Anyone got a nice spaghetti and meatballs recipe?

sashanut

Many thanks to everyone for the menu planning kicks!! Haven't done it yet....but definitely will do it TODAY & will post on here to prove it. Now for the soup recipe - tried to send this before but the computer decided to crash, very kind of it & am sensing an expensive repair on the horizon...

Lentil & Veg Soup (from SW, ages ago - 2005 in fact) FREE on Green, 6 syns on original

1 lge onion chopped
2 carrots diced
1 leek (I quite often miss this out, or snip in a spring onion instead, being lazy)
1 parsnip diced
1 garlic clove crushed
2 pints hot stock made with Bovril - or I use Marigold veg bouillon
1 14oz can of toms with their juice
8 oz red lentils
few sprigs of thyme or oregano (I use some dried thyme I have)
1 bay leaf (optional)
salt & pepper
ground chilli flakes if you like

1. Spray pan/casserole with Fry Light (or use a little oil). Chop onion, crush garlic & add to pan, then add all other veg & fry till softish.

2. Add tinned toms to pan (I chop them & remove stalks, skins, grotty bits etc)

3. Add hot stock, lentils & seasoning & bring to boil

4. Put on pan lid & simmer/place in slow cooker/ low oven till lentils are soft (20 mins?)

5. Remove bay leaf, check seaoning & that all veg are soft. Very colourful & apparently you can add some blue cheese on top (which adds to the syns) but I haven't tried it myself.

You can vary it by adding a bit of fresh coriander/chilli to taste. You could also blend till smooth (to hide the veg from fussy eaters?) but we like it chunky with HM bread from the BM.

You can freeze this easily & according to DD (17) it tastes better cold & thick.....can't vouch for this one though!!

mikeD

Kimberley wrote: »

Even Sunnyday has week 1 in Feb filled in so far, how comes? I thought the Feb challenge starts on the 1st of each month Please don't tell me i'm starting at the wrong day

Hi Kimberly. I can see your problem but maybe I can help. I get two pensions, a state one and an industrial one. The state one is paid every four weeks and the industrial one is monthly, so I have no real start point for my GC which is related to my receipt of income.

What I do is determine how much my weekly budget is, say for example £70. Then I divide that by 7 and multiply the result by the number of days in the month.

eg for January £70 / 7 = 10 x 31 = £310

and for

February it would be £70 / 7 = 10 x29 = £290

and so on throughout the year.

Hope this helps.

Love the FM

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

Are there any simple recipes for leftover chicken anywhere please?

---

Hi Thebees, check out the rubber chicken thread...http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=385066#post385066

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

TheBees wrote: »

the trouble I have is slicing the bread properly. Does anyone know where you can get a device to help you slice in a straight line?
quote]
I tend to leave the bread overnight and start slicing then, it is a lot easier. I had one of the slicing things but it wasn't worth the cost or space so I passed it on.

mama67

Called in at teh Costcuutter in the village where DS1 was playing football today.

2 ltr squash 69p
12 sweet pancakes 1.29
rocky choc bars (bogof) 89p
2 x 2ltr perfectly clear pop 1.00
5pk mini pringles (bogof) (lunchbox) 1.25

Total today £5.12

Total so far £14.44

bebee_2

Lil_me I'm not on the list GC for Feb is £240 as this is my first full month

lil_me wrote: »

Suppose as I started spending on my Feb budget today I should post my target

Going to push myself a little and try for £240 this month, stocks in the house have reduced loads so know this will be a challenge for me. Amount inc all food (all meals inc the pack ups, any take aways, meals out etc) toiletries, cleaning stuff etc for 2 adults, 2 sons, 2 dogs, fish, lizard and hedgehog (don't think I have missed anyone)

