Home cooking - Is it cheaper?

Sequeena

I have recently started cooking properly from scratch and I'm amazed. Something simple like leek and potato soup (well at the time it didn't feel so simple!) tastes absolutely wonderful and seeing my 17 month old wolf it down is reward enough

I am steadily building up a spice rack. I buy the value ones - not sure if these are inferior quality but they taste fine to me. I just buy as and when I need them.

I am not confident enough yet to do something by myself so I avidly follow recipes most of which I get from the bbc good food website

I'm finding it easier to add veg to my sons diet too!

wik

Hi all and OP....
when it comes to home cooking I always look at the recipe....
1. do i need to buy 6 different herbs when I can use a jar of mixed herbs ? answer... No....
2. The cost of meat.... Have you tried looking at alternatives? Instead of beef mince I now use turkey mince, much cheaper than beef mince, and as my darling monsters say - no grizzly bits!! also low fat so better option.
3. A cheap and cheerful pasta sauce, that you can then use for bolognaise, chilli etc...

2 Onions finely chopped
1 clove of garlic crushed..
2 cans of (value/basic) chopped tomatoes
pinch of mixed herbs
4 tablespoons of tomato puree ( rememeber a tablespoon of puree amounts to one of you 5aday!!
black pepper

in a saucepan put 1 teaspoon (no more) olive oil
add onions and cook until softened, add the garlic,
add the tomatoes and the puree,
add herbs and pepper
simmer for 20 minutes

the sauce is then ready to be used as is on pasta ( pasta twists 3kg for £2,50 from farmfoods!)

you can then add it to mince for a bolognaise, or add chilli spices to it, or peas and carrots and top with mash for a cottage pie.

it also freezes very well

wik x

bride2be2012

loving this thread and all the recipe ideas...I'm a great one for bunging some meat, veg and a jar of sauce into my slow cooker, but will def start making my own sauces now! Does anyone have a recipe for a creamy/mushroom based sauce, all the ones I've seen so far are for a tomato base. I've some creme fraiche(sp?) that needs used up!
Oh, and a BBQ sauce? I'm guessing this would be a tomato base, but what can I add to give it a BBQ flavour?

joedenise

Sequeena wrote: »

I am steadily building up a spice rack. I buy the value ones - not sure if these are inferior quality but they taste fine to me. I just buy as and when I need them.

The value herbs and spices are fine. No need to pay more than you need to for them. If you've got an Indian or Turkish shop nearby you'll get spices much cheaper than the supermarket value ones.

Denise

Sequeena

Thanks where I live there's not a large ethnic community so I'll have a look for those shops when I'm in the city.

KittyFisher_2

For bride2be2012: creamy mushroom sauce.

Fry an onion and your mushrooms, then add some chicken or pork stock and herbs, and stir some creme fraiche in at the end. For a thicker sauce sprinkle some flour over the veg before adding the liquids.

BAGGY

It's probably already been posted but you should make up a batch of basic mince and freeze it. You can then turn it into chilli, spag bol, mousakka (not strictly correct if using beef), lasagne, shepherds pie, etc. Just defrost and add the extras like kidney beans, chopped toms and extras like pasta or mashed pots.

Jackie95

I am lucky I have an Indian Supermarket ASM in Ashton Under Lyne within 10 min walk of my flat - great for fresh fruit and veg, herbs and spices rice, flours oils etc. With herbs and spices I always buy the packets approx 100gsm and put them in Douwe Egberts coffee jars - I had my 2 sisters, parents and me collecteing them - once washed and tried - free herb & spice containers. Any I cannot find I look on E-Bay look for Buy it Now free postage.

Bluebell2007

You can buy a tub of Sainsbury's Basic dried Mixed Herbs for 14p, and a small tin of tomato puree from Waitrose for about 30p.

I don't think freezing spoils flavour, but it can affect texture.

I find freezing brilliant in a slimming context: stops you "finishing off" a lasagne, and means you've got a meal in the future so you don't pick up the phone for a takeaway.

One other point: if you don't like something before it's frozen, freezing won't improve the situation - don't use your freezer like a culinary spare room / loft / garage, ie cluttered with junk you only chuck out when you move!

ssroon

salt and pepper make a huge difference to mince and most dishes listed by others on this thread.