Weezl's phase 1- recipe testing and frugalisation- come one, come all!

purpleivy

mumtoomany wrote: »

Just a thought on the shopping. Would it be cheaper to buy sausages and de-skin them?

Mumtoomany.

or purchase pork mince, add your own cereal (aka hm breadcrumbs), minced/finely chopped onions and a pinch of herbs? I did some hm sausagemeat before Christmas and made it into a big pasty thing, they told me it was nice. I was too busy eating the veggie one (not veggie myself!) which had cheese, onions and potatoes in it.

HowlinWolf

well the cake is out of the oven after 45 mins cooking. Will test once cool. The edges have gone v brown and bubbly like a previous tester so I agree that the sugar could probably be reduced. It appears cooked but seems suspiciously fluffy so I'm hoping that it firms up a bit on cooling. Will report back on taste after I've been to purchase new weighing scales!

phizzimum

wow! 7 pages already! this thread has legs weezl...

put me down on the testing panel list too - I need some new recipes.

ETA: Doh! just re-read the list and saw I was already on there! you'd think i'd recognise my own name by now...do you think I'll be trusted in the kitchen with all those sharp knives...?

weezl74

purpleivy wrote: »

or purchase pork mince, add your own cereal (aka hm breadcrumbs), minced/finely chopped onions and a pinch of herbs? I did some hm sausagemeat before Christmas and made it into a big pasty thing, they told me it was nice. I was too busy eating the veggie one (not veggie myself!) which had cheese, onions and potatoes in it.

Hi purple ivy, would pork mince be cheaper than sausage meat plus breadcrumbs egg and apple and maybe onion in sausages then?

xxx

Sian_the_Green

Hey all, just read the 7 pages that are here already; gonna be one of those threads that need checking each day to keep up!
I'm going to make fudge this afternoon so will have a go at the carrot cake at the same time.
Looking at the tart it seems like the biggest expense, at nearly 1/2 the cost of the entire recipe is cheese, is there any way of making that lower? If you halved it, added more onions and then some chilli flakes would that work? I find if I have something a little spicy I feel more satisfied and the taste goes a long way

mumtoomany

Hi all,

cooked the carrot cake, very nice, managed to cut the cost a little;

sugar (home bargains 69p kg) 24.15p;
oil (buy the 3lt from A$da £2.52) 29.4p;
eggs (straight from farm, if DD1 doesn't bring home grow, £3.50 for 60) 23.33p
carrot (£2 per 10kg sack pony carrots) 8p
raisins (mixed fruit, out of date 20p for 500gm, market) 20p
orange juice (bought a case from appr0ved f00ds can't remember price!) 2p?
flour, same as you 10.15p
bicarb,used 1 spoon but added 1 spoon baking powder (6 tubs for 50p) <2p
garam masala had in cuboard for very long time!! hardly any flavour!! must buy more. probably about 6d.

total about 119p.

took a long while to cook and went quite dark, especially one on the top. we usually have the hugh F-W one. I think he uses less sugar, but adds honey so wouldn't be as cheap.

To cook them I used old tin foil trays, I save all these and re-use many times. Lined with greasproof paper.


Mumtoomany.

weezl74

Sian_the_Green wrote: »

Hey all, just read the 7 pages that are here already; gonna be one of those threads that need checking each day to keep up!
I'm going to make fudge this afternoon so will have a go at the carrot cake at the same time.
Looking at the tart it seems like the biggest expense, at nearly 1/2 the cost of the entire recipe is cheese, is there any way of making that lower? If you halved it, added more onions and then some chilli flakes would that work? I find if I have something a little spicy I feel more satisfied and the taste goes a long way

Good point Sian, thanks, DH actually said it could be less cheesy. I wonder if anyone would test with a total of 60g for the whole recipe?

aless02

weezl74 wrote: »

Good point Sian, thanks, DH actually said it could be less cheesy. I wonder if anyone would test with a total of 60g for the whole recipe?

I'll try the new amt tonight when I make it . Was thinking of omitting cheese from pastry anyway. If it's not cheesy enough on the reduced amts, one can always sprinkle some on top at the end!

SunnyGirl

I've found you at last!

I didn't get to make the soup yesterday sorry I spent the day relaxing & doing pampering things for a change & feel much better for it too :T

We are a very sweet toothed family so I'll make the carrot cake with 200g sugar and see if anyone notices.

Is the shopping list at the beginning for everything? As in all meals, snacks & drinks? The only reason I'm asking is that there seems to be only a 4pint carton of milk for each week - unless I've read it wrongly We go through approx 4 pints a day here. It's mostly because I make porridge with half milk/half water every morning and I encourage DD to drink milk each evening as she is on some medications that can cause bone thinning as a side effect :eek: The boys also make milk shakes and hot cocoa too which soon whizzes through it

wyrdsister

Weezl, I stocked up on 3 cans on chickpeas and 3 cans of tinned tomatoes in Asda as they were on offer. I have everything else you listed in the house already, including about 5kg of onions! I'm just about to make the tart so I'll try with the new cheese amount and let everyone know how it turns out