Family of 5 'shop from home'food storage challenge...

Yategirl

I have a burger maker too (find in the charity shop - unopened from Lakeland for just £1.50! ) .. makes great burgers as the meat is compressed enough so it doesn't fall apart. I love being able to flavour the meat with different spices. The burger book from Lakeland is good too

I'd love a mincer and I'd like to make my own sausages - anyone done this? dND can you recommend a mincer? I wonder if Lidl's occasionally offered mincer is good (?)

Jamie - how old are your children? I have been thinking about getting up earlier than everyone else for a while now... just to get a few jobs done (and my brekkie and shower!) before everyone else gets up... think my children (3 and 5) would think it great to get up earlier :rolleyes:

lollyred !!!!!!{hugs}}}} not good to have the car pack up and everything else follow but you will do just fine! Treat christmas dinner as a roast - don't bother with a turkey (unless you can get bargain prices!) - a chicken will be just as good! Bulk it up with stuffing and vegetables (roast the carrots in honey, add garlic cloves to the potatoes etc... to make it seem all the more *special*), cook more veg than you need then use LO chicken the next day with the leftover veg made into bubble and squeak (standard and essential boxing day dinner in our family!). Don't overdo the goodies - we all eat too much at this time of year but do make mince pies and maybe a swiss roll 'log', perhaps get a box of chocs if you can stretch just to make things seem special I am sure someone will be along soon with more advice.

I am waiting for dh to come home from work and tell me if the office is moving premises or not... if they do... I won't have a car during the week (schools hols will be awkward ) plus fuel costs will go up by £40 month at least and this doesn't include fuel for weekend trips or holidays (don't know where we will find just £40 let alone anymore we need) and dh will be away from home for longer as it is much further away... am sat on tenterhooks.........:o

JAMIEDODGER

yategirl - my kids are: 11,9,6 and 3:D, I guess you could try it and see if they wake up?? i love my ME time in the mornings:) Id love to make my own sausages too!

Yategirl

I might give it a go! I'd love to have ME time when I am not shattered!!!

I have £22 of argos vouchers... will have a look at a mincer!!

It seems a lot of us have the same thoughts over food etc... who else would love to be self-sufficient.. even have a smallholding??

morwenna

bellaquidsin wrote: »

Apples - add a very small amount of green and red colouring to give a mottled effect and shape an apple.
Pears - as above with just green colourning
Bananas - no colouring just a banana shape and paint brown stripes on.
Strawberries lots of red, mould into a strawberry shape then stipple all over with a cocktail stick.
Raspberries, blackberries etc, a little more difficult, add the appropriate colour and shape each little bobble individually.
I'm sure you will think of more fruits once you get going.
We use cloves for stalks.

Bella

To do oranges, get the look right by rolling a ball of orange marzipan over the back of the grater. (The side with the round sticky out holes.) Surprisingly effective!

CheekyLittleMonkey

DD&D - here's that Naan recipe you asked for.

Indian Naan Breads (Makes 3) Suitable for batch freezing also.

8 oz/225g Plain Flour
½ Tsp Salt
½ oz (15g) Fresh Yeast
4 Tbsp (60ml) Lukewarm Milk
1 Tbsp (15ml) Vegetable Oil
2 Tbsp (30ml) Natural Plain Yogurt
1 Egg
2-3 Tbsp Melted Ghee or Butter, for brushing

Sift the flour and salt together into a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, cream the yeast with the milk. Set aside for 15mins. Then mix the yeast mixture, oil, yogurt and egg into the flour. Mix it to a soft dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 10mins until smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with lightly oiled clingfilm and leave it to rise in a warm place for about 45mins (or until doubled in bulk). Preheat the oven to at least 230c/450f/Gas 8. Place 3 heavy baking sheets in the oven to heat for at least 10mins before baking. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knock back. Divide into 3 balls. Roll out the naan into 3 teardrop shapes about 5-8mm thick. Preheat the grill to its highest setting. Meanwhile take out the baking sheets and place the naan on them, bake for 3-4 mins or until puffed up. Remove from oven and place under hot grill for a few seconds until the top of the naan browns slightly. Wrap in a kitchen towel to keep warm. When ready to serve, brush with the melted ghee or butter and serve warm.

Variations (you can flavour naan in various different ways).

Spicy naan – add 1 teaspoon each of ground coriander and ground cumin to the sifted flour. For extra fieryness – add ½ teaspoon of chilli powder.

Garlic and Coriander Naan – add 1 tsp Garlic Puree/Chopped Garlic and a handful of chopped fresh Coriander to the sifted flour.

Cardomom Flavoured Naan – lightly crush the seeds from 4-5 green cardamom pods and add to the flour.

