Things that are cheaper to make than buy?

Well_Preserved

To 'Out, Vile Jelly':
don't despair of the tomatoes. I think this year has been the worst growing season I've ever known, certainly far from typical. Also IMHO some varieties have far more flavour than others. And that soup recipe looks good!

trickypockets

Someone said that they had a quooker tap which is cheaper than boiling a kettle - I looked at these and they seemed to be priced around £1000 to install ?

pinmoney

To Abe: Stews, spag bol, chili can all be finished off in the slow cooker - make as usual in a saucepan and then when you have combined everything and you would normally put the lid on and walk away pour it into the slow cooker and cook for 2-3 hours. Great if you are out on a Saturday afternoon and want something hot and tasty for tea as soon as you get back. i buy the biggest pack of leanest mince beef or stewing steak i can afford - 500 gm will feed 4 easily, 750 g 6 people and freeze what we dont eat in the first cooking (make sure you cool it quickly and when you defrost and re-heat make sure it is piping hot), sorry to go on but i have really found my cooker to be useful and i hope is helpful. Good luck!:beer:

aloiseb

I've found I can't manage to "make my own" of most things - I am too exhausted by the time I get back from work to set to in the kitchen -
but Chicken Fajitas is just as easy as it would be from a kit.

I buy the salsa when it's on offer (M&S often have 2 for 1)
I buy the tortillas - sorry but I would have to clean the whole kitchen to be able to roll my own. Not worth it. Iceland has them cheap sometimes and they keep for ages.

The chicken part:
1 chicken breast (between 2 -3 people)
2 peppers
1 big onion
cut these up and put in a dish
Pour on top of them:
a dribble of veg oil
salt and pepper
about 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
about 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
a Colgate advert -sized squeeze of crushed garlic (from a tube) Or a clove if you enjoy washing up:eek:
a squeeze of lemon juice or lime juice
Leave to marinate for a few hours if you can, in the fridge
(you don't have to do this if meal is urgent)
Put it in a steamer (if dieting) or stir fry in a frying pan with a bit more oil (if not)
Serve with cream cheese, plain yogurt or anything similarly bland, as well as the salsa, in the wraps.

I've put in bold the things you would have to keep in your cupboard which you might not have anyway. I think that's no more difficult than making it with a "kit" - you have to "add" chicken, peppers and onions to these I notice! - and it's way cheaper.

If you have veggies about, you can use sliced mushrooms instead of chicken.

Pizza: I use the base recipe for Pan fried pizza in Delia Smith's "One is fun", it works fine oven cooked too. Mine have much more topping on than bought ones!
Though they are more bother, and on very tired Wednesdays we often have a supermarket special offer job instead.