The weather in London thinks it is early March not mid April so out with the slow cooker and yummy stews. I scored a big tub of pesto in the market so I need to use it. Monday – Easy Lemony Chicken (slow cooker) with new potatoes and green beans. We are having guests over so [...]
This week is another frugal one but luckily I some great buys at the market on Saturday including duck legs and fennel. Also some Italian plum tomatoes to make sauce. Monday – Five-spice duck legs with roasted fennel and rice. I think I might even try my hand at making duck stock. Tuesday – Roast Chicken [...]
The week I am getting out my slow cooker to make as many frugal and freezer friendly. The first thing I am going to put in my slow cooker is chick peas. They taste so much better than the canned ones. I am going to make enough to make chana massala and hummus. Monday – [...]
Happy Halloween! How scary is this kitty? No it is not my Vegas as he would not let me get within an inch of him with a stencil. Last week, I survived quite well on the £10 Week Challenge but now my cupboards are bare and since I have started a new freelancing gig, my [...]
We are in the middle of a heat wave, yes a heat wave in October in London. What does one do in an unseasonable heatwave? I immediately reach for my slow cooker. Slow cookers do not heat up the kitchen the way a traditional oven does so until the heat breaks, my oven will remain [...]
Last week was a bit of a challenge, I started two new freelance posts which is like the first day of school. You need to learn people’s names. where the bathroom is and most importantly what they actually want to you to do. The whole process is quite tiring and to add to that we [...]
This is my first official week of not working, yes it is not the happiest of situations but here at The Lean Times, we persevere. So in the tradition of Dave Ramsey, we are going bonkers for beans this week. I started our bonkers for beans week with making Slow Cooker Black Beans. After the huge [...]
The week we will be eating mostly out of the freezer. I was made redundant last week and it is going to be a Lean but tasty week. The photo of the full fridge is a positive image for prosperity. Monday – Slow cooker chili made last week with jalepeno corn muffins. Tuesday – Pollock [...]
I had a doh/aha moment this weekend; two days a week I work quite late which means dinner doesn’t get served until almost nine o’clock sometimes, which just is not good enough. I plan our meals but don’t always stick to the exact days but move the menu around to suit what I feel like [...]
We were very lucky in the UK this Easter weekend, it is a four day weekend and it appears that summer has arrived early. To take advantage of the sunshine, which if you know the weather here, it could change at any minute, I am going to do easy cooking this week. Monday – Invited [...]
Recently we were talking about how as the family grows it is harder to feed everyone at one person’s house and going out is simply out of the budget. The last time we went out, there was a whole kerfuffle of who was paying for what and by the time the it was all sorted [...]
The clocks have gone forward and we are full speed ahead into spring, hurrah! Unfortunately, we are in the hungry gap, the time between winter and spring vegetables. If you have a look at Eat the Seasons, the list of vegetables it not very inspiring but we must persevere. I am home a lot more [...]