Eat for £12 a week?

ladygrey_2

don't spices lose their pungency over time?

Curry_Queen

ladygrey wrote:

don't spices lose their pungency over time?

If you buy whole spices and grind them yourself in a pestle and mortar as needed then they should last for months, if not years. It's the ready ground ones that tend to lose flavour and some of their medicinal properties if stored more than a couple of months

mirakl

Actually I've found as long as spices are properly stored in airtight containers they stay fresh for years! Little screw cap containers are useless I usually grab some airtight jars from cheap shops like Pound Stretcher when they're on offer and decant my spices into those instead.

Sherratthead

As a result of this site, I too have been watching the pennies and making a point of thinking "do I NEED that" rather than just buying with no regard to the cost.

Has anybody else ever signed the credit card receipt with NO regard to what the total was???

In my 'old' life, I would just sign for whaever the amount was..... and then be suprised when I got my monthly statement that I had nearly nothing left because I was spending £35+ every week in Asda!

Since coming on here, I have been saving approx SIX POUNDS per week in Asda with the on-line, print-offable- vouchers that I found on here, and that's WITHOUT watching what I'm buying!

(One week, I past a HUUUGE handful of vouchers to the young, inexperienced lad on the checkout and I got ELEVEN pounds off my bill!!!)

ANYWAY...... what I wanted to know is, what's the best way to make soup from chicken stock?????

I bought a £4 chicken from Iceland and so far, it's made:
* Roast Dinner on Sunday
* Mon & Tues lunch for me & hubbie (6 barmcakes)
* Chicken Risotto
* Chicken leg tonight (not sure what with yet)
* Stock for soup (not sure how to make it though)

So...... can you beautiful peeps help me create a lovely soup?

Jayne xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sherratthead

ooooo

Just been browsing and found lots of advice for soup on the MEGA indexed thread!

xx

WLITC

Sherratthead wrote:

Has anybody else ever signed the credit card receipt with NO regard to what the total was???

Oh god yes, I use to do this literally everytime. I'd often walk away from the till and think humm, "how much did I just spend?" crazy I know, but I always knew I had the money there to cover it so didn't worry, but since my 'light bulb' moment, I've realised what an idiot I was, I use to think I was hard done by because I never seemed to have anything left after paying the bills, but the reality was I frittering away hundreds of pounds each month that could have been spent (and now is) on paying off my loans and credit cards instead of making more profits for M&S, Tesco's and Starbucks!

Skintmama

Sherratthead wrote:

* Stock for soup (not sure how to make it though)

So...... can you beautiful peeps help me create a lovely soup?

Jayne xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

This is what I do and we enjoy it!

Melt an ounce or two of butter in a big pan. Add 3 medium sliced leeks, 2 large carrots sliced thickly and one pound of potatoes cut into biggish chunks. Put a lid on and sweat them for ten minutes over a low heat, stirring or shaking to stop them browning or sticking. Pour on the chicken stock and season well, add a teaspoonful of mixed herbs and a bayleaf. Simmer gently for an hour or more until all is tender and tastes delish. If you have any gravy left or little bits of chicken they can go in near the end.

This is a broth plus veg chunks type of soup, a meal in a bowl. I have never tried making a cream of chicken soup so if that is your preference I hope someone else can help.

atrebor

Help! I am a food snob. I am not prepared to buy anything other than free range eggs and am I really concerned about airmiles on my fruit and veg and always try to buy british - and meat too -I like to know my meat has had a happy life. I do my own baking (bread cakes etc) as I don't like what stuff is added to the bought stuff and I make all our food from scratch which does save some and make a lot of my cleaning products.

But someone PLEASE tell me it it is possible to live frugally and still have a bit of a clear concience??

pollys

Hi atrebor, same here I could have written your post. I would like to know the answer to that one. I try and save in other areas eg petrol, electricity etc so that I can buy organic/free range etc. Two of my children have asthma so I also cut down on chemicals (cleaning stuff) and my son also has allergies (anaphylactic) so it's safer for us to eat food cooked from scratch.

Do you recycle, reduce and reuse too?

code-a-holic

I would love to know if people that spend about £12 a week per person are full after each meal and are happy with the food they are eating?

I spend about £50 a week for 2 adults, 4yr old,1yr old and 4 mth old....i thought that was good! (includes formula milk, household bits). My husband though is a thin person and is desperate to put on weight, and is a very hungry person! I couldnt get away with giving him less than 3 chicken legs in a meal followed by a pudding. He's been brought up by a cooking loving mum who gives enormous portions.
Our downfall that on top of that figure, hubby buys his lunch. Which will be about £10 a week.