You big baby ;o)

I had forgotten how hard beansprouts were to eat when I bought a Value bag of stir fry on Friday night at Tesco. It was reduced to 50p, a bargain not to be missed. My diet consists of a lot of out of date items which have had their prices dramatically slashed. If I had waited another half an hour I could have probably got my stir fry for less, that's if it hadn't been snapped up by another bargain snatcher. I didn't take the chance and was happy with the 50p. I can get three meals out of this, I thought, as I put it in my trolly.

Last night I cooked my stir fry in a large saucepan, starting it off in olive oil, and adding any flavourings that came to hand. Tomato paste, grainy mustard, lemon juice, garlic granules, black pepper, and turmeric. I can't be bothered standing over it continually stirring with a wooden spoon, so I added some water and let it simmer while I went off and did other things. At this point it usually turns into some kind of stew.

After 20 minutes I dished up a portion into a bowl and sat down to enjoy it in front of the computer. As I started to chomp away I didn't seem to be making much headway, it was taking ages to break it down into smaller pieces. At this rate it was going to take a long time to finish it, and my poor stomach would be protesting loudly as I demanded that it do the work that my teeth were supposed to be doing.

Only one thing for it, stick it in the blender and mush it up. I added a drop of boiling water from the kettle to improve the consistency, but bingo, it worked, and it tastes lovely. I had two bowls of my baby food last night, and I have this third bowl in the fridge which I shall microwave for lunch, with a few chunks of out of date crusty bread. Just the job on a chilly autumn day.