Is it possible for this girl to be permanently OS?

champys

Hi Jo - I also have a DH who should really lose a stone or 2 and his cholesterol is on the high side. I've bought digital scales (at a car boot sale!) and now make sure I always weigh the carbs like rice, pasta, couscous etc - no more than 75g per person per meal. That way I never have any leftovers, either. I'm also weighing the meat portions and other sensitive ingredients, and use loads of vegetables to make it look more. In addition, I mealplan now for vegetarian meals every other day again because I reckon it reduces the cholesterol (not substituting cheese, cream & eggs of course). I know not every OH agrees with that, but mine never really seems to notice whether there is meat in the food or not as long as it tastes good......
The result is that at the last blood test his cholesterol was way down, and he doesn't have to start using the statins. He has hardly lost any weight, though, which I find a mystery (he can't cheat as he is at home all day and so am I), but on the upside, my own weight is perfect eating like this! I also have a subscription to the 'saving dinner' website Seabright is mentioning: the recipes are all low-fat and you can see calorie count, cholesterol value etc.
Good luck on your OS mission!

huston_kw

Gigervamp, 1 breast of chicken for 1 meal :eek: :eek: I just don't get it, I so want to get it.

Put move veg on plate, instead of the chicken.

Kazmeister, yes we struggle to pay the bills at the end of the month (well actually the middle) so spending less will help us out all round, I love your meal rota and will use that I think to keep the meals varied everyday. I subscribe to Easycook as it's full of cheap and quick ideas for meals. Thanks also for the easy pie tip!

Do a diary of what you spend to see if there is areas that you can cut back on, it's surprising how pennies turn to pounds.

Bella, I bought a couple of pots yesterday for DS to start planting, he chose a mixed flower pack of seeds and a pack of coriander cos he said he wanted to grow something I use a lot!

Courgettes are very easy to grow (my 3 & 4 yr old are growing them)

Sublime, chicken carcass I would have no idea what to do with a chicken carcass, this is what I'm hoping to learn!

What you do is take as much chicken of the carcass as possible (put in a box and put in the fridge).

Cut up the carcass, put in large pan, with some herbs (thyme is lovely) and bay leaves, season, cover fully in water and bring to boil then simmer for 1 hour, let cool.

Strain mixture - liquid is your stock for soup. (should have about 1+ litre)

Then with the carcass pick off all the little bits of chicken, I normally manager to get a bowl full.

To make the soup:

Melt 40gms of marg/butter with 1 large diced onion. Sweat for about 5 mins, add chopped garlic and thyme (I use about 2-3 cloves and two teaspoons - but we love garlic and thyme). Simmer for 1 min

Add 3-4 tablespoon full of plain flour, you want it to be like a tough paste, then add a little bit at a time add of stock (about 1 tablespoon, don't rush this bit make sure that it's mixed in before adding more stock) once all the stock is added, put the bowl of chicken into the pan, add cream approx 60 mls (I use milk - works the same) season to taste, bring to boil and there you have chicken soup!

It's worth the effort.

The chicken that I put into the fridge I either use in sandwiches, enchiladas, chicken pasta, curries I alternate from these and others.

Various spices and herbs, probably got everything in there, too many to list as I've around 40 different jars :eek: mostly Indian spices.

I've got a whole cupboard dedicated to my spices / herbs, but I use them all!!!

Just to let you know, that in asda, some herbs and spices are cheaper in the world food isle than in the herb/spice isle.

Sublime_2

Nothing better than using a chicken carcass for homemade stock/soup (although I sometimes use some marigold stock if not using HM). :A

Cornishpixie_2

Hi, Have you had a look on the Grocery challenge thread? There is a link there on the first page to "How to feed your family a healthy balanced diet....(web book). I found this useful until I got into the way of things. It gives you 5 weekly menus, receipes, and a weekly shopping list. Defo. worth a read. Also I have 4 kids and found it easier to shop online for 2 weeks shop at a time, so I don't over stock and get feed up eating the same things. Also I use some receipes from a big kids cook book to make quiche and things like cookies, and cakes, buns for packs. I also buy some dried apricots and raisens to tide us over when fresh fruit runs at the end of the week and I buy sainsbury's tinned pineapple rings in their own juice for the kids. Also cereals supermarket own brands can be just as good. My younger son likes natural yogurt with a little jam or fruit, for snack, dessert or breakfast. From a big chicken I can usually get enough for a roast, chicken lasagne and couple portions of lemon chicken. HTH's. Good luck:D

Glamazon

Glamazon, thanks for the great tips on how to bulk out a meal with grated carrot, porridge oats (do they need to be soaked??) etc. I just pop a couple of handfuls of oats into my bolognaise/chilli/shepherds pie and haven't soaked them first. Just watch the amount you add - start off small. My last bolognaise was suspiciously oaty.
THANKS F-F

I only tried this on the weekend and froze it so haven't tasted it yet

It just said add 2 handfuls to your pan but make sure you add some water to soak them up.

I'll see if I can find the post with the receipe on for you.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...ighlight=batch

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...freezer&page=7

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...uilding+blocks

http://frugal-cooking.co.uk/recipe/1...ed-beef-recipe

jo1972

Shot myself in the foot already, forgot to take anything out of the freezer this morning so will have to go shopping today, I was very proud of the fact that I actually had a No Spend Day yesterday, never done that before

I've got 2 pork chops left from Mondays dinner for the smaller kids tonight. There were 6 in the pack and we'd normally eat the lot but I only gave OH 2 rather than the usual 3 or 4 (:eek:) and gave him extra veg instead. So small kids are sorted, it's just me, OH and DD1 (17yrs) I need to cater for. My fav cheap dinner is shepherds pie but we only had that at the weekend so have to think of something else. I'll have a look through the meal planning thread.

ETA: Thanks Glamazon for the links

Glamazon

Jo - I always used to forget to take things out.

Now, I meal plan for the week, just before I go to bed (whilst I'm checking I've switched the oven off - I have OCD so no jokes please ) I check the plan and take out what I need. I then leave it in the fridge to defrost overnight. Always defrosted properly when I get home from work then!

Well Done on cutting down the meat portions, it's so expensive. My OH moaned last night that he didn't have as much chicken as normal but he filled up on the veg and then demolished all the flapjacks I had made on Monday!

jo1972

Glamazon wrote: »

http://frugal-cooking.co.uk/recipe/1...ed-beef-recipe

Glamazon, thanks again for the links, this mince basic recipe is great!! I might do this today, though I normally use half beef and half pork to cut down on the red meat plus I like the smoky (bacon'y) smell when cooking! This is perfect because the kids aren't keen on chilli but I can make smaller batches up just for them for spag bol or jacket pots.

All I need to do now is buy some plastic tubs to store it in, am I starting to come across as completely non-OS now

Magpie.

kazmeister - what a brilliant way to plan, am going to give it a try myself from next week.

dobs

hi just wanted to say thanks for starting this thread, esp about ,making a chicken last, i don't even eat meat but it never lasta past one meal and a sarnie! Going to come back and look at all the great comments later but i really need some good ideas at the mo so v glad i found this, thanks!