I love a bargain, I really like food and I especially like baking and cooking. So, this week when I was looking through the reduced item shelf in the supermarket I was really pleased to see a bag of ripe bananas (about 9 of them) for about 50p. Most people would have left them, but I saw this as a great opportunity for some batch baking.
Banana batch baking
Today I have made Banana and Raisin Muffins, Banana and Date Loaf and Banana and Pine Nut Brownies. I’ll freeze the majority of them into portion sized pieces and then we can take one out as and when a packed lunch is necessary. Also when they are frozen they travel better and can’t be eaten randomly when you’re making a hot drink or folding the washing! They are all adapted recipes using only wheat free flours, natural sweeteners and nothing nasty.
This ‘cost’ me 6 bananas, the others I peeled and popped in a freezer bag. I’ll use them in smoothies when it eventually gets hotter. They add an ice-cream like texture without the sugar and dairy. I also froze a punnet of strawberries that were looking OK, but not brilliant for the same reason.
Banana, Strawberry and Coconut Smoothie
Other items I’ve bought cheaply in bulk and cooked up this week:
5 x bags of watercress for 15p each and made a batch of watercress soup for 4 people.
Made French Onion Soup with not nearly enough of the onions I have in a sack in the kitchen. We’ll be on this for a while me-thinks!
A bag of mini cucumbers from the market for next to nothing and pickled them (so preserving them).
Used 10 bulbs (yes bulbs!) of garlic from a huge bag we got from the market for under £3 and pickled those too.
Food waste is a huge problem not only in this country but globally and food prices continue to rise. I see no reason not to use everything I buy and also to buy wisely so I can cook in advance and bake or freeze or pickle. Go to it people!
Pickled Garlic Cloves