Beef Lasagne

I've not made a "proper" lasagne for a while now, so it hasn't actually featured on my blog. We used to eat it quite a bit as the other half thinks my lasagne is really tasty, but a traditional one tends to be quite heavy on the calories so we've stayed away a little bit! 

For me I quite like making lasagne and don't find it too demanding after a day at work, but if you are pushed for time you can make it in advance and cook from frozen, you'd just need to double the cooking time.

Ingredients:

• 575 g lean beef mince (I normally use 500 g but this is the packet I bought from Sainsbury's)
• 1 - 2 bovril cubes
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cans chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 can water
• 1 tablespoon of tomato puree
• a teaspoon of mixed herbs
• a dash of Worcestershire sauce (I use Henderson's as this is gluten free and local)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
•  1 pack of gluten free lasagne sheets
• Extra mature cheddar cheese, grated (enough to cover the top of your lasagne)
• Salt and Pepper
• Oil for frying

For the Bechamel /  White sauce:

• 40 g butter
• 40 g plain gluten free flour
• 300  - 350 ml semi skimmed milk
• extra mature cheddar cheese (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 170 C fan, 180 C conventional oven.
2. Add oil to a large frying pan, add the onions and start to soften for a few minutes, add the garlic and cook for another minute.
3. Add the minced meat and start to cook until the meat is starting to brown, add the Hendersons relish, crumble in the stock cube and cook until the meat has browned. 
4. Add the tomato paste, mixed herbs and stir through. Put the chopped tomatoes and water in and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and and cook on a low light until the sauce has reduced down.
5. Blanche the lasagne sheets and leave to one side.
6. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and mix until you get a paste. Cook for about 2 minutes, then add a small amount of the milk and allow to boil. Then add the rest of the milk and whisk through until the sauce starts to thicken, if it becomes too thick then you can add more milk. I add a little cheese to my Bechamel sauce at this stage. 
7. Place half of the meat into the baking dish, layer with lasagne sheets, add another layer of beef then top with more pasta. Spread the Bechamel sauce on top and grate enough cheese to cover the top.
8. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until cooked through.

Sticky Honey Soy Turkey

I was looking for a nice, easy recipe to make with my turkey that I bought from Sainsbury's and came across this one on the British Turkey website. The Turkey breasts came in at £3.33 in the offer that I got at the time, plus I had the extra discount on top of this so think this meal is pretty good value. 

We still have some gluten free soy sauce in the cupboard, so this seemed like the perfect mid week meal. It's very quick and easy and Turkey is quite lean.

The flavour of this dish was pretty good and it didn't take much time to make at all. The only gripe I have with this is that we found it didn't have enough sauce. I'd probably double the honey and the soy sauce next time.

Menu 11/08/13 - 17/08/13

This week is a bit of a mixed bag, the majority of the shopping is from Asda unless stated otherwise. The meat that I have for this week is from Sainsbury's, which I spoke about in my last menu. This was where if you spent £60, you had a discount of £15 and I managed to get delivery for £2.99 so I thought this was a  pretty good deal. The only other item on my list is from Tesco, this is the lasagne sheets and the only reason I buy them from there is that I cannot find them in Asda where I normally shop.

We're having guest the coming weekend, so on Friday night my other half will be cooking a dinner. I've not included this in the budget, as he's taking care of this entirely and we do not know what it is as of yet. On the Saturday we will be at the wedding.

