Spaghetti bolognese with broccoli on the side......

I was forbidden to put mushrooms in this by son who hates them! I usually sneak them in but in spite of my best efforts to keep them off his plate,some inevitably make it there, resulting in an annoyed teenager, which ain't fun! So started off with some onions,carrots and celery cooked in a little oil til softened. Then added the mince and cooked til coloured,added  a stock cube and then a jar of Aldi's Bolognese sauce, some tomato puree and a little water. For seasoning used some extra garlic powder, some mixed herbs and a little mixed spice, chilli powder and smoked paprika, which gave an extra kick to the dish.

Cooked the spaghetti ,popping some broccoli in with it for economy, then served with ground black pepper,grated cheese and some olive oil drizzled over. Tasty.

I was very tempted to keep this little gem to myself, but I did say that I would share any bargain finds, when I started this blog......

240g of gorgeous thick,tasty ham, off-the-bone style, from....... Pound land!! Absolutely delicious! As most ham of that quality would cost at least £1.25 per 100g, this is a bargain indeed....

Yesterday's Sunday brunch - sausages, egg, fried potatoes, beans and toast! ......

Using leftovers from the previous day's unblogged dinner; we were too hungry to begin the meal by photographing it! Aldi pork sausages, sliced potatoes and egg, (microwaved the sausages for a minute first, to ensure thoroughly heated) and all done quickly in just a little oil (ordinary oil, rapeseed, from the ever-reliable Aldi,which is apparently a very healthy one,high in monounsaturates!) . Really tasty, and filled son's tummy to give him the energy for an afternoon of footy with friends. Remembering that this is an honest blog and each meal is analysed after eating, if not before!! Yummy. Salad to compensate later on though.....and my fingers are crossed...

Apple and mixed berry Crumble, with vanilla ice cream......

Some beautiful windfall apples, cooked with sugar and mixed spice, then cooled, portioned into tubs and some put in the freezer. Some used today , together with a sprinkling of mixed berries (from my freezer, courtesy of Farmfoods) put into an 8" x 5" pyrex dish, topped with crumble mix and baked for about 25-30 mins at 180° C. 

NB. The recipe below, gave more than enough so I saved enough from it, for two more crumble toppings, in plastic tubs in the fridge.The crumble was made using a basic mixture of 10 oz flour, (plain or self-raising), 5oz butter and 5oz sugar,(I used half brown and half white) rubbed together, or in this case, processed for 30 seconds in my little food processor-what a brilliant little item it is!! - . A good sprinkle of cinnamon was added, and a handful of porridge oats (the rolled variety) stirred in, before topping the fruit with one third of this mixture, and baking. This crumble gave about 6 portions.

Starter of egg mayonnaise, and main of chicken pasty with vegetables....

In reverse order due to slight technical hitch!! The idea of the starter was to get some good protein into son and to have a quick snack ready for him on return from football - with a sprinkle of chilli powder on top, it went down well. 

Then the 'main' of Gregg's Chicken Bake, now stocked in Iceland, £1.50 for two, with buttered potatoes and carrots, and some broccoli. Doing this blog has made me look hard at what we eat, and am starting to think that our meals are a. Quite same-ey, and b. Often quite high in carbohydrates!! In my defence, I rarely deep-fry, and only shallow-fry in a little healthy oil such as sunflower or vegetable/rapeseed oil. Tonight's pasties were oven-baked in our useful combined/microwave, much quicker. The eggs and broccoli were popped on top of the  potatoes and carrots, for the last ten minutes of cooking.

After-school snack for my little treasure- Tortilla wrap with ham and cheese...

Aldi's Torchon ham, and mature Cheddar cheese, popped into a tortilla wrap then microwaved for 30seconds,and finished by sitting on top of the (switched on!)toaster for a minute or so each side. Served with the usual cucumber garnish! A simple snack for a hungry teen, though I reckon he'll soon be wanting two, the way his appetite is growing... 

Our dinner, a delicious Chinese buffet at Shanghai, Shanghai, Carlisle...

The top picture is son's high protein starter, ha ha, featuring chicken in various forms, his cutlery flying in enthusiasm.         Then to the gorgeous selection of dishes; sweet and sour , black bean, curry, sweet chilli sauces with chicken, pork or beef, beautiful braised vegetables- tender cauliflower, broccoli, carrot, courgette and cucumber, in the most deliciously light, garlicky sauce, and accompaniments like prawn crackers and won tons, with tasty rice or noodles.

And to finish off, we had (small!) desserts including ice cream, banana and pineapple fritters, with fresh fruit, these are not pictured as they disappeared too quickly to photograph! A lovely treat. 

Good morning! Our breakfast of Weetabix with yoghurt, blueberries and honey, topped with a sprinkling of cinnamon...

My son wanted to try something different for breakfast, so after much thought (or as much as possible at this hour on a Saturday) I suggested this. All ingredients from the marvellous Aldi, and in fact the inspiration for this brekky came from the back of a pack of Aldi's own Wheat Bisks,so thanks to them! The total cost of this lovely breakfast, is estimated at about 45p per person, at most. A 500g tub of yoghurt, at about 45p,will easily serve four people, as can the 150g pack of blueberries at 99p. The mixture of honey and cinnamon on top, really added to the mix of flavours. Healthy,tasty and my boy loved it. All good.. Our nutritional good deed in advance of the Chinese buffet we plan to have later, in honour of it being the last weekend of the school hols.... Happy Weekend!