Stretching everything further

For dinner, we had to really reasonably priced cod steaks, ours were in parsley sauce. I cooked all four, we have the same meal again tomorrow for lunch. A quick re-heat at work.

I called into Tesco on the way home, bought some reduced stewing steak and six lamb's kidneys, they are in the slow cooker, simmering away with onions and mushrooms and some stock for supper tomorrow night.

The mini oven gets used more and more, last night, when I was too tired to photograph anything, we had 'mini-roast' and had a thick slice of belly pork each, roasted with potatoes, onions, parsnips and carrots. They all cooked in my ancient little enamel ware roasting dish and all in under an hour. It has a timer, so I can just leave it.

Pork is being given away at the moment. I bought three more slices today for £1.04 off the meat counter at Tesco.

Tonight's supper was all cooked on one gas ring. Everything was stacked up in the one saucepan, with the fish, the veg and the potatoes. It's not just about saving money on the food but also in the cost of what I spend on energy.

I'm getting increasingly conscious of the ever increasing cost of food, cooking it, storing it and making everything go as far as possible. Every meal, every time I switch on the gas, or a light, I'm conscious of how much its' costing and how I can make everything go that little bit further. I never cook, without considering another meal cooking opportunity. I have already cooked the spuds for tomorrow's lunch and tomorrow's supper too. If I have the gas on, it has to stretch. I know I'm not the only person who is really worried about the cost of living and if I don't watch every penny then I won't have enough to make sure my bills are paid.