Dh just wont

Ticklemouse

fizzel - we too have an assortment of veg in our cottage and shepherds pies. However, if it's the fact that it's just more than meat in there, then maybe just add a bit of something like baked beans or carrots.

Then, to bulk out the mince, after you've browned it, add a good handful of porridge oats. I got this tip off here (MATH?) and had never tried it before, but it really works. If you add it at the browning stage, it takes on the colour and flavour of the meat and is indistiguishable from the 'real' meat. (If you add it later, it does look like porridge )

I also agree - do it bit by bit and more importantly, don't tell him what you're doing. Soon, it will be second nature to both of you

Good luck

sleepless_saver

I would have been tempted to hit him over the head with the chicken carcass! Throwing out the basis for a great soup would be grounds for divorce in this house :rolleyes:.

Could you try a bit of gentle reeducation? e.g. instead of focusing on the money saving bit help him understand that the food jars of veg will have additives and preservatives so what could be healthier for ds2 than fresh veg, freshly prepared? And chicken stock is the basis for the best soups, sauces and really yummy food, so just don't mention the OS side of it.

It sounds like his pride is threatened by the idea you might have "cheap" food rather than the "best" of everything, and that probably goes back to how he was brought up, so maybe easier to bypass it and just convince him how good it is to eat.

Debt_Free_Chick

sleepless_saver wrote:

I would have been tempted to hit him over the head with the chicken carcass!

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

It sounds like his pride is threatened by the idea you might have "cheap" food rather than the "best" of everything, and that probably goes back to how he was brought up, so maybe easier to bypass it and just convince him how good it is to eat.

:T

Bossyboots

For rice pudding, I use a can of evaporated milk reconstituted with water. You can get a good few pints of creamy milk from one can, depending on just how creamy you want your rice pudding.

I do the same with custard.

saving-grace

fizzel81 wrote:

i asked him to leave the chicken carcuss out on the side so once i had washed the pan i could use it to make stock, his reply we only use the best bit of the chicken he then put it in the bin

Don't say you're making stock to save money, tell him you're doing it because it tastes better and is better for you than stock cubes (true).
Tell him about Nigella Lawson (think of all the money she's got) - she says she never throws away a chicken carcasse and even brings home chicken bones from friends' houses if she's been out to dinner!

Lillibet_2

Alternative tactic if others fail (Not a first resort) : Try showing him a picture of a child dead from malnutrition in Afica. There are pleanty at the moment. I defy anyone with a child of their own not to be moved by it. Then tell him you are going to donate the money saved by the chicken soup meal to oxfam but as he has thrown it away he'll just have to skip that meal altogether. And if he can still afford to throw more money at a replacement meal then he can donate that too, the point is he should go without. If he won't go without, embarass him by telling friends in front of him that he won't help starving children!
Keep going, as everyone has said, keep quiet & suddenly out of the blue you'll hit on something that he likes. Don't say anything, just give it to him quite often so that he starts to get the benefit of your home cooking. When you do say something about it, play up the health benefits, how trendy homemade food is with the rich list, try dropping in something about how a "posh" chef (Gordon Ramsey? Jamie Oliver? Sorry, not sure who is in & who is out these days) said the best flavour bits are always the slowest cooked cuts which are overlooked because they aren't convenient etc.

Good luck;)

elona

When you try some of the recipes from old style - do not tell him that that is where it is from - say it is delia smith or jamie oliver - or anyone he has heard of that sounds "posh".

Never let on that anything is moneysaving - you want to avoid colourings so he does not have a heart attack - or digestive problems - whatever you think he will accept better.

Hide leftovers in a lidded dish ( or in microwave) till he is out of sight, then do what you want.

Never say anything is "cheap" or "moneysaving" - it is a "treat" - recipe by "poshchef" etc.


What stuff does he like?
You have to fool them for their own good.

Jay-Jay_4

sleepless_saver wrote:

It sounds like his pride is threatened by the idea you might have "cheap" food rather than the "best" of everything,

That's what I thought too.... but then if he thinks that frozen roast potatoes are better than proper ones and that jars of baby food are better than freshly made food then he's getting a little confused. Just because something is more expensive it doesn't make it better. You don't often see Lord and Lady Whatsit sitting around their banqueting table eating frozen roast spuds do you? It's often uneducated people on a low income that buy ready made, convenience foods. People with brains buy fresh and cook fresh.


I'd be tempetd to tell him to 'stuff off', keep him out of your kitchen and if he moans throw him some bags of frozen junk food and tell him to enjoy while you eat freshly baked bread, feed your child freshly made food and savour those yummy roast spuds!


.....well I got that off my chest didn't I?

moggins

I don't know about the carcass, I'd have hit him over the head with a brick!! And as for the HM babyfood, it is far better for a baby to eat 'real food' than all the processed much in a jar and it lets them experience the real taste of food making for a far less fussy eater when they are older.

I'm very lucky, DH thinks he is hard done by if he has to have a takeaway!

As for the roast potatoes, par boil them first for 10 minutes and give them a shake in the colander to fluff the outsides first, while they are boiling put a large dab of lard in a roasting tin and put that on the top shelf of the oven, when it's melted and hot then put the drained potatoes into the fat, give them a small sprinkling of salt and maybe some garlic granules and then pop into the oven on a quite high heat, keep an eye on them and when it looks like the tops are starting to brown, turn them over, I usually turn the oven down and they are in there for a total of 45 minutes to an hour.

nearlyrich

fizzel81 wrote:

has anyone else had problems like this and how did you manage to sort them out

D.I.V.O.R.C.E. worked for me, not very moneysaving though:beer: