Posted on

nettle soup

Don’t worry – they don’t sting when cooked! Nettles are very nutrient rich and of course – free! Don’t gather them beside a busy road where they will have been contaminated by traffic fumes. If you keep cutting them from springtime you get a regular supply of fresh leaves, though they can get a bit insect infested during the summer! Below are two recipes for soup:

Version 1 – a “cream of” style soup:

Ingredients: nettleschives

2 tablespoons of vegetable margarine or oil
2 tablespoons of white flour
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Freshly picked and washed young nettles (several good handfuls – picked with gloves and caution!)
2 cups soya milk (tesco value is cheap and organic too)
1 cup water or stock
salt and pepper to taste

Fry the onion and garlic in the oil or marg. for a few minutes then stir in the nettles (no need to chop or remove stalks) until they soften. Stir in the flour and gradually add the soya milk and water or stock, stirring all the time. Add seasonings and liquidise. Delicious…

 

Version 2 – a versatile recipe using potato to thicken, ingredient quantities are totally adjustable:

Do an onion and 5 garlic cloves in some oil, add half head of celery, 2 potatoes, cover with water, bring to boil and simmer til soft then add bowl of gathered nettles, some chives and parsley (optional – feel free to experiment with other herbs), stock cube, salt for a few minutes and blend.

Other wild food recipes on site: dandelion fritters, creamy carrot and wild garlic soup and wild garlic pesto

Another good nettle recipe, Minty Pea and Nettle Soup is to be found here on the vegan family house site.

 



Posted on

Frugal Autumn Recipes: Soup and Pumpkins

Roast Pumpkin and Garlic Soup: frugal autumn recipes

Well, lots has happened here in Frugal Towers since we last wrote. There’s been hospitalisations, there’s been strange symptoms… now there’s bandages and medicine. But the frugal life goes on, as does this peculiar year!

Frugal autumn recipes are on the table:
Roast Pumpkin and Garlic Pasta is seasonal and delicious.
Yellow Split Pea Soup, a great favourite here.
Tomato and Rice Soup is one of our most frugal recipes.
Lentil, yes bring on the soups!
Beer Battered Onion Rings – always good…
Gluten-free Veggie Lasagne – filling for these cold dark evenings.
Baked Tatties, sometimes the simplest things are the best.
Chocolate Cake. No words needed.

See our Frugal Christmas section on how to minimise the cost and stress that can occur at this time. Some festive recipes too.

If you want to stock those cupboards up, Approved Food is the place to do it, selling soap and cleaning products too. Their stock changes daily.

Everything5pounds is the place to get cheap winter woolies for the approaching season. Also good for festive gifts.

The Mermaid and the Bear Cover

Our founder’s debut novel is still available to read for free on Kindle Unlimited (they do a free trial which is a good way to stock up on some autumn reading). THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR, blends an often overlooked period of history, the Scottish witchcraft accusations, in particular the 1597 Aberdeen witchcraft panic, with a love story. Libraries can get it too.

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide

Author website

Stay cosy and well fed. Look after yourselves lovelies.

All at Frugal Living in the UK
http://www.frugal.org.uk

and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/frugaluk
and now, Facebook!

Posted on

Immune Boosting and Store Cupboard Recipes

What strange times we are living through. We very much hope that you are all well and safe and have plenty to eat and plenty of, the now most popular item in Britain, toilet roll!

Our recipe selection this time focuses on two things: immune support and meals from store cupboard ingredients.

First the immune system:
Wild Garlic Pesto – can be made with standard garlic too, both being anti-infective and immune boosting.
Nettle Soup – eat up those nutrients! And enjoy the anti-inflammatory properties of nettle (just poking through the ground now).
Sweet & Sour Red Cabbage – a brand new recipe on the site, this one, super cheap and also rich in nutrients.

Store Cupboard:
Yellow Split Pea Soup – delicious and nutrious.
Chick Pea Curry – super cheap and easy, can be made with dried or tinned chick peas.
Mixed Bean Casserole
and one that fits both categories: Chunky Purple Pasta

If you are experiencing anxiety over the current crisis, you could try a tapping meditation. There’s a free specific one here and basic information on the tapping points here

And if you want to stock those cupboards up, it’s better to do it somewhere that is set up for the purpose, rather than depleting the stocks that everyone needs. Approved Food is one such bargain place, selling soap and cleaning products too. And sometimes even toilet roll! Their stock changes daily.


Still a bargain for a traditionally published book at £2.99 for the ebook, our founder’s debut novel, THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR, blends an often overlooked period of history, the Scottish witchcraft accusations, in particular the 1597 Aberdeen witchcraft panic, with a love story.

Amazon

Author website

Wishing you all very well, in all meanings of the word!

All at Frugal Living in the UK
http://www.frugal.org.uk

and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/frugaluk
and now, Facebook!

Posted on

Summertime… and the living is easy, or Frugal!

tent in the garden

Summer is well underway here in Scotland. The heatwave actually reached this far North this time. We’ve been cooling off in the tent, and eating ice lollies in the garden: cheapest holiday ever!

Don’t miss our frugal days out and holiday page here.

Everything5Pounds have lots of great £5 summer deals on clothes and accessories for the heat, such as dresses and sandals and swimsuits. See them here.

