'supporting each other through really tough times'

sevenup01

Morning all and hugs to nuttyp. I hope the abcess clears up quickly.
Fuddle your pancakes sound lovely - my kids love them with lemon and sugar so very cheap for me luckily.
I have always put carrot and onion into my spag bol too. Its just how i was taught. I have also learnt from here to add lentils or porridge oats. We didnt like it with oats but no-one notices the lentils and it goes so much further now.
I finally finished a cardigan for my youngest daughter last night. ITs a short one with bobbles all over and short sleeves and looks wonderful:). The pattern was a test knit from the designer and she works really hard to make sure there are no mistakes in the patterns. I have done several of hers now and they were all fabulous.

elona

MrsVP

It has taken a while for DH to try new things but now he loves home made soup and bread, stews, dumplings , hotpots and especially home made fish pate. He has always thought that the old fashioned cheaper meats had much more flavour once given a longer slower cook.

I got the ultimate compliment the other day when I casseroled beast cheeks (two large thick slices for £2.70). He reckoned it was the tastiest meat he had eaten since his mum used to cook brisket when he was a boy.

It is almost scary to see how much food you can make when experimenting with bits and bobs in the fridge. I made 18 veggie burgers from a few potatoes mashed and cooled, then mixed with cooked onions, mushroom, peppers, green beans ( basically anything I already had) rolled into balls, breadcrumbed and shallow fried or baked.

[Deleted User]

Mrs VP - Was the faggots recipe on a couple of the 'Frugal in .....' sites? there have been two recipes lately, one on each of them both of which look delicious and 30 faggots for £7 ish is so economical. He Who Knows has a total hatred of offal of any kind but eats faggots and homemade pates with gusto because it doesn't look 'wiggly and slippery' to quote him!!! Our grannies knew a thing or two about frugal food didn't they? Cheers Lyn x.

westcoastscot

Fuddle you don't need eggs for pancakes - I used 4 oz plain flour, half a pint of milk/water (soy milk for us) mixed and a good beat with a balloon whisk. You can't tell the difference to be honest, and it makes them way cheaper!
I do think generally if you're looking to make a cost saving with home made stuff you need to think war years - substituting more expensive ingredients with cheaper ones. We have a milk and egg allergy, and over the past 20 years I've adapted recipes to make just about anything without them, with the exception of yorkshires - no matter what I try I cannot make a good high-rise yorkshire anymore, so I sub in flaky pastry when making toad-in-the-hole and such like.
WCS

elizabunny

fuddle wrote: »

Feeling frustrated this morning. Seriously stepping up my frugal cooking an have decided to make pancakes with fruit drizzled in honey for breakfast. It's dawned on me that eating this for breakfast is far more expensive than giving my kids a bowl of cereal.

How the heck have we got ourselves into a situation where individual ingredients, healthy basic items for good nutrition cost more and ready made/factory made/massly produced food is far cheaper to buy?

84p just for eggs, 3oz milk and flour, cooking fuel, why bother? I can buy a pack of 6 for 49p.

I never thought I would be battling a 'principle' issue regarding preservative filled v fresh based on cost.

Ooh, lots of people beating me to it this morning, but I agree, you know exactly what you and your family are eating when you make it yourself:D I'm, getting a bit paranoid about commercial products as well, but need to shop wisely.

Our butcher is fantastic:T I know he sources locally and he never charges me the full price:D He will always round down to the nearest £1 which is brilliant, I wouldn't get a better deal even on the supermarket loyalty points. Plus the meat is just lovely. Expense wise, I think he's cheaper when comparing quality and I s-t-r-e-tc-h everything and bulk out with vegetables.

Re: the pancakes, if you make your batter little thicker you can make the little scotch pancakes, which can be eaten cold. Ingredients of 4ozs of flour and an egg, plus milk, will make lots. I add in lemon/orange rind/juice, sometimes dried fruit or small pieces of nuts. They could be eaten at breakfast or popped cold into lunch boxes.

