PMS Challenge - May 2007

Shortie

Changed my mind... I'm going to make it a "real" savings scheme and save towards a couple of HUGE pans to batch cook in. At most I can make 2dinners (to feed 3) worth of curry or bolognaise at a go in my one large pan, and then have to wait for it to cool and be frozzen before I can reuse the pan.

I know it won't save me money to be able to batch cook 4 dinners worth of curry / bolognaise / pasta sauce in one go but it'll save me an awful lot of time being tied to the kitchen! I have no idea how much they cost but I will price them up and then try and find a car boot bargain cheaper too.

Sooo, now I have a target... :T Sorry OH... you 88p Mr T batch bread is set to become Mr T brown value bread for a while :rotfl:

lil_me

I think it's money saving shortie, firstly saving you time, time is money when you think about it, time saved is time that you can do things yourself instead of paying others etc etc. Also batch cooking, ok you have to reheat but it'll cost less than making from fresh every time. I make all my batch cooks like that in the slow cooker, find it soooo much easier.

Going to add my total savings up at the end of the week for the PMS pot, loosing track of it otherwise.

Queenie

Shortie wrote: »

Changed my mind... I'm going to make it a "real" savings scheme and save towards a couple of HUGE pans to batch cook in. At most I can make 2dinners (to feed 3) worth of curry or bolognaise at a go in my one large pan, and then have to wait for it to cool and be frozzen before I can reuse the pan.

I know it won't save me money to be able to batch cook 4 dinners worth of curry / bolognaise / pasta sauce in one go but it'll save me an awful lot of time being tied to the kitchen! I have no idea how much they cost but I will price them up and then try and find a car boot bargain cheaper too.

Sooo, now I have a target... :T Sorry OH... you 88p Mr T batch bread is set to become Mr T brown value bread for a while :rotfl:

To speed up the cooling process:-
Put the pan in a bowl of cold water (not too much or the cold water will go into your pan full of food) and put the bowl/pan near an open window/door.

Transfer the contents of the pan into another large bowl/roasting tray - the pan retains more heat than the food, so by changing the pan (once it's all cooked) it should cool faster. Especially if you transferred the food to say a roasting tin, because the surface area is greater and that will help speed up the cooling process

Ways that it *can* save you money:-
I hit the reduced counter for mince and either freeze it immediately or cook up what I need it for and then freeze the cooked dish. Only yesterday I picked up 2x chicken mince and 2x minced pork - both reduced! In this instance they have gone straight into the freezer for cooking up another time.

I keep "family" sized dinner portions in the freezer and some "individual" sized portions of cooked dishes in there too. That gives me the flexibility of being able to grab something for one and utilise the microwave if needs be for those times when needed.

Huge pans dilema
I have a stock pot (huge pan - cost either £9.99 or £19.99, can't remember which one ) that I utilise to make up large batches of meat sauces/soups and the largest slow cooker I could find.

Best of British, Shortie, I'm sure you are going to do just great!

spendaholic

I think I'm going to join this but I'm going to make it real money rather than virtual money.

This week I've saved: £3 on my going out budget last night; 2p on my shopping budget this morning; and £10 on deciding to stay in tonight instead of going out again. So that's £13.02 real money saved so far.

My goal for the money saved is to buy pots, compost, seeds and plants for the yard so I can grow my own fruit (mainly) and veg, and companion planting.

Queenie

Hiya spendy

Sounds like a plan! Well done on this week's savings :T :T

Shortie

Thanks Queenie, the cooling tip was fab.

:T :j

I was just saying to my Mum about PMS and wanting to save for a huge pan. She told me she'd bought a big pan recently when a stall was closing down with my sister or me in mind. After not wanting money for it, we've finally agreed that I'm paying the cost of it as I was using it as an aim to buy with my savings money

So, a teenie £4 later (i'll pay mysefl back) I now have my huge pan!

Shortie

spendaholic wrote: »

My goal for the money saved is to buy pots, compost, seeds and plants for the yard so I can grow my own fruit (mainly) and veg, and companion planting.

Hi Spendy. Well done on the savings so far

A quick tip on your goal... if you have space for a compost bin (I have 2 dalik ones) you could next year be saving on the compost too which you could put into you PMS pot! Oh, and also, for seedling trays, if you buy soft fruits (or even youghurt pots) you could use these instead of spend out for seed trays. Again maybe the money you were going to spende on these could go into your PMS pot to boost your savings for plants... (as well as a good way to reuse and recycle)

spendaholic

Hi Shortie

Thanks for the tips.

I've gone from a 100' garden with huge vegetable plot and fruit trees to a teeny, tiny yard measuring apx 12' x 8'. So while that might be adequate for most, it's a bit of a downsize for me. This container gardening lark is totally alien, so any tips gratefully received.

I don't think I have room in the yard for a compost bin, but I do own the land beyond the fence (it has a right of way through it) and space for outbuildings and car parking. I may be able to adapt the outbuilding space for utility stuff and stuff that doesn't need lots of sunlight (such as compost bins, water butts, garden shed, etc).

Shortie

Hi Spendy

Ahh... see the problem. Mind you, you could maybe just start a compost heap on the other bit of land while you decide what to do.. they're happy on thier own and only need a little bit of watering (I think I had a feeble stabbing attempt at turning mine last year only once and was amazed I got proper compost last year and not a sludgy messs or something bone dry!)

It's AMAZING how your mindset changes when thinging of PMS savings isn't it? Very much like the grocery challenge...

I've been making HM porridge oats/seeds. dried fruit mix for a month now for OH, DS and I now to have with puree fruit and nat. yoghurt but I ran out of last years saved fruit so started buying Tesco Frozen which made it much more expensive to make...

My Dad innoccently commented that a jar of rasp jam I made last year was quite runny so I've nabbed it and last night made the muslie compote thing with runny jam instead. A saving of £1.87 on Mr T frozen rasps and I've now got a way to finish up last year's HM jam :T . It's a real shame as I have a rhubarb monster in my garden that I could use instead but I'm the only one that eats it stewed as OH loves it but it doesn't agree with him and DS can't stand it... roll on blackberry picking season and the soft fruits ripening in my garden eh?

Ooooo.. does anyone know, if a jar of my jam is set properly, how can I make it runny for the breakfast - can I just mix with a little bit of water?

Ta

Just reaslised too that with my new found saving I have enough to pay my Mum for the huge pan, and have some left :j

Queenie

Shortie, your enthusiasm is so wonderful :T :T It's a joy to read your posts

Regarding the jam, I just mix it with a bit of hot water