Anyone got a nice spaghetti and meatballs recipe?

MRSMCAWBER

Morning one and all

Just got back from my walk -which was going to be "to the bank n back" deposited in my share of hubbies winnings.. but i like round figures..so i swiped €15 from the housekeeping in my purse so it was a nice €100 ... had it stayed in my purse it would have got chipped away at -so in the bank it has gone....

Anyway i NEEDED a longer walk -trying to lose keep the weight loss going so i tootled off to "REAL"...not that i NEEDED any food - but WOOHOOO im glad i went as they had just whoopsed corn fed free range chickens to €3 -about £2.25 :eek: .... and they must still be really fresh as all 3 they had "jumped" into my basket :whistle: ..... and by some miracle -when i got home, removed a tub of hubbies soup and some ice cubes.. a push n a shove and 2 went in the kitchen freezer :T ...the 3rd is now for tonights dinner with veggies n potatoes, and then with salad tomorrow, leftovers in the freezer(somehow) and the rest into soup for hubby :j -good job we love chicken

After catching up on the thread yesterday...i took my freezer lists to bed with me and set about meal planning...got 9 weeks done :eek: and still with shed loads left -and that was pre "chicken gate" today :rotfl: so im going to see how many more i can get out of my list
the startling thing is that most of what i have in the freezers is stuff i have got from this months budget... nearly all meat stuff too
So if March isn't a cheap month then i want kicking...form a queue folks -just in case :rotfl:

Jackie_W -think im following you around the threads ;)im not a stalker -honest :rotfl: .... Is your ALDI one of the new updated ones? if so they have some great products and a good range too...
I can vouch for the LIDL bread flour, mature cheddar-in the black wrapper, their 1kilo gammon joints -heck i got 6 in the UK on offer at £2.99 and they came home to Germany with me:p
my mum goes there and even my brother -who was a M+S addict at one time now loves ALDI + LIDL :T ...they have the fresh sausages, cooked meats, fresh meats + most of their veg is from there, the cobs in 6s in a blue wrapper (really soft and squidgy) ok im waffling :rotfl:
Now im living in Germany... I have found that most German products are much better quality than what i was used to in the UK... me thinks its because the Germans won't take any cr*p of anyone -so the products are good :T god knows what im going to do when we finish in the army and move back to the UK... its gonna be a shock to the system especially with the prices :eek:
right enough waffle i had better get off and update my signature and then carry on meal planning

keep up the good work everyone

rockie4

I'm not following you MrsM - honest!!

I'm not going to make it this month, still hoping to come in under £200 though.
Total was £98.14, this weekend I spent £24.08 in Asda then another £8.75 at the mill stocking up on flour.
Bit miffed with OH, with him being at home all day we're using much more brewing stuff so that's bumping up the shopping bill.............think I'll have to put him on smartprice coffee and teabags :mad:

Toral so far = £130.97

WelshWoofer

Just a quick update - popped in to Tesco Metro for dog food and ended up spending £4.84 on dog food, fruit pastilles (hangover comfort food), sausages, bin liners and toilet roll.

The running total is now £32.80 for the month and this will hopefully get me through to the weekend when I'll have to do a biggish shop as there's virtually nothing left in the house! I do get paid on Friday though so its a bit more relaxed then!

Tonight I'm either going to have quorn curry or go mad and buy some leeks and make leek and potato soup - either will last 2 days.

Good luck to everyone else.

miecherox

Moniker wrote: »

Hi folks! It has taken me over an hour to catch up with all the posts as I have been so busy all week that I haven’t had time to keep up. Anyway- I am still on target I think. I only spent £46-20 this week on food and toiletries, and I had DD1 home for the weekend and MIL came to lunch today. Next weekend we have DD2 and her BF for the weekend, so that might cost a bit more but I have almost £121 to last to 28th Feb so I am still cautiously optimistic!

One of the best bargains I got in Sainsbury’s for this week was a special offer on eggs – I got 12 free range large eggs for £1.92 – only 11p more than they were charging for 6 with the same use by date! I guess they over-ordered for Pancake Day!

Sorry it was several pages ago that someone asked for a homemade custard recipe but here goes:

1egg yolk
1heaped tablespoon cornflour
1-2 tablespoons of sugar
3/4pt milk

Mix the egg yolk with the sugar and cornflour and about 1 tablespoon of the milk. Meanwhile heat the rest of the milk until just coming up to the boil. Stir into the egg mix and then return to a gentle heat, stirring all the time until thickened. I usually do it in the microwave to avoid having to stir all the time and it usually takes about 2 or 3 minutes. It works best if you use semi-skimmed or full fat milk but I have used skimmed milk too. You can freeze the unused egg white to make meringues later. This custard will look pale compared to stuff made with custard powder but tastes great.

Another variation which uses the whites of the eggs too is this:

2 eggs separated
2oz butter
2oz caster sugar and 4oz more for the meringue
2oz cornflour
1 pint of creamy milk

Cream the butter and the sugar together and add the egg yolks and cornflour with a little of the milk to make a smooth mix. Heat the rest of the milk as above and then add to the creamed mixture. Return to heat until thickened. Meanwhile grease a shallow oven proof dish (I usually use an oval one about 27x18 cm) and pour the custard in – this one is a thicker mix than the one above. While the custard cools slightly make the meringue by whisking the egg whites with the rest of the caster sugar. When really thick and in peaks pour over the custard and pop in the oven 180C gas mark 4 until golden and crisp on top – about 10 mins I think. Serve warm on its own or with stewed apples. Yum! Warning – don’t make this if you are trying to lose weight!

Good luck everyone especially all you newbies.

