Once Upon a Basic Christmas...

A while between posts I know, but I'm out of excuses.  I'm feeling that life is too short to stress about the small stuff or to be honest about the any stuff! But I'll post as and when the mood takes me after all I'm not a career blogger - I blog for myself and if anyone is out there listening to my ramblings I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your virtual friendship because what I like about this here blogging lark is the support and kindness that comes from those who stumble upon my little space here and connect for a little while.

I've entitled this post "Once Upon a Basic Christmas" and feel it perhaps deserves a little explanation.When my dear children were young I was often strapped for cash, not just at Christmas, but of course those who struggle financially can find Christmas a rather large burden. You know though I like a challenge, in fact put me under pressure and I thrive - tell me I have all the time in the world and I'll take it - all of it! Tell me it needs to be done in the next 24 hours though and my little brain suddenly gets it's act together and I focus.

My previous marriage ended 5 weeks before Christmas when my then husband , who earned a reasonable wage, thought that it was acceptable to spend over 75% of his income down the pub - where incidentally he also spent every night and weekend afternoons! 

I walked out of the marital home with my children and a couple of bin bags of clothes ( I never looked back and have never regretted it for an instant) but faced with a rapidly looming Christmas holiday and 4 children  well, tell me about pressure! We initially moved back to my parent's home - they took me and my children in borrowing camp beds from friends and rearranging sleeping arrangements. We were lucky to manage to rent a furnished property quite quickly and moved into our own little refuge with 3 weeks to go to Christmas. 

Even if I do say so myself we did wonders on a literal shoestring! That and the subsequent financially strapped years taught me much about how to celebrate on a shoestring.

So... 

... motivation prevailing my next few posts will give some tips on how to not only survive but thrive a meltdown Christmas. (Also useful for a general thrifty Chrimbo too!) 

Hommity (ish!) Pies with a Wholemeal Olive Oil Pastry - Yum!!!

Autumn...

that must mean time for comfort food, and what is more comforting than a pie?

Pie!!!

Mmmm, economical, delicious and healthy.

Okay, maybe healthy is debatable but I think my version of Hommity Pies is perhaps, a healthier pie than most. Having just the one crust, the base, it almost halves the amount of pastry in the first place, but then the pastry is made with wholemeal flour and olive oil. Yes I kid you not the fat used in this pastry is olive oil giving you a pastry where the fat content is a healthy monounsaturated oil as well as a pastry that is easy peasy to make too.

Made mainly from leftovers this frugal pie is warming wholesome and comforting - perfect autumn fare.

According to one t'interweb source Hommity Pies contain a filling of potatoes onion and leek, but I utilised leftover potatoes and vegetables from the previous evening's meal, so the vegetables in my pies included carrots and broccoli, hence my title Hommity-ish pies.

 Hommity - ish Pies

Ingredients:

Pastry:

8oz (225g) wholemeal flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

5 tbsp olive oil

5 tbsp cold water

Filling:

1 medium onion - chopped

1 garlic clove -  finely chopped

1 tsp olive oil

Leftover cold potatoes chopped into 1/2 inch cubes. 

Leftover cooked vegetables chopped into small pieces.

( If you don't have any suitable leftovers you can cook the potatoes and veg especially for the dish, just use up what you have!)

4oz (100g) grated cheese.

Splash of milk

Salt and pepper to taste.

To Make the Pastry

Mix the wholemeal flour, baking powder and salt together and then make a well in the centre.

Add the water and the oil then mix into the flour - I used  a fork for this and it worked well. When all the liquid is combined with the flour bring together the resulting dough with your hands. At this point you could roll out on a lightly floured surface and cut into 4" rounds, but I chose to divide the dough into 6 small balls and use my hands to flatten them into circles to fit my tin. Line your pie tins.

I rather liked the rustic look that this gave to my pie cases.

Filling

Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the chopped onions and garlic. Saute until soft but not coloured. Remove from the heat and in a bowl mix the onion and garlic with the potatoes and vegetables. Add half the cheese and a splash of milk and mix well to combine all the ingredients.Taste and add seasoning if necessary.  Fill the pastry cases and then sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake in the oven at 220C Gas mark 7 for 20 minutes until golden.

I prefer these pies warm rather than hot so I cool them on a rack for a little while before serving, they are however also delicious cold.

Proving that a self catering holiday can be relaxing for all!

We've been on holiday to The Isle of Lewis in The Outer Hebrides, and what a long journey home we had - setting off at 9a.m to arrive home at 10:50 pm!

Waiting for the ferry!

As usual we self catered and I had it planned like a military operation - lol!

It was my holiday too and the last thing I wanted was to feel I was stuck in the kitchen making endless meals. To prevent this I've found that a little forward planning can make a self catering holiday fun and relaxing for everyone including the usual chief cook and bottle washer.

First off I make a list of all the meals we'll need while we are away including breakfasts, packed lunches and evening meals. I always plan for one evening to be a take-away and another to be a treat meal out. 

Armed with my list of meals I then menu plan, keeping things simple. Now if you read this blog regularly you will know that my usual way of cooking is from scratch, but on holiday I make an exception. For example a curry planned for one evening, but using good quality jars of curry sauce where the only prep is slicing up and frying off some chicken breasts before adding the sauce and using those pre prepared packs of microwave rice and long life naan breads.  

I do this well ahead of time and then write a list of all the non perishables I will need. These are then bought over several weeks or even months and packed away ready to take with us. I take with me a separate list of perishables to buy in a single shop once I get to our holiday destination. 

This may seem like a lot of work but it is all done ahead of the holiday, I also do a bit at a time so it doesn't feel at all onerous, in fact, I really rather enjoy this pre planning stage. Once on holiday, apart from an initial quick shop, I don't need to worry or think about meals. The preparation for the meals is minimal never taking more than 15 easy minutes of my time.

Do you go self catering? If you do, how do you plan?

I've reproduced this year's lists below to give you some idea of how I plan.

Pre buy Essentials Tea Bags Coffee Sugar Salt Pepper Tomato Ketchup Butter (Stored in fridge till we go then in cool bag) Squash Spray Oil LL Milk Breakfasts Jam (Honey and marmalade!) Cereal Packed Lunches Canned Tuna Canned Meats  Cheese Part baked bread (LL Vac Packed) Main Meals Curry & Rice with Naan Breads Jar Curry Sauce Packet Rice LL Naan Bread Pesto Pasta with Chorizio Jar Pesto Wholewheat pasta Chorizio Tortillas and taco's Tortilla kit (mix, wraps, salsa) Tacos Chinese Packet Egg Fried Rice Blue dragon sauce sachets Pizza Pizza bases Tomato pasta sauce for topping Sunday Dinner Gravy Processed peas

Buy When There Essentials Milk Bread Additional Butter Breakfasts Bacon Black Pudding Square Sausage Tomatoes Orange Juice Packed Lunches Crisps Main Meals Bagged salad Garlic bread Mince (for tacos) Chicken (for fajitas, curry & Chinese) Sour cream Onions Grated cheddar Grated Mozarella Chinese stir fry veg Prawn Crackers Prepared potatoes for Sunday Prepared Veg for Sunday Cooked Chicken (Sunday Dinner and Packed Lunches) Pre cooked Yorkshires Yogurts Snacks Peppers