It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

Nelliegrace

I bought an M&S bronze turkey 75% off last year, and it did not have the promised giblets, so I wrote a polite letter, and got vouchers, so had the delicious bird for free. Well done M&S.

We do a simple (no waste) Christmas. I had to work Christmas day for years as we tried to give the day off to staff with young children. 

One advantage is that if you do Christmas dinner with all the trimmings a day or two later it costs a fraction of the price! It is worth having plenty of space available in the freezer. 

Florenceem

I made 10 ozs of short crust pastry yesterday using lard & marge. I lined 2 pie dishes with pastry and filled with - a mix of 4 sausages which I skinned + 3 fried onions + a made up packet of sage & onion stuffing + black pepper/Worcestershire sauce & garlic seasoning - layered it with a hot spicy chutney/sliced hard boiled eggs + tomatoes  and then put on pastry lid. Made 10 portions - only two of us here. I will freeze some (although hard boiled egg is not so good after freezing) - we eat out on a Wednesday at SA but having pie yesterday/today and tomorrow.  Having pie with dough balls & garlic dip + dressed rocket tonight. Tomorrow - pie + some hm chips & baked beans. 

YorksLass

Slight change to today's plans - I decided to collect DH's meds today since it's forecast to be the driest day of the week with rain every day after that for the next 10 days or so.  Very mild out, so much so I had to take off my gloves and scarf.  Lots more Spring flowers starting to appear now, including blackthorn blossoms.

The French soaps I ordered last Friday arrived this morning (very speedy delivery, well impressed) and until I need them they're living in my bedroom drawers to make everything smell nice.  

Monthly G & E meter readings sent in this morning and the bill is already here.  It's going in the right direction, £40 less than last month, and there's still a decent amount of credit on our account.  Of course we'll not be getting the £60-odd each month from April but the heating will be on far less - or not at all - so I'll be keeping a close eye on our account and be prepared for when our current plan ends in August.

Dinner tonight is pork shoulder steaks in BBQ sauce, butter beans and jacket potatoes with rice pudding for afters, if wanted.

Auntycaz

@Forenceem if the hard boiled egg isn't so good after freezing, could you swap it for something else in one of the pies and freeze the one without the egg.

Auntycaz

Just been watching eat well for less on tv. They saved a couple with 3 children over £123 per week They must sift through the people that apply to find people with more money than sense. Admittedly they did have a family with a sick child who had lots of hospital appointments so they were time poor but some of the families are just so wasteful.I would like to see them save money for the people on here but I suppose it wouldn't make a tv show if they only saved a couple of pounds.

Longwalker

Nelliegrace said:

I bought an M&S bronze turkey 75% off last year, and it did not have the promised giblets, so I wrote a polite letter, and got vouchers, so had the delicious bird for free. Well done M&S.

We do a simple (no waste) Christmas. I had to work Christmas day for years as we tried to give the day off to staff with young children. 

One advantage is that if you do Christmas dinner with all the trimmings a day or two later it costs a fraction of the price! It is worth having plenty of space available in the freezer. 

How you do a no waste Christmas Id love to know

I have pared it back further and further each year, but usually end up chucking something. Not the turkey or ham or the veg , I can always make something out of nothing with those. But its the sweet stuff you somehow end up having, even if you dont buy any yourself

I bought one £2 box of all butter shortbread ( cheaper to buy then to make now ) and a six pack. of mince pies and a pot of cream - mince pies were binned as SIL , who is a fantastic baker, gave me a quarter of her Christmas cake 

Then of course there were the gifts of chocolates and biscuits. I kid you not I just last week threw out last years Easter egg lol

I try my very best not to throw out food, but sometimes you have to admit defeat and bin it, especially those times when you take something out of the freezer, cook with it, add the remains to the freezer, take that out to use - and theres more flipping left overs

I also do the chicken carcus stock/soup . Why I have taken all my cooking life up to now to get my head around a Pressure Cooker, I dont know. Makes stock/soup making a breeze and Im more like to do it rather then saying to myself Ill do that tomorrow and tomorrow never coming so it ending up in the freezer to eventually be dumped when I need freezer space 

Longwalker

Florenceem said:

I made 10 ozs of short crust pastry yesterday using lard & marge. I lined 2 pie dishes with pastry and filled with - a mix of 4 sausages which I skinned + 3 fried onions + a made up packet of sage & onion stuffing + black pepper/Worcestershire sauce & garlic seasoning - layered it with a hot spicy chutney/sliced hard boiled eggs + tomatoes  and then put on pastry lid. Made 10 portions - only two of us here. I will freeze some (although hard boiled egg is not so good after freezing) - we eat out on a Wednesday at SA but having pie yesterday/today and tomorrow.  Having pie with dough balls & garlic dip + dressed rocket tonight. Tomorrow - pie + some hm chips & baked beans. 

That sounds so good, my type of food tbh. I love a sausage pie/plat. I really like corned beef pie as well ( hairy bikers have a cracking recipe which is real proper . My trouble is Mr L only likes chicken/turkey pies. I sometimes in the summer get away with a quiche but he moans 

Longwalker

Auntycaz said:

Just been watching eat well for less on tv. They saved a couple with 3 children over £123 per week They must sift through the people that apply to find people with more money than sense. Admittedly they did have a family with a sick child who had lots of hospital appointments so they were time poor but some of the families are just so wasteful.I would like to see them save money for the people on here but I suppose it wouldn't make a tv show if they only saved a couple of pounds.

That programme so annoys me, as you say, more money then sense. But at the same time I also like it because if theres a family out there watching and picks up on one idea, its worth the tv space. And Ive taken on board some of the recipes - they are all on the BBC website. Plus the dietician segment can be an eye opener. 

Florenceem

Longwalker - Blessed that Mr F never complains about his dinners - there are only a few things that he doesn't eat - Sauerkraut - he likes it but goes straight through him - tmi!.

Longwalker

Florenceem said:

Longwalker - Blessed that Mr F never complains about his dinners - there are only a few things that he doesn't eat - Sauerkraut - he likes it but goes straight through him - tmi!.

Unfortunately Mr L was born middle class

He had never had food like liver and bacon ( he likes that ) till we got together. He had chicken, steak etc. Bubble and squeak? Never heard of it, Curry? Foreign lol. To him a Chinese meal was chicken Maryland ( dont ask, its a NI thing lol )

So corned beef, that as far as he is concerned mashed up horse, along with black pudding. 

Then I have mum who reckons her teeth dont work nowadays - gristle on turkey breast? She will find it lol