Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Chatting => Frugal Living => Topic started by: Auntiemogs on September 02, 2013, 22:14
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I know that there have been several threads devoted to cooking thriftily, I just thought it would be nice to have one that was devoted to the 'tips and tricks' that we use to stretch our (ever diminishing) pound. :)
I'm also going to start one for those amongst us who need to consider expenditure not just financially but also due to time/physical constraints (long working hours/illness).
So, I shall kick off (if I may) with a tip I'll copy over to the other thread (when I make it) as there is a time constraint.
Tescies have a half price offer on their pork joints at the moment. I plonk mine in my slow cooker with some pepper and an inch of boiling water/stock (if you use a slow cooker, please check your instructions as I don't want to poison anyone ;). It probably says brown it first but I don't tend to bother.) but you could also slow roast it. I then let it rest while I use the juices and pork stock cubes (or chicken and beef 50/50 if I've run out) to make a gravy (plenty of gravy) and freeze in portions. Can be defrosted in microwave quite quickly or slowly brought to a boil in a saucepan.
A quick, tasty meal at less than £1 a portion (and I am quite generous with my portions as my son is a meat eater). :-)
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Love it... i just suggested something similar under the Jamie thread in chatting on the plot.
Except i'd suggested putting it under cooking / storing / preserving.
Are recipes allowed in this thread?
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Oh crikey MJ, now you've got me stumped! ::) I shall mail John and ask him, but if you have a tasty AND frugal recipe, it would be nice if you had the time to do both for now. :-)
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I shall spend some time tomorrow trying to "recipe" some of our frugal & tasty batch recipes.
Most are made by look / feel, and only when items are on "special" or found in the reduced chiller.
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This is one of my favourite winter warmers and if you grow your own veggies makes an even more economical meal. Although it takes quite a long time to cook it does not involve a lot of work - the amounts can be adjusted to suit the size of your family - I normally just make for the two of us.
Shin of beef soup
Place a medium size shin of beef in a large pot and 3/4 cover with water - bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and skim off any froth. Simmer for about an hour and then add about 5/6 tablespoons of soup and broth mix (thoroughly washed) to the broth. Simmer for about a further one and a half hours and then add your choice of veggies and some salt and pepper to taste. I usually add a couple of carrots and let them simmer for about 15 minutes, next some celery and then about 10 minutes later at least two good sized leeks which cook for a further 10/15 minutes. Garnish with fresh parsley and enjoy.
Sometimes I add parsnips but they can make the soup taste quite sweet - I also occasionally add potatoes but you have to take care not to use floury ones or they break up in the soup.
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Bitza frittata....or omelette if short of eggs. All your odds and ends of veg from the fridge, and/or the bits in the bottom of the bag in the freezer. Blanch any hard veg like carrots and parsnips, saute all together, add beaten egg and any odd bits of cheese and cook over a slow heat. With toast or bread, yum.
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Turkey Leg, Under£4, skin and strip drum stick takes me about 10 mins. dice and do what you fancy, I usually make a curry, at least 4 portions fom this, bone and skin thigh and do whatever you fancy.Another 4 portions.Very tasty meat(compared with breast)al l in all 8 portions @50p .
Bish
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Turkey Leg, Under£4, skin and strip drum stick takes me about 10 mins. dice and do what you fancy, I usually make a curry, at least 4 portions fom this, bone and skin thigh and do whatever you fancy.Another 4 portions.Very tasty meat(compared with breast)al l in all 8 portions @50p .
Bish
Yes I bone them out tie them up and use for a midweek roast :)
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Some of our turkey legs go into my sausages and burgers!
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Soak and cook a large batch of beans and peas and freeze loads cheaper than tinned. Add to meat or vegetarian dishes.
I always forget to getthings out the night before.
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REF Turkey Legs.
Forgot to mention ---- crack leg and thigh bones to make turkey stock for soup!!
Bish
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I often add pulses, especially red lentils, to minced meat dishes and casseroles to stretch them ;)
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I often add pulses, especially red lentils, to minced meat dishes and casseroles to stretch them ;)
Oh you have just reminded me of another soup that we eat on a regular basis.
Lentil and leek soup (this serves two rather greedy people)
6 ozs of red lentils
Approx 1 1/2 pints of water
A good quality veggie stock cube
Salt and pepper to taste
Veggies of your choice - I usually add carrots, celery, possibly some potatoes and lots of leeks
Rinse the lentils well and add to the water - bring to the boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Add peeled and finely chopped carrot and diced potato if using. After about 10 minutes add the finely chopped celery and finally after a further 10 minutes the leeks. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley to serve.
