Learning to be frugal with food

Sapphire27

I also often microwave onions and mushrooms to add to dishes (instead of frying). It takes only 3 minutes compared to the 10 + frying would take.

I'm not sure if this saves any money using a microwave instead of the hob (my oven is electric), but it definitely saves time!

meg72

Sapphire27 wrote: »

I also often microwave onions and mushrooms to add to dishes (instead of frying). It takes only 3 minutes compared to the 10 + frying would take.

I'm not sure if this saves any money using a microwave instead of the hob (my oven is electric), but it definitely saves time!

Also if you microwave the onions in their skins and let cool, then cut up, you avoid any tears

Tommelise

Excellent tips from poorly scammo above

One of the things that have helped me save on my food budget is learning how to cook the same vegetable in many different ways.

As an example many of my friends only cook carrots and cauliflower in 1 -3 different ways, I use these basic and cheap vegetables in 10-15 recipes. The same goes for cabbage, potatoes, celeriac, tomatoes, broccoli etc.

Since I know how to cook a large number of dishes, all our meals are vegetable based. Often we leave out meat all together for several days in a row and up to a week, simply because we don’t feel like meat. This goes for the whole Family, my Oh and 3 children (15,12 and 6)

I started out by learning to cook the most basic vegetable like carrots. I took time to find different recipes with this one vegetable over a month, making something new unfamiliar to us 3-4 times in that period of time. We then -all children and adults-rated the new dish on a scale from 1 to 5, to decide whether we liked it or not.

We started using this rating method because my then youngest was extremely picky. By cooking something new with a vegetable I was able to insist she tasted the dish, because I tried something new. I won’t lie it was difficult at first, but then something changed. Today at 12 she is anything but picky. (I won a national contest for describing this method to get my children to eat vegetables, but that’s another story) It actually turned out my daughter did not like the most common vegetables, but love kale, artichokes, turnips and broccoli J

Today I know at least 6-7 dishes for almost any vegetable also the more uncommon ones. The method can also be used to find good recipes for pulses and beans.

Below some very different recipes for carrots, to help illustrate different methods of cooking, that will make a carrot taste in a different way each time you cook it:

Spiced carrot soup with ginger raita:
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/27489/spiced+carrot+soup+with+ginger+raita

Cumin and Orange Glazed Carrots:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cumin-and-Orange-Glazed-Carrots-109327

Carrot and Orange Sambal:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/carrot-and-orange-sambal

One of my favorites (I leave out the aubergine, and only serve the lentil dish): Lentils with grilled aubergines:
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/jul/04/vegetarian-vegetablesrecipes?INTCMP=SRCH

Lemony Carrot Dhal:
http://www.cookveg.co.uk/vegetarian-recipes/recipe/lemony-carrot-dhal/#.UqjmmDaA3IU

Mustard Seed Potatoes with Carrots and Peas:
http://www.coconutandlime.com/2005/09/mustard-seed-potatoes-with-carrots-and.html

Sweet Rice with Carrots and Nuts: ( A lovely dish, on a budget leave out Saffron, substitute nut for what you have and add more carrots) http://food52.com/recipes/22552-sweet-rice-with-carrots-and-nuts

For all the recipes above goes: Do substitute expensive ingredients, or leave them out all together

There are lots of very good of recipes online, you just need to look for them

maman

Sapphire27 wrote: »

I also often microwave onions and mushrooms to add to dishes (instead of frying). It takes only 3 minutes compared to the 10 + frying would take.

I'm not sure if this saves any money using a microwave instead of the hob (my oven is electric), but it definitely saves time!

I always microwave my onions first then even if I want them browned and fried it's so much quicker.

meg72 wrote: »

Also if you microwave the onions in their skins and let cool, then cut up, you avoid any tears

That's a fantastic idea, can't wait to try it. Thanks.:)

Just read the advice from scammo about buying red kidney beans and cooking them yourself. I've been buying tinned butter beans and the best price I can get currently is 50p a tin at a local Asian store. I'd decided I'd make my own after Christmas when freezer space permits BUT... when I compared the drained weight of the canned ones with the price of raw beans the canned came out cheaper per kg. So worth checking.

Sapphire27

If you have any recipes you make regularly, maybe you could post them and we could all try and help frugalise them?

Everyone has such good ideas!

Butterfly_Brain

maman wrote: »

I always microwave my onions first then even if I want them browned and fried it's so much quicker.



That's a fantastic idea, can't wait to try it. Thanks.:)

Just read the advice from scammo about buying red kidney beans and cooking them yourself. I've been buying tinned butter beans and the best price I can get currently is 50p a tin at a local Asian store. I'd decided I'd make my own after Christmas when freezer space permits BUT... when I compared the drained weight of the canned ones with the price of raw beans the canned came out cheaper per kg. So worth checking.

I use red kidney beans from Aldi at 21p a can and they also do cannellini beans and chick peas for 31p a tin
They have just started doing red lentils for 95p for 500g

crispycreme_2

Ok, favourites in this house are; cottage pie, spanish chicken, kievs, pasta bakes, stir fry, lasagne, take away ( ) fish and lots more.

We rarely seem to have the thing for a while, always something different.

VickyA_2

Hi crispycreme,

The others on here have all given excellent advice. There's only DH and I, but we bulk/batch cook as much as possible and freeze extra portions in those takeaway boxes that JackieO mentioned.

Like others, I bulk out meals with veg (including those bits which look as though they can walk by themselves!), which really does streeeetch the meat. We do an awful lot of one pot cooking and even use our slow cooker, which enables cheaper cuts of meat to be delicious and melt-in-the-mouth.

DH and I both take packed lunches to work. We're not very ambitious, but a general lunch consists of a sandwich, fruit, yoghurt (Tesco £1 for a 6 pack) and a slice of cake (homemade, from the freezer) for DH.

I know you also mentioned days out. Always look out for deals eg on the weekly MSE e-mail, sign up for Prezzo, Pizza Express, Ask etc deals. If you always visit the same park, do they offer a "season ticket"? Friends who visited Alton Towers in the summer had got 2 for 1 vouchers from cereal packs or booked online before they went. Also, don't rely on eating at the venue but take your own picnic.

Best of luck on your money saving journey. There's a fantastic support on this forum.

gayleygoo

If you have the oven on to cook dinner, throw some whole onions in their skins in there. Just place in a baking dish and bake for 15-30 mins, depending on the size of the onion and oven temp. They go so lovely and soft and tasty and are such an easy accompaniment to a meal.

Sapphire27

For cottage pie and lasagne I would definitely suggest using lentils, and/or oats like other posters have mentioned.

Dishes like this are perfect for using up veggies that are past their best lurking in your fridge. Try gradually reducing the meat content and upping the vegetables/lentils until you have a proportion you are happy with