My food budget has halved! Need lots of help please, including veggie recipes!

parsonswife8

MarieAAP wrote: »

Daft Q, who is Mr T?

Mr S...Sainsburys and Mr T..Tesco

Loads of veggie recipes here...

http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes/index.html

Cheeselady

Thanks again to the 3 of you who just posted, lol, so many ideas, my brain is gradually catching up!

I've been reading the pie plates thread and have decided to have my first go at pastry since I was in school, which was many moons ago, going to make the cheese and potato pie for tea tonight, so we shall see if it's edible! Hubby is quite amazed that I'm going to make pastry myself, lol, I just hope it comes out OK!

JOANNESAPHINE

I was just like you Cheeselady with ready meals, convenience foods etc but now I have lost my job am needing to make some serious savings. I am also having to build up a store cupboard of ingredients so I have most things in to cover lots of different recipes. Good luck with the cooking and with your hubby getting back to work. xx

Cheeselady

JOANNESAPHINE wrote: »

I was just like you Cheeselady with ready meals, convenience foods etc but now I have lost my job am needing to make some serious savings. I am also having to build up a store cupboard of ingredients so I have most things in to cover lots of different recipes. Good luck with the cooking and with your hubby getting back to work. xx

Thanks, I think once we've got the store cupboard ingredients, it will be a lot easier, lol, I now have a bag of flour in my cupboard for the first time in years! :rotfl:

supa-girl

Hi

I am a veggie, but the kids aren't so we have 2 or 3 meat free days a week. I do cook for meat for the family though. just take a deep breath and handle it as little as possible!

Do you use lentils? I find red lentils are a great store cupboard essential as you can bung them into everything to make it go a bit further. We often have things like chilli and bolognese bacause you can make those cheap (value canned tomatoes, value kidney beans, veggie mince.....) and the lentils really do make them go further.

My other top tip is when you have veggies and things on their last legs, make a big vat of soup with them and freeze it in portions. Have a small bowl of it before your main meal and you will find you eat less, so your main meals will go further. This is a great way for us to use up stuff we used to throw away and it is super healthy too!

I also keep frozen veggies in so I can rustle up a store cupboard pasta bake - it is pasta, a basic white sauce (butter, flour, milk) with a table spoon of wholegrain mustard added, then a couple of different veg eg peas and sweetcorn. Cheap and easy, ingredients always in the house and everyone loves it. The soup idea makes this go further too........

SG

Cheeselady

supa-girl wrote: »

Hi

I am a veggie, but the kids aren't so we have 2 or 3 meat free days a week. I do cook for meat for the family though. just take a deep breath and handle it as little as possible!

Do you use lentils? I find red lentils are a great store cupboard essential as you can bung them into everything to make it go a bit further. We often have things like chilli and bolognese bacause you can make those cheap (value canned tomatoes, value kidney beans, veggie mince.....) and the lentils really do make them go further.

My other top tip is when you have veggies and things on their last legs, make a big vat of soup with them and freeze it in portions. Have a small bowl of it before your main meal and you will find you eat less, so your main meals will go further. This is a great way for us to use up stuff we used to throw away and it is super healthy too!

I also keep frozen veggies in so I can rustle up a store cupboard pasta bake - it is pasta, a basic white sauce (butter, flour, milk) with a table spoon of wholegrain mustard added, then a couple of different veg eg peas and sweetcorn. Cheap and easy, ingredients always in the house and everyone loves it. The soup idea makes this go further too........

SG

Umm, will take some turning on the handling of meat, lol. No I have never used lentils in cooking, probable because I've never really done that much 'cooking' Do you have to soak them before you use them?

I do have some frozen veggies, could you please tell me how to make the sauce, as again, I have no clue! :rotfl: