Happy Friday everyone! I’m so glad the weekend is finally here. I’m not complaining or anything but my week has been super busy and very productive. I think I need some time out this weekend to rest.
This week I have still been working to and sticking to a budget. I did my weekly grocery shop at Lidl again and picked up some great produce. I can’t believe that I used to write off stores like these in the past. Afterwards I headed to Asda to restock my cupboards of some of bits that we have ran out of.
At Lidl I picked up courgettes, a cucumber, bananas, cherry tomatoes, a pineapple, clementines, lemons, sweet potatoes, carrots, chestnut mushrooms, mixed peppers, spinach, pears, figs and strawberries. I even picked up some of Alfie’s favourite biscuits and some bargain unsweetened soya milk to try. All this cost me £15!!! 🙂
My veg box also arrived this week with the added addition of this little lot:
Aren’t they pretty! I’ve already roasted up the kabocha squash…obviously! I can’t stop eating it. I’ve stashed some in the freezer and kept some back for snacking in the fridge.
Kabocha dipped in hummus is just perfect! 🙂
At the weekend I got experimenting in the kitchen and whipped up another Budget Busting Meal. You can catch up on my previous recipes below:
*Chick Pea and Red Lentil Curry*
*High Protein Three Bean Chilli*
With what I had in the cupboards and all of the fresh produce that I had in the fridge I decided to make a soup. I love the fact that soups can be so inexpensive, so versatile and so darn tasty. Practically anything goes, which is great when you are on a budget.
*Rustic Soup with Wild Mushrooms*
Ingredients (vegan, makes 6 servings)
- 1 onion sliced
- 1 clove of garlic grated
- half a red pepper
- 1 carrot diced
- 2 leeks diced
- 6 cherry tomatoes
- 2 tbsp of tomato puree
- 1/2 cup of dried wild mushrooms (chestnut mushrooms are fine too)
- 1/2 cup of cooked red kidney beans
- 1 1/2 cups of pearl barley
- 1/2 tsp of smoke paprika
- 1 tsp of dried thyme
- 2 tsps of dried mixed herbs
- 1.5 litres of vegetable stock or water
- seasonings
In a large saucepan or casserole dish fry off the onion in a little oil to soften. Next add the leaks, mushrooms, red pepper and garlic and cook until the vegetables become tender. Stir in the tomatoes and tomato puree and cook for a few more minutes. Add the pearl barley the stock, herbs, smoked paprika and seasonings. Allow the soup to simmer on the hob until the pearl barley is cooked through completely. Pour in the red kidney beans and allow them to warm through.
Voila! A simple and satisfying soup that is easy on the pocket. 🙂
Despite work tomorrow I think I’m going to have a bit of lazy day on Sunday. A walk in the park maybe, a DVD marathon and definitely some baking will be going on. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!
How is your budget shaping up this week?
Do you have any nice plans for the weekend?
The hubs and I usually eat fairly healthy foods on $100 per week, plus one out-to-eat dinner and lunch per week. I guess that’s pretty good, but it could always be better.
It sounds like you are doing perfectly! It’s great that you still get to treat yourselves too. 😀
£15 for all of that! That IS a bargain – I’m impressed! The chickpea red lentil curry is sounding good – I’m bookmarking to make at some point soon (did you know it’s national curry week by the way?)
Also what vegetable box company do you use?
This weekend I’m going to take a break from dreaded uni work, see some friends and hopefully squeeze in a little retail therapy. Have a good one Jemma 😉
I use Riverford Organics- its really great with a wide variety of produce! 🙂
That soup looks great, I like wild mushrooms! And you are so good in sticking to the budget! I am also very very glad that the weekend is here, this week was crazy busy. I have no special weekend plans, just to have some rest 🙂
I had a lovely day resting yesterday. Just what I needed. I hope you had a great weekend! 🙂
Wow that squash looks yummy 🙂
I am going cake decorating tomorrow yay!
I hope you had fun decorating your cakes. 🙂
Kabocha in hummus sounds SO good!
And that soup too! The word “rustic” makes food sounds so good and cozy in a way 🙂
Happy weekend Jemma :*
I hope you ahd a great weekend lovely.
Love mushrooms in soup! Good job on those bargains girl 🙂 I’m always looking for bargains too. It’s easy for me right now because I’m on a college swipe plan, so I have to use swipes for my food. The easy part is that I love the food here 😉 Have a great weekend!
I do love a good bargain! The college swipe system ssounds like a great way to save money of food. 🙂
Wow, can’t believe you got all that for £15, brilliant! The soup looks great too;I love mushroom soup 🙂
Hope you have a lovely restful Sunday!
I know! Lidl is great for a good bargain.
Everything looks yum, can’t believe you got all that from lidl and it looks so fresh! I’m due for my food shop tomorow but have bugetted really well this week – £24 on food for 10 days 😉
£24 for 10 day is great!
check u out bargain queen! lidl is pretty good! i used to be a bit snobby about netto!..well….i still am a bit as the veg isn’t up to much in terms of variety!
Lidl is fab. I used to be a snob about it, but think it’s great now.
That’s an amazing haul from Lidl, I’m definitely turning into a big fan of that place!
I’m definitely a Lidl convert now. 🙂
My budget is great this week as I haven’t spent a dime! 🙂
That is amazing! 🙂
I love the look and sound of that rustic soup – just the kind of food that I enjoy!
My grocery budget is going well this week, but I’m already over of my personal budget – I didn’t realise how much I spend on random stuff!
It’s quite surprising how much little tpersonal things that wer actually end up buying without really realising it. I guess it does add up.
I went to Hastings Bonfire night which was great! Hope you had a nice weekend : )
Oooo I love bonfires! 🙂
That soup looks SO good!!! I need to work on less expensive meals! My budget is not looking so great 😉 haha
Haha! I’m sure you will get there. Some weeks are always better than others for me.