50 Thrifty Eat 'Outs' - Open fish pie by a river

Each week we try and eat 'out' as a family, for £5!

This is the challenge we have set ourselves, in an effort to:

Maximise our 5 to 9

Make more out of the hours between 5pm and 9pm (after school and back in time for the girls’ bedtime) – the focus on the 9 to 5 working day needs redressing … and this is our own humble attempt.

Eat out together

Eat ‘out’ more as a family. Eating outside is so much more fun than a stuffy pub or restaurant.

Add some variety

Eat at different locations and give the kids something fun, interesting, energetic etc to do (instead of completing naff ‘activity’ books offered as time fillers by well known pub/restaurant chains).. I mean, life’s too short for that isn’t it?

Yesterday we plonked ourselves by a Scottish River, and had open fish pie :)

Open fish pie

What you need
Potatoes
Carrots
Butter
Onion
Tinned fish (e.g. tuna, salmon, etc.)
Mixed vegetables
Tinned tomatoes / sauce
Salt and pepper (to your taste)

What to do
- Peel and cut the potatoes and carrots into small chunks
- Put the potatoes and carrots into a pan with water and bring to the boil until soft.
- Remove and mash together with butter.
- Fry chopped onion in the pan in the leftover butter.
- Add the tinned fish and sauce.
- Serve the mashed potato alongside the fish.

It looks exactly the same as fie pie that has been served on a plate!

Location
The location provides plenty of opportunities for fun and exploration. Go paddling or try skimming a stone: choose flat stones and throw them at a flat angle across the surface of the water; see how many times you can make the stone skim over the surface.