve and enjoy
This tasted really lovely and is very easy on the budget. I even had enough to stash in the freezer for a rainy day. I’ve been cooking up some wild rice, carrot and ginger soup and a Three Bean Chilli to stock up my freezer with quick and easy meals. The Three Bean Chilli is part of a Budget Busting Meals series of recipes that I am working on- recipe to come.
I hope you all have a great week! 🙂
What are your favourite Budget Busting Meals?
Is there a particular budget friendly meal that you would like me to try out on the blog?
I think chilli in general is a great cheap meal- I used tinned beans but they still work out super cheap- add a tin of tomatoes, a few veggies and spices and you have a couple of meals right there.
I agree, chilli is such a great hearty and cheap meal. 🙂
Grains and legumes are my fave budget friendly options. Plus frozen veggies, because they are really cheap and you can mix all of them together to create a nice rounded meal. And I like to make my own hummus, because it is like hundred times cheaper than buying it, it´s the same as with nut butters. Your “on-budget meals” look really great, no one would guess you are trying to save some money :))
Ha! Thanks! Legumes are the perfect budget busters. 🙂
your curry looks amazing! and you are right, I should definitely use legumes more often due to my attempt to cut my budget at the moment. So thanks for the recipe, I’ll give it a try soon.
Legumes are a great way to go if you ar eon a budget. They pack out a meal really well and are really filling!
The curry looks fantastic!! I’ve never made curry before. I’ll have to save your recipe to try it out one day 😀
It’s really lovley and so easy to make. I hope you like it! 🙂
My budget meals tend to be a lot a veggie curries, because the veg is cheap and then you can just bang in the flavour. I’m also a fan of soups because they are so filling and again – sometimes you can just bang everything in!
I’m really looking forward to seeing some more of your budget ideas! I love the challenge of eating healthy nutritious meals on a budget, its like a little game!
Curries and soups are the most perfect budget meals and you can make them so flavourful too. 🙂
nice budget meals!
Thanks!
That looks delicious! I’ve been absolutely loving chickpeas lately. It’s still much too warm for soup here..but I’m saving this for fall!
Thank you! I hope you like it! 🙂
I think we’re all starting to feel the pinch now that we’re on the rundown to Christmas. I can’t believe how many dried beans and grains you have. I must admit that I usually stick to tinned beans even though dried are so much cheaper!
I couldn’t believe how many I had hiding away either- I can’t wait to get cooking with them.
congrats to the winners!
i love the way u decorate ur smoothies and oats–they look so good! im thinking of making strawberry choco oats now 🙂 thanks for the inspiration girl!!!
Your welcome sweetie- I hope you like it!
I’m intrigued by the turtle beans! They sound great, as does the curry 🙂
I just try to buy in bulk, cook lots at once and freeze some but dried beans/rice/etc has got to be the way forward for budgeting – I’m just never organised enough to soak the beans in time to use them!
Buying in bulk can work out so cheaper in the long run. I love cooking up huge batches of dishes and freezing them. 🙂
Hey, I won a prize! Thank you, that’s made a good Sunday even better! Just in time for the first of two half marathons I’m doing a fortnight apart (next Sunday, eek!).
Thanks again, I’ll send an e-mail in a minute! x
Congrats! I have just sent off your details! 🙂
Chickpeas are my favourite, so I love the sound of that recipe!
Well done on your run as well – 10k is my favourite distance because I feel like I’ve had a workout, but my body can handle it.
Thanks! I love 10K too. its not too long and not too short. 🙂
soups and buddha bowls are cheap and nutritious 🙂 perfect!
They so are! 😀
I’m loving my coconut rice and lentil dish as something that is super cheap and tasty!I can’t wait to start experimenting with dried beans more too 🙂
Your cocobut rice with lentils sounds right up my street- I really have to make that soon! 🙂
That dahl looks lovely 🙂
My favourite budget meals are hearty vegetable stews with lots of squash, carrots and beans, they remind me of home!
Grains and legumes are always my choice for a budget-friendly meal. So many different dishes can be made with them, they are amazing for you, and cheap of course! Your recipe looks wonderful, thank you for sharing it 🙂
That is one of the things that I love about a plant based diet! Everyone thinks it is so expencive! But really, if you base your meals on grains and beans, it is SO cheap! And healthy!!
That curry looks so good! I love dahl, and want to make it soon! Its too long since i had it, and it is perfect for cold nights 🙂 And lentil soup is good!
Wish you a great weekend Jemma<3
That looks DELICIOUS!!! I’m really trying to work on making dinners with what I already have in my pantry. I’m SO bad about running to the store and getting a whole bunch of things for one meal. And then we have tons of left overs and they go to waste! Argh! I really need to work on this!
Great minds think alike. I just made some masala lentils in the crockpot yesterday. I can’t wait to try them – I brought them for lunch today.
What are your favourite Budget Busting Meals?
If i’m tight on cash, I ALWAYS make a big pot of soup to get me through. I usually throw in anything I have in the cupboard and eat it for days. this is a great way to use up items in your pantry that have been there for a while (like lentils!)
I really need to try Sabra hummus even if it isn’t very budget friendly! Soup is definitely budget friendly and something that I’m starting to crave now it’s getting colder. Although I am planning on a trip to Wholefoods soon to treat myself – it’s weird how I’m more excited about buying Spiru-tein and Larabars at the moment rather than clothes! x
Woww your pea/bean dishes always look so delicious!!! Seriously, you know how to eat healthy wholesome food. 😀
This all looks delish!! I voted for you on the cosmopolitan blog awards. That is how i discoverd your blog and I love it!!!!
Awww thank you so much!!! 🙂
Great tips: that chickpea dish looks fab! Another great budget-friendly food is eggs–> they are a powerhouse of nutrients and very affordable!