I've done a test recipe tonight to check the costs and quantities.
Bean casserole with sausages.
Ingredients (serves 2):
1 red pepper
1 orange pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 courgette 150g
1 carton of chopped tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
1 tin of cannellini or borlotti beans
4 sausages
salt/pepper/chilli to season
Chop all the veg roughly. Lightly fry the garlic in a little olive oil and add the rest of the vegetables. Add the tomatoes, drain the beans and add them too. Season with salt, pepper and a small pinch of chilli. Simmer for 20-30 minutes depending how soft you like the veg. Grill the sausages. Spoon out into a bowl and get stuck in with a nice thick slice of buttered bread
The important bit - the costs.
Ok, so going on Sainsburys prices the total is as follows:
1 red pepper
1 orange pepper
1 yellow pepper = 3/5 Basics pepper pack at £1.35 = 81p
1 courgette 150g = 27p
1 carton of chopped tomatoes = 33p
2 cloves garlic = 1/4 of bulb of Organic 3 pack = 1/12*90p = 7.5p
1 tin of cannellini or borlotti beans = 44p
4 TTD sausages = £1.72
Total: £3.64
My veg came from the market and was substantially cheaper as so:
Red peppers: 4/£1
Orange peppers: 8/£1
Yellow peppers: 9/£1
Courgettes: 5/£1
So my veg costs came to 70p compared to Sainsburys £1.10, not as big difference as I was expecting if I'm honest. My total for tonight was
£3.24 and we're both stuffed.
Note that I used Taste The Difference sausages and tinned beans. I could have shaved a bit off that by using cheaper sausages and by cooking the beans myself. This would have needed me to soak them overnight but would have literally come to pennies instead of 44p, because even the fancy dried pulses are dead cheap.
