50p a day til Christmas - healthily?! Weezl's next challenge...

BASHFUL_2

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

Afternoon all

Bashfull.. dumplings :j I love dumpligns... corned beef has n dumplings ..have got that planned for next week -i love it..although i could quite happily just eat the dumplings - i normally get the atora veg suet... but im going to make myself have a bash with the fresh beef suet as im sure it will be much cheaper... will report back with the results
I do loads of soups for hubby to take in a flask for lunches and use quite a lot of pearl barley, lentils, etc.... once blitzed -hubby doesn't know they are there (not that he would care -he will eat anything :T ) -but they make them much more filling n tasty.. i love pearl barley so stick it in beef stews
I used to do 1lb of mince into shepherds pie etc and serve 2 :eek: .. now I bulk it out to within an inch of its life and we seem to enjoy it more :j
Want to get another savoury meat roll made next week..im going to double it up and then make some "sausage roll" sized ones with it..as I loved it cold..and I can always warm hubbies up ...
Have you had a bash at chicken n sweetcorn soup yet -hubby prefers it to the chinese takeaway ones :j plus it costs very little .. i can copy the recipe I posted if you can't find it but want it ..

1lb of mince :eek: its sounds loads but I think that is the same as 500g, probably wrong though, so we're both little pigglys then!!!!! Its the only thing that I will literally stuff myself with, I have only just started eating it recently and I absolutely love it, Im quite skinny and have problems keeping on weight, so dont really eat a lot, but that I will eat and eat and eat, and sometimes I eat more than my 6"0, 18st (part muscle as he's a doorman!!!):D OH, I am 5"0, and am much less than half his weight!!!! :eek: shocking!!!!!

Mustn't be a piggly next time I make it!!! Oh always bets me that I cant eat mine and the leftovers, I always win....you'd think he'd stop betting!!!

As for dumplings, I love them too....they are so nomnomnom...I love them in beef stew so yummy.

Was it you MrsM that suggested doing dinner plans for 4x7??? If so thankyou so so much.:j

And I would love the chicken and sweetcorn soup recipe please, if you would be so kind. OH can have that for lunches, he likes hm chicken soup.:j

BASHFUL_2

does anyone eat tesco value mince...and is it ok, or does it lose a lot of weight in fat????

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there Bashful

Yep 1lb is 454g ..so yep I was a piggy...not any more mind..well perhaps sometimes
I normally do a meal plan that way -yes..just 7 meals a week and then pick and choose as we go depending on what wants using first..what we are doing etc... I know if i said i was having "xyz" on sunday..i wouldn't want it :rotfl:

Right im after picking brains (of the non pig variety )

I have just seen this advertised in a local supermarket...oooh i love leaflets.. and was just wondering if anyone has something similar -or any opinions on it please


You will have to click on it to get a decent view ...using my best German translation skills :rotfl: it :-

• uses 65% less energy than a kettle
• boils enough water for a cup/mug in 3 seconds
• has a removable filter
• removes lime, chlorine and pesticides
• and you press a button to deliver the water

Now Im willing to part with €40 -about £32 as my kettle is on its way out .. but i thought id ask around before I go out and buy a pig in a poke
I have a remoska on its way from lakeland..so that will cut down on gas but im wondering if this will earn its keep.... you know im talking to those of you with "geeky, maths type brains " -you know who you are

Ok im back again as I have just found the water thingy in English and much more expensive
http://www.guardianecostore.co.uk/guardian/product.aspx?topGroup=159&subCat=0&subGroup=2901

Dope.. I forgot to add the link to the chicken n sweetcorn soup -sorry

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=11351175#post11351175

jtb2412

Hi everyone

Back from a rather hectic day (but hubby is cooking dinner - chicken chasseur, roast potatoes and runner beans) so I've got a bit of time to sit and relax).

I also have trouble in working out what each meal costs and could never do it as well as Weezl does ! I am trying very hard to eek things out a bit though and love the idea of the pearl barley in the stew - could someone enlighten me please? I'd be very grateful . Dumplings all round here too I use beef suet for those - where do you get the fresh from? Just been using the one in the packet but if the fresh is cheaper and available, i'll go for that !

One thing I have been doing though is cooking extra potatoes and making mash using the extra that aren't roasted. Mash then goes into freezer for another day and no extra gas used ! :T

Dinner-wise tonight I reckon it's cost us about 70p each (5 of us) so not too bad. (Chicken Drumsticks £2.88, Chasseur Mix 29p (reduced in Sainsburys)potatoes (free from my dad - he always buys us a sack when we go up to see him and mum), runner beans (free from garden) and for dessert it's the scrumptious Apple Delight that I think I found from this thread (I have so many recipies I can never remember where I got them from ! ). I made a huge one and portioned it up and stuck some in the freezer - this is the second lot of about 4.

I could never amas to Weezl's wonderful achievements but when I think what I used to spend on food and how much we used to waste - I'm pleased to have got it to a level where we eat well, eat healthily and it doesn't cost me as much !

Think I had better go and see if OH needs a Sous Chef ! :rolleyes: :rotfl:

walmerstores

MRS M if you like christmas projects wait til u get the parcel:D

MRSMCAWBER

walmerstores wrote: »

MRS M if you like christmas projects wait til u get the parcel:D

ooohh you can't tease me like that :rotfl: ..im someone who has to squidge,sniff and shake pressies at xmas to try and guess what I have
I Have a couple of xmas x stitches yet to be started.. a xmas wreath and one of santa in the form of a stamp ..I realy must get my bum into gear ... There are just sooo many things i want to do and not enough time.. and I realise I have much more time than most of you

Oooh I have a parcel of surprises coming :j gonna be agging hubby every day.."has it come yet, has it come yet" cos its going to his work address

Rowan9

Making a huge pot of bol sauce this afternoon and have enjoyed catching up with this thread. In my pot I've started with 500g mince (Tesco's extra lean frozen mince that was on offer for 99p - don't know if it's still on offer - it's really good), usual onion and garlic, added one tin tomatoes and because I didn't have a 2nd one i washed out the bottom of the ketchup bottle and added it, big handful oatmeal, big handful dried soya mince, didn't have lentils so they had to be missed out, then 2 beef stock cubes and just over half a pint of water, big carrot chopped up and half a huge courgette, chopped in tiny pieces because everyone hates it (now totally hidden). Bits of seasoning and a dash of balsamic vinegar. It has filled my soup pot! Yum yum. I'm freezing it for next saturday night when we have a crowd here and will do something plainer for the in laws if they wish. It's great to have such a big pot of good food for such little money. You have all really inspired me on this thread

walmerstores

Mrs M Good Things Come To Those Who Wait:D

BASHFUL_2

thanks for the recipe mrs m will definately be making it...probably the cheaper version the way things are at the mo!

and you're not as much of a piggly as me then....i eat loads of it!!! Just pricing up my meals, thanks again for the idea x

phizzimum

cw18 wrote: »

Are there any jam makers around? Just been making some blackberry jam, but I'm not sure how soon after bottling I should add the lids. One side of my brain says immediately so that they form a vaccuum of some sort with the heat, but the other side says that'll cause pressure to build up and cause the jars to break :eek:

I put the lids on right away - it does seem to make them more air tight. As the jars cool down the lids make little popping sounds, which i guess is them being pulled down. But in my recipe book it says to either put the lids on straight away or when the jam is cooled down.