The OS Doorstep - a helpful and supportive thread in these tough times

twofishes

Stuffing wrapped in bacon sounds lovely :drool:

What about stuffing mixed with sausagemeat and made into a kind of meatloaf? You can pad it out with grated carrot etc. Also, soup with instant mash is looovely.

Economy brand frozen yorkshire puds are really good for filling out a dinner and feel a bit special. I also like 'yorkshire pizza'- make up batter mix (from a packet or hm) and add things like chopped ham, drained tinned tomatoes, mushrooms etc as well as grated cheese, and bake in a round tin. Good for using up odds and ends, and cheaper than a frittata since they always use loads of eggs :eek:

nuttyp

hmmm the Yorkshire pudding surprise sounds amazing!! I like the sound of chopped bacon bits in it.

I often by cooking bacon bits, I wash it to remove the salty taste then just chop the fat off and cook in gravy.

FairyPrincessk

Hi All!

I've been reading along but haven't had much time to reply. I'm really sorry to hear about the unexpected upheaval to finances. Princess, also sorry to hear about the family problems.

I'm enjoying keeping up with the cheap recipes. I'm starting to do my preparing for winter planning and am making a note of some of them. We went to get black beans and a few spices and a watermelon at the Asian supermarket on Saturday and I priced dried goods like lentils, rice etc. in the markets that we went in so shall be making another trip to stock up on those things...or possibly two depending on how strong we're feeling--I'm looking at a 5k bag of lentils and another of rice:eek:

As for soup and teens/children, well I hated it as a child. I started trying to make myself like it a few years ago and found that I have some definite preferences. I'd rather have blended soups and I like for them to have lots of flavour, so I'll usually do tomato and basil with lots of homegrown basil or tomato and chilli, or carrott and coriander with lots of coriander. I also found that..well...this might sound strange, but I think I get bored eating soup from a bowl. It helps if I either make something to dip in like toast, cheese toasties, etc. Alternatively, I also prefer to drink soup out of a mug if I'm not going to dip. I know. It is silly, but about halfway through a bowl the endless monotony of spooning and swallowing gets to me:o Finally, the only chunky soup I like is a chicken, noodle and veg. I tend to thicken it with flour and I use lots of italian seasonings. I wonder if any of these tricks might help? My OH didn't think of soup as a "meal" when we met, but I soon got him round by making cheese toasties or something else a bit indulgent to go on the side.

Right, off to read or watch a bit of telly. I'm stitching up some curtains for my office--and old fleece blanket that lined curtains in a former flat, and a little valence from some curtains my mum had years ago. I'm just stitching it to the top as it has a built in pocket and is a bit ruffly, plus if I made a pocket from the blanket it would come up an inch too short so it should be perfect this way. It might look a bit odd, but I might just embellish it if it does and make the most of it.:rotfl:

Mrs_Veg_Plot

One of my mums go to meal when money was tight (not that us kids knew that money was tight) was mashed potato HG cabbage and slices of fried luncheon meat or spam _pale_. To this day I cannot stomach luncheon meat.

twofishes

The yorkshire pizza recipe was in an Asda cookbook - I don't have it anymore so I don't have exact quantities, but I believe the original used a chopped-up chicken breast. Could be good when there's lots of odds and ends in the freezer that won't go round everyone by themselves.

jpscloud

Hi toughies, what I love about this thread is that I don't have to feel uncomfortable about being on a very low income and adjusting my tastes and desires to match it.

So many people see life as no more than a competition to get and show off material wealth but I know I can come and read this thread and feel at home and validated.

Fuddle if pasta is a bit heavy for you, rice dishes might gently get you back to carbs - thought I'd add a couple of my cheapie staples:

Cheese, onion and potato layer bake (just as it sounds, layer the ingredients and bake'um - you don't need a lot of cheese and can use a bit of milk to add moisture too).

Rice boiled with a few peanuts (or not, if you don't like the idea), cooked rice layered with chopped tinned tomatoes and cheese, again bake it up and it's also nice cold.

Not OS, but supermarket noodles are super cheap and really good comfort food when the purse is nearly empty. I have them with HM fish cakes or value fish fingers, and stir any cooked/stir fried veggies in with them.

Turkey mince kebabs/fahitas - fry up turkey mince with your spices of choice - I like cajun or fahita seasoning with mine - spoon into hot value pitta breads with lettuce, chopped tomatoes and cucumber, mayo or chili sauce etc. The mince goes further if you fry it with onion, I like it heavy on the onion myself.

Love to all struggling toughies and my hopes for your finances to steady out as quickly as possible.

twofishes

FairyPrincessk wrote: »

Hi All!

I've been reading along but haven't had much time to reply. I'm really sorry to hear about the unexpected upheaval to finances. Princess, also sorry to hear about the family problems.

