Mummytogirls - 100 years to be debtfree - I think not!

louby40

Laura that's really interesting about the lentils. It's something I never buy or use. So you halve the mince then pad out with lentils? I might try this? Got to be healthier AND cheaper.

bagpuss38

Just popping in to say I second the lentils. I use red lentils cooked in stock and even my son who is a carnivore chef said I had converted him to their use lol.

please-let-me-be-lucky

Thirding the lentil idea. I always use them in slow cooker recipes for stews etc as it thickens the meal and makes it go much futher, without my boys noticing at all.

We also spend around £350-£400 per month on shopping, but that includes toiletries, animal stuff, cleaning products etc. I'm sure I could cut this down, but with me being veggie and DH and the boys eating meat we sometimes have different things.

Hope DD feels better soon Xx

mummytogirls

Oooohhhh lots of exciting posts for me to come back to today! Thank you EE, Laura, Louby, Bagpuss and PLMBL for popping in

I am all for eeking meals out so will try the lentils obviously without telling them ha!!! So basically just red lentils cooked in stock and then added to the recipe? How much do you use?

EE, definitely get DD involved, if it makes life easy for you. You see I come home from work in time for picking the girls up so I'm here from 3.30pm to get a decent meal on the table. I do use my SC too though, I put whole chickens in mine without any stock just some chopped carrot and onion so you could do similar and just make the gravy at the end? Not really sure on the GF diet so can't think of any solutions for you.

Laura, wow that sounds great that you're feeding all those people for £30-40 a week. Were not massive pork fans, you know when you're a kid and you're fed something all the time and it puts you off ha! Same with lamb! We also eat lots of eggs, weve gone through 18 eggs since my shopping delivery on NYE!

PLMBL, I never knew you were a veggie!! DD is not too bad at the moment, were managing to keep her temperature down and she's eating a bit but she's not ventured far from the sofa.

Just looked up the price of red lentils on the Mr T's app, just over £1 so will definitely be adding those to next weeks shopping list.

You see I feel a bit stuck to getting all my shopping from one place too. We don't have much time to actually go in different places. We both work full time and then weekends are mostly taken up with kids football and catching up with the housework aswell a bit of a lounge around.

Thanks all x

LauraB89

Louby:

LENTILS ARE MY SAVIOUR - red split lentils (currently on offer in lidl for less than £1 per bag) cooked in stock and added to anything mincey. You definitely don't notice (I prefer the taste - I think they absorb all the juices!) and definitely healthier and cheaper. This is the daughter of a butcher (a long line of them in fact!).

I used to use up a huge packet of mince for chillis etc, last night I made a chilli with 500g beef, approx 100g lentils (dry), stock, 3 x tins of toms, 2 x tins kidney beans, 2 x onion, 1 x teaspoon of black treacle , a big squeeze of tomato puree and 1 x teaspoon of chopped red chilli and it made about 9 portions, with brown rice. NINE from 500g beef. Healthy, tasty and cheap -THE MAGICAL FOOD TRIFECTA!

Gotta love them pulses.

x

mummytogirls

Lentils are not something any of my family have ever cooked with which why I'm not using them I guess!! Will definitely give them a whirl xx

please-let-me-be-lucky

When I was younger we had very little money and my Mum used the cheap cuts of meat. I'm sure that's what put me off! When I think of eating meat I think of chewy fatty yuckyness and it has nothing to do with cruelty to animals or anything like that. I used to practically choke trying to swallow the meat without chewing, so when I was 9 Mum gave up and said I didn't have to eat it. I physically couldn't eat it now after almost 30 years, but I have no problems cooking it for the rest of the family.

Re stews, I add the dry lentils straight from the packet when the ingredients first go in the slow cooker Xx

mummytogirls

Not surprised you were put off PLMBL. Its funny how things affect you isn't it... like me with the pork and lamb ha xx

LauraB89

I was the same M2G - my mum would never have added lentils to anything. I saw it on eat well for less, and the father didn't taste them at all. So I tried it out when we had some of the lads over for dinner - out of 6, none of them noticed at all. So now I add them to everything. I tend to cook them in a pan with an oxo cube and water for a bit and then add it all to the main dish (including any stock not yet absorbed).

I hope it helps!

x

mummytogirls

It certainly does help Laura thank you!

I do like the eat well for less programme too!! xx