£70 budget for a family of 5... Is this doable?

patchwork_cat

miasnanny wrote: »

I have a dirt cheap plastic washing up bowl from one of the budget shops cost me under a £1 which I keep for baking purposes only.:dance: I have another in a different colour for mixing mince for burgers, meat loaves, rissoles etc. Just gotta love big round washing up bowls:dance:

Of course!Excellent idea, is it a time saver? I bet it is.

rosy

I'd suggest keeping any crumbs from bread and freezing them.
These can be used to bulk out meatballs ( serve with tomato sauce and pasta) or meatloaf. I use the same recipe for both, for the meatballs just roll the mix into balls and shallow fry.

I love this recipe as the breadcrumbs are effectively free, you can use up other leftovers you have hanging around in the fridge, plus you can eat it hot as supper and then have the rest cold in a sandwich or as is in a lunchbox with some salad. It's not obviously bread so if you have a non- bread eater they probably won't notice!

This is the recipe I have for a 2lb loaf tin but it's very forgiving and I have upped the bread/ cut down the meat successfully.

Put all the ingredients below into a large bowl and squash together with your hands with lots of salt and pepper so everything is evenly combined. Pack the mix into a loaf tin and bake for about one and a half hours at 180 degrees/ gas 4. Leave to cool in the tin for about 15 mins so all the juices are absorbed, then cut into slices.

Ingredients:

• 800 g of minced meat (any type, the more whoopsied the better- you can get away with a lot less than this amount by increasing the breadcrumbs or veg. I have also skinned some sausages and used these and have substituted a can of beans for some of the meat; I haven't tried it completely meatless but I think it would still turn out well if it you subbed all of the meat with beans/ chick peas )
• 2 large eggs
• 50g breadcrumbs - can use straight from the freezer - this amount can be increased a fair bit for economy
• herbs of your choice, whatever you have eg parsley, oregano, basil etc - a few teaspoons
• chopped red pepper / tomatoes/ olives/ cranberries/ grated carrot - anything of that ilk that might be hanging around the fridge)

miasnanny

patchwork_cat wrote: »

Of course!Excellent idea, is it a time saver? I bet it is.

When my kids were little 20 odd years ago I was working fulltime, seriously skint and with a part-time job as well. It was like a military operation. Bulk cooking was my Saviour, it is a huge timesaver and it does save quite a bit of cash too. You don't really need to set special time aside for it, it takes no longer to mix up a 10, 12, 14 egg sponge mix than it does a 2 or 4 egg mix with a electric whisk, you just need to put aside the time to bake it off. A timer is essential and its amazing how many other things you can get done while you are waiting for the timer. Batch cooking is never a chore if you increase quantities and make one to eat now and 2 or 3 for the freezer.

patchwork_cat

miasnanny wrote: »

When my kids were little 20 odd years ago I was working fulltime, seriously skint and with a part-time job as well. It was like a military operation. Bulk cooking was my Saviour, it is a huge timesaver and it does save quite a bit of cash too. You don't really need to set special time aside for it, it takes no longer to mix up a 10, 12, 14 egg sponge mix than it does a 2 or 4 egg mix with a electric whisk, you just need to put aside the time to bake it off. A timer is essential and its amazing how many other things you can get done while you are waiting for the timer. Batch cooking is never a chore if you increase quantities and make one to eat now and 2 or 3 for the freezer.

Have you got a recipe with variations for your cakes and for meatloaf and burgers etc.

Possession

Another idea is to make tray bakes - eg I can fit a 12 egg lemon drizzle mix in my Kenwood which is enough for 2 big trays. These can then be 'drizzled' with the lemon sugar topping, sliced and frozen in slices which take very little time to defrost.

miasnanny wrote: »

When my kids were little 20 odd years ago I was working fulltime, seriously skint and with a part-time job as well. It was like a military operation. Bulk cooking was my Saviour, it is a huge timesaver and it does save quite a bit of cash too. You don't really need to set special time aside for it, it takes no longer to mix up a 10, 12, 14 egg sponge mix than it does a 2 or 4 egg mix with a electric whisk, you just need to put aside the time to bake it off. A timer is essential and its amazing how many other things you can get done while you are waiting for the timer. Batch cooking is never a chore if you increase quantities and make one to eat now and 2 or 3 for the freezer.

miasnanny

patchwork_cat wrote: »

Have you got a recipe with variations for your cakes and for meatloaf and burgers etc.

