One Pound Meals - Does It Work?
I'm a bit behind on this one but recently I came across the Instagram sensation that is Miguel Barclay the founder of the one pound meals books. His chicken katsu curry court my eye so I saved it months ago. I finally got round to giving it a go and I wasn't disappointed.
As always I heard the rumblings about him ages ago but thought it was a load of rubbish so ignored it. You tend to hear quite a bit of rubbish when This Morning is on in the background. Honestly, I don't actually have time to watch it!
Since the above court my eye it has made me want to give some of his other recipes a go. I even went to the library and borrowed the book rather than splashing out on a shiny new cookbook. Even though you can get it for £4.99 online....I'm on maternity leave you know....you think I'm made of money?
So what is this £1 meals stuff all about and does it really work? Well so far I've cooked three meals and all were lovely. The second meal I added to slightly to increase the vegetable content and make more of a hearty evening meal. It was curried halloumi with spinach. So I added asparagus and curried sliced pork.
I spent an evening making lists of ingredients required for certain meals. I found it really difficult to decide what meals to make only because many of the meals share the same ingredients. Which is great really but it kept meaning I struggled to narrow down which meals to make.
I ended up doing a big shop buying the bulk of ingredients that are nonperishable. This was more expensive than my normal shopping but this is because I was buying things I would never normally buy. I am confident however that many of the items I can use for multiple meals. I'm sure it is possible to go this on a weekly basis but I wanted to make sure we had options but using up the ingredients at the same time.
The £1 aspect is per one serving. The recipes are so simple and can simply be doubled to make multiple meals. I made it for two adults and one child. I just made it stretch! The portions are quite small but my waistline is ok with that. When I was dishing up Michael asked which plate was his and said he needed more! You will get what you are given boy! Michael also commented that he liked his dinner! Result! He does seem to love flavour and spices which is lucky because I cannot be doing with cooking multiple meals.
I'm not sure yet if it's completely realistic and of course the good old bulk, slow cooker dinners will always be a cheap win as they can often work out even less. They are great for those on a budget. These do however provide a quick simple alternative. They are even a bit of a treat as some are dishes I would never try to do at home. The recipes though are made so easy and simple that even a busy, covered in sick, multi-tasking mum can do it.
I've now planned meals for the next two weeks with some exciting treats in there. It was hard work and pretty boring planning meals. A job I have never really liked but I think this
experiment will give me new ideas and help me venture away from the same old meals. It will certainly give my Pinterest a break for once.
Asparagus & Goats Cheese Tart from the One Pound Meals Recipes. For me this is a snack and not a meal so I added the salad for a yummy lunch!
I am trying to up the families fruit and vegetable intake and these recipes certainly do this. It also makes me more creative with my lunches because I'm keen to use up the ingredients. So far I'm impressed and can foresee the recipes accompanying my usual cooking habits. Take a look and give it a go! Next, i'm going to try Jamie Oliver's 5 Ingredient recipes. Mum in a full up Mann's world.
