FRUGAL RECIPES: entertaining for friends

I love seeing friends, but towards the end of the month, when everyone's waiting to get paid, it can be hard to arrange a get-together. This weekend I decided to have everyone over for brunch so we could have a good old catch-up without waiters clearing the tables and asking if we'll be 'ordering another coffee'. I wanted it to be a nice treat for my pals, so didn't ask them to bring anything, and kept costs low with an easy breakfast burrito bar and fresh fruit pudding, plus plenty of tea and a Bucks Fizz to kick things off.

I made a quick slaw with half a white cabbage, a handful of radishes, half a carrot, coriander, salt and pepper, a squeeze of lime and a couple teaspoons of sour cream (with tasty leftovers for later!). For the fresh salsa, I chopped a few tomatoes with half a can of black beans, spring onions and some sprigs of mint. We topped our burritos with coriander, cheddar, avocado, sour cream, hot sauce and a fried egg. Yum!

For pud, meringue nests with blueberries, sliced oranges and double cream. I'm gonna throw this out there, oranges and meringue might beat a classic Eton Mess for me!

Everything came to under £20 including a bottle of prosecco (!), which is what we would've each paid for brunch in town, so I'm quite pleased with that. I think breakfast is an easy way to have friends over without breaking the bank or asking people to bring things and it frees up the day for other very important Sunday tasks such as bubble baths, blogging and going back to bed to watch First Dates with a cup of tea!

p.s. Hey weekend, come back quickly, okay?