Well started home cooking and loosing faith!

kittycat204

http://www.thatssoyummy.com/recipes/fajita-spice-mix/

http://townie.wordpress.com/2008/01/03/recipe-for-fajitas-and-fajita-mix/

gibson123

The problem with switching to home-made from processed is that until your pallet gets used to less salt everything will taste flavourless, add more salt (or switch to lo-salt) than stated during the cooking process and gradually reduce over time. Chances are you have both been eating too much salt. Within a very short space of time you will find that take-away and processed foods are too salty for you.

Popperwell

Gibson, Two things I love salt on(not good having kidney problems)chips and tomatoes but I risk a little and so far all is well.

Thanks for the links Kittycat:)

jackyann

Think about getting a cheap joint and slow cooking it. You can then often eat it one night with veg, and get a couple of nights out of the left overs - depending on what it is. Eke out a small amount of meat in things like stir fries, risottos etc.
One of my favourite standbys is the bags of bacon off-cuts that most butchers sell. I throw them in lots of things for flavour.
Sadly, a lot is trial & error - don't beat yourself up, but keep trying and make notes as you go.
Think of something that your OH really likes and make sure you can rescue any disasters by using it. For instance: I often shove everything under a blanket of mashed potato topped with cheese. Or keep a tin / jar of curry sauce to turn any oddments into a curry!
Just keep trying and suddenly one day you will find it becomes intuitive!

Butterfly_Brain

wraps are easy to make, you will find the recipe here plus plenty of cheap meal ideas
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4084527

Butterfly_Brain

SandA wrote: »

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:

It is easy to make your own stock and you can freeze it
there is a step by step video here:

http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/recipe/chicken-stock-keyword.html

JIL

Theres some really good recipes and posts in the grocery challenge threads.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4295813
I know what you mean about your husband always wanting meat with his meal, mine is just the same.
I get round the costs by buying whole cuts of meat such as a whole chicken or lamb and making sure they do at least one meal and some sandwich fillings. An example would be a roast chicken dinner on a Sunday and then making a pie or curry or something like that on a Monday. Also two days sandwiches.
Lamb can do a roast then can be put into a hotpot or a shepherds pie for the following night. Again I would also get sandwiches out of it as well.
Cooked pork can be made into sweet and sour (love this recipe)
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/41243996#Comment_41243996

you are doing all the right things, when I look back now to when my children were younger I wish I had known what I now know.

skipsmum

SandA wrote: »

I started home cooking this week, and did my first shop buying the ingredients. It cost me a whopping £100 then my usual £40 shop. I must admit i have bulked on majority of spice jars, soy sauce, vinegars, sesame oil etc but i'm pretty sure they haven't cost the extra £60!

I'm really disappointed, as I really wanted to take up home cooking for when LO is weaned so I can feed him what we eat, but I can't afford £100 again for a week shop.

Can anyone recommend any cheap ingredient recipes that I can make next week to cut down the cost? This week I bought for Burritos, Stirfry, Sweet and Sour chicken, Fajitas, Fresh burgers and mash and chips and fresh sausages.

Thank you

Hiya,
I've also just started to meal plan and cook from scratch - I'm finding it hard. I'm nearly 40 with 2 teenagers, but have never learned to do this (I grew up in a house where there were lots of food issues). I tried earlier in the year - I planned for 7 days a week but found it impossible to keep to, which made me more fretful.

The last few weeks I have decided I will cook from scratch on Mon, Wed and Sats. DH cooks from scratch on Tuesdays (I finish work at 8). The other days we have ready meals or freezer food. This is working well for us, and means if we completely !!!! something up there is still a meal in the freezer and we don't have to meltdown or buy takeaway.

So far we have roast chicken (in the slow cooker) with wedgies and veg, spaghetti bolognese, cheese and bacon pasta (OH has to have meat at every meal but is completely conned with one slice of bacon), sausage casserole, chicken stew, and jacket potatos with tuna. We are quite repetitive (our boys are both autistic) but much more varied than our old diet of fishfingers and chips!

skipsmum

JIL wrote: »

you are doing all the right things, when I look back now to when my children were younger I wish I had known what I now know.

Absolutely agree with this

z.n

If converting from ready meals the other 'missing' ingredient is sugar I think.
If you have time, do a roast on a Sunday, with 6 or more veg and loads of gravy. Cook enough for 3 times the number if people and make storage pots your best friend. I get 15 or more meals out of a £5 chicken this way. Just vary the veg used later in the week, add an onion for soup, tinned toms for pasta etc. Carrots for stir fry.. use every little bit, boil up the bones for stock. Freeze anything surplus-eg gravy and veg for soup next week etc. Vary the meat for a treat- spend £5 more for a decent piece of pork and have chinese stir fry one night. Beef and perhaps enchillada, lamb and morroccon rice. Aim not to throw anything away- if the kids get a bit bored turn it into a pasta sauce.

Extend mince using beans (aduki are good-twice the meat factor at half the price in shepherds pie or chilli.) Buy the base meat and veg according to what is on offer and work round it using the spices etc. Don't make full different meals every day -that is a lot of work and will be overwhelming. Sausages can be a bit dodgy unless very good quality-and then they are expensive so think of them as a treat. Chicken breasts are quick but expensive-stock up when they are on offer and chop them up. Fish is expensive so keep an eye out for offers-salmon can be hot or cold with salad.

Keep something on hand for emergencies-mine are happy with pasta and simple sauce or scrambled eggs on days when the leftovers run out. It doesn't have to be meat and veg every day-just balanced over the week.