Old-Style Case Study / Action Points

anguk

Welcome to all who are new to Old-Style, you seem to be doing very well.

One tip I must share with you is "The Takeaway Secret". One of the first things that is normally cut back when trying to save money is takeaways and you can crave them at times. There's a brilliant book called The Takeaway Secret that has recipes from all the major takeaway/fast food outlets, Indian, Chinese, McDonalds, Kentucky etc. The beauty of the book is not only is it sooooo much cheaper to make your own takeaways but it's much healthier too.

There's a huge thread about the book, including pictures here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2665259

And the book is only £3.66 with free postage from Amazon (in my opinion it's worth it just for the Big Mac & Donner kebab recipes alone):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Takeaway-Secret-Cook-Favourite-Fast-food/dp/0716022354/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309172882&sr=8-1

FireWyrm

anguk wrote: »

Welcome to all who are new to Old-Style, you seem to be doing very well.

One tip I must share with you is "The Takeaway Secret". One of the first things that is normally cut back when trying to save money is takeaways and you can crave them at times. There's a brilliant book called The Takeaway Secret that has recipes from all the major takeaway/fast food outlets, Indian, Chinese, McDonalds, Kentucky etc. The beauty of the book is not only is it sooooo much cheaper to make your own takeaways but it's much healthier too.

There's a huge thread about the book, including pictures here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2665259

And the book is only £3.66 with free postage from Amazon (in my opinion it's worth it just for the Big Mac & Donner kebab recipes alone):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Takeaway-Secret-Cook-Favourite-Fast-food/dp/0716022354/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309172882&sr=8-1

Oooo....I got my copy the other day! I love it. I'm so looking forward to trying some of the recipes. I cant afford chinese takeaway even though I love it, so basically, I learned to cook chinese, but some of the other recipies look fantastic too.

However, Ceridwen has issued a challenge, and I have accepted, so, with that in mind, I need to plan meals for 28 days using recipes from this forum alone. I've had a quick inventory of my cupboards and freezer and I have practically nothing to hand, so, I will need to eat for the next month out of £100.

Anyone care to start me off? I'm going shopping on Friday, so, ideally, I need a set plan and a list by Thursday night.

maman

Linda32 wrote: »

Do Martin's downshift challenge, where you go down a brand. I used to swear by Nescalf, now I have Tesco Classic Roast coffee. OH is happy with Basic or Value tea, I don't like any sort of tea but he seems to like it.

I do use Fairy Liquid and Marigolds for washing up, the cheaper versions are false economy.

Expensive deodrant is the thing as well, I've had one can for months now, (and its not because I don't use it ) rather than the basic one which only lasts a week at best. Same with cheap loo roll.

HTH

Just a few ideas for your 'expensive' items Linda. If you have these shops near you: Lidl roll-on deodorant is absolutely fine (about 80p ish?), Aldi washing up liquid is excellent (Good Housekeeping recommendation) but not sure how price compares with Fairy when on offer, Farmfoods do a Nicky toilet roll (approx £2 for 9 rolls) which is thick and quilted and I'm happy to use instead of Andrex.

I think the challenge idea is a great one and I'm really interested to see which recipes from here are suggested. I just use my own recipes for cheap meals so I can't help much but will comment if I can see a cheaper way. I was interested in that Sainsbury's £50 thing until I saw the white bread toast and jam for breakfast! I'm sure we can do much better!

anguk

maman wrote: »

Just a few ideas for your 'expensive' items Linda. If you have these shops near you: Lidl roll-on deodorant is absolutely fine (about 80p ish?), Aldi washing up liquid is excellent (Good Housekeeping recommendation) but not sure how price compares with Fairy when on offer, Farmfoods do a Nicky toilet roll (approx £2 for 9 rolls) which is thick and quilted and I'm happy to use instead of Andrex.

I think the challenge idea is a great one and I'm really interested to see which recipes from here are suggested. I just use my own recipes for cheap meals so I can't help much but will comment if I can see a cheaper way. I was interested in that Sainsbury's £50 thing until I saw the white bread toast and jam for breakfast! I'm sure we can do much better!

I think one of the cheapest and healthiest things for breakfast is good old fashioned porridge oats. Much better for you than white toast and jam.

FireWyrm

Hi All

Ok, this is the meal plan for the period Saturday 2nd July to Saturday 30th July.

Day

Date

Description

Saturday

2nd

Cheese and Bacon carbonara & garlic/corriander bread
Sunday

3rd

Roast chicken, new potatoes, broccoli
Monday

4th

Fish Pie and steamed broccoli
Tuesday

5th

Boiled Bacon, new potatoes, cauliflower cheese
Wednesday

6th

Cold Bacon, potatoes and tomato & mozarella salad
Thursday

7th

French onion soup and garlic bread
Friday

8th

Lamb Meatballs in spicy Tomato Sauce and Rice
Saturday

9th

Vegitable chilli and Rice
Sunday

10th

Sausages, with Broccoli and Potato cheesy bake
Monday

11th

Pork Stroganoff and Rice
Tuesday

12th

Chicken breast in white wine sauce with mustard mash and steamed broccoli
Wednesday

13th

Breaded Haddock and chips
Thursday

14th

Vegitable and pot luck meat stew with rice
Friday

15th

Chicken in tomato and basil sauce with rice with Garlic Bread
Saturday

16th

EAT TAKEAWAY KEBABS & WINE
Sunday

17th

Shepherds Pie
Monday

18th

Creamy Bacon and Leak Pasta
Tuesday

19th

Lamb Lasagne
Wednesday

20th

Tuna Napolina Pasta Bake
Thursday

21st

Pan Fried Lambs Liver in Red Wine and mustard mashed potato
Friday

22nd

Potato, Onion and Bacon Hotpot, served with Carrots and Green Veg
Saturday

23rd

Sausage and Onion casserole with Peas and chips
Sunday

24th

Sausage and Maccaroni Cheese with Peas
Monday

25th

Beef with Paprika
Tuesday

26th

Tuna Napolina Pasta Bake
Wednesday

27th

Jerk Chicken/Bacon and Pasta
Thursday

28th

Pork StirFry & Noodles
Friday

29th

Sausage Hotpot
Saturday

30th

Thai Chicken Curry

Here is the shopping list

Item

Quantity

Whole Chicken

1

Cheese

3

Bacon

4

Pasta

5kg

Bell Peppers - large packet

1

Eggs

15

Smoked Haddock

1

Frozen Salmon

1

Frozen Prawns

1

Parsley

1 plant

Corriander

1 plant

Basil

1 plant

Potatos

3 kg

Milk

8 pints

Garlics

5

Olive Oil

1

Tins Tomato

12

Tin of pineapple

2

large joint of bacon

1

Large mushrooms

1

Tomatoes

large/Vine

Onions

1 kg

Frozen Lamb mince

4 lbs

Carrots

1lb

Broccoli

Large

Cauliflower

Large

Mozarella

2 Large

Pork Chops/Fillets

3 packets

Chicken breast pieces

3 packets

White wine sauce mix

1 jar

Frozen Haddock

4

Oven Chips

1 packet

Stewing Beef

2 lbs

Tins of Baked Beans

4

Leeks

3

UHT Cream

1 pot

Lasagne Sheets

1 packet

Tin of sweetcorn

1

Tins of Tuna

4

Lambs Liver

550g

Red Cooking Wine

150 ml

Sausages

3 packets

Frozen Peas

1 packet

Tins of stewing beans

1

Coconut Milk

4

Thai Paste

2

Tin BeanSprouts

2

Dried chinese mushrooms

1 packet

Comments, thoughts?

I have lots of spices in my cupboard as a matter of course, so I'm not factoring buying those. I have left out Coffee, Sugar, Fruit and Butter because I buy them routinely out of pin money I have set aside.

According to my calculations, this will feed two adults and two children for the days specified. I dont know what the cost will be, but hopefully, sub £100 which is what I have to spend.

floss2

FireWyrm wrote: »

...According to my calculations, this will feed two adults and two children for the days specified. I dont know what the cost will be, but hopefully, sub £100 which is what I have to spend.

You could work out the cost on http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk...

Also, anyone with chickens or a veg plot / lottie would see a reduction in cost again.

tigerfeet2006

Do you use the whole chicken when you do a roast?

floss2

tigerfeet2006 wrote: »

Do you use the whole chicken when you do a roast?

Hmm....no left-over chicken unless it is frozen and used in the Thai curry at the end of the month? But can't see any soup from the stock...?

BTW boneless chicken thighs are tastier and cheaper than breast.

Reverbe

ceridwen wrote: »

...and nope....you ARENT allowed to have Twinks' more than once:D

Am I the only one never tempted by mention of Twinks? I dont tend to eat biscuits anyway as I consider them junk food and Hobnobs were always a lesser biccy in my eyes..:p

tigerfeet2006

floss2 wrote: »

Hmm....no left-over chicken unless it is frozen and used in the Thai curry at the end of the month? But can't see any soup from the stock...?

BTW boneless chicken thighs are tastier and cheaper than breast.

That is what I was thinking to Floss.

FireWyrm, I put my chicken in the slow cooker (you can do things like stuff it with 1/4rd lemon or 1/4rd onions and put garlic and herbs on the skin.) You don't need to put liquid in the slow cooker. Then DC1 and 2 have the legs. DC3 has the wings and any chicken that had fallen off. DH and I share the 1 breast plus a little extra if necessary. Plenty of veg. and potatoes. Plus a homemade pudding.

The carcass is then stripped and meat used in another recipe like chicken, bacon and cheese pie, risotto, stir fry etc. Depending on the chicken you can sometimes get 2 extra meals from the left overs.

The carcass goes back in the SC and left on overnight and I strip the carcass in the morning and make soup with the meat and stock.