April 2008 Grocery Challenge

Savvy_sewing

angelatgraceland wrote: »

Well Im also at this stage but Ive not actually frozen it before(the juices). I will let them go cold, divide them up into about four tubs and freeze as chicken stock-unless anyone can tell me better?
Just been separating the stuff on the carcass-of course, we could make chicken soup but the cat wouldnt get a dinner and we may look so like chickens that she might want to eat us instead :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: so the cat wins!

I always use the juices of the chicken in my gravy. When I used to run my pub I would use the juices of all of the meats into their gravy. I also used to add beer to the meat gravy. It went down a storm. Used Guinness mostly, but any of the bitters would also do very well, had customers who wanted to buy my gravy to take home.

angelatgraceland

So if I freeze my chicken stock from the carcass it will also be available for gravymaking at a later stage then. Its tubbed up right now, waiting for it to go cold. Ooooh all of my tubs are gone now! I just may have to get some later in the week. Just tubs and ingredients for the lemon sorbet for me.
I do intend a NSD tomorrow as Im helping someone have a bit of a clearout so it will keep me away from the shops.

I may try making the vegetarian pate with chick peas or boil up my own haricot beans-the list of ideas just grows now!

Savvy_sewing

angelatgraceland wrote: »

So if I freeze my chicken stock from the carcass it will also be available for gravymaking at a later stage then. Its tubbed up right now, waiting for it to go cold. Ooooh all of my tubs are gone now! I just may have to get some later in the week. Just tubs and ingredients for the lemon sorbet for me.
I do intend a NSD tomorrow as Im helping someone have a bit of a clearout so it will keep me away from the shops.

I may try making the vegetarian pate with chick peas or boil up my own haricot beans-the list of ideas just grows now!

When the things are frozen, you can dip them in hot water and then turn them out and wrap them in Cling wrap, and or foil, label. Then you can re use the tubs. Dont have to keep buying them. Best to double wrap if you dig about in your freezer a lot. Good luck with the batch cooking.

angelatgraceland

Thaks mooloo-Yes-Ive done that before but I did need the reminder! You just saved me a fiver!

Savvy_sewing

You could make a chicken and barley soup.
It uses all those bits that you tend to think are not edible.

approx 1 lb chicken wings, necks, hearts, giblets etc
pint water
1 carrot coarsely chopped
chopped stump leaves or stalks of Celery
small parsnip, peeled and chopped
1 onion chopped
salt
pepper
few mushroom stalks (optional)
3 1/2 oz pear barley
1 dsp fresh chopped parsley.
Method. Put the chicken pieces in the water into a large pan. Bring to boil and skim off the foam as it rises. Add the vegetables and seasoning. Partially cover the pan and simmer for 30 mins. Add the mushroom stalks and washed barley. Simmer for a further hour, stirring occasionally until the barley and chicken are tender.
Remove the chicken pieces with a perforated spoon, skin and take the meat from the bones, chop the meat and add to the simmering soup. check the seasoning, stir in the parsley and serve. Enjoy.

weezl74

Hiya angelatgraceland,

When I got my new freezer, I ran out of tubs very quickly:o, but didn't want to spend out on more, so me and DH went round the neighbours to ask if they'd anything with a lid we could use that they'd put aside for the recycling. It only gets collected fortnightly here. We ended up with a good stash! 'Utterly butterly' type sized ones work well for us as there's 2 of us...

They collected jam jars for us too at christmas for our hampers and our 'cash neutral challenge'...:cool:

hope that's useful...

Weezl x

Savvy_sewing

Weezl74 whats the cash neuteral challenge. I havent been able to get my head around that really. Is there a thread? I have noticed it mentioned on Hypno's some time ago. but not recently. I certainly need to find ways and means to make Christmas a bit cheaper now that the grandchildren are living with me, and this house is a fuel pit.

angelatgraceland

weezl74 wrote: »

Hiya angelatgraceland,

When I got my new freezer, I ran out of tubs very quickly:o, but didn't want to spend out on more, so me and DH went round the neighbours to ask if they'd anything with a lid we could use that they'd put aside for the recycling. It only gets collected fortnightly here. We ended up with a good stash! 'Utterly butterly' type sized ones work well for us as there's 2 of us...

They collected jam jars for us too at christmas for our hampers and our 'cash neutral challenge'...:cool:

hope that's useful...

Weezl x

Yes now I was going to save my margarine tubs recently and didn't but the amount that the kids use I could soon et a good supply together for freezing stock etc-no good for reheating but as you say, to loosen the stock and then put it in bags, it wouldfree up my cookings tubs. I could also make sorbet etc in those.

weezl74

Mooloo wrote: »

Weezl74 whats the cash neuteral challenge. I havent been able to get my head around that really. Is there a thread? I have noticed it mentioned on Hypno's some time ago. but not recently. I certainly need to find ways and means to make Christmas a bit cheaper now that the grandchildren are living with me, and this house is a fuel pit.

Hiya mooloo,

There was a thread on the christmas and special occasions board, and I started a little one about OS hampers. My challenge wasn't really based on a thread, but my aim was that christmas would effectively not 'cost' anything. :money:

We were on a £50 a month food budget then, so we aimed to buy the stuff for the hampers out of that as well. We made chutneys, herb oils, rich dark chocolate sauce, apple cheese, chilli jam, caramelised onion relish... :T

We had a 4% cashback credit card at the time, for 3 months leading up to christmas, so I put food shopping, council tax, all my train fares to work, fuel for the car.... etc, onto that, and used the 4% cashback to buy wool to knit HM handbags, scarves, cushion covers, even a jumper (a bit wonky, but loved by my gothic neice!!!:D).

Others find inventive other ways of making christmas 'cash neutral', hope you are successful with a way that suits you.;)

Hope that all makes sense!

Weezl x

MrDT

Right, well part of this months challenge wasn't just to save money, it was to empty the freezer so I can defrost the damn thing. Not going to plan. It seems to be getting fuller even though I'm not doing any shopping (but I am bulk cooking).

My challenge will be to stretch the £60 to the 30th of April, not the 25th as originally intended. I will empty that bloody chest freezer!