One word. Fritters.

Working last weekend thrwe my week into complete havoc. Not being able to get to the farmer’s market meant going to a green grocers on Thursday after the supermarket. Aside from the horridness of the greengrocer when I am used to the greengrocers, I’ve had to stretch my fruit and vegetables further as I seem to be incapable of buying 9 days worth at once. Except by accident of course. Today was the day to take stock of the  fridge, factor in a family dinner on Friday night and meal plan three days. The meal plan needed to account for adequate fruit and vegetable intake, my very fussy father and ensuring nothing is wasted.

We have just enough fruit to get us through two mornings of bircher muesli plus one piece per child per day. Adults will have to do without fruit snacks (not that the Bread Winner will notice that). Two lunches of cheese and salad sandwiches, one mushroom risotto dinner, one roast beef, wedges and salad dinner and tonight’s meal, fritters.

Fritters follow more a concept than a recipe. Take scraps of vegetables from the fridge and/or garden. Cut, shred or grate until you have enough to feed your family. Combine with 1 – 2 eggs (depending on the size of your family), about a cup of plain flour and somewhere between 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup milk. Some grated cheese, about 1 cup is good too. Place spoonfuls into a hot, greased fry pan and cook for a couple of minutes on each side until golden.

Such a quick, nutritious meal. Budget concious both in terms of ingredients and due to the reduction in waste. Any little scrap can be incorporated, including meat, poultry or fish. Best of all, the Ankle Biters adore them.

Tonight’s fritters contained silverbeet, celery and spring onions from the garden in addition to snowpeas, corn and cheese from the fridge. The Ankle Biters had theirs with leftover meatloaf on the side. The Bread Winner and I had ours with combined scraps of tomato relish and sweet chilli sauce. Fritters even prevent wastage of odds and ends of sauces. What more could one ask for?