Cheap salads

llh189

I have a very stressful job and get home tired and late from work, in an attempt to eat fairly properly in the week without the hassle of cooking, clearing up, dishes etc ( I know how lazy I sound ) I have taken to buying prepared salads from Sainsbury in a box - iceberg lettuce, grated carrots, sweetcorn and red cabbage they are about £1.50 per box. Then add cheese or chicken or tuna. so my evening meal costs about £2.50/3.00

I try to avoid loads of carbs in the week and ping ping ding meals - I cook and eat better at the weekends usually from scratch.

I suppose my question is could I make these cheaper myself, and could I prepare the cabbage, defrost sweetcorn and grate the carrots on a Monday night and then chill and use 3/4 days later. Would you eat 3 day old grated carrot.

I am trying really hard to save money to move house and have just spent a whole heap on money on my car - but I can't see that I could make 4 / 5 evenings of salad cheaper that £6.

I am off shopping tomorrow for next week and don't want to waste money on salad stuff that will go off.

Any thoughts?

rachbc

Carrot might go a bit dry but in all honesty the one from the supermarket will probably have been sitting around longer than that anyway, just keep it covered should be fine.

Soups are another make ahead healthy option

lynzpower

Would you eat 3 day old grated carrot

Honestly, the carrot on those salads has been grated a hell of a lot longer than 3 days! The salads can be stored in the supermarket for up to a week, god knows when the carrot was actualy grated.

weve started eating more salads, thanks for reminding me about cabbage I forgot I like that

Little gems are good for in salads too. and last well in the fridge through the week ,much better than the bags of salad leaves.

While you are at supoermarket get a smalll bag of compost and the seeds for a mixed bag of leaves - should cost about a pound, seeds for spinach and tray them up, nows the time to sow them , soon youll have your own salads growing throughout the summer for a princely quid or so and no nasty chemicals! They will grow all spring to summer and never run out or go off!

You could always have egg in salad? Or white salad cheese ( ie fake feta) in saisnburys is about 60p ( you cant call it feta as it has to be made in greece to be called feta) cottage cheese another good option ,needs no effort.

Ive started making tortilla salad bowls with hot chicken which satisfies a little need for carbs for me, bt is still quite low.

tomterm8

If you really want cheap salads, there are a number of freely available leafs and flowers that can supplement your salad including

• Bittercress (Hairy) - eat all any part of the plant as you would cress - sweet peppery taste.
• Brambles - not only can you eat the fruits (Blackberries), but also the young leaves. Add to a salad or cook.
• Chickweed - taste a little bit like lettuce. Eat as a salad.
• Comfrey - tastes like cucumber, eat in salads or boil like spinach
• Dandelion - leaves can be eaten as a salad, or like spinach. You can also eat the cooked root.
• Red/White Dead-Nettle - Young leaves are good, cooked in butter.
• Fat Hen - Whole plant can be eaten as a salad or cooked as a spinach.
• Goosegrass (Cleavers) - Boil as a spinach. Avoid hard seeds, which can be roasted and used as a coffee substitute.
• Ground Elder - cooked as spinach - aromatic flavour.
• Hawthorn - young leaves can be used in salads. Berries can be used in deserts, eaten as biscuits, or even as jam. Extremely good for the heart.
• Jack by the hedge (Garlic Mustard) - eaten as a salad or added to flavour sauces. The only plant outside of the onion family to taste of garlic.
• Nettles - When washed, can be cooked and eaten as spinach - makes a great soup!
• Silverweed - The root can be roasted or eaten raw. A bit like the taste of parsnip.
• Sorrel (common) - Leaves can be cooked or added to salads.
• Violet (sweet) - Flowers an leaves can be added to a salad for flavouring.
• Yarrow - Can be added to salads or cooked as spinach - remove stringy stems first.

If you add in some wildflowers

http://www.rawrob.com/2008/04/23/edible-wild-flowers/.

and maybe some lettuce, you have a nearly free salad.

pandora205

You could also try making hearty soups or stews at the weekend then freezing. I do this for lunches to alternate with salads, freezing each days in a mug, which I microwave and put in a flask.

Other easy to make meals include wraps (you can even buy cooked frozen chicken pieces and defrost as needed) and stir fries. Like salads you can make 2-3 days stir fry at once, often with the same veg used in salads too. If you are trying to be healthy 'fry' using stock (dissolve half a cube in a little water).

There are lots of meals that can be made in less than 20 minutes and that don't need much cooking.

pol

You could probably buy lettuce, cabbage, carrots, sweetcorn, cucumber and tomatoes for less than the price of one meal. They will all keep very well for 3-4 days in an airtight box in the fridge. Cabbage and carrot especially will go a very long way when grated.

Small chunks of cheese or chicken in boxes will keep for the same time and you can add as you please. Opened tuna will keep for a couple of days too.

pol

llh189

POL - just out of interest where to you shop for your fresh veg etc - I tend to always shops in Sainsburys, they are not that cheap for fresh foods.

Justcoll

lynzpower wrote: »

While you are at supoermarket get a smalll bag of compost and the seeds for a mixed bag of leaves - should cost about a pound, seeds for spinach and tray them up, nows the time to sow them , soon youll have your own salads growing throughout the summer for a princely quid or so and no nasty chemicals! They will grow all spring to summer and never run out or go off! /quote]

Do these have to be planted in a bed or could it work in some sort of container? I am new to gardening and would love to have a variety of salad ingredients on tap but they would have to go in pots.

TIA

tomterm8

Justcoll wrote: »

Do these have to be planted in a bed or could it work in some sort of container? I am new to gardening and would love to have a variety of salad ingredients on tap but they would have to go in pots.

TIA

For salad leafs, almost any container will do. I used to grow them in a window box. Choose cut and come again varieties.

In general, any vegetable can be grown in a container, they just need regular watering. Things like sweetcorn, runner beans etc can grow quite large though.

Frugalista

I often make a huge (mixing bowl full) salad and store it in sealed boxes in the fridge. I throw in lettuce or shredded chinese leaves, grated carrot, cress, cucumber, radishes or mooli, onion, sweetcorn or mixed beans, and a big handful of fresh coriander (my favorite). Lasts me and OH the best part of a week.

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

how about sprouting seeds and beans? This is easy and very cheap. I have made a sprouter out of a plastic wide necked bottle, old tights (to strain the water) and an elastic band! Keep it on the windowsill on a tilt to drain and allow air to circulate.

Basically you soak beans/seeds overnight then next day drain and rinse, lay on a tilt and rinse/drain 2-3 times a day. After about 4 (ish) days you have a salad! I like it with warm pitta and houmous. Very tasty and filling and cheap!

You can ring the changes with different seeds/beans. If they overgrow through neglect you can chuck them in a stir fry