Recipes – Storecupboard & Frugal

Yesterday I bought pork and milk at different supermarkets at greatly reduced prices though their use by date was tomorrow. The milk was only 10p/2pints, I bought two 2 pint bottles. Here are the recipes for our meal this evening.

Pork Casserole

Serves 4

400g lean pork cut into cubes

2 medium – large Onions (one red one white ) cut into quarters.

3 Carrots

3 small Parsnips ( I used Celeriac as I didn’t have any parsnips)

Half a Swede

200g small New Potatoes ( wash and cut in half)

300 ml Vegetable Stock

150mL Dry Cider / Apple Juice )

50ml Orange juice

2 tablespoons Cornflour

1. Peel all the vegetables except the potatoes, wash and chop into chunks.

2. Fry the pork in a non stick pan until sealed.

3. Add all the vegetables and fry gently for 2 – 3 minutes.

4. Add the stock and Cider / Apple Juice.

5. Bring to the boil , cover, then simmer gently for 40 – 50 minutes. Remove the lid and allow to reduce (if necessary) for 10 minutes.

6.Blend Cornflour with orange juice and add to the casserole, stir until thickened.

7. Season with Pepper. Serve.

The recipe is an adaptation of a Weightwatchers recipe, they suggest using oil to fry the meat, I never bother.

Variations, add any root vegetables you like, add some orange rind & / zest .

I cooked the casserole on the hob but it could be done in the oven or in a crock pot / slow cooker. This is so easy to make a real One Pot meal plus a few plates!

I couldn’t use my slow cooker because I used it for the Rice Pudding .

Rice pudding

Serves 6 (generous portions)

100g Pudding / Flaked rice

75g Caster Sugar

2 – 3 pints Skimmed Milk

30 g Butter /Margarine to grease slow cooker and add to the pudding, this is a guess as I just greased my slow cooker and dropped a dessertspoonful of butter into the pudding.

Grated nutmeg

1. Grease the Slow Cooker

2. Put rice into a sieve and rinse in cold water (if using Pudding rice).

3. Put rice, caster sugar and milk into the slow cooker then add the remaining butter/ margarine.

4. Grate nutmeg over the pudding.

5. Cover with the lid and switch on. Stir occasionally. I used the High Setting and cooked the pudding for 3 1/2 hours, I turned the heat to low towards the end . I’d use the low / medium setting if I wasn’t at home while it was cooking. Remove the lid and turn to High near the end of cooking to reduce the liquid content or add more milk- depends how you like your rice pudding .

It makes a creamy Rice pudding, add raisins / sultanas if you like them. My family love a spoonful ( variable size) of jam on the top.