Well started home cooking and loosing faith!

sarah222

I go on a friday night to our local tesco around 7pm and they do mass clear of all the veg I get a huge bag of mixed stuff for around £1-2. From mushrooms at 10p a bunnet, tomatoes 10p for 6, bag of prepared cabbage 2p, etc I use this to then bulk out stews casseroles, soups but buying at that price I can afford to have meat every day!! I did also get last week 4 pork chops for £1. The cooking a whole chicken is a good idea as it does a roast sunday, stirfry monday, I then make stock in slow cooker with carcas and it makes a base for a soup with whatever veg I have left. If hubby likes meat chuck some diced bacon into the veg soup to stop him moaning lol. I often get herb plants from tesco on a friday also I got a basil I paid 10p for 2 weeks ago and last week 2 rosemary plants. I then roasted large toms in the oven drizzled with olive oil, chopped basil, sprig of rosemary and a chopped garlic clove really tasty starter yet cost me around 10p a portion! Would be lovely with some fish and pasta too!

SandA

heavenleigh wrote: »

Quick post before feeding the devils (they have been promoted from monsters on the school run) Approved foods are doing the enchilada and fajita pacts (olde el paso) for 2 for £1.50 at the moment! i've got 30 at that price, they wont go out of date, usually make my own seasoning etc but 75p for the tortillas/seasoning sauces and salsa it won't go wrong in this house xx

I usually get these, and to be honest if my seasoning doesn't get any better I may cheat and still use these for mexican nights! were are these 2 for £1.50? ive seen one fajita pack for £3 quid odd for one in Tesco before! xx

heavenleigh

SandA wrote: »

I usually get these, and to be honest if my seasoning doesn't get any better I may cheat and still use these for mexican nights! were are these 2 for £1.50? ive seen one fajita pack for £3 quid odd for one in Tesco before! xx

yes £3.22 for one in supermarkets 2 for £1.50 on approved foods. Free delivery on first order xx http://www.approvedfood.co.uk/?pid=51303

ljonski

If you compare supermarkets to foreign shops as regards spices etc, you should find that the latter are much cheaper especially if you buy in bulk.

Mrs_Veg_Plot

SandA My OH likes meat with every meal but copes very well with a soup and pudding night once a week, a vegie night once a week and a fish night. I have found that it only takes a small amount of meat to keep him happy. I get away with feeding him a large plate of brocauli/cauliflower cheese by adding a few pieces of chopped ham to it.

One way I have found of adding flavour (and reducing a few calories) is with white/cheese sauce. I replace half of the quantity of milk required with a chicken stock cube dissolved in water. This makes a very tasty sauce.

Popperwell

I still eat meat/fish but look for YS items but it is possible to make meals that have meat in them but smaller amounts, that way your OH still has meat but it will stretch further and with your spices and other items you can give them more taste, also you can bulk the meals out with veg and pulses etc...

Though meat is good and proteine is important in our diet it is possible to eat toouch and overwork the kidneys. I have to be careful of that myself and the best meat is still chicken etc...or if it has to be red meat not such large amounts.

sky_bloo

We love fajitas too, when we do get a kit I buy a couple from home bargains or b and ms as it's much cheaper when they have them in. One kit usually does us two meals as it's more than enough for just the two of us so I freeze the left over wraps and even the sauce, the spice mix usually keeps in an airtight container in the cupboard and we have fajitas or a burritos every other Saturday and home made pizza or curry on the other Saturdays.

What has saved us a lot of money, like others have said is getting a whole chicken, the OH is a trained chef so he sometimes will portion up the chicken if I want to do something with drumsticks, but I mostly do mine in the slow cooker and I get loads of meat off it and lots of stock, going to try making two big batches of soup this week for the first time with it, if it turns out nice we will also start having a soup night.

SandA

I think the chicken thing is a great idea!

So ive planned to do Sunday dinner with chicken next week, followed by a Chicken and Mushroom pie on Monday using the left over chicken!

I dont have a slow cooker as of yet, will be getting one for Christmas though so will be making lots of stews etc when I can!

I'm really confused about using chicken stock cubes. It says on the back to mix 1 cube with 190ml of hot water (I was making a risotto using them before) and it just tasted of pure salt and nothing. Theres a mention about milk further up, am i making stock wrong? :cool:

sarah222

Stock cubes always taste very salty to me I would rather buy stock pots altho dearer they are edable. Never made risotto tho with cubes or pots only fresh and I dont add normal milk I do some times add cream of coconut that makes it thicker and gives it a different taste obviously depends whats in your risotto tho

heavenleigh

Fajita mix:
2 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp sugar
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp cayenne
¼ tsp red pepper flakes

Combine ingredients in an air-tight container. Two heaping tablespoons is equivalent to one packet.