Poppy Seed Naan – brush the rolled out naans with ghee/butter and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Lighty press so they stick in.

CheekyLittleMonkey

I just wondered if anyone could help or had an ideas. I'm looking for some recipes that I can make 'cold' without an oven, either sweet or savoury. You know like Trifle, those peppermint creams recipe will go down a treat (thanks). When I next go to visit the family in India, I want to involve the kids (nieces and nephews) in making some different foods/sweets/snacks and everytime I go, I'm completely stumped. They don't use ovens like ours, only tandoor for the breads or cook over a naked flame. Any ideas or suggestions would be most welcome. Thanks.

Luna69

This thread is great, not been on this forum for a while, at least not to post, but found this thread and have been enthralled. Must admit I haven't read it all, too many pages. I read the first few and the last few. I love the idea of a store cupboard to shop from, how cool, but we dont' have space either. I just mentioned to DF about an extra freezer but we don't have space for one. I've been buying a lot of bogof or special offers from tesco lately and would buy more if I had space. I stocked up a bit on handwash the other week and usually baby wipes, meat.
I've wanted to grow my own veg for ages, but still haven't got to start anything. Our back garden is a junk yard, although just this week we managed to get rid of a lot of metal items that some guys came and took away, now just to get rid of the wood and card bits. We don't get much nice weather at the back and we live up north, so not sure what veggies would survive, plus our soil is more like clay.
I was going to get pots to plant in, but didnt' think I'd get much in them.
We are a family of 5 and the youngest at 19 months, probably eats the most!
I spend on average about £60-70 a week on groceries and household items, then the top up stuff... mainly milk and fruit. We go through tons of bananas! Shame I can't grow them! Grapes too.

I'll keep an eye on this thread.. I'd love to be able to make food in advance and bulk make, but again not enough freezer space to always do it. I'm not that organised and useless at making huge portions.. infact I usually end up with not enough for all of us! Need to work on that one.
Another problem I have at the moment is lack of proper oven. I have a combi micro oven, our last one died, it was great, but this replacement isn't as good as an oven I don't think, so I'm not that happy with it. I baked some cakes with my daughter last weekend, they looked very pale but were quite hard!

Gonna be looking at stuff to make for Christmas now!

Yvonne

D&DD

I'll be on in a bit...DS3 decided he wasn't going to cubs tonight..then he wanted to go,but was too late then he had a meltdown..currently sitting here naked lol..*DS3 that is not me* :eek: :eek: :eek:

Cheeky would dehydrated/sundried stuff be ok I wonder?? I have some sites in my favourites for crackers/sweets etc that are raw but need to be dried out..am thinking will be back soon..I hope!!:D

Yategirl

Luna69 - you can grow lots in pots - honest!!! My back garden started off as a horrible mess - a mix of previous owners and us trying to make changes... I got pots of all sizes and have grown allsorts - lettuce/salad; beetroot, beans, courgettes, carrots, potatoes, turnips, tomatoes, pumpkins, peppers - just a few of what I grow! This year we have put lots of hardwork into the garden and made 2 large raised beds - I bought sleepers but got soil and flagstones and greenhouse from freecycle! I still have lots of pots and most fruit bushes are in pots and next year I am planning to convert the front garden to low raised beds (I currently have 1 huge bed but need to make it more user friendly!). We also have claysoil and I find raised beds (only a sleeper high nothing huge) with loose topsoil on the top (having broken the clay up with a fork first) is so much easier to use! Get yourself a good container gardening book (I'll look mine up for you later on this eve), lots of pots, some bags of compost... ask for one of those plastic greenhouse shelving units or a couple of coldframes for christmas... and have a go! It's great fun, addictive, tasty and the kids love to help! Being up North is ok too... you can still grow loads of tasty stuff!

autismmum

i am working towards small holding, researching chicken illnesses etc. we had 6 hens but they mysteriously died.... i suspect nxtdoor, as my dog did too.
so you need understanding neighbours or lots of land. here in my village up north you can have an allotment for 4.00 a year, not bad. but i am content with my 8 apple trees and soft fruit, trade my 45 lbs of grapes for organic veg boxes for 3 months, and hope that in 5 yrs i'll be ready for a larger garden smaller home. i think allotments are a good place to swap seeds or just learn from those more knowledgeable. i like to grow my own peppers but this year im also trying to grow cranberrys !! i know its will take a while... but its fun. perhaps we can have a seed swap site, where we can all send in seeds and instructions.
as for the larder idea, i'd love one so i'm converting my understairs cupboard into one, not perfect but my kitchen is tiny. the problem is flour, how do you stop it getting flour mite???? i suppose i need to invest in an air tight bin, any suggestions ?