Ladies of thrift

If you follow the tales of Contrary Towers you might form the simply wrong view that we are profligate, champagne swilling, caviar chomping decadents. Not a bit of it. I'll have you know that the caviar is still in the fridge. And we sip champagne, we don't swill it. What's often missed though is that, actually...

We are thrifty.

Oh yes. Not only do we do our regular shop in Poplar's answer to Fortnum & Mason, known locally as Lidl, a shop so profoundly good that it makes the Tesco Express on Frances Wharf look like poo. Actually, if there was no Lidl, the Tesco would still be poo. It really is dire.

I digress.

We are thrifty, we actually eat very economically and choose to go mad every now and then. Take last nights meal for instance...

Soupe du jour

• 2 tins of Lidls finest premium chopped tomatoes (2x45p)
• 2 onions (about 15p)
• 1 vegetable stock cube made up to about half a litre of stock (errr, let's call it 10p)
• 2 slices of sunflower bread (2x9p)
• A big blob of tomato puree (maybe 10p worth)
• A splash of olive oil (spends a penny...)
• Feuilles de basilic, poor Basil, he's starting to look depleted
• Parmesan that we found in the fridge

This is a good meal to cook whilst your flatmate is blogging... Chop and cook the onions in the olive oil for a bit. Add the stock and tomatoes. Cook for 20 minutes or so on a simmer, stirring lots and blend. Finally give basil another hair cut, chop his leaves and leave to cook for a few minutes more.

Add a decent sprinkle of parmesan.

No time to even look at the ducks/boats/arrange flowers. Though we did talk through most of it, as you do.

Serve with a slice of the sunflower bread each. Perfect. And we have leftovers!

Now if you were paying attention you'll notice I put in prices, some are approximations, adding it up it comes to £1.44, or 72p each, but, we have leftovers, possibly enough for both of us, so let's call that 36p each. As I said, we are thrifty!

To complete the regime of the day we had an evening constitutional walk which took us down the tow path, round Limehouse Basin and back again, a strident 2.68 miles, according to miCoach, burning off 286 pie points for me. Oddly, Clare's pie points were higher. Which I think is hardly fair.

This week we'll be dieting in earnest. We both have frocks to get in to by the weekend, and, frankly, drastic measures are needed...

*Nibbles half a raisin*