Tea this evening was one of the Quinoa and Chickpea burgers from yesterday.

I got some wholemeal rolls from the local Spar, on our way back from a day out. Definitely not frugal, £1.50 for 4!

I made some hoummous using a tin of chickpeas, the remains of a jar of tahini, a dollop of garlic paste, some olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice from a half used one in the fridge, a fat pinch of salt and the rest of the tin of black eye beans left in the fridge from when I made Hotdog and Blackeye Bean Salad Bowl. They were getting a bit crusty and definitely needed using before they went hairy.

I split one of the wholemeal rolls, and spread each side with some of the hoummous, then topped one side with a little chutney and slapped on the cooked burger.

Mmmm, mmmmm! Now we’re talking, yumsville. And with all that protein packed in it, it should keep me going without being hungry until bedtime.

Yesterday, I made some raspberry muffins. I have a cute little six hole, heart shaped silicone cake tin, so I made them in that. I just wanted a half batch and used the base recipe from here, halving everything.

170g self raising flour 45p/1.5kg, 4p
Pinch salt
40-60g sugar, 88p/kg, 4p
1 egg, 11p, or omit and add 4 tbslp more milk
100g raspberries, Asda £1.50/200g, 75p
80ml milk, 56p/litre, 4p
45ml veg oil £1.50/litre, 7p

£1.05 in total, so 17p each. I used raspberries from the garden, so they were free, making these 30p for all 6, or just 5p each.

You will need a 6 hole muffin tin, paper cases will help to remove the baked muffins. If you don’t have any cases, oil the holes in the tin and dust with flour

Pre-heat the oven to 375-400F/190-200C/180 fan/gas mark 6

Sift together all the dry ingredients. Put the oil and milk in another container (a jug or small bowl). When you are ready to bake the muffins, add the raspberries and oil/milk mixture to the dry ingredients and stir just enough to incorporate, a light hand is essential here. Too much stirring will toughen the muffins.

Spoon the mix into the paper cases in the muffin tin and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and firm. All muffins are especially delicious fresh from the oven. It’s a good idea to freeze any not eaten that day to keep them spanking fresh.

Using oil as we are instead of butter, omit the egg and you will have vegan as well as vegetarian muffins if this is of interest to you