The weather was grey, damp and decidedly Bank Holiday style, what a waste.
I thought that something very tasty, very comforting and as frugal as possible was in order for dinner, specially as I had a guest.
While pootling round blogland I spotted a recipe for Mac'ncheese with added pumpkin, no pumpkin......but wait, lurking in the fridge was about 1/3rd of a butternut squash, only 50p and had made 2 meals already. So a quick check on the pasta and lo and behold some from an AF order ( before the move to Wales) that was dirt cheap. Then another look in the fridge turned up a bit of cheddar, half price from Lidl ages ago, the jar of very posh Stilton from a Christmas pressy and some left over veg, cabbage, cauli and carrots. Milk in the fridge also, I was set.
A bit of squash pulp and seeds removed, cut into chunks , brushed with a smidgeon of oil, dusted with salt and pepper and roasted, skins left on.
While prepping the squash I thought that a little spinach would not hurt, so dragged some out of the freezer.
Cheddar, coarsely grated.
Posh Stilton, no need to curtsey.
I used about 2 tablespoons from here, it is so good that I could have used less.
Make a white sauce, add cheeses, stir in cooked pasta and cooked squash scraped from the skins with a teaspoon add left over veg, and turn the lot into a dish.
Throw on a handful of grated cheddar and pop in the mini oven for 20 -30 minutes
Look at the worktop and see this
The carefully squeezed spinach that should be in the dish. Bum.
Too late Ethel, pop it in the fridge for tomorrow.
save the day by sprinkling the skins with salt and roasting in the residual heat of the oven, Yummy snack.
Apart from that I have made another 20 string blocks and printed off some patterns from the net.
Dinner was absolutely delicious, the washing up is done and I am off to the local cinema, The second best Marigold Hotel is showing and as I enjoyed the first one, and as it is only £4 to get in I am going.
I will tell you all about it tomorrow.
TTFN Pam
mmm I can smell your food x
ReplyDeleteIt was lovely, plenty for 2 and enough left for me for lunch.
Deletegreat ingenuity, shame you had a senior moment over the spinach, at least you know some of what you are having tomorrow :-)
ReplyDeleteI may thaw a curry and stir the spinach through it, I aim to have a sewing day today.
DeleteI chuckled at the last over spinach! Every year at Christmas my mum would invariably leave something in the oven , only discovered AFTER we'd finished!
ReplyDeleteI am not too bothered, it will be used and there were lots of veg in the dish.
Deletelooks good. Let you know what you think of the movie?
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed it, there were around 50 people in the cinema and most seemed to like it, lots of laughter in the right places.
DeleteYou know, I think the spinach might have been a distraction from the root vegetables mellowing in the cheddar. Now you can throw the spinach in an omelette or in a toasted cheese or something long those lines.
ReplyDeleteI like spinach and it will get stirred into a curry for dinner.
DeleteThat looks delicious! I often forget to put things in, find it after we've eaten often :)
ReplyDeleteI am usually better than this, I was simply hungry and in a hurry.
DeleteDid I read correctly? Can you eat the skin of the squash? If so, that is something I didn't know and need to try. I hate waste.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, It does depend on the variety, I would not fancy trying the Turks Turban as it looks coarse. I have roasted chunks to have as a side dish and always eat the skin, sometimes I add a splash of water to the roasting dish so the steam softens the skin.
DeleteYour meals looked brilliant, I'm not a fan of spinach, so I would not have missed it. I'm glad you enjoyed the film, I have seen the first one.
ReplyDeleteIt was delicious, I love cheesy meals, the film was vey entertaining.
DeleteSounds like a delicious dinner!! Hope that the film was great!! xx
ReplyDeleteIt was delish and the film was good also.
DeletePam that looked a great frugal meal. enjoy the pictures.
ReplyDeleteRosezeeta
It was and I did.
DeleteThat looks really delicious. Hope you had a good time at the cinema, I thought the first film was ok but I'm looking forward to seeing this as it has Richard Gere in it.
ReplyDeleteRichard Gere was good but I prefer Bill Nighy.
DeleteA few months back I made a big batch of peanut butter-oat cookies and noticed the batter was very dry....so I added a little milk and baked them. They were horrible and since I've made them several times I couldn't figure it out....the next day I opened the microwave to use it and there sat my cup of butter....whoops. Cookies weren't even edible. Love the whale....I think a big bullfrog would be cute...they have such big mouths and round bodies. Glad your casserole turned out without the spinach. Janet
ReplyDeleteOops, butter free cookies, not good. I was thinking of trying a dolphin and stuffing the top half and putting a zip in the bottom, I will have to think about frogs.
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