What's your non OS guilty secret?

maman

We need to start a 'gravy' thread. So many of us have confessed to using granules, what do the diehards do instead??

I make my own gravy when I have decent meat juices from a roast but granules are great for sausage and mash, adding to faggots (never enough), pouring over cottage pie, liver and onions etc etc

When making 'real' gravy the best tips I know are: after adding cornflour, vegetable water and seasoning to the meat juices I add a little (end of knife) Marmite, tiny amount of stock cube or splash of wine (or sometimes all three!). Any other ideas?

celyn90

I think I'm going to add cake tin liners to my list
My diet coke habit is also out of control at the moment...:eek: (but I can give up anytime I want, really I can...*starts shaking and goes for another can* :rotfl: ) I'll deal with it when my thesis is in I promise

mrs_mix wrote: »

instant custard
less mess and only dh and I eat it so no point making loads in a pan

I do this too - OH won't eat it if I make it, plus it's a faff and I always - without fail - weld it to the base of the pan so it tastes burnt and nasty. Piranha solution wouldn't shift it

[Deleted User]

I too am rubbish at rice so its the boil in the bag stuff for me ,but a box lasts me for ages as I don't eat it that often.
Plus M&S's coffee swiss rolls, I lurve them but don't buy them that often as they are rather fattening, and I'm quite chubby enough.
I also love decent ground coffee, not keen on the instant stuff at all,it always tastes watery to me.
Decent loo roll as well,comes from having newspaper on a piece of string during W.W.2 I think.
I also only buy Lurpak lighter which is dearer than a lot of others but I prefer it

4Moneysaver

I STILL blooming smoke.

DianneB

Pepsi Max
Fresh flowers
Johnsons Baby bath (for me I love the smell)

DianneB

NoahsPennilessMummy wrote: »

Another vote for gravy granules but only for things like sausages....can`t be faffing about with onion gravy...and ds has to have gravy smooth..no onion lumps:D

I also buy ready made puff pastry as that is waaaay too much faff!

and pots of custard as only ds eats it

Rosie Lee I used to buy Lurpack but now use Tesco Butterpack spreadable.....its the same but cheaper:j

Thanks NPM I am now off to Tesco to buy the Butterpack!!

anguk

JackieO wrote: »

I too am rubbish at rice so its the boil in the bag stuff for me ,but a box lasts me for ages as I don't eat it that often.
Plus M&S's coffee swiss rolls, I lurve them but don't buy them that often as they are rather fattening, and I'm quite chubby enough.

I always keep some frozen rice in the freezer as a quick stand-by, I get it from Asda, it's 2 packs for £2 so that's 8 bags of rice. I'm too frightened of bugs to make my own and freeze it.

Don't get me started about M&S's swiss rolls, they're another weakness. Every now and then I have a trip to my nearest Sainsbury's and there's a Simply Food next door. It's my treat to go in and buy the swiss rolls when they've got them on special at 2 for £2, I always get an extremely chocolately one and a coffee one.

Triker

Many of the above especially gravy granules. It's easy and when I've made all the tea's and sunday roasts etc every week I need something a bit quick and easy.

However my guilty, guilty secret is a very recent discovery. My childminder had them and demonstrated how simple and easy they are to use and I went out and bought 4 cartons of .............








Bisto instant cheese sauce granules.


I can make a lovely cheese sauce but these granules are sooooo easy. Add hot water and stir, then pour over veg or pasta. Mmm gorgeous.

Must admit though, I felt guilty buying them the first time but it gets easier the more I do it.:D

Boodle

My goodness I have lots now I think about it:

• We buy bread (SP wholemeal) for about 37p I think. We only really use it for toast. If having garlic bread, I buy this too.
• We have stir-fries very rarely but when we do it's the one thing I buy prepared veg for - I just can't be doing with the faff!
• Although I do make my own pizza sometimes, I buy in ready made ones when on 3for2 offers for those evenings when I have just had enough of the day
• I use stock cubes and never make my own stock - we so rarely have chicken anyway.
• Hubby doesn't like my HM muesli or granola so the LO and I have HM, hubby has supermarket brand stuff.
• I just have to have butter (cannot stand marg!) but now I buy the value stuff.
• Organic and free range eggs and meat. We only have meat once and half a dozen eggs every week tho. Beans, lentils and peanut butter knock up the non-dairy protein for the rest of the week.
• Use Surf washing powder but tend to buy huge boxes when on special offer and from discount places - it lasts ages.
• We have a car (would be classed as a small car, I suppose, to those who think a "Family car" is a giant 4x4 :rolleyes: )
• Wine every now and again but not every week. We have a takeaway about once a month but it never costs more than a tenner between us. We also go to the cinema about 6 times a year and will have a meal before hand (usually somewhere with a happy hour on!) and then Ben and Jerry's and popcorn during the movie :eek: (But on the up-side - I suppose - we haven't been on holiday for 3 years.)

We also just bought the LO a new buggy altho she doesn't travel in it much anymore (she is almost 2) but the old one is just a stroller and is now looking tatty and with this winter supposed to be bad... It was in a sale and looks fab but still feeling guilty (it was still way under £100 tho.)

maman wrote: »

We need to start a 'gravy' thread. So many of us have confessed to using granules, what do the diehards do instead??

I make my own gravy when I have decent meat juices from a roast but granules are great for sausage and mash, adding to faggots (never enough), pouring over cottage pie, liver and onions etc etc

When making 'real' gravy the best tips I know are: after adding cornflour, vegetable water and seasoning to the meat juices I add a little (end of knife) Marmite, tiny amount of stock cube or splash of wine (or sometimes all three!). Any other ideas?

I'm not a diehard for sure (see above ) and it isn't "real" gravy but this is especially handy if making to go with sausages or something without much roast juices. I dissolve a beef stock cube in 300ml boiling water. Pour into a saucepan. Mix a tablespoon of cornflour with a splash of cold water. Then I stir this in, bringing it to a bubble, and do this for a couple of mins until thickened. It's nice with a pinch of brown sugar in too just to lift it. Probs not a great deal healthier than gravy granules but I'm not keen on the consistency of the granules. Hubby loves it and can be quite fussy. HTH.x.

anguk

Triker wrote: »

Many of the above especially gravy granules. It's easy and when I've made all the tea's and sunday roasts etc every week I need something a bit quick and easy.

However my guilty, guilty secret is a very recent discovery. My childminder had them and demonstrated how simple and easy they are to use and I went out and bought 4 cartons of .............








Bisto instant cheese sauce granules.


I can make a lovely cheese sauce but these granules are sooooo easy. Add hot water and stir, then pour over veg or pasta. Mmm gorgeous.

Must admit though, I felt guilty buying them the first time but it gets easier the more I do it.:D

OMG, I've just remembered I've got a tub of Bisto white sauce granules in the cupboard, I'm not keen on them myself but my OH will use them. The white sauce granules are handy because you can make it then just add a little parsley & pour over fish etc. or add a bit of grated cheese to make cheese sauce.