Day nineteen - Thursday 19th Feb

An interesting day in Rob's 'month of everyone knowing what I'm cooking' today. As well as additional children, we were joined today by Mrs P's mum for dinner, so extra mouths had to be accommodated. It's a great test because the ability to find extra from a budget in which every single meal has to be pre-planned will stretch anyone. But flexibility is key surely? How do you cope with these things? Firstly you need a bit of luck; when I went shopping on Sunday, I couldn't find any pork chops that gave me enough value so I didn't buy any. So when the M-I-L was confirmed, Mrs P and I had a conflab and came up with a new plan. There was however, a problem with what was already a potential problem. Inspired by Comic Relief does The Great British Bake off last night, Mrs P decided to bake up some salty caramel cup cakes. Now, as tasty a treat as they are (and you'll have to believe me when I say that they are very tasty), she managed to use up all my butter, marg and flour. I have spoken about my views on baking before but suffice to say, that I find it the least appealing type of cooking you can practice in a kitchen. Mrs P by contrast, loves it - so I can smell a future post in the making...! 

So, lunch had to be modular by design and there were some cheese on toasts going on along with the last of the tomato soup (the M-I-L got that one) while Mrs P had a peanut butter sandwich while I whipped up a transportable salad sandwich. Before you splutter with incredulity, yes, I said salad sandwich. It was actually surprisingly tasty. In a bowl mix up what ever salad you've got - the last of the cucumber, the last of the spinach and a couple of spring onions went into mine. A splash of white wine vinegar, a crack of salt and fresh pepper went into a sandwich made with buttered crusts. It wasn't the best lunch I've ever had but it really was miles better than your standard flaccid cheese-on-white. 

Then came dinner. A last minute dash to the shops to swap out the potential pork chops with pork shoulder. But then that had knock on effects; pork shoulder has to be cooked low and long, so a stew type dish would have to be constructed. I had a left over can of tomatoes in the cupboard so that could go in with some chunky onions and carrot, salt, pepper and a pinch of smoked paprika and we've got the basis of a good sauce. But what else do we have here? Mustard? Yes, good work, a good spoonful of mustard will perk this right up.

OK so, veg is fried off with a good sized clove of garlic, the meat is added and browned. Then the tomatoes go in to de-glaze the pan, fill up the can with water, swill it about to get all the tomatoey juice off the sides and in that goes as well. One chicken stock cube later and we're ready to rock and roll. In the oven for at least 90 minutes but longer if you can, at between 130 to 180 depending on how long you've got.

Try to peal some potatoes for the mash but remember that you used it all at the weekend, so go down to the shops at the last minute and buy another bag and some butter. Get back, then start the mash in a rush, steam the last bit of kale and serve with everyone enjoying nice big portions.

So a victory for luck? Perhaps.  But, I did have enough of the weekly budget in reserve just in case. The real winning strategy here is the understanding that food, just like a family, is by definition unpredictable and open to change. You just have to get the combinations right and you'll be happy with the result every time.