affordmylife £150
angeladavis £
Angelraesunshine £200
annie123 £350
Aril £200
Atalanta £
atypicalblonde £
aytch £
azjh77 £
bails £
bananakinz £
barole £
Beckyneedstosavecash £
belfastgirl23 £150
BigMummaF £
blackfairykitten £
Blairweech £
bobbadog £
Bobbykins £225
boredofbeingathome £200
Brassic £
broke mary £
broke mum of three £220
BrokeWelshChick £
brummiebabe £
CanadaBound £
carolt2 £200
CTFG £40
catherineblack £
catlover1 £120
catzine £120
charleypink £300
cheerfulness4 £140
chewy62 £280
chicken pie £160
chocolate.orange £260
C1aire £60
Clockwatcher £120
clowe1 £400
COOLTRIKERCHICK £
cornishlady £
craftycrofty £250
CRANKY40 £120
curly cabbage £250
dawnylou £
DdraigGoch £
Desperate Housewife £250
Dinah93 £100
dinx1972 £280
Disdisbiff £
dizzydolly £200
dlb £
Doom_and_Gloom £40
EagerLearner £130
EC12345 £150
egon £230
elle_gee £
ellie2912 £
EverTheOptimist £100
fallen angel shelley £170
fifi35 £
findingmyownway £
fingersxed £
flossyblog €
frankerooney £
frazzmunch £133
FrenchMaid £
Freyasmum £
full-time-mum
FunBrum £
funkyfunkymonkey £250
galacticgreen £
Gemmzie £
georgiasmum £
got-it-spend-it £150
Greenshieldstamp
HariboJunkie £100
hayley11 £150
Hayze1980 £200
Herbaholic £280
High Peak Lass £200
hilary1 £225
Holllysan £320
honeybe21
hypno06 £125
ihatedebt £200
In Search Of Me £150
InTheRed £225
Irish Mom €200.00
irishwexford £160
Its me again £250
izoomzoom £225
jacci45 £300
jackie_w £200
jackiegibbo £200
Jacks xxx £250
jacquij123 £400
JAMIEDODGER £300
Jammygal £
JemimaP £80
jeni-b £160
jmf76 £200
JoJoB £160
jpe20 £
Justamum £
kayharcombe £
kayree41 £
Kazmeister £
Keiss 21 £400
Kel £
kittynortheast £
kiwi88 £
kunekune £
Ladyra £150
lainz £40
lauradora £50
Lelc £
lindsaygalaxy £200
lil_me £240
lililou £
lilmisskitkat £200
LilMissEmmylou £220
Little Miss Naughty £
LittleOne83 £60
Lizzieanne £
Looby Lou £100
LouiseJ £
loumac £ 150
MadCad £
madsmum £
Maisie M £
malvena £
mama67 £140
maximus_leeds £
meanmarie €300
MERFE £
methekidsandthecat £
miecherox £
mikeD £
millionaire in training £
miserly_mum £ 230
Miss Behaving £
MissEyre £
Mollymop5 £150
Moniker £200
MoneyGypsy £
montclare £200
mookybargirl £160
Mooloo £
mother noah £
Move To Portugal £
mrsdoyle1981 £280
mrs hatter £
mrs-moneypenny £500
mrsmortenharket £300
mrs saver £220
mrssnowy £250
MRSMCAWBER €130
MSHAWX £100
mumofcookers £
mumzyof2 £
Murtle £
natzini £110
NEgirl £
ness w £400
newlywed £250
nopot2pin £ 100
nykmedia £100
oldMcDonald £200
Orchid-96 £250
Patches41048 £250
patentgirl £
pigpen £500
pipkin71 £
poohbear59 £
positivelypurple £
princess leia £200
PrincessTaylor £100
purplevamp £300
rachelmk £100
razra £
redmel1621 £
rosieben £80
sammyjig £220
Sassamac £130
saverram £
Sazrina £
scroft21 £
shaaark £
shell2001 £
shelovestobuystuff £
shop-to-drop £300
sickofhavingnomoney £
Silaqui
singlemum £
Skint_Catt £180
skintas £
skintscotslass £100
Skyegirl £
Sola £250
snowball2103 £250
sparklewing £350
sunshine6650 £
SunnyDay £160
suzialwaysbroke £
sweetpea03 £
taffy1969 £
taka £153
tallullahbelle £
Tartan Mum £
tattycath £
teedy23 £60
the_cat £250
theamazinggem £160
TheBees £325
TheDoolallyDilly £
Tired_Mummy £
topcat9 £
Tracey04 £
tranquil £
Triggle £250
tru £
Trying_hard £
tryingtodobetter £160
TurnaroundSue £250
undercover_angel £
Upsey_daisy £
vanilla £
VickyA £
waddy80 £110
welshgirl78 £
whatatwit £
willow girl £
windowshopper100 £
witchmabel £175
witchypoo £
wmf £

Weekly

1463emma £
39redrose £
Angelmummy £50
arbroath lass £40
Cheap Date £
crockpot £
cuddlymarm £50
DenBo £
dont want to be in debt £
dumpling £
Janeryan £
JustKeepSwimming £
kbl €
kittiej £
LMac £
md123 £
noggin £
peony £
rugbymum £
scotrae £
skipboy £
stressedmum £
suzybloo £
vegaslover £
mrs-moneypenny £
wornoutmumoftwo £

Moniker

Just a quick update. Did my first shop of the month last Thursday and used all my Nectar points so it only cost me £29.95. I got most of the dry goods I need for the month and fish for a meal next Friday (technically should be paid for out of next week's budget) when DD1 comes home for the weekend again. I am feeling quietly confident that i can do it this month. Hope i've not jinxed myself!

good luck everyone!

TurnaroundSue

Hooray! Went to Lidl's today instead of Mr T and armed with my essentials for the week as I had done my meal planner BEFORE going shopping, I spent the grand total of ........... £12.60!!!!!!! I have never, ever done this before and am so happy I could've sang at the top of my voice. I know it seems really sad, but as my budget is £250 and I only had £43.55 to last us the next 3 weeks (before spending today) that is some real achievement for me. Had I gone to Mr T's then I know for sure my bill would have been somewhere around £50.

Just hope the cats like their new cat food - otherwise that will put a right spanner in the works!!!!! ..... I could've danced all night (she sings to herself quietly) :j :j

PS Why don't my little men jump anymore, or my :eek: head's hair stand on end - is it my pc or have things changed?

purplevamp

I've just made a cake using up my manky old bananas that I would normally throw away.

Mash 4 medium ripe bananas with 4tbsp honey (I didn't have honey so used 2 tbsp golden syrup) & lemon juice. Add 4oz marg and mash with potato masher. Don't worry if it looks lumpy and horrible. Add 8oz SR flour, 4oz caster sugar, 2 eggs and 2oz sultanas (I used raisins instead - no sultanas). Pour into loaf tin and bake for 1 hour 15 mins @ Gas 4.

It looks and smells really nice, so I've got myself a nice cheap cake, yay!! :T If it's nasty I'll let you know!!

galacticgreen

well I'n not sure but I think it might have gone horribly wrong already this month! I've planned our menu for the month and done the supermarket shopping and our local fruit, veg, meat and dairy order and we've spent £150 of our £200 budget. In theory we should only need to get milk, fruit and some cereal, but I'm not sure if that will be the reality!! We only made Januarys budget by 57p and we had a lot of stuff left from Christmas, but we decided to set the same target and see what happens..............
Beginning to panic already, but I don't know why as we do have loads of food in the house. I guess its a fear of the unknown. Made some broccoli and stilton soup tonight to use up the christmas stilton that was starting to look a bit manky. Oh well, we'll just have to see how it goes. Off to catch up with all the posts. Good luck everyone:rolleyes: