January 2025 Grocery Challenge

Suffolk_lass

@carboot_karaoke a couple more points from me

If you put the dried lentils in a take away plastic tray and leave a cm, it is about the right size for a tin. I cook lentils, chick peas and brown rice by soaking for an hour or two then rinse and cook thoroughly in the pressure cooker (40 minutes at pressure) and then drain, fill the take-away trays and freeze them in that small compartment you always get in an upright freezer. Then I add one as if it were a tin. Buying beans and pulses dried in bigger bags is a big saving. Especially from asian food stores if you have any near you.

Lasagne, as others say, adding veg (onions, carrot and celery are staple additions here), cut quite small (and if there is resistance, you could always blitze them with a tin of tomatoes then add back for “invisible” veg. And I use penne rather than lasagne sheets because I can usually find a giant bag of penne - I stir the ragu sauce through the penne and just top it with sauce with strong cheddar (£5 for 750g) melted into the sauce once it is bubbling. Then you are only topping it with a little expensive cheese (although I now use the same “cooking” cheddar for that too). Call it Pasticcio instead of lasagne for accuracy - it’s much easier to dish up, spreads across the plate more and fools teenagers into thinking they have a bigger portion than they actually have. I fill one bowl with dried pasta for the portion size and it generously does 4 portions - you could go heavier on the pasta which is much cheaper than the meat.

Speaking of maximising (rubberising, as the meat bounces forward, day by day) meat from a joint, I make a minced beef like my (95 year old) Mum used to - I blitze an onion, then the left over meat (works well with any of beef, pork or lamb) and then some bread chunks (which “cleans” the inside of the processor nicely), in a saucepan with shake of Worcester’ and tabasco, a pinch of herbs and water, maybe a squirt of ketchup to taste. It is great with potato on top, or as a ragu base, and if you leave the chopped meat a little chunky, it goes down well as hungry carnivores recognise the meat!

Oh yes, bread crusts - toast then blitze them - just as good as panko, kept in the freezer

Suffolk_lass

UPDATE ON FEBRUARY THREAD

I have had a response from the person I messaged who is working with the Old Style Board's Ambassadors to get February up as @elsiepac has been MIA since she last posted on here (8th Jan)

carboot_karaoke

Thank you @K9sandFelines and @Suffolk_lass for the tips 

I'm going to get on the bean and lentil prep game this weekend ready for all these, delicious, filling and cheap meals.

 

PipneyJane

carboot_karaoke said:

Hi All,

I am posting to ask some advice. from my fellow MS. 

I have been preparing Feb's meal plan along with some costings and realised that the cost of some of our staple meals has increased massively.  For example I estimate that the lasagne we're having tonight is about £10 !!😮 for 6 good portions.  My eldest, thinks it would be cheaper buying a ready made one.  Little wonder, l normally spend £400-£550 on food.  Excluding takeaways, or alcohol. 

The cost is due to 5% fat beef @£3.79 for 500g about £1.50 worth of grated mozzarella, then pasta sheets @75p l cheat and buy a white sauce for 89p and then use tinned tomatoes,  passata and loads of vegetables, like peppers, onions, courgettes and mushrooms easily £3 worth. 

I'm sure l can adapt the recipe, ie reduce the meat and add lentils. I regularly use red split lentils for soup. But I've never cooked green lentils which I've heard would be better for this type of meal. This made me question other meals.

I am thinking that adding beans to meals would make the food filling and healthy.  I normally use tinned , although l have brought dried black beans and kidney beans.  I recall reading something about freezing them.  Is that before or after soaking? How do you know the dry weight amount of grams equivalent to a regular 400g tin.

I don't want to compromise on healthy food and like to incorporate plenty of fresh veg, but maybe I'm going about it wrong. We can afford the amount we spend but that doesn't mean l want to 😂. 

I would welcome any suggestions of good value meals for 6. We eat:

All meat apart from liver, kidney.

