New to OS Board and after some recipes

kathrynrobson1011

Hello Every1,

My name is Kat and I am after some tips to reduce my 450 monthly grocery bill to 200. That is to feed 2 adults, 2 children and 2 cats.

I would really like a nice recipe for HM White and Wholemeal Brown Bread. Don't have a breadmaker but may be worth investing in one.

Also if anyone has some good recipes for soups they would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Kat x

McKneff

Only shop when you actually need to, always take the time to make a shopping list and stick to it.

You get lots of nice recipes with a new breadmaker.

Steph998

Hi Kat!

I go to the supermarkets at the right time, and buy all the reduced veg etc. Then make a massive pot of soup, and freeze it in portions. Mince Tattie' Soup is a great winter warmer and really cheap if you get everything on yellow label whoopsies.

500g steak mince, three/four Knorr chicken stock cubes (has to be chicken, makes it taste right) one onion, one leek, 3 chopped carrots, one chopped small turnip and four large potatoes (diced). Brown the mince in a big soup pan, add everything else and two and a half pints of water, and simmer for an hour. Mash it all down, add a knob of butter, adjust the seasoning and serve. (If its too thin, add some instant mashed potato mix.)

Scottish Stovies is another great, filling, cheap meal, especially with left over meat or sausages. There are loads of ways to make it...but you will need some decent beef dripping from the butcher (or have bacon butties for lunch for a few days and save the drippings in the fridge - they are even better! )

Melt a good lot of dripping in a huge pot, add three sliced onions, and a whole bag of potatoes sliced into rings...add any left over meat, (you don't have to..we made it with just onions and potatoes at times) salt and pepper to taste, leave it on the stove for about three hours on low, stirring now and again. If it burns, it tastes better
You don't want the mix to be too wet, so don't add any gravy or anything, (maybe just a splash if you have some left over from sunday roast) but you can add a crumbled oxo cube, or Bisto gravy granules to give it a bit of colour. Maybe a splash of lea and perrins. The longer it is cooked the better, and it tastes better next day.

Cabbage and Bacon soup - sounds horrible, is absolutely gorgeous. One savoy cabbage, (or pack of spring greens) a pack of smart price cooking bacon (cut any big bits of fat off) an onion, a leek, four big potatoes.

Saute the bacon, onion and leek for about ten mins in a little oil or butter, add a dash of store cupboard herbs, add the chopped cabbage and potatoes, with two pints of water and three ham stock cubes. Simmer for half an hour, check the salt etc, then liquidise. Looks awful - dark green - but wait till you taste it. Serve with a swirl of cream to pretty it up.

Good luck, we are cutting way back too.
x

jessicamb

Hi

There are loads of soup recipes here Soup recipes

mioliere

Hi again Kathryn! Take a look at the Old Style Daily thread - lots of inspiration there and a great bunch of Old Stylers!

KathyXX

Pink.

Hi Kathryn,

These threads may help with the bread:

handmade bread

Bread Maker - worth it?

Have you read Martin's article on Supermarket Shopping ? It has lots of good advice and tips on reducing grocery shopping.

I don't know if you meal plan but if not, it's a great way to save money by making sure you don't buy unnecessary things. To get some help with meal planning have a look in The Complete Menu Plans Collection.

You'll also find lots of useful links and information on this thread: Welcome to Old Style - (BRAND NEW "HOW TO FIND THE INFO" Read me BEFORE posting)

The best place on Old Style to get help with reducing your grocery bill is the Grocery Challenge thread where the regulars come up with fantastic ideas to save cash. I'll add your thread to that one later so that you can get some help.

For cheap recipes there are lots of threads here: Cheap recipe threads


Good luck with cutting back.

Pink

Pink

Stephen_Leak

It's probably on one of the other threads, but consider this my little welcome gift ...

PEA SOUP

This has got to be the simplest and cheapest recipe for the most wholesome and filling end result – ever. My box of dried peas cost 36p, so each serving cost just 9p!

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

125g (½ a 250g box) of dried peas
500ml of water
Ground pepper to taste

METHOD

Soak the peas in water according to the instructions.

Put the peas into a saucepan and cover with fresh water. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat until it is just boiling (simmering).

Put the lid on the saucepan and continue cooking until the peas are soft. Check the liquid level from time to time and top up if it starts to dry out.

If you have a food processor, put the soup in it and blend it to the desired consistency. If you have a hand blender, put it in the soup and blend it to the desired consistency. If you don’t have a food processor or hand blender, use a potato masher, press the soup through a sieve with the back of a spoon, or leave it lumpy.

Season with the pepper. Continue to cook for another couple of minutes.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

You can use fresh, frozen or tinned peas. These do not need to be soaked.

Pea soup can be any consistency from a thin liquid with soft peas floating in it to a thick paste you can stand the spoon up in.

You can also make this as Pea & Ham soup, using the leftover cooking water from a boiled bacon joint.