What OS tip didn't work for you?

JulieGeorgiana

Alison_Funnell wrote: »

I'm impressed. Not sure I would make it stretch that far every day, but a very interesting post.

Thank You. I have posted this information on a few boards over the last few months, I just hope to inspire someone... even if it's just 3/4 meals which is where I started!

valk_scot

OS things that don't work for me?

1) Slow cookers. I think everything I cook in mine tastes slightly overboiled and much the same between recipies. I much prefer using a slow oven and a casserole. I don't think this wastes money as I have a small top oven just with one shelf or, if I use the big oven, I bake potatoes or make rice pudding or whatever too.

2) Padding out meat dishes with lots of lentils and oats. I think it makes the food gluey and heavy. I'd rather have a smaller portion and make more veg on the side, or make dumplings or Yorkshire puds to fill people up.

3) Vinegar. Fine for a lot of things but to kill serious germs I think bleach or disinfectant is require. I use thin Value bleach and cheap disinfectant which usually cost less than vinegar anyway. I live in a soft water area too so don't need it as a softener, or to clean out the pipes of appliances.

4) Ditto washing soda. Folk in soft water areas don't need this stuff. I don't think this is stressed enough in posts tbh.

5) Home baking for treats and snacks. I don't think this saves cash as it just gets eaten faster, because it's so nice! The best ways to save money on snack food is just not buy it or to buy something no-one would want to eat like Value Rich Tea biscuits.

6) Huge pans of soup. Inevitably if I make a huge pan of soup everyone is out for the next three days and then I have to use up precious freezer space for it. I find it easier to make very concentrated stock, freeze that in small portions and then make just enough soup for one or two days max.

7) Cooking double for the freezer. Works for some things but by no means everything. I don't mind the odd bit of leftover but i'd rather just cook less in the first place.

8) Whoopsies. It's not a bargain if all that's going to happen to it is you put it in the freezer for a year before you decide you really don't want to eat it and throw it out. Even if it did only cost you 10p.

9) Rubber chicken. I buy big chickens, the £5 or £6 supermarket roasting type. I can make this last 3 main meals easily enough (4 of us), plus stock, plus cat scraps. I think that's a bargain for £6 tbh and don't feel the need to stretch it out further. Yes other people can get thirty meals out a chicken but that's cutting the protein per meal a little low imho. I'd rather just make vegetarian food with these lentils I didn't put in the mince last week.

I do like Stardrops though! It makes my hands feel like they've been stripped with lye if I don't use gloves, but for that very reason I think it's great for greasy dirt. :rotfl:

freyasmum

JulieGeorgiana wrote: »

Don't say you didn't ask for it!!!

First Roast the chicken and then strip off the chicken and place in piles according to what kind of meat it is (Breast, leg, thigh and 'other'

1) Roast Chicken (2 portions - This is the tricky meal!!!! I use the wing meat, oysters and any 'other' meat) this may not seem like a lot but we bulk this meal out with tons of yorkshire puds and never notice a lack of meat (a 2kg chicken has a lot of 'other' meat under the carcass if you strip is properly!)

2&3) Nutty Chicken Curry (8 portions - using 1.5 chicken breast and bulking out with peppers, mushrooms, peas and sweetcorn) and 300ml of Chicken Stock

4) Chicken Pizza (3 -4 Portions - Using 0.5 chicken breast)

5) Chicken pasta (3 - 4 portions - using 1 chicken leg, mixed through either a tomato based or cheese based sauce, topped with breadcrumbs and parmasan and grilled)

6) Chicken and leek with Chips (3 - 4 portions - using 1 chicken thigh, shallow fry with leeks (mushrooms if you want), add chicken soup and serve over chips!

7&8) Chicken Curry (6 - 8 portions - using 1 leg and theigh, bulked out with lots of different veg for your 5 a day!)

9&10) Chicken Noodle Soup (6 - 8 portions, basically HM stock with VERY small pasta in it, served with HM bread!)

My family LOVE their meat... and none of these gets complained as having too little meat. I normally make the chicken when I don't have my son as the roast uses the most meat, then freeze and portion the chicken and stock and enjoy these meals over an 8 week period!!

The cats get all the skin and gristle!!!

HTH!

I'd have a full scale revolt on my hands if I served up a chicken wing as a portion - or chicken-less soup... and that's just from myself :D

As mentioned many times before; the slow cooker is handy, but the taste is far superior when you use a casserole and the oven.

Stardrops is alright, but I generally just use hot soapy water.



