Call me an old woman but I'm typically not a fan of dining in pubs (restaurant-pubs aside). I just find it so uncomfortable! Piling winter coats on tiny bar stools, cramped around little tables and typically cheek to jowl with the next table. Then there's elbowing away the resident pub dog's nose from my plate. It's just not my style.

But sometimes you just can't ignore the Instagram shots of gorgeous looking food any longer.

And I've become a big fan of The Pond actually, probably due to my new interest in beer, they always seem to have something on that I absolutely love. Plus it's had a really nice makeover featuring illustrated murals from local design studio See Creatures and doesn't THAT hague blue shade make everything better?

Before their residency at The Pond, Baby Bao had, and still do I believe, a regular Friday spot at  Street Diner. Fitting as it's, well, street food.

The increasing cost of food is something that concerns many of us and looks unlikely to stop rising. Volatile weather affecting crops and demand from a growing population are all factors and there are tons of percentages and bar graphs you could analyse, but at the end of the day, the cold hard fact is that our money isn't going as far as it used to.

I'm coming across a lot of blog posts that try and and address this by doing a "living on £10 a week" piece and then skirting scurvy on tinned spaghetti hoops and processed bread but I'm not sure how helpful that is to anyone. I would use that budget for nutritious basics and get more creative with shopping (I'm hoping to add a post where I devise a meal plan week on £10 myself). Luckily the majority of us are not on that tight a budget but still need to tighten belts due to extra mouths to feed, redundancy or even living on maternity pay as I am now (it's hard!).

I think being smarter about shopping and cooking is the way forward and eating fresh and nutritious food where possible. People say it's more expensive to eat healthily but all I know is that a huge bag of veg and packet of lentils for a nice soup, or a bag of flour and eggs for homemade pasta costs far less than a salt laden ready meal. Anyway, here are a few tips I've leaned to help my family out when sourcing our food.

Shop around
I never get my shopping from one source. I use independent, budget and higher end supermarkets. And yes, I have a job, two kids, a blog and a busy life but I make time because food is important to me. I've found the fresh fruit and veg at Lidl really good value and they sell the best supermarket vine tomatoes. They also have fantastic guest cheeses like Piave and their chacuterie is great. On the other hand, I prefer to get my meat from the butcher and bread from the bakery, buying infrequently but buying quality. I will also use a little local health store to buy grains like farro which are cheap, filling and nutritious. The local market is also your friend for fresh produce. I made a ton of caponata for something silly like £5 with produce I bought from The Open Market in Brighton and that lasted us 4 meals!

Use comparison sites
There are sites where you can get up to date prices on supermarket goods. I'll use this when I go to bulk buy quality tinned tomatoes or my favourite De Cecco pasta. I will normally buy about 10/15 packets at a time (I love carbs!) when I catch it on offer so will save a third at least.

Online voucher codes
I never buy anything online without having a look for a voucher code. Even just for free delivery! But it's not just handy for shoes and TVs. Places like www.vouchacodes.co.uk will help you save on certain Food and Drink brands and services to get you a better deal. Always worth a check before you checkout.

Time your shop
I drop in daily to a major supermarket on the way back from work and will always pick up a few bargains like pitta breads for 30p or bags of veg. These are handy for freezing or batch making mid-week lunches.


Use an app
Ok, Mr Graphic Foodie put his foot down and made me install a budget app (we use GoodBudget) on my phone as I can get carried away in the supermarket. This has really made a difference as you can lose sight of that £5, £10 or £15 here and there. Result? Monthly food bills are a fraction of what they were. Once they make a GPS app that alerts him when I go near Waitrose, I'm sure he'll make me install that too. And my bonus of being under budget is that it pays for luxury items like nice wine, steak or decent balsamic vinegar!



Meal Plan
Food waste is a crime to the Earth as well as your pocket. Here in Brighton the seagulls will frequently go for the bin bags in the street and the contents get strewn around the street for all to see. I'm staggered at what people throw out really. Every week the chalkboard goes up with the weekly plan and I can shop only for things I need. A little kill joy maybe but by heck this will save you £££s over the course of a year and it's kinder on the environment. Another bonus is I never have that blank fridge face if I come back late from work. I mix up nutritious vegetable dishes with two or three meat or fish dishes every week to keep it cost effective too.

This is a sponsored post by Vouchacodes.co.uk. Thanks for supporting the sponsors that allow me to create original content like this for The Graphic Foodie. All content, ideas, and words are my own.

The Creperie is a dream for those with an eye for design. The website and interior have been exquisitely crafted. As a branding designer this would have been a dream job, details are everywhere from the striped paper straws, branded napkins and plates and logo plaques on the table. Stylish, relaxed with the right twist of quirky, it's an absolute pleasure to dine in.



As well as all of that (and I could go on believe me) Brighton was really desperate for a creperie. I just love the things and their versatility so that they can be adapted for all times on the day. I'm not really a cooked breakfast fan, you won't find me down the greasy spoon for sure, so The Creperie is an ideal start to my day.



I went for a classic sugar and lemon crepe with my Small Batch coffee which I thoroughly enjoyed. The crepe was paper thin, delicious and simple. At just £4.95 and served with either juice tea or coffee, I think it's a bit of a bargain as most cafes will charge a few quid for a good coffee anyway.

Mr GF would probably die of starvation on just my simple crepe to start the day, so he opted for the heartier breakfast crepe with a poached egg and bacon. Amazingly this was also £4.95 with a drink which I think was either a print mistake or too cheap. Crisp streaky bacon was tucked all around the perimeter so it was a decent breakfast. The only negative was the wastage from such a huge portion of ketchup.

