Spagetti & meat Balls.

1kg of mince - I use half the pack so 500grams another $6.00 meat meal. - TIP Always buy the bigger meat packs & then repack & freeze - or plan to use the rest in another meal for the week. Once you get stockpiling & price book shopping you will only buy your meat on sale & bring home & repack.

1 onion you can grate it but I prefer to cut it finely.
about 2 tablespoons of mixed herbs - I just give it a couple of good shakes.
salt n pepper
to bind use 1 egg or if allergic to eggs or have no eggs add 2 tablespoons of sauce - we use sweet chilli sauce, I don't use eggs & then James can eat them.

Then mix well with hands. If no egg the trick is to really massage the mince - this takes about 2-3 minutes and it is the key to not having your meat balls fall apart.

Then coat in flour or finely crumbed breadcrumbs. Use cornflour or rice flour if allergic to wheat.
Place olive oil in pan a good amount to coat pan - but not so it is thick - just to stop sticking.

On a med - high heat cook slowly the meat balls I pick up & turn balls with tongs this also helps stop them fall a part. Don't hurry cooking as you want insides to b cooked not just outside.

While meat balls are cooking make a salad.
Mine was lettuce, spring onion, carrot, tomato & avocado as that's what was in fridge.

Place in pot 1 tin of tomatoes (or I used my frozen tomatoes from February's crop) - add one tin of tomato paste, salt n pepper & gently heat on stove.

Boil jug & pour over dried spaghetti - If you have allergies use a small pot to make their wheat, egg free spaghetti - it is too expensive for all of the family to eat. Or give them rice with their meat balls, but I try to make all our meals the same where possible.

Serve.

If you use recipe love to hear how you got on & if it was a winner with your family. - Let me know if you need any help. I am very much not a recipe follower cook - it's all by a bit of this, bit of that - smell & taste usually.
Love Leanne

Sweet & Sour Pork stir fry.

Cube your beef & trim off all the fat - I got a pack of cubed pork for $6.00 a little will go a long way.
Put with pork 1 Tablespoon soya sauce, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 Tablespoons Chilli sauce - use tomato sauce if thats what you have.
Let this marinate for about 15 mins - I normally cut up my veges while waiting.

Add 4 Tablespoons of cornflour to pork.

Raid the fridge & vege garden use what ever veges you can - normally not kumera, pumpkin, potatoes. But I used 1 onion, 4 cloves garlic, carrot, broad beans, spinach, asapragus as that's what I had - other suggestions are broccoli, cauli, cabbage,

Make a sauce - 1 Tablespoon vinegar, 2 Tablespoons sugar - I use brown sugar 3/4 cup water or if using pineapple - I use the juice & make up with water to 3/4 cup.

Fry pork pieces until golden - you can deep fry & they will go crispy - I shallow fried mine - just depends on my mood GRIN. Don't cook them all at once as you will loose heat - put aside.

Saute onions & garlic, add longer cooking veges eg carrots, gradually add other vegs & cook over a hot heat - a wok is a good tool, I only have a big stock pot which is what I use.

Add sauce, add pineapple pieces, pork pieces & heat through if needs thickening add 1 Tablespoon of cornflour mixed with t tablespoons of hot water & mix in. Lastly add spinach.

Serve with rice.


The veges & rice are filling & this recipe doesn't need a lot of meat.

To cook my rice.
I boil the jug - pour over rice & bring to boil then turn down - doesn't take that long.

Stocking your freezer

I highly recommend you purchase a chest freezer - you can pick them up cheap on trade me.

My basics must haves for ours is:

Butter - yes you can freeze butter & I only buy butter on sale. Here in NZ dairy prices have gone up totally unreasonably.
milk
bread

Hot chips
sweetcorn on cob
beans sliced & whole
peas
mixed stir fry veges (this is for a quick stir fry lunch for James who doesn't do sandwiches for lunch)
pastry sheets
chickens
chicken pieces
mince
sausages - we have allergy free ones
schnitzel
pork roast - this is often on sale

Once you begin price booking - you will again mostly only buy these items on sale.

Menu Planning

Planning your weeks menu is powerful & wonderful for living on a budget.

To begin with just ask all of your family what are their favourite meals for dinner. Just write down what they say - only catch they have to be home made meals not takeaways.
Then ask the same of them for breakfast, lunches & snacks.

Compile the answers. And you are well on the way to menu plan.

Begin menu planning slowly - just work on evening meal, from families suggestions allocate meals - I usually work in a 5 week cycle so we don't end up eating similar meals.

Work out what nights of the week you need quick meals due to being home late or evening activities. If you have kids, allocate one night a week they will be cooking with you or being your helper.

What vegetables or bread will you serve with the meal?

Have some fun! - Join others around the world who menu plan & share on your blog. A good place to visit is http://orgjunkie.com/menu-plan-monday


Sample of this weeks menu for our family. (NB I don't plan until Tuesday as wait to see what is in our organic fruit & vegetable delivery is first)

Sunday Lasagna with bread

Monday pumpkin soup & bread (we had a real cold snap & have lots of pumpkin)

Tuesday beef casserole with mashed potatoes, carrots & parsnips, broad beans from garden (YUM)

Wednesday Roast chicken with roasted potato, parsnip, pumpkin & kumera. Broad beans from garden (Yum) cabbage & spinach from garden

Thursday Rump steak ( saved from Tuesday's casserole making the meat go further) green salad & hassle back potatoes.

Friday Pork stir fry with rice - lots of vegetables, make the pork go further.
Saturday Spaghetti meatballs with green salad.

You will notice we do not have desert - if still hungry they help themselves to fruit. We have food allergies so puddings aren't really suitable. But if you haven't you can make a meal stretch by serving a pudding. They did this a lot in the 1940's - small amount of meat quite a good serving of vegetables & filled the tummies with pudding. There are lots of inexpensive puddings eg apple crumble.

What is really wonderful about menu planning is you do not have to think what is for dinner each night any more - you know because you have planned. Stops takeaways!

You shop for your weeks menu - no more wasted food at the end of each week - this saves you money!!

If you are having a tight financial week - it is amazing what you can plan with just a few ingredients -

I usually plan by what I have on hand in pantry & freezer. This way each week when I grocery shop I am buying only items on special for my stockpile & will use them in another weeks menu. I very rarely pay full price any more for any items from the grocery or butcher because I menu plan, stockpile & price book shop. This has enabled our family to continue to eat well even with the prices of food sky rocketing.

Shopping this way didn't happen over night - lots of changes slowly. But I would recommend begin with menu planning & plan in a few cheap meals 0f even meatless meals like macaroni cheese. pancakes & soups served with bread. You can get your food budget down with this method & with money saved you can begin stockpiling.

Welcome

Leanne's Back to Basics Blog was kick started by watching Jamie Oliver's Ministry of food.

I will take on his Pass it on challenge & via blogging will pass on what works for me in cooking for a family of four including cooking with severe food allergies, preserving, budgeting, menu planning, packed lunches, stockpiling, buying in bulk, vegetable gardening, raising our own chickens, raising our own sheep, keeping a home and living within your means.

I am going to try to blog basics as if the readers have limited knowledge - as Jamie says - passing it on.

Love Leanne