Cooking on the cheep

I LOVE Christmas shopping! It's the one time of the year I find everything I've been looking for - for me. That pair of boots in the pre-Christmas sale, the perfect necklace for wearing with your best party dress, the exact shade of nail varnish you've been looking for for about 2 years... and don't even get me started on the festive cake cases. My advice: Economise on the catering with immediate effect and treat yourself. Here is a recipe for Chinese chicken from a recent article by Prue Leith on how to feed your family (of four) for £50 per week.

Chinese chicken and fried rice

Chinese chicken

Heat oven to 190/gas 5. Tip a 1kg pack of drumsticks and legs into a roasting dish, mix together 1 tablespoon honey and 3 of soy sauce, pour it over the chicken and roast for about 45 minutes.

(Egg) fried rice 

This was enough for 1 adult and 1 child, plus seconds for both - scale it up as required

3oz basmati rice
2 small carrots
2 small handfuls frozen peas
1/4 leek
light soy sauce
sesame oil
(1 egg, lightly beaten)

Cook rice, adding carrots halfway through cooking time and peas almost at the end. Meanwhile, heat a little oil in a frying pan, tip in the egg and let it cook through like an omelette. Slide it out onto a plate, cut into strips and keep warm. Gently fry leek for a few minutes, then tip in the cooked rice, veg and egg. Splosh in some light soy sauce to taste and a drizzle of sesame oil; mix well.