Menu 11/08/13 - 17/08/13

Roast Lamb Dinner

Honey Roast Gammon Quiche, wedges, peas

Lasagne

Jacket Potato, Quiche

Sticky Honey Soy Sauce Turkey Steaks, Green Beans, Rice

Shopping List

4 x Turkey 500 g (Sainsbury's) £3.33

Lean Beef Steak Mince (Sainsabury's) £3.33

Sainsburys Smoked Bacon 1  x 225 g (came as a pack of 2 and part of the 3 for 10 deal - Sainsbury's) £1.67

Smoked Gammon Joint 750 g (Sainsbury's) £3.33

Boneless Lamb Shoulder 400 g (Sainsbury's) £3.33

Sweetcorn £1.00

Cucumber £0.50

3 Mixed Peppers £1.00

Lettuce £1.00

Bananas (1.265 kg - 6 bananas) £0.86

Bananas (1.410 kg -marked down) £0.14

Desiree Potatoes (2 kg) £2.00

Broccoli £0.60

Lasagne Sheets (Tesco) £2.00

Corn Flour £1.50

Mature Cheddar Cheese (350 g) £2.00

2 tins chopped tomatoes £0.62

Tomato Puree £0.48

Milk - 4 pints £1.00

White Basmati Rice - 2 kg £2.98

Trimmed Fine Beans - 205 g £1.00

Trimmed Fine Beans - 90 g £0.50

Organic Cornflakes - GF £1.48

Cripps Apples £2.00

Peach Slices £0.39

Blue Berries  - 2  x125 g (from Doncaster market) £1.50

Honey £1.39

Smart Price Pineapple - 565 g £0.27

Mandarin Segments £0.24

Tinned Apples £0.55

Lemons £0.85

Natural Yoghurt x 2 £0.90

Total £43.74

I do expect to have some leftovers for following week's, I've stocked up a little bit on some store cupboard items such as the rice. There were some bananas marked down which I bought to use this week, but the other half doesn't like bananas with any bruises at all. If there are any left then I will make Banana Bread with it. 

Breakfast: Cereal, Eggs, Bacon, Fruit Salad

Lunches: Gammon / Tuna Salad, Leftovers

Snacks: Apples, Bananas

Leftovers in Cupboard, Freezer: Frozen Peas, Eggs, Tuna, GF Soy Sauce, Onions

Whitby's Fish & Chip Restaurant Doncaster

Ok... so firstly I've got to apologise, as I was so hungry that I forgot to take a picture of my food, but I thought I'd let you know about my local fish and chip restaurant.

I've been to Whitby's Fish and Chip Restaurant a few times now and must admit that I've enjoyed it each time I've been. It's not something I eat very often, but I do enjoy having it as a treat every now and again. The prices for the takeaway are actually pretty good and if you ring and order in advance for collection you don't have to wait in the queues. It is more to eat in the restaurant, but I still don't think it's bad value for eating out.

You can request gluten free batter, which is nice and crispy and not overly greasy. You don't even have to have batter at all, you can just have it poached in lemon juice. The other options on the menu are also pretty good, they have a range of salads and a couple of pie's as well.

I like this place for a meal out, when you don't feel like cooking but also there's something quite comforting about going out for fish and chips..

Cookery Books I've bought Recently & Prawn and Chive Omelette

Delia's How to Cheat at Cooking

Now I know some people don't agree with the cheating at cooking and using pre-made food and in all honesty I don't really like it too much either. There are times though that you're just too tired to cook much, usually I try to use meals I've previously frozen portions for. When you've eaten through your freezer stocks and need something quick and easy but satisfying then I believe that Delia's How to Cheat at Cooking is actually pretty good reading. 

It's not specifically for gluten free cooking, but some of the recipes can be adapted and it also gives me some ideas of how I can simplify recipes. 

Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight

I was flicking through this book at my friends house and thought that the book was actually pretty good. Personally I'm not trying to lose a lot of weight, but I do want to lose a little and am always looking for healthy foods to eat. I liked some of the ideas in the book and a lot of the recipes can be adapted to be gluten free, some are already naturally gluten free. The only recipes I'd personally have a problem with are the puff pastry as I haven't currently got a substitute for this. Filo pastry is also a problem, but it has been suggested about using rice paper so this is potentially something to try out.

I have tried one of the recipes out of the Hairy Dieters book and have got to admit that it was pretty good. It was also easy and naturally gluten free. Some good ideas in the book, but I think they're quite relate-able recipes for people 

We have quite a few cookery books in our house and I will no doubt be adding more to the collection.

What are your favourite cook books?

Gluten Free Pizza - Pizza Hut

I was going to write about this at the weekend, but I was at my friends wedding this weekend, so thought I would share with you now. I've moved jobs within the same company this week, so as Friday was my last day myself and Khila from Miss Budget Beauty & Life of Khi  decided to go over to Pizza Hut for lunch. I've heard quite a few people talk about this previously, but this was the first time I've tried their gluten free options.

I was impressed with the fact you could have any topping you wanted, we went for chicken and mushroom.

We also had some nacho's, which were really good. I did really enjoy this meal, it's nice to have some more options for eating out now and the choice of toppings was good. 

I did find the texture of the pizza quite different to that of Domino's, which is a thicker round pizza in comparison to this square thinner one.

Both still taste really good and have some good toppings available. The Domino's versions seemed fluffier and slightly less dry. I would however not hesitate to order again from Pizza Hut as I really enjoyed it and thought the price and options were good.

Next on my list to try is the Pizza Express, which I've previously heard good things about and also offers some other gluten free options.

I may even try making my own again. If any of you have any tips, then please feel free to share them with me.

Menu 04/08/13 - 10/08/13

It was quite busy this weekend, we went to a wonderful wedding. However, as we were out of the house most of the weekend and knew we'd be tired when we got back on the Sunday, we decided it would be an ideal time to try out the home delivery services. We settled on Sainsbury's, the deal was that if you spent £60 you could get £15 off delivery. I also managed to secure delivery charges of £2.99 (I believe these are dependent upon the time and the delivery area). The deal turned out to be pretty good and meant that I could stock up on some bits for next week too.

Crunchy Nut Cornflakes (500 g) £2.00

Chicken Thigh Fillet £3.33 *

Sainsburys Basic Hard Cheese 200 g £2.00

Arborio Risotto Rice 500 g £1.12

1 tin Basic Red Kidney Beans £0.21

Longley Farm Cottage Cheese 250 g £1.20

Soured Cream 150 ml £0.60

Fajita Seasoning Mix £0.89

Plain Tortilla Wraps £1.20

Basics Cooked and Peeled Prawns 300 g £2.25

Basis Barn Eggs - 18 £2.10

Sainsburys Smoked Bacon 1  x 225 g (came as a pack of 2 and part of the 3 for £10 deal) £1.67 *

2 x loose carrots £0.31

Soft Multigrain Rolls (4 - 300 g) £2.19

Family Bag of Apples £1.85

10 x loose fairtrade Bananas £1.08

1 x Iceburg Lettuce £0.90

Peppers Basics 600 g £1.60

Cucumber £0.80

2 x loose red onions £0.34

2 x Naturally Sweet Sweetcorn £1.20

2 l semi skimmed milk £1.35

Nestle Honey Shreddies (500 g) £2.00

Rude Health Honey Puffed Oats (gluten free) £2.50

Gluten Free Wraps (Tesco) £3.10

Total £37.79

The above total price does not take into consideration the discount of £15 (or £12.01 after taking off the  delivery charge), so this actually cost less than the above.

* These items were part of a multi deal (3 for £10 - some of these items will appear in next week's menu).

Breakfast - Eggs, Cereal

Lunches - Chicken  / Bacon Salad, Leftovers

Leftovers -: Rump Steak, Broad Beans, Potatoes, 

Jacket Potato, Cottage Cheese and Chives

Beef Fajitas

Carrot and Kidney Bean Burgers 

Prawn and Chive Omelette

Jacket Potato and Chilli (leftovers from freezer, cupboard)

Broad Bean and Bacon Risotto

The above prices were correct prices on day of purchase 04/08/13 from Sainsbury's.

Overall I would say that I was pretty impressed with the quality of the products and it was nice to have the food delivered. I wouldn't use this service all the time, but I would consider using it again when busy.