Pasta, rice, potato, sweet potato, butternut squash 

Carrots,  brocoli,  cauliflower,  onions,  courgettes, mushrooms,  peppers,  kale, spinach,  leeks, cabbage,  red cabbage, sweetcorn,  peas,  tomatoes, salad, cucumber, avocado and others l can't think of right now 

Kidney beans,  chick peas,  black beans, - in the tin and red lentils. (But l do have dried ones and green lentils) 

CK x 

Firstly, @carboot_karaoke I haven’t read anyone else’s response, so apologies if I am repeating what other people have said.  Here are my thoughts:

1. While it is easier to use bought bechamel sauce, it is cheaper to make your own.
2. With dried beans, it’s far more efficient - and cheaper - to cook 500g-1kg in one go and then portion into tin-sized portions and freeze what you aren’t using immediately.  One 400g can of cooked beans contains 245g-250g of beans; the rest is water.   
3. Cooking and freezing dried beans:  Soak dried kidney beans or black beans overnight, drain, place into a (recycled) bread bag and freeze for at least 6 hours.  Remove from freezer and defrost for at least an hour, at which point you should easily be able to slide the contents out, in one large icy lump anddump it in your cooking pan.  Cover with a kettle of freshly boiled water, bring back to the boil and cook according to the instructions on the packet.   (If you have a pressure cooker, 30 minutes at full pressure will do the job.)
   
4. Point 3 also works for chickpeas, pinto beans, etc.
5.  Kidney beans need to be hard-boiled for 10 minutes to break down toxins.
6. You do not need to soak-and-freeze the following:  whole lentils, mung beans, adzuki beans or black-eyed beans.  These cook relatively quickly.
7. Adding lentils to mince-based meals.  I would use split red lentils, not whole ones, because they will be indistinguishable in the cooked sauce, whereas picky eaters will notice whole ones.
8. Other bulking agents for mince-based meals.  Restaurants frequently add grated carrots.  Having grown a glut of them, I add frozen, grated courgette.  People here frequently add a handful of rolled oats, BUT I find they cause the sauce to catch and burn. 

HTH

- Pip

carboot_karaoke

Suffolk_lass said:

UPDATE ON FEBRUARY THREAD

I have had a response from the person I messaged who is working with the Old Style Board's Ambassadors to get February up as @elsiepac has been MIA since she last posted on here (8th Jan)

Thank you for sorting this out.☺️

Really hope everything is ok @elsiepac x 

carboot_karaoke

Thank you @PipneyJane super helpful as always 😊

Can l ask.. probably an obvious question ; if l prepare, soak and freeze more than l need,  i'm guessing l can leave in the freezer until needed. Or would you defrost, cook and then refreeze to be added into meals?

Am l making something easy, complicated Mr CK says l do that all the time.😂

Quantaqa

Suffolk_lass said:

UPDATE ON FEBRUARY THREAD

I have had a response from the person I messaged who is working with the Old Style Board's Ambassadors to get February up as @elsiepac has been MIA since she last posted on here (8th Jan)

Thank you @Suffolk_lass, much appreciated.  I hope @elsiepac is ok.

cheerfulness4

Little shop at Tesco for essentials costing £28.89 to add to my total.  Would have been less but I spotted the Persil laundry liquid @ half price so stocked up. 

TravelCrystal

Many thanks @Suffolk_lass, hope @elsiepac is ok, lots of admin to do now with all of us money savers!!

We have sunshine 🌞 here
Enjoy your day folks 

T.C

otb666

I buy my beans in tins from aldi rather than pre soaking etc,I also buy my tuna and mackrel in tins from aldi. I use red split  lentils and just add to pot they cook in 6 mins.  I do soak my pearl barley.wheat barley, yellow split peas overnight in jam jar then they only need 20 mins on hob. All from co op  Its a bit more expensive doing it this way but I have limited storage and cannot buy in bulk which would make it cheaper. This works for me. Aldi had some chestnuts 99p which I have added to shopping list as yummy and can add to pot also mushrooms are good to add as well.