Desperate House....husband

MATH

Maybe we househusbands should have our own thread - eh!

Here's my twopenneth worth!

1. Plan a whole week of evening meals in advance when you write a shopping list, do this with your diary open so you don't buy in food for days your invited out for meals. Always work off a meal plan & shoping list, never from memory. Never buy anything that is not on your list.
2. Before you let your inmagination run wild have a look though the freezer/cupboard/fridge and see what you have to eat that you don't have to buy in and 'cobble' (technical term) a couple of meals together with these ingredients. I find you can get away with almost any combination providing you call it 'such and such surprise'. Even experienced MSE'rs find they can live out of the freezer once in a while.
3. Towards the end of the week have another look through the kitchen and see what needs using up. If your fruit bowl is abustin why buy lunch? Take some fruit!
4. Keep as much food in the freezer as poss and defrost as needed. I keep sliced bread in the freezer and take out a couple of slices at a time so I'm not left with a stale loaf. Also limiting your choices also reduces waste, for egample only stock two sorts of ceriel.
5. Give economy brand a go. The worst that can happen is you don't like it and won't buy it again, but a lot of things are fine.

[Deleted User]

Unfortunately the butcher in my village closed a while back so mainly I buy meat from the supermarkets.

However - occasionally I do buy meat from a farm shop and whilst it IS more expensive - it IS very tasty and hardly any fat.

I use a George Foreman type grill for cooking sausages and the ones from the farm shop have hardly any fat running out of them - unlike the slurried supermarket efforts.

Maybe not moneysaving - but probably healthier and better value for money.

carl310166

Some excellent ideas again.

I guess it pays to be very organized.

Just had a look in the fridge,empty....but the freezer is full,so i will use it all up first,then restock.

loafer_2

How about using some coupons in Asda or Tesco:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=24435 <Read the thread
Every little helps!

culpepper

Buy only what you've already agreed you can eat fruit wise...if you both eat apples every day,only buy 14 etc.
When you cook vegetables, cook all the carrots or whatever then just eat what you need that day and divide the rest into portions and freeze when its cold.Or only buy frozen veg .
Freeze all your meat (you can divide it up first)except what you want for that day and the next;every day, take tomorrows meat out of the freezer and put it in the fridge . If you forget,the microwave can defrost it.I use the defrost setting and just zap it for a few minutes,turning it over and rezapping till its defrosted rather than defrosting for a set time.
Dont shop when your hungry .

Squidgy

Right, freezing. You can freeze raw meat, but once it's defrosted you can't freeze it again unless you cook it - the same rule applies again - once you've defrosted cooked food you can't freeze it again.

Reckon on eight hours (or so) to defrost out in the kitchen, twelve hours in the fridge. This can be sped up by putting the items in a bowl of cold water - this should half the time, but do not place directly into the water - leave it in it's packaging (not cardboard obviously).

One of the posters on here discovered you can also defrost things quickly on a black metal tray, raised on a wire rack.

You can freeze all meats, milks, cheese, butter etc - pretty much anything except egg products ie mayo egg mayo etc - it seperates.

Definatly look at the other threads there was one about freezing sandwiches which would help you with knowing what you can freeze

HTH

Squidgy

I get our meat from the butcher and fruit & veg from the market. Our butcher does five trays of meat for £20. Last time I got 2 trays of chicken breasts (8 in total), 1 of pork chops, 1 of steak and 1 of turkey - that's ten meals for two people for £2! (daughter has dinner at nursery). I prefer sausages from the butchers, even though they are a bit more pricey, as they are huge!!!

I use the market as I find the fruit & veg is of a better quality and I can just buy what I need (and you can haggle - and at the butchers too!)

I don't properly meal plan, just have a quick look in the kitchen before I go out to see what I can make and what I need.

carl310166

I think lack of knowing about freezing stuff is one my problems.

When i have tried to let a chicken portion defrost in the fridge,i expected it to be done in 8 hours,now i know it's not enough time.

Spendless

Man_bout_the_house wrote:

Maybe we househusbands should have our own thread - eh!

Are you dumping us MATH- now you've found a mate of your own?!!

I also buy my meat at the market and often buy a tray of joints for £10 Last times was pork/lamb (english) and beef for £10 and another tray with 4 beef joints for £10.

I find about 2.30 on a Saturday afternoon is when they start reducing.

Have a look round your town to see what's available.

Squidgy

don't be scared - how will you know unless you ask?!