Really simple. Sponge steamed puddings, fruit,syrup,jam,fruit puree in a 1 pt pudding basin, 6 minutes done!

You can put the entire contents into a roasting tin (greased and lined) reduce the temperature to Gas 2 and a smidge 3 and test after about 40 minutes, if it is getting too brown on top put a greased peice of parchment over the top to sheild it when cooked and cooled cut into squares, fingers, triangles(whatever your preference) Ice some with lemon drizzle, melted chocolate, butter cream, jam covered with dessicated coconut.

OR

divide up the mix before cooking, add fruit to some, coffee essence, mashed banana, chopped apple, spices, I tend to cook these in loaf tins as I can cook several at a time. I usually do some into muffin tin with paper cases for the little darlings.

As for the savoury meat mix, thats a little bit trial and error. Its really whatever I've got. The basic is usually mince meat, onions, left over veg/bottom of freezer bag dregs I put these into my washing up bowl to mix well. I then decide what I'm going to make. For example I will dollop some into a bowl add say a stock cube or 2 or 3 depending on the quantity some worcester sauce, if I have a bag of dry stuffing mix littering the place up I will add that, grated carrot, pulses, lentils beat up some egg and mix with my hands until the egg is worked right through. Place into loaf tins and bake until cooked right through. Its a similar thing with burgers, sometimes if I am using pork mince I will put a smidge of apple with the mix and leave out the stuffing etc, beef mince is nice with some cheese 'poked' into the middle while forrming the burger/patty shape and rissoles are just anything but always some leftover cooked rice. Ring the changes and experiment.

Sorry for essay and I hope that its of help to you

schumie

I have read this on here before and used this tip so its a recycled one! I have two step children that come every other weekend and we tend to 'treat' them. Economy chocolate for 39p tastes as good to them as the expensive £1.50 bars and to be honest it's good enough for me!

I also read on here that a good tip is to try to spread your meal to 2 courses with a swiss roll and custard for dessert which is dirt cheap. We serve less as a main meal as they are getting a dessert and the swiss rolls have a long shelf life in the cupboard (a month or so) so i buy when they are on offer. I only use UHT milk (as a student i couldn't afford fresh milk and old habits die hard) therefore there is always milk in the cupboard and custard powder lasts forever. But giving a substantial dessert works well.

I also add lentils to chilli mince, spag bol, curry (another tip from here.) In fact the two step kids saw me cooking red lentils for their chilli last week and told me that wouldn't ever eat that rubbish. Good job i didn't tell them what i bulk their meals up with every weekend eh! xx

mummybearx

Soup :-)

A simple big pot of leek and potato soup, carrot and coriander soup before dinner/as soon as they get in from school will mean you can serve smaller dinner portions. A few simple cheap ingredients, really easy to make, plus you can easily freeze portions. As others have said, check the super 6 deals and see what veg you can get cheap. I buy mrt's value veg, adding in fresh herbs we grow on the windowsill to give great flavour x

quintwins

i'm just wondering if the 10 egg spinge could be kept in tubs/jars in the fridge for a few days then cooked with dinner to fill the oven? i've never really thought of making cake mix in bulk before.

miasnanny

quintwins wrote: »

i'm just wondering if the 10 egg spinge could be kept in tubs/jars in the fridge for a few days then cooked with dinner to fill the oven? i've never really thought of making cake mix in bulk before.

Can't say I've tried that, I might give it a try next time. I do this with cookie dough. I make a big batch, cook some, freeze some and refridgerate some, that works well.:)