Please note I am not an expert cook so if you are looking for perfection – sorry – there are lots of books out there that can give you fine detail. Instead here, I am an ordinary woman sharing my own experience of cooking and budgeting.

I always keep some things in stock including the onions, potatoes, garlic, herbs and, in the freezer – peas, sweetcorn and green beans. I also keep beans, quorn pieces or quorn mince because I am vegetarian. Non vegetarians might consider holding chicken pieces or minced meat as well as the beans.

In a certain supermarket, this week’s bargains were

• A medium sized butternut squash
• 3 peppers – red, green and yellow
• Cherry plum tomatoes
• A small cauliflower

From this, in a couple of hours, I made enough meals to last me a week and threw out only some pulp and hardened skin peelings.

A colourful mixed casserole

Cauliflower and butternut squash curry with apple

Squash, potato and carrot mash

I cut my butternut squash into three equal portions. Peeled and seeded them and put these trimming in my stock pot including the seeds.

I trimmed the peppers and discarded the seeds. The trimmings went into the sauce pot.

I washed the cauliflower, divided into florets. The outer leaves and stalks went into the stock pot.

I peeled three onions – peelings went into the stock pot.

I peeled three potatoes – peelings went into the stock pot.

Crushed two cloves of garlic, putting skins and trimmings into the stock pot.

I already had an apple that was beginning to wrinkle so I peeled it and diced it ready to add to the curry.

Stock

Essentially the trick is to use every single thing that you can. That includes using the stalks of vegetables, the outer leaves, peelings and trimmings. Peelings and trimmings make perfectly good vegetable stock or soup. Wash thoroughly before preparing. Have one saucepan (stock pot) with a pint of water at hand and as you prepare your vegetables put the peelings, skin, pumpkin seeds etc in this. Bring to the boil and simmer for at least half an hour or until the fluid has reduced by at least half. I do not add salt and pepper to mine as I prefer to season the dishes as I prepare them rather than the stock, that way I know exactly how much salt is in it. Bought stock cubes tend to have very high salt content.

Once the fluid is reduced I put this through a sieve, leaving only pulp and skins.

You can freeze in ice-cube makers for later use but I tend to use mine immediately.

Butternut squash casserole

This is a very colourful and, with the ginger, a very warming dish. Although it is quite simple it always looks impressive.

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• Onion diced
• Two cups butternut squash, cubed
• One each red, green and yellow pepper, diced
• Handful frozen sweetcorn
• Handful frozen peas
• Handful frozen green beans
• Two cups quorn pieces (chicken pieces for non-veggies)
• Plum cherry tomatoes
• Two cloves garlic – crushed
• Ginger – to your taste – I like about a teaspoon
• Mixed herbs – to your taste
• Black pepper – to your taste
• Salt to taste but remember you need less when using herbs and pepper.
• Half pint stock.

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a saucepan and soften onions. Add garlic, fry for a minute, and then add all the other ingredients. Transfer to a hot casserole dish, cover and cook in oven for 40 minutes. Check fluid level frequently and add more stock if necessary. Gas mark 5 – 190 degrees.

Divide into meal size portions and freeze.

Cauliflower and Squash Curry

Served with rice and Nan bread, this makes a filling meal.

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• Onion
• Small cauliflower
• 2 cups butternut squash
• Medium curry powder – to your taste
• Diced apple
• Stock
• Black pepper to taste
• Salt to taste – you need very little with the spices and pepper
• Cornflour to thicken if needed.
• Rice

Preparation

Heat olive oil in saucepan, soften onions, add cauliflower, squash and apple and cook for a few minutes. Add spices and stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 25 minutes. Add some cornflour if you need to thicken it a little.

I served it fresh with long-grain brown rice.

I mixed leftover rice with what was left and froze it in individual portions for later use.

Squash, potato and curry mash

This can be used as a side dish or topped with cheese, as a supper dish, and is particularly tasty when made with the stock from butternut squash which gives it a buttery taste.

Part-boil potatoes and carrots together with some onion.

Drain off water and add butternut squash stock to finish cooking.

Cook until fluid is almost gone

Mash

Place in an ovenproof dish and top with cheese

Grill until cheese is melted and browned.

If I had been cooking with something like broccoli I would make soup instead of mash because broccoli stock tends to be quite strong. However it is excellent used with the stalks, onion, a potato to thicken and garlic as a soup. The stalks cook down nicely and when blended can be served with cheese.

Personally I feel you need to be willing to experiment, be willing to adapt and I hope something here inspires you to have the confidence to give it a go.