I need meat!

Edwardia

I got 500g organic beef mince in Sainsbury's reduced to 3.04 today.
If you get Sainsbury's Basics frozen New Zealand lamb chops they are grass-pastured and GM free. Lidl also has cheap but tasty NZ frozen lamb chops too. Both are great for stews.

sniggings

Edwardia wrote: »

I got 500g organic beef mince in Sainsbury's reduced to 3.04 today.
If you get Sainsbury's Basics frozen New Zealand lamb chops they are grass-pastured and GM free. Lidl also has cheap but tasty NZ frozen lamb chops too. Both are great for stews.

I'll look out for them, least my Irish stew I'm making tomorrow should be extra tasty with my expensive lamb

meg72

sniggings wrote: »

I'll look out for them, least my Irish stew I'm making tomorrow should be extra tasty with my expensive lamb

Trust me it would taste even better if it was cheaper:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:If sainsburys is your local can you get there at reduction time, this varies from store to store but about an hour before closing on a Sunday is usually good. Enjoy your lamb Hun.

alandbailey

I bought stewing steak from Morrison's at a very good reduced price ((£1 - odd ). It was enough for me to slow cook it in a Knorr stockpot (after cutting off any fat/gristle):) It did me two main meals.
Tip - cook the lentils, butter beans and pearl barley seperately and add at the end.:)

sniggings

alandbailey wrote: »

I bought stewing steak from Morrison's at a very good reduced price ((£1 - odd ). It was enough for me to slow cook it in a Knorr stockpot (after cutting off any fat/gristle):) It did me two main meals.
Tip - cook the lentils, butter beans and pearl barley seperately and add at the end.:)

what lentils are these of which you are talking?

Ken68

Today Lidl Pork mince or chops about £2 a kg...maximum six .Get tere early. Also cheap chocolate 19p 100g. Every weekend something half price.Cheapest veg is Aldi Super 6. All on tis board.

mandragora_2

The meat you're buying yourself to scratch make meals with won't be nearly as expensive as the "meat" that's in the ready meals you've been living off, pound for pound. As soon as you start cooking (and enjoying) a few stews, soups and broths you've made, you'll realise just how little actual meat there is in a ready meal. I'm always surprised by how far a relatively small amount of meat goes - one of my favourites is to buy a ham joint, boil it for the stock, then half it, roasting one piece for a main meal, and dicing the other half, throwing into a pan with the saved stock, veg and barley/other pulses and having this hearty broth as an evening meal in the week. (I freeze the broth in portions, too, taking a portion out in the morning so it's defrosted by the timer I get home - a simpler 'ready meal' would be hard to find!)

One of my 'cheats' is to buy whole chickens (esp if they're on offer) and strip the meat off the whole bird - diced and thrown into a pan, there's an astonishing amount. I also add bulk from tinned items such as tomatoes (buy the cheapest ones - there's no real difference in taste and quality if you're slow cooking - add herbs/garlic for flavour - I find tomatoes help to tenderise cheaper cuts of red meat really nicely over a long, slow cooking); chick peas and lentils (though again, these are cheaper if you use dried).

Of course, if you can bulk cook and freeze portions as you go, it all becomes cheaper, and in the long run, just as convenient as ready-meals.

Good luck on your journey - you will save money, once you get into the swing of it - and you'll certainly eat better! If you can keep it up for , say six months or so, then try one of the 'ready meals' again, I promise you, you'll be shocked at the price and quality.

Mrs_Cheshire

Do you have a morrisons nearby? They do some really good cuts of meat for slow cooking. Pork shoulder steaks, I cut them into chunks and slow cook, lamb breast and beef brisket.

sniggings

mandragora wrote: »

The meat you're buying yourself to scratch make meals with won't be nearly as expensive as the "meat" that's in the ready meals you've been living off, pound for pound. As soon as you start cooking (and enjoying) a few stews, soups and broths you've made, you'll realise just how little actual meat there is in a ready meal. I'm always surprised by how far a relatively small amount of meat goes - one of my favourites is to buy a ham joint, boil it for the stock, then half it, roasting one piece for a main meal, and dicing the other half, throwing into a pan with the saved stock, veg and barley/other pulses and having this hearty broth as an evening meal in the week. (I freeze the broth in portions, too, taking a portion out in the morning so it's defrosted by the timer I get home - a simpler 'ready meal' would be hard to find!)

One of my 'cheats' is to buy whole chickens (esp if they're on offer) and strip the meat off the whole bird - diced and thrown into a pan, there's an astonishing amount. I also add bulk from tinned items such as tomatoes (buy the cheapest ones - there's no real difference in taste and quality if you're slow cooking - add herbs/garlic for flavour - I find tomatoes help to tenderise cheaper cuts of red meat really nicely over a long, slow cooking); chick peas and lentils (though again, these are cheaper if you use dried).

Of course, if you can bulk cook and freeze portions as you go, it all becomes cheaper, and in the long run, just as convenient as ready-meals.

Good luck on your journey - you will save money, once you get into the swing of it - and you'll certainly eat better! If you can keep it up for , say six months or so, then try one of the 'ready meals' again, I promise you, you'll be shocked at the price and quality.

cheers for that, thinking about it what you say makes a lot of sense.

I have bought Irish stew in a tin from M&S think it was £2.99 it was ok but nothing great, I have make Irish stew today, it's not ready yet but the amount it's made has surprised me, my slow cooker is 3.5L and I couldn't get everything it, think I over did it a bit but it was just a couple of carrots, parsnips, leeks, herbs and pots and onion, stock and the lamb (not a lot at all for my £4.50 but will shop better next time) so maybe cost me £7 but I should get 4 good meals out of it, so less than £2 a meal and hopefully it will taste better than the tin!

sniggings

Mrs_Cheshire wrote: »

Do you have a morrisons nearby? They do some really good cuts of meat for slow cooking. Pork shoulder steaks, I cut them into chunks and slow cook, lamb breast and beef brisket.

Yes, a little bus ride away but I guess these things can be frozen so I can grab them when I'm passing to keep the costs down.