Need OldStyle Help! ...

mandy_moo_1

just wanted to say a big thanx to moggins for your monthly food planner and all the recipe ideas.....we were all getting a bit sick of having the same meals week after week so i'm gonna pinch a few of your ideas

frosty

I try to make more than one meal from a pack of mince, today I placed a pack of pork mince (89p tesco)in a pan of cold water,added one large chopped onion,3 diced carrots,a handful of frozen peas and some leftover tinned sweetcorn,2 veg oxo,4 large diced potatoes,this makes a very big pan of stew.When it was cooked I added some gravy mix to thicken it or you could use cornflour.Then I took enough out to serve 4 people for lunch with bread.I also took out enough to make a large pie filling for tomorrows tea.The rest was put into a large pyrex dish and topped with mashed potato and sprinkled with grated cheese,and baked in the oven until crispy,served with veg and crusty bread.I buy a sack of potatoes from the local farm (56lb).With the help of everyone here I have managed to reduce my shopping by £80.00 a week.

Rachie_B

reduced it by £80 per WEEK ????!!!! wow how much were you spending before ??!!!

frosty

Rachie_B wrote:

reduced it by £80 per WEEK ????!!!! wow how much were you spending before ??!!!

About £130.00 a week,I dont buy ready meals anymore and all junk food has been banned,I also shop around for bargains and shop towards the end of day to make sure I get most things reduced in price.
Last week I managed to purchase 4 quiches reduced to 50p each these are now in the freezer,each one will serve 4 people add a large baked potato and salad or beans and you have a very cheap meal.I dont really meal plan,when I shop I try to buy things that I can make more than one meal from.I buy a sack of potatoes from a local farm for £4.50 and this lasts us about a month,I have containers in the garden which I grow rocket and salad leaves in,I also grow raddish,tomatoes,strawberries,and a selection of veg which helps to keep the cost of the salads down.

Rachie_B

wow well done you,excellent progress

£130 a week <eek> !

Churchmouse

Well I had a go at the bacon roly poly tonight! "Had a go" being the right phrase:eek:

I made a bit of a pigs ear with the rolling up:o and then to compound it I obviously didn't guess right for a medium/slow oven!! It got a bit overcooked:eek: Top pastry could have been used to mend roads with!!:rotfl:

But all was not lost, i scooped out the softer inner and underneath bits and DH proclaimed them very tasty:D Thank goodness steamed vegetables are idiot-proof! Will definitely try this again but not just yet!

If we never made mistakes we'd never learn my mum used to say. I must be learning at a rate of knots!!:rotfl: :rotfl:


Thankfully the boys were out tonight or it'd not gone round!!

moggins

Too true churchmouse! Sorry I class a medium oven as about 4 or 5 and it's probably best to wrap it in foil first.

If you have a problem with the rolling up try lying the pastry on a tea towel and rolling it with that.

stenny_2

Lidl's
Swede 34p
Tin corned beef 59p
potatoes 89p
carrots 39p

Recipe Corned beef hash.

Peel and chop both swede and carrots and boil till tender (same with potato in sep. pot)

when ready mash

then in an oven bowl put in your swede & carrot mix (firm down with spoon), then slice the corned beef and layer it around bowl, then put over the mashed potato. Run a fork through the mash ( i then sprinkle over cheese)

Cook in oven about gas 5 for 30 - 35 mins (or micro. and put under grill to brown)
This does about 3-4 portions


YUMMY!!!!

SusanCarter

There's loads of really good tips in this thread. Personally, I don't "menu plan" as such because I find it very easy to throw things together to make a meal. I tend to do a monthly shop and cook double or treble portions for the first couple of weeks and freeze them to use in the following couple of weeks.

Having said that, I do sometimes buy particular things to go together but generally I just go and buy a reasonable range of stuff picking out any bargains I can find and then make it last. I do have to do shopping in between still - mainly for milk, yoghurt, bread and fruit and always check out the reduced sections at the same time. (I do have the advantage that I always helped my mum with the cooking/shopping for a family of six and ended up doing most of it by the time I left home and so she taught me lots.)

I'd say always check the prices of the meat and be prepared to substitute according to what is cheapest at the time. Also be guided by the prices with other things too. When I buy my fruit and veg I tend to buy more of the cheaper things (e.g. carrots) and less of the more expensive things. I also keep an eye on prices of things like courgettes, leeks etc. so I can buy them when they are in season and cheap. I also use a guide from the newspaper which tells me what is in season as this is likely to be cheaper and I can look out for it. When I buy tinned fruit I buy more of the cheaper fruits and less of the more expensive ones. Another tip for using less meat is to add more vegetables, lentils and beans to the dish. Obviously it's hard to do this if you have meat and two veg type of meals but if you do "all-in-one meals" then it's quite easy to do. Also if you have a more spicy dish (but obviously this depends on your tastes) then the amount of meat is less noticable.

Hope that's helpful.

piratess

These recipes are brilliant ive printed alot of them off and have made a couple of cheap dishes

Excellent help and advice thankyou xx