It's like those breakfast bars and cereal bars that are often convenient for lunch snacks ..........so expensive! Where as a trayful of flapj*ck can be made so easily. I use butter in them because I don't really like all the messed around margerines, but basic butter isn't that much more expensive and they taste lovely:D

Like you I struggle to shop with principle but keep within an allocated budget and feel that I'm always being encouraged to compromise my principal in favour of a cheaper shopping bill. Sometimes though, less is more and a small batch of homemade goodies is far better than bargain job lot of commercially processed food for many reasons.

Purell_Queen

Delurking to say nuttyp ouch ouch and ouch i feel your pain and hope the antibiotics work

I'm 4 weeks into treatment for a periductal abscess which has included constant oral antibiotics, 3 day's in hospital for IV antibiotics and weekly visits to the breast clinic for needle aspiration :eek: up to now i have had 50mls, 20mls and 5mls drawn out and it has also burst twice thankfully the worst seems to be over now just need to keep my fingers crossed for next clinic visit had a long chat with the Dr yesterday and i now know what caused it, it seems that it is linked to my smoking so have been advised to quit :eek: or it could become a regular occurrence

On the brightside i have felt so sick i have lost 1st 4lbs without trying :rotfl:

kate1974

fuddle wrote: »

Feeling frustrated this morning. Seriously stepping up my frugal cooking an have decided to make pancakes with fruit drizzled in honey for breakfast. It's dawned on me that eating this for breakfast is far more expensive than giving my kids a bowl of cereal.

How the heck have we got ourselves into a situation where individual ingredients, healthy basic items for good nutrition cost more and ready made/factory made/massly produced food is far cheaper to buy?

84p just for eggs, 3oz milk and flour, cooking fuel, why bother? I can buy a pack of 6 for 49p.

I never thought I would be battling a 'principle' issue regarding preservative filled v fresh based on cost.

I use 1 egg,half-milk/half-water(or even less milk if you want ),bit of sugar and flour-whisk it all together and add table-spoon of sunflower oil-how much it would cost-I don't know-50p including fuel to cook?I usually make about 20 pancakes for breakfast so shop-bought would cost me around £1.50-2.00.

mcculloch29

A shock this morning, a message to say that my dear friend died yesterday evening in hospital.

I was just getting ready to go and see her when I got the call from her father.
We knew she was very ill, and she knew herself that time was short, but having spoken to her yesterday morning, she was so much brighter.
The deterioration was very rapid and total.

We became friends when she set up an Activity Club for adults in our town - it was completely inclusive and we had members with learning difficulties, members with disabilities and non-disabled members of all ages.

I continued to run the club when she left the town and my involvement with the centre where the club was run gave me the break I needed to get teaching practice.
Essentially, I owe my career to my friendship and involvement with her.
We had some great laughs over the years and some lovely quiet moments that we shared too. I will miss her but how much richer my life has been for knowing her.

Purell_Queen

I have decided to avoid supermarket meat but am having problems finding a decent butchers where i live and was wondering if anybody has an opinion on http://www.gabbottsfarm.co.uk/ as a temporary solution until i find a suitable butcher/farm shop

Sorry to hear your sad news mcculloch29

Popperwell

mcculloch29 wrote: »

A shock this morning, a message to say that my dear friend died yesterday evening in hospital.

I was just getting ready to go and see her when I got the call from her father.
We knew she was very ill, and she knew herself that time was short, but having spoken to her yesterday morning, she was so much brighter.
The deterioration was very rapid and total.

We became friends when she set up an Activity Club for adults in our town - it was completely inclusive and we had members with learning difficulties, members with disabilities and non-disabled members of all ages.

I continued to run the club when she left the town and my involvement with the centre where the club with run gave me the break I needed to get teaching practice.
Essentially, I owe my career to my friendship and involvement with her.
We had some great laughs over the years and some lovely quiet moments that we shared too. I will miss her but how much richer my life has been for knowing her.

I am so sorry to hear this, I knew that your dear friend was ill(didn't say too much as it was private)and can only offer my support and empathy. I find more than ever I am in a reflective mood these days. Thinking of you, your friend and her family during this time.