Help! £40 to feed family for the month

erichamster

lauzjp wrote: »

I do love this thread, but I've yet to convince hubby to eat left overs - especially stuff out of the freezer. I find it incredibly frustrating to make something lovingly in the slow cooker, only to find that that's it - he doesn't want to touch it after 1 meal.

Couldn't you just say that you made it fresh again, if you're just heating it up, maybe try banging some pans together so it sounds like you're cooking up a storm Or make into pies/pasties? He'd never know it was the same stuff then and it makes it a bit more exciting.

lauzjp

Yes, I will have to try harder to disguise it, rather than just saying 'well we can't afford to eat amuch else so just eat it!' :rolleyes:

erichamster

lauzjp wrote: »

Yes, I will have to try harder to disguise it, rather than just saying 'well we can't afford to eat amuch else so just eat it!' :rolleyes:

haha, that's what I'd say too but if he really won'e eat it cbhen there's no harm in bending the truth

Apricot

well i've just spent all night reading this thread- im pretty new to mse but have taken some great ideas from this thread!
Mbaz you are an inspiration and now i've got no excuse for having no food in the house with a £40 pw budget!

Fire_Fox

lauzjp wrote: »

I do love this thread, but I've yet to convince hubby to eat left overs - especially stuff out of the freezer. I find it incredibly frustrating to make something lovingly in the slow cooker, only to find that that's it - he doesn't want to touch it after 1 meal.

Promote him to chief cook and bottle washer?

bigbeff

Can I ask, how do you bulk out bolognaise with lentils? Do you cook them first, then mix them in? I assume they are ok to freeze? I have never used lentils before....please excuse my stupidity!!

Bitsy_Beans

bigbeff wrote: »

Can I ask, how do you bulk out bolognaise with lentils? Do you cook them first, then mix them in? I assume they are ok to freeze? I have never used lentils before....please excuse my stupidity!!

I make my bolognese in the SC and I always part boil my lentils otherwise I find that even after 8 hours slow cooking they are a bit crunchy!
they freeze fine too I prefer green lentils as they have a bit more substance than the red ones.

missychrissy

bigbeff wrote: »

Can I ask, how do you bulk out bolognaise with lentils? Do you cook them first, then mix them in? I assume they are ok to freeze? I have never used lentils before....please excuse my stupidity!!

I bulk out, or rather improve the nutritional content of my bolognese, by adding 4 - 6 tablespoons of red lentils. I find that they cook easily down to nothing and thicken the mixture. I prefer green lentils (soaked overnight) and included in a curry as they have more 'substance' than red, but I'm not keen on them in bolognese as they are too obvious. Matter of choice and trial and error.

Yes you can freeze either.

rolo-polo1965

I have never added lentils to my bolagnaise mixture but i always add some 3 tablespoons of porrage oats as this helps bult it out

Fire_Fox

bigbeff wrote: »

Can I ask, how do you bulk out bolognaise with lentils? Do you cook them first, then mix them in? I assume they are ok to freeze? I have never used lentils before....please excuse my stupidity!!

I've only braved this a couple of times but Mr. Fire Fox (a chef) did not notice! :T I cook bolognese in a pan, so threw in 50g red lentils for one pack of mince fairly early on, a bit of extra liquid for them to soak up and cooked until they disintegrated. Mr. Fire Fox does not like any pulses bar baked beans so they needed to be hidden. I always put grated carrot in my bolognese so you don't notice the extra red/ orange.