Although tucked away, I think The Creperie will do well here in the summer. The menu has been well thought through (designed and created by Karen Samuel formally of Food For Friends). They have a good selection of gelato from locals Gelato Gusto and there are plenty of sweet options. Savoury-wise there is a separate hot and cold menu and I will be returning to make a good dent into both for lunch. You could go classic with a twist with locally haddock in a creamy cheese sauce or wild mushrooms, crème fraîche, white wine, dill and spinach leaves. There are some more unusual options like curry or a fajita inspired galette but really, something to suit all moods.

You would be hard pushed to spend more than £8/9 on lunch here, especially with the take away prices, unless you double or triple up. Which, with the style and attention to detail the owners have gone into is ridiculously good value.

A great addition and nice to see something a little different for Brighton. I like it so much I'm adding it to my Brighton Black Book: www.pinterest.com/graphicfoodie/graphic-foodie-brighton-black-book/

www.thecreperiebrighton.com

This is a beyond easy recipe for some last minute drinks nibbles or a take along dish. Seriously, I had our local street party to go to in T minus 1 hour and nothing in the fridge apart from a block of ready made puff pastry (sssshhhhh) and a tub of mixed antipasti. I had to get creative. Throw in some fancy rolling and a chill in the freezer and you can knock these up in no time at all.

Your friends will be impressed. You will be smug.

You could also try these with pesto, mixed cheeses or feta and pine nuts...pretty much anything.


Makes around 30

Ingredients 
500g Block of ready made puff pastry
250g Jar or tub of mixed pitted olives (I used black, green and pimento stuffed) and sun-dried tomatoes
Pecorino or Parmesan


Method
Roll out the pastry into a rectangle, roughly 3mm thick.

Drain the olives and tomatoes and mop excess oil with some kitchen paper. Finely chop and spread evenly over the pastry.

Grate over a generous layer of cheese.

Mark the centre point on the two shorter sides of the pastry and carefully roll one long side to the middle and then the second side to the middle. Moisten the join in the middle with a little water and press together.

Wrap the roll in cling film and place on a tray in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200

Remove the roll, uncover and cut into 1 cm slices.

Place on baking trays lined with baking paper with plenty of space around for  15-18 minuters until golden and crisp. Cool on a wire rack.

These are best made just before needed. You could make the roll up well in advance and refrigerate, sticking in the freezer 30 minutes before cooking as above.

One thing I love to do back in Italy is to delve a spoon into a thick, creamy pile of the locally made sheep ricotta. The light, grainy texture and sweet creaminess as well as the dense farmyardy taste is wonderful. Nothing like the watery, bland and smooth pap you get in the plastic container in the supermarket. Nothing, not even close. I'm not even sure they should be calling it ricotta as it's likening a decent mature cheddar to something like a tube of Primula.

As there are quite a lot of Italian recipes that call for ricotta as an ingredient like ravioli, cakes or even Sicilian cannoli it's always a bit disappointing to use the store bought stuff. But little did I know that it is really (like really, really) easy to make a homemade "version"* of ricotta that is good for using in recipes, cheap as chips and quick. Nothing will be as good as the real deal, but this is a million times better than supermarket ricotta.

As with all simple recipes, quality of ingredient is king. For the milk only bother making this with full fat Jersey or other quality milk or if you can get hold of sheep milk then it will give you a more authentic flavour. You will also need a cooking thermometer and a square of cheesecloth or muslin, remembering to boil the cloth between uses (I use baby muslins that can be easily picked up for a couple of quid). You'll also need rennet which is an enzyme found in a sheep's stomach. Apparently you can get it in chemists but the pharmacists I encountered when I asked just looked at me like I was a loon. Vegetarian rennet is much easier to find in supermarkets, specialist food and health shops.

There are also recipes that you can substitute rennet with white vinegar, lemon juice, buttermilk, but this is a little closer to the real deal.

To produce around 150 - 200g of ricotta

1 Litre of quality milk (see above)
Vegetarian or animal rennet
Salt - a good pinch

Lay out a double layer of muslin inside a fine colander and place over a bowl.

Gently heat the milk to about 40°C. Take off the heat and add the salt and rennet (usually 10 drops or 2 scant teaspoons but check the packaging). Stir this through once and leave so stand undisturbed somewhere warm until the curds and whey separate. This can take a few minutes to an hour depending on your milk.

Put the pan back on the heat until it reaches 40°C again. Using a slotted spoon, gently lift the solid curds out into the muslin/cloth. Don't be tempted to squeeze or flatten the curds!

Let the solids drain and you can control the firmness of your resulting cheese, the longer you leave it, the firmer it gets. I leave mine about 30-40 minutes. Pop in a air-tight container and it's good in the fridge for 2-3 days.

You can now use the rictotta (or just slater on bread!) I made some simple filling for a mid-week raviloi.



Classic ravioli filling (enough for 2-3 people)

200g ricotta
1 egg, beaten
Seasoning
Zest of a lemon
20g Freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino
Small handful of fresh parsley
Grated nutmeg to taste

Mix all of the above in a bowl until well combined and use to fill ravioli. My base pasta recipe for making by hand or with a stand mixer can be followed here. Use 200g of flour and 2 eggs for 2-3 people.

Serve with a light, fresh tomato sauce, which you can make by softening half an onion in olive oil. Add 3-4 fresh and fragrant tomatoes which have been chopped. Season well and cook until the tomatoes begin to disintegrate.

* I say "version" because ricotta (meaning recooked) is a cheese made with reheating the whey left over from other cheese production like mozzarella and this uses full milk.