Thankyou moniker, it was me with the custard!!

belfastgirl23

mikeD wrote: »

I quite often see "Pasta Bake" mentioned on this thread, what is this please? I know you can buy prepared "Pasta Bake" from the supermarkets, but I try to avoid ready meals if I can cook them myself.

Went to the convenience store today and was seduced by "Tiramisu". We both love it but only as a treat . What is this and can I make it please?

Have updated siggie and have spent £115.89 so far.

Now I may be entering dangerous territory here, but I notice that some members do not indicate where they come from. It helps to compare costs from region to region and within regions. It isn't a requirement I know, but surely it can't hurt to post which County one comes from, can it?
Steels myself from Ticking Off from all and sundry :eek:

Good luck to every body and have a good day tomorrow.

Love the FM

Hi Mike

I have a great tiramisu recipe although it isn't very MS - this is enough for 4 people

2 eggs
a small tub of mascarpone
tbsp of sugar
sponge
cold coffee
Marsala
cocoa powder for dusting

Seperate the yolks from the whites. Mix the yolks in with the mascarpone and the sugar. Whip the whites till very stiff then fold into the mascarpone mix.

Mix the coffee with the marsala (quantities up to you ) and dip the sponge into this mix. Put a layer of sponge in the bottom of the bowl, follow up with a layer of the mascarpone mix and a good dusting of cocoa powder then repeat. I usually only get 2 layers. It's nicer if you leave it overnight in the fridge. Sometimes I make it up in glasses or little bowls either for portion control

It is an expensive recipe though, the mascarpone alone is about £1. My only MS trick is if I have eggs that need used I make sponge and stick it in the freezer - defrosted sponge is fine for tiramisu.

BTW on your other question have you guessed where I come from I also think there's a big difference in how much time we all have for GC MS. Having had 3 guests overnight at the weekend I can't believe those of you with big families manage it at all - I take my hat off to you well done. I could barely keep up with the tea making never mind anything else

belfastgirl23

I forgot I actually came on here to post updates I managed to only spend £8.79 over the weekend which must be a record for me, although I did also spend £50 on new bedclothes in TK Maxx which were desperately needed. (by the way aytch decided to go with your advice thanks ) Anyway the GC spend was mostly fruit and veg which is good. I still haven't exactly planned for the week yet although i did batch cook lentil and tomato soup yesterday. Alas I don't think it came out too well since I couldn't find a recipe although there is a ton of it because I kept chucking in extra packs of passata to make it taste good and ended up adding too much oregano. I don't even really like oregano except in pizza sauce, don't know what I was thinking . Does anyone have a foolproof recipe by the way?

Will need to do a bigger shop again next week but fingers crossed am roughly in budget so far.

izoomzoom

Having side lined my meal plans last week, I have discovered that I have been popping into the shop for one or two items on a daily basis and spending a fortune. Damage from this is £23.76 :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: .

So I have done a meal plan for the next 8 nights, and factored in half term day out snacks and I am off to Tescos with a list that has surprisingly little on it. Hopefully that will transfer itself to the till and be a surprisingly little spend ?????

mookybargirl

This thread moves so fast, so I'm a few pages behind but thought I'd update on how I'm doing in my first GC challenge.

Well, I have well stocked cupboards thanks to Mr M's offers, but I'm surprised at how much I've spent already :rolleyes:

£94.92 to date :eek: I've got most of next week covered though. Must stay in budget, must stay in budget.

witchypoo

I keep forgetting to come here and update, mind you I have been too busy to spend much time online as it is.
So far in Feb I have spent £86 so have just updated my signature. I don't think I am doing too badly considering I haven't meal-planned at all this month and I didn't manage to do a big shop at the start of the month because stupid Tesco has stopped people using those codes that were widely available. I refuse to pay £4-£5 for delivery when I can simply take several trips or buy the heavy stuff bit by bit through the month when I do my top up shops at ASDA. Humph. Tesco - are you listening? I am surely not the only person in the country who feels that way and so you are losing custom!
The stupid thing is they sent me an ecode in Jan and it ran out the day before I attempted to do my big shop online. They never normally send me ecodes so I am keeping fingers crossed that they will do again soon.

I desperately need to plan the meals for this week, and write a shopping list. I also need to pick up some of my supplements that ran out today.
Best of luck for February everyone!

mikeD

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

Thankyou MikeD

I do pasta bakes -great for using up all those odds n sods in the fridge;)

Hubbies fave is:-

• some slices of salami -only about a dozen as its so strong in flavour (lidl do a good whole salami that will last ages)
• Drop it in a dry frying pan, and wait for the oil to start to appear,
• then i drop in a sliced onion, peppers n mushrooms (i keep frozen ones for this-defrosted) cook for a few mins,
• then i add a handfull of frozen peas, about 250ml of passata (but you can use chopped tomatoes), plenty of seasoning and i add a dollop of low fat cream cheese...it gives a lovely creamy taste without loads of fat n cals...
• cook for a couple of mins and then add some cooked pasta and mix to coat and then tip into an ovenproof dish - i do it into 2 individual ones as it seves messing about serving it...
• oh and a quick grate of parmesan and then into the oven for a couple of mins to heat through

You can adjust it to use what you have... sweetcorn, broccoli (i chop it into small florets and then cover with boiling water until i need it to get it started;) ) Ham, bacon, anything really.. stick mozarella on top etc

With the pork how about slicing onions and chunks of carrot into an oven proof dish, sprinkle with dried sage, add a drop of water, stick the pork on top and cover with foil until cooked - then just add gravy granules...

hope it helps

Thanks MrsMC, will give it a go, sounds very tasty

Love, theFM