Lots more Sneaky Ways to save the pennies

Raspberry_Queen

Primrose said:

Does anybody on here have some tips please for preventing shelled nuts from going rancid?
We tend to make up a bulk jumbo jars of muesli with nuts in for convenience but the contents  of our current jar have suddenly started to taste very stale and rancid and it seems to be the nuts which are affecting all the other ingredients.  (Not helped by the fact that it doesn,t get eaten every day so can go a little stale.)
We have all the ingredients in the cupboard for making it up anyway so we make it in bulk as as a timesaver but it obviously seems that nuts can be a bit of a pollutant. 

Hi, I used to be a raw foodist (some time ago) and unshelled nuts should actually be kept in the fridge, they contain unsaturated fatty acids that quickly oxidise at room temperature. 

I would make most of the muesli, but keep the nuts in the fridge and add them at the time that you eat them. 

Uniscots97

I think there will be more people coming here looking for help. Here's a few tips that helped me: 

1) leave the oven door open after cooking and switching the oven off to help warm the house
2) if you work from home don't be afraid to wear extra layers but also use a blanket over your legs. You'll get cold sitting working at a laptop and not moving. Make sure you claim
your working from home tax. 

3) use deals sites (E.g. Shopmium) for deals on food or even free food/treats; use cash back sites when shopping (E.g. topcashback), receipt scanning sites for anything you do spend (E.g. Shoppix) and also survey sites like YouGov
4) meal plan but don't be afraid to change the meal you're making if something is on offer 
5) batch cook if you can and freeze portions, less energy to reheat pre made portions. 

NoraNoir

I’m one of these @Uniscots97 Does anyone know how to get to the beginning of the thread on a mobile please? There are 300+ pages to flick through here & I can only seem to read them by going ‘backwards’. Thanks! 

moving_forward

Turn mobile sideways so it's landscape. Scroll to top and click on page 1 in the numbered boxes.

NoraNoir

got it! Thanks @moving_forward !

quoia

Primrose said:

That's interesting - your comments about frozen sprouts. One vegetable I,ve never frozen.  We always try to buy them on the stalk with the leafy top still intact.  I think sprouts are great raw shredded in coleslaw and the tops are a nice substitute for spinach. 

BRUSSEL TOPS are something that at we can buy at the odd greengrocer or two maybe October to December - best described taste wise I think as a cross between cabbage and sprouts.

My OH hates spinach unlike myself, but loves these as much as I do, probably because we both enjoy Sprouts.

A TIP: if you buy them on the STALK ...

"PRETEND" it is a "FLOWER"

Cut an inch or so off the bottom and put it in water in a "small vase" (glass, cup, plastic pot) 

Pick the brussels you want to eat from the bottom working upwards.
After each "harvest" cut the stalk shorter by a similar amount of sprouts removed

Keep it/them cool (and in a dark place if possible) changing the water daily

I've had the last of the sprouts from the top of the stalk more than 4 weeks later than those 1st picked from the bottom

Brie

if you like spinach like @quoia and me keep an eye out for beets that still have the leaves on.  The leaves cook up just like spinach but have a bit of that sweet beet taste to them that might make them more palatable for those that find spinach too bitter.

I once went into Tescos and saw one of the veg staff unpacking beets and taking the leaves off to put the beet roots out to display.  When I asked I was told the leaves were useless and going into the bin.  I very nicely asked if I could assist by bagging them up and taking them away and was told to help myself.  Free veg!

SadieO

quoia said:

"PRETEND" it is a "FLOWER"

Cut an inch or so off the bottom and put it in water in a "small vase" (glass, cup, plastic pot) 

This works for keeping broccoli longer too. I use those gu pots that I can never bring myself to throw away!

Primrose

Brie said:

I once went into Tescos and saw one of the veg staff unpacking beets and taking the leaves off to put the beet roots out to display.  When I asked I was told the leaves were useless and going into the bin.  I very nicely asked if I could assist by bagging them up and taking them away and was told to help myself.  Free veg!

I once had a period when we were very hard up when I used to frequent the local fruit & veg market stall to ask for some of the surplus greenery they trimmed off and threw away "to feed the rabbits". It was never queried and made lots of soups and perfectly good vegetable material for cooking too. 

Broomstick

I'm not sure this has been mentioned on old style before but, if you or any of your household are students and shop at the Co-op, it's worth looking into getting a Totum (or Totum Pro) card - used to be called an NUS card.  'Students' include those at college/university full and part-time (including the Open University apparently) as well as some on shorter courses.  A Totum card gives you 10% off at the Co-op.  There are heaps more other discounts but nothing I would use since I don't really buy much apart from food!  The card paid for itself really quickly once I started using mine at our local Co-op.