Eating Cheaply

I've been on a bit of a budget recently, so as you can imagine the parcel I received from Germany was very welcome indeed and saved me a bit of money. This week I've been mainly trying to make all my ingredients last a long time. For example, using all the canned chopped tomatoes in stews and bolognaise, and using up a lot of several sorts of frozen veg and coconut milk by making Thai curries. Dried goods such as pasta, rice, buckwheat and pulses are so handy and also make for warm, filling and comforting food for colder Autumn weather and they go a long way. I've also tried to get into the habit of cooking a little bit more than necessary at dinner time so I can have the leftovers for my lunch the following day. It definitely saves money doing it that way. So in my attempt to live cheaply this week, here are a few things I've been eating, using mostly dried, canned and frozen ingredients... I successfully made all the ingredients in my cupboards last for about 2 weeks! 

Thai curry using some okra I got for €1, green beans and mushrooms:

Grilled Mediterranean vegetables with vegan pesto and brown pasta bows in my lunchbox:


















Heinz Lentil and Vegetable Broth soups were on offer and handy to take to work:

Paella made with with fake chicken pieces, mixed beans, mixed veg and lots of seasoning:

I also had some nice vegetable cous cous from a packet, mixed with some lovely tender fresh cubes of squash which I didn't get the chance to take a photo of, as well as some yummy tomatoey lentil stews.

Experimenting

I absolutely love trying new food. Today was one of those great days where everything you eat is amazing. I went into town with a friend and had a lovely spicy bulgar wheat and chickpea salad at the Gourmet Burger Kitchen which was really nice, apart from the fact that it came with Raita (cucumber yoghurt dressing) that I somehow totally missed on the menu. So I had to scrape what I could of it off.... they also have a good range of veggie and lentil burgers, falafels, etc. My friend had the puy lentil burger which looked delicious. We then went to a couple of art galleries before stopping off at the food market in Temple Bar. I love it here and had forgotten how good it is. There is even a raw vegan food stall with lovely cakes and crackers (all very expensive though!) and the Indian stall seems to have quite a few vegan options. I opted for a spicy carrot and chickpea kofta, it was served with a hot tomato sauce and I really wanted a samosa too - maybe next time...

I completely forgot to take photos of everything mentioned above!! (I'm absolutely useless)

I picked up some Tempeh at the Asian Market. Now I just need a recipe because I have no idea what to do with it!

I also picked up some canned Seitan (I have no idea where to find it packaged?) which is fried gluten. It comes in several different forms in the Asian Market, this one was "mock duck" and it has a really meaty taste so is a good substitute if you like that kind of thing. It also has quite a meaty texture and shreds the same as meat too. I thought I'd also try out a tin of Greek aubergines in tomatoes and onion sauce. Was lovely! I mixed the mock duck and the aubergines together and put them inside a rice wrap used to make Summer Rolls. I had two of these for my dinner and they were absolutely delicious! Probably not the healthiest, as the aubergine dish was quite oily and the gluten was fried - but it was a nice vegan junk food dinner that really satisfied my taste buds and it was still a lot healthier and cheaper than getting a takeaway ;)