I do not add any meat to the soup but if there is anything lurking in the fridge OH likes it added to his serving.
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I often add pulses, especially red lentils, to minced meat dishes and casseroles to stretch them ;)
I add grated courgette to mince dishes amazing what you can grate/ hide in mince.
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Soak and cook a large batch of beans and peas and freeze loads cheaper than tinned. Add to meat or vegetarian dishes.
I always forget to getthings out the night before.
Ah, I couldn't remember who I got the idea from MC so thanks. I've frozen mine in 'tin size' portions. :)
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This isn't exactly a meal idea, but it is a tip that saves money on buying food so I'm hoping it's allowed on this thread?
Cheapo tin of baked beans magically turns into fantastically tasting expensive tin of beans if you add a decent knob of butter to the pan whilst heating.
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This isn't exactly a meal idea, but it is a tip that saves money on buying food so I'm hoping it's allowed on this thread?
Cheapo tin of baked beans magically turns into fantastically tasting expensive tin of beans if you add a decent knob of butter to the pan whilst heating.
:tongue2: :D
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Which is why I hope we support the use of a basic store of ingredients, butter is a good one. Black pepper is another. Both are vital in livening up baked beans. Chilli or curry power being two more :) My husband adds HP to his beans which makes me cringe but he swears by it :)
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Which is why I hope we support the use of a basic store of ingredients, butter is a good one. Black pepper is another. Both are vital in livening up baked beans. Chilli or curry power being two more :) My husband adds HP to his beans which makes me cringe but he swears by it :)
Hubby uses worchestershire sauce to his too. :mellow: not sure about it but he says its great.
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This is one of my favourites for anyone who likes mashed potato but is short of time/energy and it's quite frugal too. Just don't knock it unless you try it! ;)
I buy boxes of Mr Mash instant mashed potato. :ohmy: I confess, I would have shuddered at the thought a while back but it really does taste homemade (nothing like the powdery gloop from Smash).
It doesn't even have any salt in it so you add your own, along with some milk, boiling water and a knob of butter.
3 sachets to a box (2 generous portions per sachet) and it normally cost me £1 a box.
I use it for last minute mash, with chees and a dollop of branston for a snack and it's also good for thickening soups (or a quick leek & potato). :tongue2:
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My husband adds HP to his beans which makes me cringe but he swears by it :)
Worcestershire sauce- essential in beans.
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Yes he does Worcestershire sauce too. He likes beans full stop :D We must add baked beans to the store cupboard or is it already in by default :tongue2:
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We were away camping - bacon and (basic) baked beans for breakfast, only I hadn't brought the worcestershire sauce (well, would you?). Tricky. :unsure: A good glug of ketchup saved the day! ;)
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Beans need Tabasco... and even branston pickle.
Not a meal in itself (at least I think not) - but we could add veg fried rice. When there are no plot veggies to dice a bag of cheap own brand frozen mixed veg is the ideal size and can be chucked in frozen. Would need to add light soy / long grain rice to the store cupboard.
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I use a tin of baked beans, tin of chopped toms, splash of Worchester sauce, crushed garlic clove or 2, black pepper and salt to make a quick, easy and tasty sauce to mix pasta into. Goes nicely with warm bread or a crusty roll :D
You can also add anchovies if you like them but don't put extra salt in if you use the tinned ones as otherwise it just to much :wacko:
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Which is why I hope we support the use of a basic store of ingredients, butter is a good one. Black pepper is another. Both are vital in livening up baked beans. Chilli or curry power being two more :) My husband adds HP to his beans which makes me cringe but he swears by it :)
HA CQ, we said before they are alike! Brian also puts HP on his beans! :lol: :lol:
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:D My brother used to put it on his fish. My mother used to go mad :ohmy:
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I really like Jack's meals - all costed out, all veeeerrry budget friendly - given that she has/had £10 per week they had to be: http://agirlcalledjack.com/tag/recipes/ (http://agirlcalledjack.com/tag/recipes/)
The garlic soda bread is amazing : http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/09/02/easy-peasy-garlic-bread/ (http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/09/02/easy-peasy-garlic-bread/)
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I've just looked at some of her recipes they look nice, but the trouble is what she thinks would serve one wouldn't be enough for me - let alone for a working man :blink:
Her Earthy Red Wine & Mushroom Risotto uses 50g of rice, and there's only 75g of pasta in the cheese and peas dish - it sounds like a weight loss diet to me :(
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She only has £10/week. It's not weight loss, it's being poor. Portion sizes change a bit when you are that skint. I was very skinny when I was unemployed.
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it's being poor. Portion sizes change a bit when you are that skint. I was very skinny when I was unemployed
I brought up 2 children on my own so I know a thing or 2 about not having enough money and feeding the family first - but it's strange if you have a bottle of red wine in the fridge to make that recipe but can only afford 50gms of rice
part of recipe ingredients list -
30ml Red Wine, 14p (Table Wine, £3.48/750ml)
50g Mushrooms, 12p (97p/400g)
50g rice, 2p (40p/1kg)
Each to their own, I suppose.....................
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I go to my local Tesco - sorry to use the T word :( but it the only supermarket local to me!
Anyway I go around 7pm on a Friday evening. They reduce huge amounts of veg to silly money on a Friday prior to filling with all the new fresh stuff for the weekend rush. I often come away with a carrier bag full of veg and I mean a good mix for under a £1. I have had punnets of mushrooms for 5p, organic beetroot bunches for 10p, cabbage, lettuce, cauli all for 2p each. Once home I make batches of veg lasagne, soup, curry or chutneys depending on what I have bought. Couple of weeks ago I got nets of tomatos for 5p a bag so I bought 6 bags, roasted them with 2 peppers I got for 10p and made pasta sauce. I managed to get a stock of jars, including some kilner ones at a boot sale for £2.50 for a large box so these were used for storing sauce.
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having checked on NHS and BUPA, the recommended daily portion sizes of pasta and rice are 50-75g as uncooked weight for an adult woman.
So my previous post wasn't correct - sorry! :) Though she says in her blog posts that friends gave her an occasional bottle of wine or some beer.
I do remember eating smaller portions when I was skint though. In hindsight it might have helped to stick to those! :lol:
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A recipe for a lovely, easy to make lentil soup which I leave in my slow cooker overnight but which you can make on the hob.
400g of red lentils
2 onions, roughly chopped
4 carrots, roughly chopped
2 parsnips, roughly chopped (carrots/parsnips can be varied to taste)
2.5L hot stock (veg or chicken)
Cumin powder to taste (I use a tablespoon)
Bung in slow cooker (or in a pan and bring to boil then simmer).
When done (lentils and veg are mushy) pulverise with a hand blender to required consistency (if a little too thick add more stock to make required consistency).
Makes loads and freezes well. :tongue2:
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1 pack of black eyed peas (beans) (£1.45)
some celery (80 pence)
1 large carrot (15 pence)
2 large onions (30 pence)
a splash or extra virgin olive oil (25 pence?)
2 small dried red birdseye chillies (10 pence) ... buy these from the asian stores...if you dont like chillie, use 1 or a half
soak the beans overnight in water
next day, chop onions, celery, carrot and chillie and fry in olive oil till the onions is soft/translucent
add the beans and cover with water .... simmer for a few hours till the beans are soft (you may need to add more water but dont add too much at a time as you dont want soup)
add salt and fresh ground pepper .... taste and you may need to add more seasoning
serve hot with crusty fresh buttered bread
this meal costs just over £3 and you will feed 4 people for 3 days... it keeps well in the freezer
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Buy from the Asian store! We grow chillies ourselves hereabouts :lol: Not to mention celery, onions and carrots :D
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Please note that all dried should be boiled for 10mins before reducing to a simmer, because they contain varying degrees of toxicity.
The toxic compound phytohaemagglutinin, a lectin, is present in many common bean varieties, but is especially concentrated in red kidney beans. White kidney beans contain about a third as much toxin as the red variety; broad beans (Vicia faba) contain 5 to 10% as much as red kidney beans.[6]
Phytohaemagglutinin can be deactivated by boiling beans for ten minutes; the ten minutes at boiling point (100 °C (212 °F)) are sufficient to degrade the toxin, but not to cook the beans.
If the beans are cooked at a temperature below boiling (without a preliminary boil), as in a slow cooker, the toxic effect of haemagglutinin is increased: beans cooked at 80 °C (176 °F) are reported to be up to five times as toxic as raw beans.[6] Outbreaks of poisoning have been associated with cooking kidney beans in slow cookers.[6]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaseolus_vulgaris
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Chicken isn't as cheap as it used to be, hopefully for reasons which reflect better welfare conditions for them, but you can still get a small chicken for £4 from Tosscos, which reduces to £3.33 if you are able to take advantage of the "3 for £10" deal on selected meat or fish packs.
OK, there's usually only me to feed but it does 5 meals at 80p per portion for the meat (67p if you have been able to take advantage of the offer.)
