In this post I really wanted to discuss what prompted me to start this blog and what might be different about it. I live in an apartment with a tiny kitchen  – hence the name “the scullery made” and while it may not be quite a scullery it can certainly pose problems for a woman who likes to cook (and eat) as much as I do. I share this apartment with my boyfriend who shall henceforth be known as “the chap” because it amuses me, we moved in together about 2 years ago and I was devastated to leave my family home with it’s giant kitchen! This change has prompted me to get fairly organised though, and while I may not always be the tidiest I have had to come up with strategies to feed us on a budget in a small kitchen.

Good things happen in this kitchen; tasty breakfasts:

Decadent dinners:

I have a lot of fun with cakes:

And I even get my preserve on sometimes:

My point is really that I have always loved cooking but now that I have the small kitchen conundrum, not to mention the paying rent problem that I have had to get smart! The weekly shop only ever costs around €60 and that is breakfast, lunch and dinner for the 2 of us all week, which is pretty good going I think. It all starts with a list, or at least a series of scribbles

This is how I roll – firstly I’ll sit myself down with a cuppa, this may happen on a Friday evening/Saturday morning. So I start by checking out the supermarket bargains the super 6 and the likes, then I start trying to figure out what I might make from them, I’ll usually consult some cookbooks for ideas. I really like the idea of the super 6 because it changes every fortnight so not only is it good value but i generally means I’m not repeating the same meals all the time. I’ll go from there and decide what’s for dinner – I write them down as set days but I’m not a crazy person  – we might even have stir fry on Tuesday instead  – who knows?! The aim is really to make sure there’s enough planned for the week and to shop accordingly.

I think sometimes it’s easy to get lazy/fall into bad habits when only cooking for 2, this is why I love the list – so we don’t get to Thursday and have nothing there and end up making bad choices.

So, more lists to come in the future, don’t be afraid to make a notebook your friend!!!