It's all about getting yourself to a level at which you feel comfortable - some people are perfectly willing to go further than others - not always about getting spending down to the bare bones. I've a funny feeling that spending £2.20 on quails eggs for my daughters breakfast may elicit the same reaction from some people as I had to serving chicken-less soup :rotfl:

Or spending almost 24 hours (not ALL hands-on, it just felt like that at times ) making marmalade that cost more than buying value marmalade. But it's worth spending more to me (btw, it's only around 3p per jar ) for a far superior product. Some of my aunts and uncles had whisky in the jars I made for them too

Eenymeeny

I've just finished reading this great thread, thanks for the many different points of view and tips:)
I've learned such a lot from OS and use a lot of the products/tips that are recommended. As a lot of people have said though, I think you use what suits you and disregard others. Like using value bath cream in soap dispensers..great but adding water to it was getting ott when I'm only pay 99p for a big bottle in the first place. (Unless it's thick enough to clog the nozzle) and I add soda crystals to costco washing powder which is really economical already, I'm thinking do I really need the soda crystals? I use vinegar as a conditioner, must admit that I'd prefer a nice smell but my wm is clean as a whistle. No mouldy rubber bits or dispenser drawer.
Slow cookers, I always think of it as a low gas on the hob and never use it for longer than about 4 hours. The food is always fine.
Funny thing is I used to like stardrops but since I now have a stainless steel sink the bubbles just disappear and the water goes kind of flat... Has anyone else noticed this?

clairehi

I had a couple of total OS fails with cleaning

1. someone advised using value Coke to descale toilet bowl - simply turned the limescale dark brown and did nothing to remove it.

2. using value washing powder instead of dishwasher tabs - left all the mugs badly teastained.

I dont see the point in stardrops, I use a squirt of washing up liquid in very hot water to clean worktops and hard floors.

we live in a very hard water area, so using half the amount of detergent simply results in dirty clothes or plates, unfortunately!

My mum got me using white vinegar and washing soda years before I came on MSE. but I was amazed to see people here using them together to clean things. one is acid, the other is alkali so if you mix them they neutralise each other, cancelling out the cleaning power of both!

vouchersrme

I hated SC food but have found if meals done for 3 to 4 hours rather than left all day 8 to 10 hours. They taste so much better not that stringy unpleasant taste.
With Stardrops they do a similar job to washing up liquid but are for more concentrated, have got rid of old curry stains, and grease. (What is it about men who cannot get to their mouths?)
But would use other cleaners to bleach and disinfect etc.

elfen

My SC - good for soups and casseroles.
BM and yogurt maker, would never get used
Hand blnder, good for smoothies and blending soups

mulled_wine

JayJay14 wrote: »

My OH is banned from 'helping ' portion out.

A couple of examples - he decided to 'help' by freezing portions of the chilli I had batch cooked. Didn't add the kidney beans as I normally do and then got 7 portions out of 2lb mince.

I made curry for tea once and then had to pop out for something - came back and said 'where's my tea'. It just never occured to him that I might actually want to eat:rotfl:

.

I got in from work later once and my (ex) said "thought you were out so I ate it all" ~ a chicken casserole meant for 4 :eek:

oh my did he have gut ache.

Did I laugh?

JulieGeorgiana

freyasmum wrote: »

I'd have a full scale revolt on my hands if I served up a chicken wing as a portion - or chicken-less soup... and that's just from myself :D

Absolutely, a lot of people find it hard, as we did at first. Truth is though, the chicken wing PLUS Oysters and all the odds and ends off the carcass will fill 1/4 of our plates, and I strip the meat off the wings or it won't get eaten.

I also have a hard time with the chickenless soup... but it's my son who LOVES it, which is how we managed the 10 meals... it's supposed to be a broth and not a stew or soup. and you fill it with small pasta (Farfallalline Mini Pasta Bows). I remember having it as a child in Germany as a starter, and my son just wanted to try it, and when he did he now always asks for it again and AGAIN!

I do admit to not looking overly forward to it... but I do make a TON of fresh bread to make it more appealing, so by having this meal we make the chicken go further

Eenymeeny

Quick note on soup making and slow cookers. I started to doubt the economy and time used when I realised that I was preparing veg, (peelings in bin, no garden) running slow cooker all day, when it used to take 20 mins on hob if I blitzed it, and often adding so many other flavourings to give it some taste! (A packet of knorr soup was my favourite) Then trying to use it all up or taking space up in the freezer. Back to a lovely tin of Baxters reduced at HB to 59p. (I don't have to wait for it to defrost either!)