I'm enjoying keeping up with the cheap recipes. I'm starting to do my preparing for winter planning and am making a note of some of them. We went to get black beans and a few spices and a watermelon at the Asian supermarket on Saturday and I priced dried goods like lentils, rice etc. in the markets that we went in so shall be making another trip to stock up on those things...or possibly two depending on how strong we're feeling--I'm looking at a 5k bag of lentils and another of rice:eek:

As for soup and teens/children, well I hated it as a child. I started trying to make myself like it a few years ago and found that I have some definite preferences. I'd rather have blended soups and I like for them to have lots of flavour, so I'll usually do tomato and basil with lots of homegrown basil or tomato and chilli, or carrott and coriander with lots of coriander. I also found that..well...this might sound strange, but I think I get bored eating soup from a bowl. It helps if I either make something to dip in like toast, cheese toasties, etc. Alternatively, I also prefer to drink soup out of a mug if I'm not going to dip. I know. It is silly, but about halfway through a bowl the endless monotony of spooning and swallowing gets to me:o Finally, the only chunky soup I like is a chicken, noodle and veg. I tend to thicken it with flour and I use lots of italian seasonings. I wonder if any of these tricks might help? My OH didn't think of soup as a "meal" when we met, but I soon got him round by making cheese toasties or something else a bit indulgent to go on the side.

Right, off to read or watch a bit of telly. I'm stitching up some curtains for my office--and old fleece blanket that lined curtains in a former flat, and a little valence from some curtains my mum had years ago. I'm just stitching it to the top as it has a built in pocket and is a bit ruffly, plus if I made a pocket from the blanket it would come up an inch too short so it should be perfect this way. It might look a bit odd, but I might just embellish it if it does and make the most of it.:rotfl:

Spices Of India online sell all sorts of Asian stuff really cheaply, might be worth it to save your poor arms :rotfl:They have recipes as well. Tilda broken basmati rice is £9.95 for 10kg, red lentils (and lots of other lentils and beans) for £3.45 for 2kg.

stiltwalker

Evening all - sorry to hear of financial woes. Some good recipes here today. I find it so much easier to make frugal food in cold weather so most of my recipes tend to be warm and comforting. I love potato daupinoise (made with half and half milk and cream unless I'm feeling really lux) with a big pile of steamed green cabbage to mop up all the creamy bits! You can put some finely chopped and fried bacon, onion and garlic stirred through the cabbage if you really feel fancy. And another can't beat is leek and potato soup with cheese on toast (as you're having it with the soup and, if you are like me, dipping it you can get away with it being a sprinkle of cheese rather than a full layer to keep costs down) I also do quite a bit with sausage meat and stuffing mixed together. As already mentioned by twofishes it makes a good filling for a giant sausage roll served by the slice either hot or cold (also good for pack up). You can fry it as patties and do sausage and stuffing burgers or roll it into little meatball size portions and serve with a tomatoey sauce and pasta. Sausage casserole is also a good cheap meal, chop sausages into small pieces and brown off with plenty of onions and whatever veg is cheap and in season (or bendy and lurking around in the bottom of the fridge) then depending what veg you have used you can add gravy or a tin of tomatoes and some herbs and serve with either mash or pasta or cous cous. If you can get to an Asian supermarket and get some big bags of dried lentils/beans or chick peas these can add bulk, nutrition and interest to any number of meals. I love chick peas and you can treat them as the 'meat' in all sorts of stew/casserole and soup type dishes as well as adding them to pasta sauces, making hummus and, of course, as the base for any number of curries.

Made DH take the kids to his parents on his own this afternoon as I seriously had to catch up on my OU, happy to report I am now well up to date and just need to write my last TMA for next Tuesday and then get on with the project that forms the examinable part of my course. I will be so glad to see the back of this one as I have hated pretty much every minute of it - sadly it was a compulsory module for my degree though Doing Children's literature next though which should be much more my cup of tea! Gave myself quite a start today to realise that in 6 weeks or so I will have finished 4 modules of the 6 I need to do and I only started in Feb 2011!!!

Stay and play again tomorrow - I love our stay and play days, there is always so much cool stuff going on and it is fantastic value and it is such a safe environment for the kids to be their own sweet special selves with no funny looks!

I got a load of patterns last week from the Sew today club that I belong to, they had a flash sale of buy one get two free so I had a little stock up. Going to cut some out now - it's the bit of dressmaking I really hate, cutting the paper patterns out so have some good trashy telly to watch while I'm doing it.

Take care everyone, hugs where needed - X

grandmasam

[[Hugs]] to anyone who wants or needs one.
So cross! went to shut my chickens in, and left the gate open behind me, as usual, turned to go out and there is my hound, Rosie, carefully going along the raspberry canes, 'sucking' the ripe raspberries off, leaving the the plugs on the cane!! they were for tomorrows brekky with cereal! Not very happy!
Caz

bunbun2

stiltwalker potato dauphinoise with cabbage sounds great, so does leek and potato soup. well done on your OU work

fairyprincess/stiltwalker soup with cheese on toast sounds good and I will give it a try

jpscloud I make potato and onion bake but adding cheese would be good and make it more substantial

twofishes yorkshire pizza sounds good. both boys love yorkshire pudding and I could make each one with 'toppings' they each like

nuttyp they would like yorkshire pudding with sausages, and if I hide veg inside it would be even better! your TV unit sounds a bargain

princess sorry to hear about your family problems. what a woman - the MIL sounds awful, what a position to put her daughter in over something so rediculous

we are having sausage risotto for tea tomorrow. can I freeze any leftovers?

all these recipes with eggs maybe now is the time to get chickens:rotfl: