Thursday 1 August 2013

A Summer BBQ - The #charcoalchallenge


A summer BBQ


The weather we have had recently is just perfect for al fresco dining so when moneysupermarket invited me to take part in their charcoal challenge I jumped at the chance to host a Summer BBQ!

We were given £50 to show how creative we could be and throw a good old out door shindig for family and friends! I wanted to show just how creative you could be on a budget, so set out to create a varied selection of outdoor culinary delights that catered to both our vegetarian and meat eating guests...



a £50 budget

I like to support our local community so although we did visit the supermarket to buy some of the food, we also paid a trip to our local Deli to buy the hummous, feta and halloumi cheeses and some bread.

For the meat eaters we had burgers, sausages and chicken drumsticks to go on the barbecue. These were all purchased  fresh from the supermarket, although there was a variety ready marinated meats to purchase these were much more expensive, so I bough plain drumsticks a threw together a marinate myself using olive oil and herbs and spices that we already had in! Saving some pennies and (i'm told) they tasted fab!

When it comes to vegetarian burgers and sausages I find that I actually prefer the frozen ones so for just £3 later we had six Glamorgan sausages and 4 bean burgers.

I also chopped up some peppers, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and halloumi and laid them out with soaked bamboo skewers ready for guests to create their own Veggie Kebabs! These were a huge hit with adults and children alike, I must admit I went back twice (but no mushrooms on mine! Urgh!)

To compliment the food from the BBQ I made a delicious Cherry tomato and Goats cheese tart, a mouthwatering Feta and Beetroot Salad, Hassleback potatoes, a selection of crudites and dips and some crisps and popcorns to nibble on, yum!


yummy desserts too

Of course we couldn't forget about those with a sweet tooth so the children came on board to help me make some gorgeous but simple summery deserts including fresh fruit and milk frozen ice-lollies, caramel covered popcorn and mini strawberry ice-creams with multi-coloured sprinkles and fresh strawberries.

Can you believe  all of the above came to just £30?! That left us £20 to spend on drinks! We had just received our brand new Sodastream that I was lucky enough to win from Britmums Live so the children had some great fizzy fun with that and the sample syrups that were included, while I bought a nice  of Rose Wine and a case of Carling zest with some fresh limes for the adults! 

Perfect for sitting in the sun and enjoying one of the hottest days of the year!

We had a really lovely time, enjoyed the food and drink and the sun provided the entertainment! We had the paddling pool out in the garden, a ball to kick around and a water-pistol to cool us down (this was particularly popular with the adults!

Thank you Money Supermarket for giving us the chance to show that you can throw a great BBQ on a budget!


We were sent £50 by moneysupermarket.com to take part in the challenge.

1 comment:

  1. The food looks lovely! We really enjoyed our barbecue too, it's a great opportunity to spend time with family and friends.

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