Feeling Worried

prepareathome

I would, if you can make the time, write out everything you make and then see if you can find ideas for substitutions for some ingredients. Plenty on here will give you advise and some are straightforward and don't have much, if any taste difference, where as other you can just replace a small amount.  It could be you always use a certain cheese in a dish but another cheaper cheese can be just as good and give same taste.  If you feel adventurous and you family will accept it then try to think outside the box for your meals and make things you never have before that are cheaper but just as nutritious and tasty - it's hard that as I think most of us tend to get into a habit of making same meals (even if you are making 100 different meals on a rota it does still become a habit and new meals rarely are included) It's just life gets in the way and its quicker and simpler to make what you are used to rather than spending the time making something new.

I use lentils but I also use barley to thicken and fill, but have always done so. so, my family grew up used to the flavours.

  In say a stew type dish I will put in lentils and barley and even yellow split peas - none of which needed to be soaked beforehand unlike beans.  I have also made barley as a vegetable if it's a dish with a gravy or sauce (a bit to dry otherwise.  Its great as a thickener, if enough is used no need to thicken a soup or a stew, but don't ask me how much is enough as I just 'know' now how much to add.   Barley to me is something I think a lot forget about - lentils are always mentioned yet unless it's a soup no one usually thinks of it for other things obviously does depend on tastes and whether you or family like it - it can be blitzed with a hand blender or even at a pinch mashed with a potato masher when cooked if its more a texture dislike than a taste thing and it then vanishes into whatever you are making.

It can take a while to cook - it depends how old it is, the older then longer it takes but it never really goes bad if kept dry just like other pulses.  Time for a normal stew type meal to cook will be long enough usually for barley to cook. 

Floss

Also consider the amount of meat being used - and how many is it for?

For example, rather than using 2 pieces of fish for 2 adults, I would use one slightly larger one & flake it so it looks more.

Same with chicken - 3 thighs instead of 4, if using breast substitute for thighs, if you have a roast use every bit of meat - first meal is uour roast, then a pie using sny leftover veg, then curry, and then risotto using stock from the carcass & the last scraps.

timehastoldme

If your library has it I recommend the Green Roasting tin by Rukmini Iyer, there's a few easy one pan dishes in there that have become absolutely staple in our house. Baked gnocchi and broccoli pumpkin rice are *chefs kiss*

goldfinches

I'm a big fan of lentils especially brown ones which I think are the tastiest of all. Here's a lentil recipe adapted from Delia's Frugal Food that is easy and delicious, I do mine in my slow cooker but it could be done on the hob or even in a casserole in the bottom of the oven too.
225g green or brown dried whole lentils, 420 ml hot water, 50g butter, 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped, 1 clove garlic, crushed.
Wash and pick over the lentils, then place them in a saucepan with the hot water and some salt. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer very gently for about an hour, or until all the liquid has been absorbed and the lentils are mushy. Towards the end of their cooking time, heat the butter in a frying pan and soften the onion and garlic in it for 10 minutes or until they're nicely softened and gone a lovely golden colour; Now tip the lentils into a bowl and roughly mash them with a fork until they're mostly pulped then pour nearly all the buttery onions on top and mix them into the lentils and then taste a forkful and see if they need any extra seasoning and mix that in too. Then spoon the last of the buttery onions on top and serve immediately while still steaming hot. This serves 4 and goes well with just about anything from rice to bread or potatoes and tastes great. 

Rosa_Damascena

timehastoldme said:
If your library has it I recommend the Green Roasting tin by Rukmini Iyer, there's a few easy one pan dishes in there that have become absolutely staple in our house. Baked gnocchi and broccoli pumpkin rice are *chefs kiss*

Dully P'inned onto my wishlist, thanks. I shall be on chazzer-watch for this.

Now I have a lovely kitchen, I may even use it

EssexHebridean

I sometimes "stretch" mince in a bolognese by adding a pile of extremely finely chopped mushrooms - cook them off first in a pan with a little oil, then add the mince as usual. You can stretch even further with a good handful or two of red lentils as well - they disappear in the cooking, but help to thicken and add substance. You can easily get double quantity from your usual portion of mince like this. Similarly with a stew or casserole, as others have said - in our big slow cooker pot I usually throw in a couple of good handfuls each of pearl barley and red lentils, plus one of oatmeal. The barley adds, texture, the lentils substance, and the oatmeal thickens and produces the most gorgeous creamy gravy with the stock. Slow cooking in itself also means you need less meat in a stew as the flavours all permeate through, and using something like the "stock pots" rather than cubes can sometimes be worth the extra spend too - there are

"Rubber" chicken is a good old MSE favourite - there used to be an entire thread with ideas for that! Essentially as someone else already said - it's getting as many meals as possible from one bird. You can cook the whole bird in the slow cooker as a starting point and make the first meal a chicken stew too - although if doing that I'd strongly suggest nicking a few ladlefuls of the stock for a risotto a couple of days later!  

One thing I find really useful is to occasionally do a few weeks where I challenge myself to eat as much as possible from fridge, freezer and storecupboard. I can really impact on how much you spend. Also making sure I inventory things that need using up every few days just to keep an eye and make sure to avoid food waste. Once identified they can either be used immediately or frozen for use further along the line. 

CCW007

timehastoldme said:

If your library has it I recommend the Green Roasting tin by Rukmini Iyer, there's a few easy one pan dishes in there that have become absolutely staple in our house. Baked gnocchi and broccoli pumpkin rice are *chefs kiss*

This is the second recommendation I've seen for this book in two days, have ordered it thanks.

Floss

I'm having a use-up week next week, as there are several yellow-stickered items in my freezer which have been there a while. Its also an opportunity to assess what is being eaten & what is being hidden in the freezer! 😉

prepareathome

I love my slow cookers - have two, round not oval on a double fitting, 2.3lts each - it's a Gordon Ramsay bought many, many years ago - no bells or whistles but big enough to feed us (had 4 to feed when we got it) and means I can do a main and pud etc or another meal for next day.  Won't take a full chicken whole but easy enough to cut it up.  Only annoying thing is for lamb on bone if bone is big unless I bought it from a butcher and got them to cut it in half but just have to strip it if I want to do it in SC rather than oven.  Yesterday I did chicken in one and the last of the rhubarb and apples from the garden in the other - we will have them today as neither of us felt that hungry.  Not a fan of oats as thicken - but love porridge, toasted oats, oatcakes yet for some reason do not like the taste in meals yet love barley.   

Elisheba

I found that going through the old threads for Sneaky Ways to save the pennies, and Preparing for Winter and taking notes gave me loads of tips for stretching the food budget (and all the other budgets as well), and it was a nice, free way of relaxing when I had the chance to do it.