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

In_Search_Of_Me

this may assist in the lentil soaking dilemma...
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/fh/wic/wicfoods/beanfaqs.html

Lesley_Gaye

Thiis is what I do, for what it's worth
red lentils only need 20 minutes cooking and don't need soaking. For all other types I generally cook them from dried, they just take longer is all. At some point they need to be boiled for 10 minutes or so to rid them of some components that can be harmful (red kidney beans especially).

For practical purposes, if I am doing a vegetable soup, I don't want to simmer it for as long as the beans take as the veg would be over cooked, so I simmer them in a separate saucepan for about half an hour, some take longer, some take less, have even done chick peas like this. I cook some sometimes in a slow cooker after giving them a boil.

Occasionally I soak them!

I have cooked and frozen beans in single portion sizes when I was following a particular diet and they were fine.

Money_saving_Diva_2

Hi all

Just had to pop in to say I have wiggled around my fave rice crispy recipe to make it more money saving and it worked..

Ok, here it is

200g value toffees (21p Tescos)
200g rice crispies (Ok, it could be done with value rice crispies but this is a part I don't actually go that low on - I used Tescos own brand or the real thing if they are on offer. The value ones just don't do it!)
200g marshmellows (65p Tescos or I got the supercook mini marshmellows for 56p but not sure if that was a special offer)
100g margerine or butter

• Ok, so first bash your toffees... it's a sticky job, bits fly everywhere, even if you keep them in their wrappers but it's suprizingly satisfying beating each one with the rolling pin!
• In a heavy saucepan, melt the marg and the toffees together over a low heat, stirring regularly.
• Add marshmellows til melted
• Add rice crispies and stir well until all covered.
• Spoon into greased baking tray and leave to set.
• Eat the spare bits of rice crispy mix from the still warm pan.:p

This makes a huge amount so you might want to half it if you don't have a party or lots of hungry kids!

I have made some this afternoon and yes, I can confirm it's delicious!

Diva.x

lollyfin

That sounds yum Diva, know what i,m gonna be making tomorrow when kids are at school that way I know I will get one...lol

ShelBell

redsquirrel80 wrote: »

Replying to myself here - but this was lovely! Found some Jamaican chicken seasoning in the cupboard (was 89p for 100g in Tesco) and added that, gave it a lovely 'chickeny' taste - it's paprika, onion, chilli, parsley, salt, pepper, sage and garlic, so I guess tastes a bit like spicy chicken and a bit like stuffing. Yum

Redsquirrel re the butterbean and tomato stew, could you do that in the slow cooker? Don't know if I like butterbeans, but I'm willing to try!

cw18

Elder son asked me for a lift to visit a friend he rarely sees tonight -- then at last minute changed where they were meeting. Meant I was just around the corner from Asda, and I rarely get there now as I can't justify the cost of petrol for a 9.5 mile round trip when we have a Tesco within a 3-3.5 mile round trip that I can walk. (He only got the lift 'cos he rarely sees this mate when he's home on leave, but there were best buds at high school and he's a lad I like)

So I called in at Asda - and have come home with a few bits and bobs.

Batchelors Savoury Rice. Think is was 48p/pack, but on 5 for £1 (so I got another 5 even though I still have a couple from when Lidl had it on BOGOF - it's something we use regularly)

Ground Almonds. The bags are meant to be £1.07 each, but are part of a 2 for £2 promotion on some baking bits (small bags of expensive plain/SR flour, bags of currants/brown sugar etc). I love the taste of almonds, so am now wondering if I could do some muffins with Glace Cherries, but use the ground almonds instead of the coconut I would normally use with cherries. Or perhaps try my hand at HM Bakewell Tarts -- something I have a really sweet tooth for!!!

And some knock down bread -- a small sliced farmhouse for toast (my HM bread is too tall for the toaster!), a flat cheese topped baguette, and 3 small rolls to have with soup .... total cost 25p

I also got some red lentils (no soak) and some green ones (also no soak).

ShelBell

Avocet wrote: »

Marginally less fat, since you drain off the oil, but it makes much less difference than you might think. I have some recipe software, which gives a nutritional breakdown based on the USDA figures, and it shows a difference of only 2.5g per serving. The butter and cheese in this recipe are the main culprits, I think...

However, there is considerably less nutritional value if you use tuna in brine, not to mention the higher salt level. Many of the nutrients in the tuna seep into the brine and are poured down the sink when you drain the can. The nutrients are preserved at higher levels in fish packed in oil. And, of course, tuna in oil (well-drained) tastes infinitely more like tuna.

Assuming that I have done my sums correctly, and haven't mucked up the typing, here is a comparison of the nutritional value of tuna in oil, compared to tuna in brine, using the nutritional information for Glenryck brand canned fish, which is published in wonderful detail at http://www.glenryck.co.uk/pages/healthy-diet.htm and which backs up the information-search that I did when I originally looked into switching to oil-packed tuna.

If you choose tuna-in-sunflower-oil instead of tuna-in-brine, there are massive improvements in the level of minerals and vitamins (measured per 100g drained fish):

Increased vitamins and minerals:
Potassium +13%
Calcium +50%
Magnesium +22%
Phosphorus +18%
Iron +60%
Copper +300% (i.e. 4 times the amount of copper)
Manganese - hard to compare, but a lot more in oil-packed (measurable) than in brine-packed (trace)
Zinc +53%
Selenium +15%
Iodine +8%
Vitamin E +253% (i.e. three-and-a-half times as much)
Riboflavin +9%
Niacin +12%
Tryptophan 60 +16%
Vitamin B6 +9%
Vitamin B12 +25%
Folate +25%
Pantothenate +10%
Biotin +50%
Omega 3 +37%

Reductions:
Sodium -9% (a good thing, since we're meant to minimise sodium)
Chlorine -4% (linked to reduction in salt, sodium chloride)
Vitamin D -17% (but not worrying, because we get most of this from exposure to sunshine)

Same, or not measurably different:
Thiamin - same
Vitamin C - trace in each
Protein - same

Personally, I would rather get the extra nutrients than worry about 2.5g fat, which can easily be cut in other areas of the diet if desired. Of course, there is an emerging debate on whether sunflower oil, with its Omega 6 content, inhibits Omega 3 absorption, but I won't go into that here. Olive oil would obviously be heaps better as a packing medium than sunflower oil, but frankly I can't afford it!

Hope this isn't too dull and geeky...

Any idea on the comparisons with tuna in springwater? I cannot eat much fat at all, it makes me very ill, so i tend to buy the spring water tuna as I have to watch the sodium levels too.

cw18

ShelBell wrote: »

Redsquirrel re the butterbean and tomato stew, could you do that in the slow cooker? Don't know if I like butterbeans, but I'm willing to try!

I'm not a fan of butterbeans as a 'veg' (hubby eats them that way), but find they're fine when cooked into things or mixed with other beans and a salsa type sauce as a salad dish.

hmkn

cw18 wrote: »

I also got some red lentils (no soak) and some green ones (also no soak).

Well done Good luck with hiding them;)

I can't think why your other bag would have said to soak them. It probably means they take a bit less time to cook, but as Lesley said, red lentils are onlty about 15 minutes anyway
I don't soak split peas either FWIW.

Re: freezing beans- that's what I do now. Apart from the fact the fuel for cooking individual meals worth of beans would negate any money saving over tinned beans, I'm just not that organised

I soak and cook a whole packet of chickpeas/kidney beans/pinto beans/whatever and then freeze them in 400g packages (equivalant to a drained tin). I haven't noticed any difference since I've been doing it.

HMK

Shortie

weezl74 wrote: »

tattoedbum (have you really? wasn't it very sore?! Someone else on here has too, but I shan't say!!!)

Ah, now what do you class a bum? I have a tattoo just above my coxix (ooo fancy word for me so late in the evening ) so does that make me member number 3 of the tattoed bum department?:rotfl:

Weezl... I've not yet braved reading the WHOLE whopper of a thread but keep seeing you mention indian dishes... do you have a list already complied of your recipies anywhere? dribble, dribble....