Day 7 of our £10 a week challenge hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would, I guess having that extra £3 each to spend has really made a difference. It’s surprising that a few extra pounds can help so much. It makes you really appreciate not having to count every penny in day to day life.

As usual I’ve saved one of our nicest meals for the last day so we have something to look forward to. These fish and chips would be lovely any day not just on our budget days. Even though the fish is frozen. It’s very good quality white and flaky, and with the lemon breadcrumb I would be happy to have this in a restaurant.

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Friday
Breakfast
Toast with jam/peanut butter or Porridge

Lunch
Cheese and tomato sandwich

Dinner
Lemon breaded fish with mini roasties and minted peas

Snack
coffee cake

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Lemon breaded fish and chips with mint peas Ingredients

Ingredients

For the fish and chips

4 of the frozen fish fillets
2 tins potatoes
1 lemon
Handful of breadcrumbs from crusts
1 egg beaten with salt and pepper
Handful of plain flour

For the pea puree

20g butter or oil
1 small white onion, finely chopped
500g frozen peas
100ml vegetable stock
Small handful of fresh mint leaves

Method for the fish and chips

Firstly defrost the fish fillets, and turn the oven on to 200°C.

To make the mini chips drain the 2 tins and pat dry the cooked potatoes, then slice them in to wedges.

Next put them in a baking tray and toss them in 2-3 tablespoons of cooking oil. Cook for about 20-25 minutes. But check them half way through.

Then make the bread crumbs in a food processor or grated them, add a little lemon zest and a teaspoon of oil and mix together.

Next carefully roll the fish in the flour then the egg mixture, then the bread crumbs, pat the mixture on to them on if you need to.

Lay them out on a lightly oiled baking tray and drizzle a little more oil over them.

Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.

We served this with Minted peas and lemon wedges (from the zested lemon).

Method for the pea puree

For the pea puree melt the butter over a medium heat add the onion and cook, stirring, for a few minutes until softened.

Add the frozen peas and vegetable stock and turn up the heat until the peas have thawed and are hot. Reduce the heat slightly and simmer for 5 minutes.

Stir in the fresh mint leaves and cook for a further few minutes. Spoon the mixture into a food processor and blend to a puree, stop blending when you have the consistency you like. Season to taste.