Day twenty seven - Friday 27th Feb

Friday. Suddenly, I realised today that we are within touching distance of finishing this thing! One more day to go and the challenge will be complete, it will certainly have impacted me in several ways. Some views have changed, while others have solidified but I'm really glad I followed through with this social experience. This week I believe I showed that you really can eat well and still give yourself the potential for some of those luxuries that you like. You can't have everything, that's for sure, but that does make those nuggets of indulgence even more special.

Tomorrow we have to decide if we're going to blow the rest of the weeks budget (we still have just under £30 left!) on a single meal, or hold it all in for just one more day - you'll have to wait to find out. Tonight, we kept things on track with chicken noodle soup. The stock we made up from the chicken bones and veg all boiled up and left to cool. If any of you are at all mystified by the process of stock, it really is dead easy and I can't stress how tasty it is when compared to your standard cube. 

First separate the meat from the bones of whatever you had that day - in this case, chicken.

Then, re-roast the bones in a pan for half an hour to 45 mins. I got this tip from Heston Blumenthal and while it is a bit of extra faff, it's well worth it.

Get yourself a big pot of water on the boil with any root veg you've got to hand. Carrot, onion and celery as a starter but just avoid potatoes or anything too starchy and you'll be golden.

And after at least 2 hours this is what you end up with; aromatic chicken water. True, it doesn't sound appetising but trust me, it will zing you up. Just make sure you strain the stock and mash the remaining sieved bits up to remove as much moisture as possible. I leave mine in the pot to cool, sometimes even overnight before straining. Then you really get the flavour benefit.

I stick mine in the fridge if I'm likely to use in within a few days or straight into the freezer if not. It's supposed to go a bit gelatinous so don't worry about that, once you heat it back up it will be lovely, plus it makes it much easier to skim the fat off the top.

So for a very quick soup - just chop up some carrot, spring onion, chicken and ginger. Heat some of your lovely stock and throw in your veg along side a stick of lemon grass.

Then, when you're ready to go, tip in your instant noodles, sprinkle torn coriander over the top and some Chilli if you're feeling fruity enough and away you go. In the bowl and ready within 15 mins. Which is just as well because after dinner, we were visited by some good friends who would not have appreciated it if we had to spend the first hour cleaning up behind us. We did however, have to make them a promise that the next time they came over it has to be a takeaway!!

This has to be one of the cheapest, easiest and yet tastiest meals we've done.  The kids love the noodles and teaching them how to eat with chop-sticks is a great head start for when the revolution happens. Always be prepared Comrades!