ok my first dip into this pool of knowledge

TAZ

After reading all the advice on here i am trying out some ideas but need some filling, far reaching rescipes.

The reason, money is tight and am cutting back on many things, hoping to reduce my food bill. I have 5 lads that can all eat like their father even the 5 year old eats a full sized adult meal. they are sick of chips but are no great veg eaters. i do the usual spag bol and stews etc but with my lot i always need to buy loads of meat even spag bol takes 5ib mince

any ideas

Lillibet_2

Hi Taz

Don't know if you might have already tried these ideas but here goes :

Mince can be bulked out with lentils or grated carrotts, the carnivores in your family may not notice if you don't tell them.
Just decrease the amount of meat in portions & slightly increasy the pasta/rice/potato portion to compensate.
Try serving bread & a glass of chilled water with a meal to pad it out
Mix mashed parsnips in with mashed potato
Put veggies in the sauce to bulk it out, they may not be bothered to pick them out if they are all mixed in!
Garlic bread is a cheap alternative to chips
Try parsnip chips for a change & a healthy alternative (Tecos Value parsnips & cheap & good quality!) Again, if you don't tell them they may not notice!
Try waffles or hash brows as an alternative type of potato, I often see these on BOGOF so they are economical too but would be cheaper still if you could make your own.
Baked beans are helathy & cheap & a good alternative to veggies but with 5 sons you might want to go easy on these!

Thats all I can think of for now but others with far greater receipe ranges will be along soon.

Good luck!

MATH

OOOOHHHH It's very dangerous to dip yourself into this pool. Some have been known to fully submerge themselves in Ol'Style culture never to surface and see the light of day again. Welcome by the way.

When serving chicken always buy a whole chicken rather than thighs or breasts it is much cheaper. Boil the carcass and use ths stock for soup or the base for pasta dishes the next day. As Lilibet says when using mince bulk it out. I can make a shepherd's pie which feeds 8 (and yes my kidz eat adult portions too) with one pound of mince once I've added the onions, peppers, mushrooms, chopped carrot, sweetcorn, chopped tomatoes, courgette, cuddly toy and a fondue set (do ya get the idea?) heheheh. They havn't noticed the amount of meat and therefore the price has gone down.
Let us know how you get on.

Ticklemouse

Welcome Taz

I agree with MATH - you can find yourself addicted to these old sytle threads ( MATH and Ssaver are my gurus )

Apart from 'padding things out' as mentioned above, which I do mainly to reduce the amount of meat we all eat, does everyone eat as much as they do because they are used to eating that much? Without in any way getting at you because I don't know your circs, a lot of people simply overeat because they have got used to eating that much (Mr TM is a prime example) I also eat bigger portions than I need to and the only reason I'm not the size of a house is because I tend to eat lots of fruit/veg and low fat:) . Maybe you could just slowly reduce the amount they are getting - I know, harder than it sounds. Have you told Mr Taz and even the older Tazlets that money is tight so they will have to eat slightly smaller portions?

A drink of water 10 mins before food will take the edge of their appetite.

Try making something completely different - that way you can try ingredients not used before.

Try making the all-bran cakes (recent thread) They really aren't as disgusting as they sound - quite sweet and sticky. So, everyone will think they are having a treat and it's both good for them and fills them up.

I'll keep thinking.

(PS Does MATH have a fan club? I wanna join)

Ticklemouse

Oooh, another quick thought.

My mum was saying recently, that when we were little and money was really tight, she used to buy marrow bones from the butchers as they were used to thicken up soups/stews etc, make them go further and good for you. I haven't got a clue as to any recipes, but maybe someone else has. I'm sure they must still be cheap.

vanoonoo

try them out with things like chilli (using lots of kidney beans) which could be served with jacket spuds or rice

how about home made tray bake type pies?

somewhere in the depths of the boards the joys of oatmeal was discussed relating to mixing it in with mince to make it go further. i'll do a quick search and see if I can find a link for you.

things like toad in the hole and sausage casserole are good value and relatively easy on industrial sized portions

is there no way you can encourage them to eat veg as a side dish?

I think the portion control is a great suggestion along with water and bread with all meals.

(one of) my ex(es) came from a family of four boys where the mum and dad also had another male relative living with them - meal times were interesting to say the least and there was often a buffet type affair on a firday night in order to use up the odds and sods from the freezer (single burgers, lonely sausages, solitary shepherds pie that kinda thing) and there were often the four lads, the four girlfriends, the mum and dad and the random relative eating at the same table - which is on a par with your size family - I have no idea how the mum managed it - but she did and very well too. oh I remember - they managed cos the dad brewed his own beer and wine and they were drunk the whole time! hoorah!

seriously though - by addressing the issue you will conquer it and as you have presumably realised - these boards are fab for help with trimming budgets.

do you have a price book? do you know how much your average shop is and also if you are getting the best value products each shop?

vanoonoo

heres a thread that talks aobut stretching mince further

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1532&page=2&pp=40&highlight=oatmeal+mince

there is another one on student savings which I will look for too

elona

Try putting baked beans in shepherds pie as it bulks it out.

Try Large home made yorkies filled with veg and gravy ( tiny bit of meat or sausage if you have to)

How about thick soup made in slow cooker? With baked potatoes on side.

vanoonoo

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=53879&postcount=15

there that gives the suggestion with oatmeal

MATH

Ticklemouse wrote:

Welcome Taz

( MATH and Ssaver are my gurus )

I'll keep thinking.

(PS Does MATH have a fan club? I wanna join)

I agree SSaver is the Queen of Ol'Style (long may here bargain laden wally trolly rumble) I on the other hand may just about qualify for the title "gunu" heheheh.

I did have a fan club once but sadly the local health authority closed it down when they introduced care in the community.

By the way Ticklemouse, I don't know if you are familiar with the children's books "Brambly Hedge Stories" there is a character in them call Poppy Eyebright who is a little fieldmouse. She's always whipping up a batch of buns or a hazlenut cake to take up to Woodmouse Hall. I always think of you when I read them to my smallest. - (Must be a mouse thing)

Sarahsaver

Queen of ol' style eh?
I did have a business idea once involving queens, but thats another matter...
Make old fashioned things which are filling - stick to your ribs - as Dad used to say
toad in the hole
dumplings
crumble
steamed pudding
rice pudding
pancakes
baked potatoes
notice a theme here... FLOUR! Its dead cheap and you can do so much with it. Also I have noticed that when having a sunday dinner my youngest always goes for the meat first, so what I do now is take the meat out and carve it, then dish the veg onto the plates, dont say anything then they eat a bit of veg before the meat miraculously appears on the plate, otherwise he fill sup on meat first then leaves the veggies.
Dont throw anything away, it can be made into soup, sauces, stock, bird feeders (fat) save the fat from sausages, chops and duck for cooking with another day. I made a lovely puree once with leftover peas, mint and chilli.
I made a casserole today and the sauce was tomatoes, mushroom, onion and garlic. My very fussy daughter ate it because I blended all the sauce first, so it just looked like chick peas and sausages in tomato sauce. There was a thread on hidden veg. on the old site.
My trolley hasnt been out yet this week.
When i work out how to post a pic I will!