Day1: "Stuffed" with lemon slices and herbs, then roasted with roast veg and whatever green veg are available. One leg and some breast meat, plenty of gravy. :)
Day2: Other leg and more breast meat with veg, mash and remainder of gravy.
Day3: Chicken, chips and salad, with appropriate pickles/dressing.
Day4/5: Remainder boiled up in pressure cooker for 10 minutes - carcase stripped and meat and stock used to make chicken and vegetable pie (cheesy pastry topping.)
Obviously it's not compulsory to eat chicken 5 days on the trot ::), and pie is only one away of using up the leftovers, but using whole chicken can still be a good economical source of animal protein and varied tasty meals with all the goodness and flavour extracted and absolutely nothing going to waste.
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This is one of my favourite dried pulses recipe from Madhur Jaffrey and may help those with a cucumber glut as well ;)
185g chana dal (or other lentil)
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
2 cloves garlic
2 slices fresh ginger
6" long piece of cucumber
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garam masala
Pinch chilli powder or to taste
1 tbs vegetable oil
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
2 tbs butter
Wash dal, put in pan with water and bring to the boil. Skim any scum, turn heat to very low, add tumeric, garlic and ginger and cook with the pan lid slightly ajar for 1 1/2 hours. Stir a bit towards the end.
Peel the cucumber, cut in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut into 1 inch sections.
Add the cucumber, salt, garam masala and chilli powder to the dal. Cover and cook on low heat for 5-10 minutes. If you want to make lots and freeze it, leave the cucumber out of this stage and add it as you reheat the dal.
Last bit is optional. Heat butter in a small frying pan and when hot, put in the cumin seeds. They will sizzle and go a shade darker. Pour over the dal and cover the pot. Mix in the butter before serving.
Big bags of chana dal are very cheap if you have a local indian grocers and it has a lovely warm, sweet taste :)
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That sounds like my kind of recipe New Shoot. :) Thanks.
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going to give th
This is one of my favourite dried pulses recipe from Madhur Jaffrey and may help those with a cucumber glut as well ;)
185g chana dal (or other lentil)
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
2 cloves garlic
2 slices fresh ginger
6" long piece of cucumber
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garam masala
Pinch chilli powder or to taste
1 tbs vegetable oil
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
2 tbs butter
Wash dal, put in pan with water and bring to the boil. Skim any scum, turn heat to very low, add tumeric, garlic and ginger and cook with the pan lid slightly ajar for 1 1/2 hours. Stir a bit towards the end.
Peel the cucumber, cut in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut into 1 inch sections.
Add the cucumber, salt, garam masala and chilli powder to the dal. Cover and cook on low heat for 5-10 minutes. If you want to make lots and freeze it, leave the cucumber out of this stage and add it as you reheat the dal.
Last bit is optional. Heat butter in a small frying pan and when hot, put in the cumin seeds. They will sizzle and go a shade darker. Pour over the dal and cover the pot. Mix in the butter before serving.
Big bags of chana dal are very cheap if you have a local indian grocers and it has a lovely warm, sweet taste :)
sound yummy
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Big bags of chana dal are very cheap if you have a local indian grocers and it has a lovely warm, sweet taste :)
Unless Im cooking it, when it tastes like dirty washing up water :(
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You needed a good recipe then Lardman
I make one and it's really authentic as it was given to me by a lady from Bengal. Lentils are good value and make such good meals. They take on flavours so readily and are a good meat substitute or to eke out a small amount of meat. I like chick peas too for the same reason :tongue2:
Building up a core stash of spices isn't dear if you get them from the Asian shop or Mak*o :)
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Picked up some cheap shoulder pork chops on a special for 90p and made pulled pork with mediterranean tatties
Pulled pork
spash of wooster sauce,
sprinkle of italian herbs ( i bought a huge plastic bottle for £2 from costco that lasts for years)
pinch of paprika....splash of olive oil...
marinate for 30 mins...
lightly fry the pork chops till it just starts browning then take out
cut up 3 red onions,4 cloves garlic (from my lottie) and fry till it gets soft...put in a pint of beef stock (or any stock u fancy), put the pork back in and slow cook for 1 hour, the liquid reduces and ou cook it till u can seperate the chop with a fork
for med. potatoes....
take a bunch of tatties (grown on the lottie), wash and wuarted it....drizzle it with oil, splash on some herbs and bung it in the over for 45 mins till cooked.
once done tke out the pork shoulder chop and tear it up a bit with a fork so it gets seperates...server this pulled pork with tatties...its superb...made it this saturday