not working at all for me !

mardatha

This O/S isnt working out in this house at all, I cant do it. The stew that I bulked out with all bits & pieces of veg in the fridge was hellish, (broccoli overload).... I put oatmeal through the mince to bulk it out as instructed, it all just sat there looking weird and the OH thinks I'm trying to kill him . I got away with the grated carrots though. I tried the mushroom sauce in pasta and it went disgusting blacky brown goo. I tried the home made biscuits and they came out of the oven like an omelette with black lumps in (sultanas). He says now he wont eat anything that doesnt come out of a tin & he wants to open it himself.:D
I need want and MUST do this. Please help me !!! LOL

EssexHebridean

You can do it - I'm sure of that. I find the grated carrot thing useful as well - my OH won't touch 'em but he never spots the nice finely grated ones that end up in things - he doesn;t realise he's eating them and I'm happy because he's getting more veggies so it's win-win!

Are you sure you're not going too full-on with things and scaring your OH? If he suddenly feels like all his meals are changing and he doesn't know what he's eating then it's only natural he's going to be a bit anti. I find porridge oats or oatmeal work best to bulk out mince or other meat when a quite slow cook is needed - so stews, casseroles etc fine - but I'd not use it in a quick-cooked spag bol sauce, for example. I always add a handful of oatmeal and another of pearl barley to a stew - it really makes a little meat go a long way and helps thicken the gravy too. Think carefully on what sort of veggies you're putting in too - Brocolli doesn't really suit long cooking as it tends to go squashy, it's great cut up small and stir-fried though.

If you're not sure on something, come and ask on here - someone will be along in no time to answer your question and help you out! stick with it though - it'll be well worth it in the long run.

10past6

Hey mardatha

It's all about experimenting.

When following the instructions, think to yourself, they are only a "Guideline" try reducing / adding to each recipe.

I'd never, ever so much as cooked an egg until I found this forum, yesterday, I made 2 chicken curries / 2 vegetable curries / lasagne / cheese & potato pie / muffins, I love it in the kitchen now.

I was like you at first, nothing came out right, but I learned, it was all about experimenting.

Merlot

mardatha wrote: »

This O/S isnt working out in this house at all, I cant do it. The stew that I bulked out with all bits & pieces of veg in the fridge was hellish, (broccoli overload).... I put oatmeal through the mince to bulk it out as instructed, it all just sat there looking weird and the OH thinks I'm trying to kill him . I got away with the grated carrots though. I tried the mushroom sauce in pasta and it went disgusting blacky brown goo. I tried the home made biscuits and they came out of the oven like an omelette with black lumps in (sultanas). He says now he wont eat anything that doesnt come out of a tin & he wants to open it himself.:D
I need want and MUST do this. Please help me !!! LOL

I am so pleased its not just me, I have real issues with home cooking, I will never ever bake a cake again. I so want to do but I'm useless. The OH will eat it and the day after, he will phone on his way from work and say I'll get pizzas for dinner, and almost each night he fancys something else other than what I've cooked, my biggest disaster was bolognese sauce made in the sc, it was like lumpy gravy and even the dog didn't eat it.

I will be watching this thread closely for an idiots guide to OS foolproof receipes.

Merlot.x.

recovering_spendaholic

I think you need to take it in stages and only do the things which you and your family find acceptable. I can't get away with using oats in mince as everyone always knows and says that it tastes rank. Same with using Quorn - mind you I think Quorn is just disgusting too.

I don't use any bulking out tactics but tend to make stuff from scratch most of the time. When I make stew I never put any green veg in as that always goes slimy and overcooked. I find that if I make a hotpot then some pearl barley in it tastes lovely and helps to make the meat go further though.

Good luck and don't give up!

dolly_day_dream

How about suggesting that you cook a meal together? I say this because I found that children will eat just about anything they have cooked.

If you get to practice at the weekend say and get the techniques right then you will be more confident during the week. Let it be a challenge - like Ready Steady Cook to see if you can cook a good meal for a certain amount and decide where the savings are going to go.

CRANKY40

Twinks hobnobs are foolproof biscuits. Everyone I have made them for has asked for more. They're ok for diabetics too (as long as you don't eat them all at once) as Twink's dgs is diabetic.

kunekune

You poor thing, that must be so disheartening.

Perhaps you need to go at this more slowly. How much home cooking were you doing before the OS campaign started? The most important thing abou reducing the shopping bills is good planning and avoiding processed/ready made meals. Not all of us do all the other mse stuff. I would think that if you start with the meal planning and using cheaper ingredients, and replace the bought stuff as much as you can, that will go a long way to reduce your costs. Then, if you need to reduce further, try a few more techniques. But it does generally need to go slowly, especially if (a) you're trying to get OH on board and (b) you're not an experienced cook.

Penelope_Penguin

Hi, there, mardartha :beer: We all have to start somewhere, so maybe starting again, one thing at a time, will help.

Take a look at the Complete Cooking Collection. Post 1 has some great threads for beginners. My favouirite is Can't Cook, Don't Cook - loads of great tips and ideas.

I'll add your post to this later to keep suggestions together.

Penny. x

knittingnelly

I have every sympathy with you mardatha . I am hovering on the brink of a massive overhaul of our finances and the only thing that is stopping me is I KNOW how much grief I will get from the family :eek: . I have three boys, two of whom are finicky eaters in the extreme. Don't all be rolling your eyes and thinking "Silly c*w it's her own fault" either! I know it is, but they did it so stealthily over the years "I don't like that anymore" so you don't make it until gradually you aren't making anything. Sigh. What doesn't help is that their Dad is the worst culprit :mad: He doesn't think he is fussy at all but there are soooo many things he won't eat... I used to love cooking but they have sucked the fun out I must admit.

Anyway, no good feeling sorry for meself it needs doing. We need to drastically reduce what we spend. I need to lose the weight of a small tribe from about my person and the kids need to realise they can't live on roast dinners (their fave, they'd eat a huge chicken or piece of gammon every night of the week - except for the nights they wanted an Indian :rotfl: )

The plan is, well, the plan is to actually have a plan and not sort of amble along shopping here and there . I have spent a week avidly reading this forum and know I need to plan meals, read the diet thread, join the july grocery challenge, look in on the inventive weezl when I need showing how low you can go :T and generally get my !!!!! into gear !!!

So wish me luck I'm going in...

sammy_kaye18

CRANKY40 wrote: »

Twinks hobnobs are foolproof biscuits. Everyone I have made them for has asked for more. They're ok for diabetics too (as long as you don't eat them all at once) as Twink's dgs is diabetic.

Well said cranky - these are fool proof - even my 4 year old now knows the recipe which im not sure is a good thing or not but as they say the proof is in the pudding and these are very yummy and easy to make and as far as i know disaster free provided you keep an eye on them in the oven. :money:


Another thing i find really easy is cottage pie (this can be bulk made and frozen) another idea if you want to bulk out meals is to use breadcrumbs instead of oats - these can work well too jsut add a small bit at first though and go from there.
Can you bulk make a basic pasta tomato sauce adn go form there?? that way you could freeze some but still have a few frozen that you could experiment with too.