Home cooking - Is it cheaper?

SandA

Yeah i do leave it in plastic, i presume thats bad then? shall i just leave them loose in the fridge crisper?

thanks

butterfly72

tori.k wrote: »

long term make a herb garden, most gardeners are happy to pass over seeds/cuttings herbs are one of the easiest things to grow most do well in poor soil, it's my favorite part of my garden as it's the most sensory

I bought a small bay plant years ago for £2.99 Its grown fairly big now and i never have to buy the leaves. Try carboots, people often sell the small cuttings/seedlings they have started off.

katep23

Mince-based meals benefit from resting - either being cooled and reheated or frozen and reheated. Many meat-based meals are the same but would tend to do this after the meat has been cooked rather than before.

Meat from the butchers is generally tastier and you can use less, which can off-set the cost difference. I would say that supermarket meat may have a higher water content which might explain why your OH doesn't like it after it has been frozen.

katep23

SandA wrote: »

By Veg i'm referring more to peppers and mushrooms as I know mushrooms do go funny after 3 or 4 days (From Asda). Never really bought any others, but this will be changing! x

Mushrooms can be sliced and frozen as they are and then put into dishes from frozen.

nickyhutch

Cheaper or not (will depend on what it is you're making) I think home made is nocer; you know what's in it, and you can put what YOU want in it.

I'd suggest getting a fairly basic recipe book to start off - Jamie's Ministry of Food, for example.

meritaten

I always take the mushrooms out of those plastic containers and put them in a paper bag - they can last a lot longer then.
and dont be scared of using them if they feel a bit soft and er, slimy! they are still perfectly edible! just wipe them with a dry kitchen paper.
and peppers - I leave them loose in the fridge - unless they are green, those I ripen on the windowsill as I cant like green peppers!


as for cheaper - welllllll that depends a lot on what sort of meals you normally have. but I find thats offset by being able to make 'more' and freezing some for another time!
my freezer is full of one portion meals in plastic bags! I am never 'stuck' for something for supper either!

Healthier - definately! and with a new baby about to be weaned - one of the best things you can do as a mum is to 'know' exactly what your baby is eating and to know its prepared to YOUR standards!

My suggestion for starting your 'herb' and spice collection is to first buy a couple of 'mixed' herbs and spices.
then the single ones - the ones I find I use the most are
Dried Herbs
Sage - I use this a lot! makes a lovely stuffing with breadcrumbs and maybe some chopped fruit for pork as well as chicken. (I admit to opening the tub just to have a 'sniff' when the cupboard is open).
Parsley - I am not above using it for parsley sauce if I dont have fresh! useful for adding to stews etc (but I do tend to use 'mixed herbs' for that)
Thyme - another useful herb for adding to almost anything.

Spice
I like to use 'mixed spice' but when baking recipes often call for certain amounts of specific spice.
I think the one or two I use most often would be Cinnamon and Ginger. (I substitute a teaspoon or two of dried ginger if cooking chinese food and I have forgotten to buy a ginger root! works perfectly well!

Garlic powder is handy as is onion powder as you can substitute those for fresh in many dishes too!

SandA

I'm not a fan of frozen mushrooms, I find them really watery and tasteless after, but will give it a go freezing them in sauces etc to see if that makes a difference, but then I have bought frozen mushrooms so perhaps its poor quality mushrooms that makes them so watery?

I will have a look for that book, thanks! Ive just bought an Annabel Karmel family planner one which has some healthy recipes for adults and LO from scratch so i'll see whats in there.

Does anyone have any flash meal ideas? beyond bolognese, pasta bakes, casserole, curry corbonara.. this is all I have atm (I plan my meals in advance to cut costs)
xx

meritaten

SandA - freezing sauces and meals with mushrooms cooked in them means that the 'rooms have already absorbed the flavours they were cooked in. once defrosted and reheated you would never know that they had been frozen!

Charlton_King

Quick bolognese sauce = tinned tomatos + veg stock cube + tom puree + dried/fresh oregano.

Simple and ultra cheap. I NEVER buy sauces in a jar which are generally double/treble the cost.

Add others to suit - chopped onion/carrot/garlic/mushroom....

Butterfly_Brain

Mushrooms will keep longer if you line a colander with kitchen roll and put the mushrooms in there with kitchen roll between each layer of mushrooms, they should keep for at least three days, they never do in my house because I use them in most meals.
You could get a pot of mixed herbs in Asda for 19p to start with. If you want to build a store cupboard of herbs and spices, get one every week until you have a good basic selection.
I agree with krlyr about the flavours, they merge really well after being stored in a freezer. Allow the food to defrost before reheating.

There are some great recipes all through the board look in the index list.
And try this, it was written by people on this board:
http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/planner-option1-month1-weeklyshopping1.html