Dinner…we all ask ourselves the age old question each day – what should I have for dinner tonight. Well, I thought I’d do a little experiment sort of like the Mastercard priceless adverts with dinner. As a bloke on his own, is it more sensible to get a fish and chips from Mrs Beetons or is it worth the time and effort (and what does it cost) to make Chicken a la Justin. Read more for full details, you’ll be surprised!
Last night I was hungry and wanted a quick meal before watching a bit of football on telly, so I decided to pop round the local chippy and visit Mrs Beeton. 1.5 mile drive from the house so not too long in the car, but when I got there, it seemed other people had the same idea. The queue took me 15 minutes to get through and when at the end, I got my cod and chips. £3.60 for the cod, £1.40 for the chips, total of £5.00. Not too bad. Got back in the car and drove home. Total journey – about 30 minutes. Total cost, including petrol – probably about 6 quid.
Tonight I took another avenue. On my way home from work, I decided to try and make a type of Chicken Stir Fry, so stopped in at the supermarket on the way past and got the following:
|
Item |
Cost |
Amount Used/Cost |
|
1 bottle of Enconia Hot Pepper Sauce |
2.09 |
.40 |
|
1 bottle of Chilli Olive Oil |
2.09 |
.10 |
|
1 jar paprika spice |
1.65 |
.05 |
|
1 jar crushed chillies |
1.65 |
.05 |
|
1 jar chilli powder |
2.49 |
.10 |
|
1 tub of crème fraiche |
2.49 |
.40 |
|
1 chicken breast |
1.30 |
1.30 |
|
1 bag of mature cheddar cheese (shredded) |
1.69 |
.30 |
|
a handful of mushrooms |
.94 |
.94 |
|
1 yellow pepper |
.56 |
.56 |
|
1 orange pepper |
.54 |
.54 |
|
2 red chillies |
.24 |
.24 |
So, we sum it up and get £5.04 worth of ingredients. How long did it take me to prepare it? About three songs from Taylor Swift – so 10 minutes. Cooking time? Another three songs – 10 minutes. Total time 20 minutes and I had a full plate of chicken mix. If I really wanted to I could cut back one pepper and also the mushrooms, taking it considerably below five pounds!
Morale of the story? In the long run, I had more fun chopping veg, got a healthier meal, and saved some money (ok so I’ll have to run the dishwasher and cost that in) but overall it was much better for me than fish and chips. Don’t get me wrong, there’s always going to be the need for Mrs Beeton, but looking at it with a full perspective, it’s not all that bad having to cook….
