Saturday morning, early, is quite a good time to shop in Lidl. Apart from the fact that it isn’t very busy it’s a time when the sneaky Lidl shoppers tend to go, so it’s fun.

A couple of weeks ago I saw a woman I know spot me, then turn and hurry away in the other direction. Naturally I made it my business to bump into her later and her embarrassment was as palpable as it was hilarious. She blushed, she giggled, she muttered something about “Great cheese”, then finally pulled herself together and told me that at least she shops there herself - a friend wouldn’t be seen dead in the place and sends her husband.

What is it with these people?

My purpose in being there this morning was to spend my last €3.05 on bread and some cheddar, if I could find it cheap enough, which are two things that are pretty much gone. I ended up changing the plan.

I did buy cheese, but mozzarella for 74c. Mushrooms are reduced from €1.19 a carton to 49c, so I had to get some of those. But my best buy was peaches. A punnet of seven of them for €1.49. We have fruit, yippee!! Then I threw caution to the wind and overspent my budget to buy cream, 250mls for €1.19. It’s the weekend, we need treats!

So that was a total of €3.91 and brings my total spend for the week to €50.86. I’m done spending.

We started the day with a fry up which, in the absense of bread, included fried potato. We’ve really eaten quite a lot more carbs than usual this week, but these are new potatoes, so somewhat less carby than old.

It was a good breakfast, though a rasher or two wouldn’t have gone amiss.

Breakfast cost: eggs 41c (he had two); potato 15c; mushrooms: 25c. Total: 81c

Lunch was something of an on the hoof affair and I didn’t take a picture, but I just defrosted three cups of tomato soup, resulting in good sized mugs of soup which we had with crisp bread, followed by a peach.

Lunch cost: tomato soup: 78c; crisp bread 16c; peaches 43c. Total: €1.35

Although I am well tired of mince, there was a pack of it left so I made Adapted Shepard’s Pie for dinner. I make this a lot and the adaptation is that it uses no potato, instead being topped with cheesy cauliflower. It works well as a replacement and is much lower in carbs.

To make the topping, boil half a head of cauliflower until just soft, drain well and leave aside for a few minutes to let any excess moisture steam off. Then mash gently with a fork, not a potato masher as it tends to make it go glutinous. You don’t want it completely smooth, a lumpy mash is fine. Mix grated cheese into the cauliflower and season with salt, black pepper and a good shake of nutmeg. I used just under 2 oz of cheese, as it’s all that’s left, though I’d sometimes use a little bit more.

This is spread over the thawed mince base, then baked at 180 C for about 30 mins. About half way though sprinkle half a ball of mozzarella, roughly chopped up, over the top. I’d usually use grated cheddar or emmental but needs must and it worked fine.

We had this with broccoli.

Dinner Cost: Mince base €1.26; cauliflower 50c; cheddar 43c; mozzarella 37c; broccoli 25c;
Total: €2.81

And we had dessert!

Cinnamon Peach Kebabs

These are easy to make and delicious. Normally I’d use a mixture of fruit - peach, pineapple and mango work well - and perhaps add some fresh orange juice to the syrup. When there is mixed fruit they look more like kebabs, but a single fruit is lovely too.

Put a half an ounce of butter, a teaspoon of sugar (or Splenda), half a teaspoon of cinnamon, half a teaspoon of vanilla essence and a few drops of rum essence (or some real rum) into a small bowl. Zap in the microwave for about 20 seconds and then mix well.

Thread slices of peach (one peach per person) onto skewers, brush with the butter and grill for about 10 minutes, basting with any excess syrup half way though. Serve hot with whipped cream. Mmmm.

Cost for dessert: peaches 44c; cream 50c. Total: 94c.

If you count the store cupboard stuff, I suppose it would add another 10c or so, but this is a great value and very good dessert either way.

Remarkably today’s total spend was only €5.91. I expected it to be a lot more since my perception is that we ate very well indeed.

Tags: Cauliflower, Fruit kebab, Low carb, Peaches, Recipes, Shepherd's Pie, €50 Challenge

Posted on Saturday, August 2nd, 2008 at 8:48 pm in Recipes, €50 Challenge
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