Cooling, summer day foods:
Minted Noodle Soup
Basic Pasties (great cold)!
Rice Salad
Hummus
Ice Lollies

Favourites:
Make a Few Pounds
Food Shopping Tips

Stay Cool!

All at Frugal Living in the UK
http://www.frugal.org.uk

and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/frugaluk
and now, Facebook!

Posted on

Wild Food, Snow Food!

Last week we got excited about wild food: the wild garlic was through, we were looking forward to wild garlic pesto and creamy wild garlic carrot soup and anticipating nettle soup and dandelion fritters.

Then came the snow. Road blocking, face freezing, wild garlic covering, snow.

So we’re wrapped up warm in our £5 jumpers and back on the yellow split pea soup, the leek and potato and the mince and dumplings 🙂

In case you missed it last time, our latest super frugal post: The 25p Meal.

Keep really really cosy!

All at Frugal Living in the UK
http://www.frugal.org.uk

and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/frugaluk
and now, Facebook!

Posted on

Root Soup

root soup

This is a sweet and flavoursome root vegetable soup, perfectly fortifying for those colder days.

Ingredients, for a large pot to serve four people:
half a cup of red split lentils
5 medium parsnips, peeled and chopped
5 medium carrots, scraped and chopped
2 small potatoes, diced but with skins left on
2 red onions, peeled and chopped
2 large sticks of celery, chopped
several sprigs of fresh rosemary (dried can be substituted), finely chopped or scissored into the pan
water to cover
salt and pepper to taste

Place the lentils in a large pan and cover well with water. Bring to the boil and turn down to simmer while you prepare the other vegetables. Add the chopped veg and rosemary and cover well with more water (cooking time is reduced if you boil the water in a kettle first). Once the vegetables are tender, mash thoroughly and add salt and pepper. Nice garnished with fresh parsley or finely chopped spring onions as in the picture above.

 

Get a free Graze Box:


Posted on

creamy carrot and wild garlic soup

wildgarlic1Wild garlic grows on the edges of woodlands from March onwards and can be used for wonderful garlic flavour in many dishes. Also see wild garlic pesto

Ingredients to serve four people:
six large carrots, scraped and chopped
four sticks of celery, chopped
a good bunch of wild garlic leaves
a handful or two of cashew nuts depending how creamy you want it
salt to taste

Place carrots and celery in a pan and cover with water. Bring to boil and turn down to simmer for a few minutes. Add the wild garlic and cook for a few minutes more, until everything is tender. Pour into blender jug with nuts and salt. Blend and enjoy.

Tips: If your blender is not very strong, try soaking the cashews in water overnight to soften them. You can use 3 or 4 cloves of normal garlic in place of the wild garlic. Add a bunch of coriander for a popular classic!

Other wild food recipes on site: dandelion pancakes and nettle soup

wildgarlic2
 



Posted on

radish top soup

Radishes are one of the easiest things to grow in your garden, a pack of seeds are full grown in a few weeks making lovely crimson additions to salads. We were delighted when Julia Barr sent us this lovely recipe using their tops (leaves), the part which is usually thrown away. No exact quantities are given so adjust to how many tops you have!

Ingredients:
vegetable oil or soya margarine
diced onion
diced potatoes
chopped radish tops
vegetable stock or water
soya milk
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the onion in oil or margarine until soft, add the potato and radish tops, stir until coated in oil/margarine. Add the stock and bring to the boil, simmer until the potato is soft, whiz in a blender until creamy, add soya milk to loosen, add salt and pepper to taste.

A real treat, creamy and yummy and an extra revelation: fresh tarragon is an excellent inclusion!

Posted on

lentil soup

lentil

Lentil Soup – a nice broth with bread or a filling chunky variety. This soup is simple to make, nutritious and cheap, cheap, cheap 🙂 Quantities below makes a pan to feed four people.

Ingredients:
red lentils – half a cup to one cup depending how thick you want it
2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, diced
water to cover well
stock of choice (we like a spoon of Vecon Stock with extra vits for winter!)
salt if needed, depending on stock used

Place lentils and water in pan and bring to the boil while preparing the other vegetables. Add them and stock, cook until tender. Mash or partially blend if you wish. Ta-da!

Variants:
Add other veg such as diced potatoes and celery or chopped greens near the end of cooking.
Add a tin of tomatoes and/or tomato puree with a handful of pasta to cook along with the lentils for a much thicker hearty soup.



Posted on

minted noodle soup

Although a hot dish it is nice for summer days as the mint is refreshing. This does make a large pot – it worked out well for a family of four to have over two lunches, storing it in the fridge overnight.

Ingredients:
250g/6oz (half a standard pack) of spaghetti (value spag – 19p approx)
approx 9 or 10 cups of water/about 4 pints
4 cloves of garlic, very finely chopped
1 large onion, chopped
5 sticks of celery, diced quite small
a good handful of fresh mint (or 3 teaspoons of dried – most frugal if from your own garden obviously – seeds here)
seasalt to taste

Break the spaghetti up into small pieces (about 6 cm./2 inches long) into a large saucepan. Cover with the water and turn up the heat to full. Bring to the boil while you prepare and add the other ingredients with the exception of the mint. Once boiling turn down to simmer for about 15 minutes until everything is cooked. Add the mint and cook for a further 2 or 3 minutes and serve sprinkled with generous amounts of chopped fresh parsley (optional but it was really good!)