As I said at Halloween, children don’t really care how cheap their chocolate is. So go to Lidl or your local street market and pick up something inexpensive and possibly nearing its sell by date. For this Easter (3-4th April) I am also going to try boiled agg and soldiers on my kids. I’ve realised they [...]

Today’s recipe is both good for your health and your wallet. It comes from Dr Tamara Voronina, who is a Ukrainian endocrinologist practising in London. Check out her website for full details. She has let me have  a number of recipes all with health benefits for arthritis, some allergies and bowel problems. All are free from gluten, milk [...]

We all hate wasting food but I suspect I am almost OCD about it. I lie awake at night thinking what I have going off in the fridge and how I can use it up. Now there’s a new booklet out to help me, with loads of ideas from other north London mums and dads, [...]

Boursin soft cheese with garlic and herbs is a very versatile ingredient and cheap too at £1.92/150g. I use half a pack to stuff peppardew peppers for canapes. Or I mix it with pesto and stuff chicken thighs with it; then wrap around with bacon or parma ham before roasting at 180 degrees celsius for 45 minutes [...]

Greece may not be doing so well on the economic front, facing a budget deficit of some £259 billion (perhaps they could do with reading Moneymagpie?), but they do know how to eat. And cook, on a peasant budget. From now until the end of 2010 there’s a promotion running in many Greek restaurants called a [...]

Jamie Oliver famously said in his recent TV series ‘Ministry of Food’ (in which he taught non-cooks to tackle basic recipes) that pancakes were one of the easiest foods he’d advise novices to try. All that’s needed are : a mug of flour, a mug of milk and 2 eggs. Ingredients lists don’t get much simpler [...]

I have just dressed a crab for the first time. A Scottish one. At Billingsgate Fish market in London, which offers the largest selection of fish in the UK. The occasion was courtesy of Seafood Scotland, the umbrella organisation for promoting Scottish Seafood. It was awesome! Part of a day of filleting, gutting, skinning and [...]

This is less a recipe and more a list of leftovers I stuffed into chicken thighs today, for our supper tonight. As I never throw any leftovers away, I always have things in the fridge I can make a delicious stuffing (or quiche filling) out of. Cooked rice, half a pack of Boursin, a chopped [...]

I have started hoovering up Christmas bargains – all those festive foods that are now heavily discounted, because no-one fancies mince pies in January. Why not?! Some of us didn’t over-indiulge in December so can still face a bit more port, stilton, mincemeat and Christmas pudding. I have just bought a 454g luxury (hmmm) Christmas pud [...]

I have just stood behind a woman in a shop who was speding £7.70 on a loaf of bread and 6 cans of soup! Heinz cream of tomato – so nothing special. It occurred to me that soup is one of the  cheapest foods to make. It costs pence for a few veg, a stock [...]