Food budget plan

mardatha

I'm a really awful cook but I can cope with Delia's recipes. Mostly lol. Big stews with loads of veg thrown in are my standby meal. And simple old fashioned stuff like bacon eggs & chips.

carriebradshaw

well done Red Cola I love the sound of the pizza pasta and cinnamon buns too, yum :j

miffedatparkingcharge

Well done Redcola. You should be really pleased with yourself. I hope the family have enjoyed your culinary delights. (Trouble is, now you've started, there's no going back!) I think my lunches are three quarters pasta based, because I just cannot be doing with sandwiches unless its a picnic! Pasta & pesto, pasta, tuna & something ...... Do keep posting.

Another tip... Onions, onions, onions. I find they are part of most meals that are in cooked in a pot. If I'm feeling pretty organised, I try to cook a good number of them early on in the week. Long & slow cook with a bit of salt & oil, stir every few minutes. Put them in the fridge to use through out. If I leave them out & I notice they get nibbled away like snacks! It just makes putting a evening meal so much quicker when they are already done.

Islandmaid

Redcola - sounds great! Bet Hubby was envied by workmates with home baked Cinnamon Buns - I adore Cinnamon

jackyann

I'm very impressed too! I really like the idea of an austerity lunch being a tasty pasta pot and cinnamon buns, as well as the other goodies.
I also find that once you get into the swing of making things, you find a routine, and something that once seemed a 'mission' actually gets done easily.

nmlc

Evening everyone

Redcola - sounds like you're moving forward.

I really enjoy cooking/baking but by no means am I a good cook, I still regularly have disasters! A few weeks back I decided to make a Victoria sponge (2 sponge cake layers, sandwiched together with buttercream and jam, sprinkled with icing sugar) - something I've made regularly for over 30 years - I got the sponge layers out of their tins after they were cooked and they were flat and more like pancakes, so I had to either use them as they were (not possible, would have been awful), bin them or find something else. So I decided as 1 was better than the other, the better one I cut in half made up a small quantity of buttercream, spread the cut in half sponge with buttercream and the other half with jam and sandwiched together, so we then had half a Victoria sponge cake, and the flat as a pancake other sponge, I broke up put it in the bottom of a big glass dish, made up some jelly poured that over it, then blancmange and then some cream, and we also then had a trifle.

The cooking/baking that day went a bit wrong, but I was determined that I wasn't just going to bin the ingredients so it became something else. As you get more confident you will learn this skill. HTH.

Keep safe and well x

nmlc x

determined_new_ms

for lunches for me I just have soup and a home made roll. I'm no baker so if I can knock up rolls anyone can. Just google technique.

I have a 3 nearly 4 year old and I put in her lunch box, a sandwich (ham/cream cheese/marmite/sometimes chocolate spread), fruit (apple/orange/banana/a few strawberries/cucumber slices/raisins, a slice of cheese, hm cheese straws, a yogurt - I get the aldi fromage frais and freeze so they don't go past their date and just get one out the night before and decant into a little tub, a hm fairy cake/slice of something. Sometimes I send her with soup, beans on toast, scrambled eggs and toast. Sometimes crackers, ham & cheese slices so she can build her own sandwiches. Rarely a packet of crisp

I think our lunches cost pence.

There's a really good page on facebook called "feed yourself for £1 per day" which is worth a look for low cost meal plans/ideas etc

suki1964

mardatha wrote: »

I'm a really awful cook but I can cope with Delia's recipes. Mostly lol. Big stews with loads of veg thrown in are my standby meal. And simple old fashioned stuff like bacon eggs & chips.

Delia is my tutor as well. All these years I've been cooking for family (40) and even having spent 10 years being paid to cook, she's my turn to still. If Delia says this temp for that amount of time, she's right. Yes I use Jamie's and Gordon's recipes as well but Delia teaches the basic skills like no one else

Teacher2

I see you have lamb shanks. I once had one left over as someone didn't turn up for a meal. I put it in the slow cooker with some celery, onions and carrots and it made the best soup ever. Soup is a very good, cheap meal. We have soup and a bun/toast twice a week and it is very economical.

Scones are quick, easy, cheap, delicious and filling.

A quick recipe is as follows:-
8oz self raising flour
1-2 oz sugar
2 oz butter
1-2 whisked eggs made up to a quarter pint with milk
A handful of dried fruit
-Sift the sugar in with the flour and rub in the butter until the misxture turns to 'breadcrumbs'
-Add the dried fruit
-Add the milk/egg mixture (leaving a little for glazing the scones) and mix into a dough
-Roll out on a floured surface about an inch thick (3cm)
-Using a cutter or mug, cut out into circles and place on a greased foured tray
-Brush with the milk/egg mixture
-Bake for 15 minutes at 200c (fan oven), 220c otherwise
-Serve with butter and jam

KSal

We are also economising at the moment. I now shop in supermarkets during the evening between about 6.45pm and 8pm when they greatly reduce the price of fresh food. I visit two supermarkets, and usually manage to buy a variety of greatly reduced items, including meat, fish, yogurts, bread, fruit and vegetables. I used to plan meals for a week in advance, and only shop with a list. Now, however, I buy what I think I can use and / or freeze, and plan my meals around that, supplemented by shopping in budget supermarkets. It has been so successful that I have completely changed my ideas about food shopping, and when we, hopefully, are in a better position again in the future, I will continue with this new style of shopping, and plan to get another freezer to take full advantage of the offers available!!


Good luck!