Super Scrimpers

candygirl

Natty68 wrote: »

Hmm what's wrong with red cabbage? It's lovely cooked with apple and slow braised

mmmm sounds fab .how dya do that hunnie?I'm veggie so anything like that is fab for me:D:D

jammy_dodger

I Luv red cabbage

Natty68

candygirl wrote: »

mmmm sounds fab .how dya do that hunnie?I'm veggie so anything like that is fab for me:D:D

I'll pm you the receipe as I have to hunt it out Actually you've reminded me I should have had the receipe out already, also it can be frozen which I normally have done by now..

candygirl

jammy_dodger wrote: »

I Luv red cabbage

Me too, n pickled beetroot n onions:p:p

stiltwalker

I do a braised red cabbage - slice cabbage relatively finely and chuck in a pan with a slosh of red wine vinegar, a good slosh of orange juice, a good handful of sultanas and a handful of demerara sugar and cokk with the lid on over a low heat for 1 - 1 1/2 hours depending on how full the pan is, stirring regularly. Keeps well in the fridge and can be zapped a portion at a time if need be. Nothing particularly radical in this programme though I did gasp over someone spending my OH's ENTIRE take home pay on food each year!!! And I'm sure I could have made at least 6 or 7 meals from that much left over turkey not a mere 4 and some stock.

I also love pickled red cabbage although DD (2 1/2) calls it "tickled caddage"!

PipneyJane

oldtractor wrote: »

any chance of the parsnip and lemon soup recipe Pipney Jane?

Certainly. It's originally a Weight Watchers' recipe, from their Pure Points cookbook. The recipe said "serves 4", but the soup is rather thick and thickens on standing - you could easily water it down a bit further. Also, don't be alarmed at the cumin; it adds something to the flavour, but you won't taste it in the final soup. The lemon isn't particularly noticeable either, what it does is neutralise the bitterness of the parsnips. It freezes well, too.

Ingredients

500g (1lb) Parsnips, peeled and sliced
1 onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Grated rind of 1 lemon*
750 ml vegetable stock (I use 2 teaspoons of Marigold brand stock powder for this)
300ml skimmed milk
Olive oil spray
salt and pepper

Method

• Spray a large saucepan with the oil spray and heat. When the oil is hot, stir in the onion. Turn the flame under the pot to low, cover and leave for approximately 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. (I do this then prepare the parsnips and the lemon.)
• When the onion is soft, stir in the parsnips then sprinkle over the cumin. Fry for approximately one minute, stirring all the time, or until the aroma rises.
• Pour over the stock, stir and bring it to the boil. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until the parsnip is soft and mushable.
• Remove the pot from the heat and either transfer the contents to a blender/food processor or use a wand whisk to blend the contents until smooth.
• Return the soup to the pot. Stir in the milk and the lemon rind. Season with salt and pepper. Reheat but DO NOT boil (the milk may curdle due to the lemon).
  

* I store grated lemon rind in an ice cube tray in the freezer. Whenever we use lemons, I'll grate the rind and pack it into the tray with a splash of water. I think half a lemon gives one cube of rind.

candygirl

stiltwalker wrote: »

I do a braised red cabbage - slice cabbage relatively finely and chuck in a pan with a slosh of red wine vinegar, a good slosh of orange juice, a good handful of sultanas and a handful of demerara sugar and cokk with the lid on over a low heat for 1 - 1 1/2 hours depending on how full the pan is, stirring regularly. Keeps well in the fridge and can be zapped a portion at a time if need be. Nothing particularly radical in this programme though I did gasp over someone spending my OH's ENTIRE take home pay on food each year!!! And I'm sure I could have made at least 6 or 7 meals from that much left over turkey not a mere 4 and some stock.

I also love pickled red cabbage although DD (2 1/2) calls it "tickled caddage"!

omg that sounds gorg hun.Thanks xx:D:D

lostinrates

I'm pretty sure given the opportunity I could spend £12k a year on food. (I doubt I would though, ould and could are different!)

But I don't think we'd eat as healthily because we'd eat more meat, or as ethiclly, because I think it would be easy to spend on yummy important fine goods from fancy food stores and imported treats.

Is there a published average household grocery spend?

fwiw, I doubt I could do the meat plus sausages etc for under £50. for us we eat meat less often than many, or than we would really like too, because the source of it is really important to us. Our beef (no bird this year) is about 2/3rds of a rib of beef than cost £40, but very excellent welfare and quality and a real treat! I may or may not bake a ham for boxing day (not the same meal, but I bet if I bake it it will be picked at on Christmas day on a left over plate late at night...one of the reasons Christmas day its self is so hard to price).

I think the first thing they did was look for the very cheapest turkey where as I'd prefer to serve a meatless meal, even for Christmas, than one with soething I felt uncomfortable with the welfare standards.

PipneyJane

Natty68 wrote: »

Shame I'm allergic to Vodka..:(

I usually freezing my turkey meat, then I can make a turkey pie, stew or stir fry whenever I feel like it.

Eww @ cheap tomatoes, sorry I used to use these but found them so watery and insipid.. I know buy Napolina at Costco and I find it really bulks out the bolognese etc... Sometimes it pays to buy the dearer stuff, but not all the time.

Ditto for the turkey meat. I usually get 8 meals-worth of turkey into bags for the freezer on Boxing Day and that's after we've had 3 or 4 meals out of it. After that, I process the bones for stock and render the fat for cooking with later on.

Are you sitting comfortably? The last time I price checked (last week), the chopped tomatoes I buy in Costco are cheaper than the Mr T's Value ones. They're not Napolina, though, they're the other brand... << goes and checks >>... Valfrutta at £3.19 for a tray of 12, so just under 27p a can. I'm sure the T. Value ones were 31p.

lostinrates

PipneyJane wrote: »

I'm sure the T. Value ones were 31p.

38p on saturday just gone.:(