Old Style vs the USDA head-to-head challenge...

mama67

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

Thanks maisie had thought of this but when you open it you have no lid to put on it...........still experimenting with recipes and waiting for chutney to mature is a killer made some of weezls red onion marmalade and cant wait to try it cost about a quid for £8 of shop bought equivalent

Waiting till summer hoping fruit will be cheaper especially plums .............considering going round green grocers marketstalls at the end of saturdays and asking for their rejects (at a big discount obviously)

have been stocking up on frozen fruits though asda been doing blackberries for £1 and the same at mr ts for black forest fruits we are down to one jar of jam so might do that this weekend

The soap i made wont be usable for another two weeks ...the suspense is killing me


Take care

Shaz

I just reused the cellophane with the laggy band to re seal it and kept mit in the fridge.

weezl74

Morning all,:hello:

Didn't post last night as my brother came round. A lovely evening, but I'm sad because after living in the same city for 12 years as me, he's off to bigger and better things. I want him to have a brilliant time, and also I'm going to really miss how easy it is to see him. Anyway, back on topic....Ahem:o

Good idea about trying for reduced fruits at the end of the day shaz, also about using the frozen blackberries. How much jam does a £1 bag of blackberries make?

Also, would your family go fruit picking at at 'pick your own' farm as an afternoon out? That might make jam costs a bit cheaper.

I'm sure your kitchen could get licensed, it's lovely! And your food always looks really good too, nothing seems misshapen I mean, and I think that matters a lot to people when buying...;)

Have you read the thread on those pricy wedding cupcakes.... Looks interesting, and definately the sort of thing you could do!

Sig updated after trip to Lidl yesterday. Gulp. But can't think of a single other thing we need. We have more evening meals left than there are days, enough for half way into July:D. And a loo roll every 6 days. :oAnd a dishwasher tablet every 2.5 days.;)

Geeky maths aside, I think we're going to make it!

Weezl x

redsquirrel80

Hi Weezl, just caught up on the last few days - wow £2.17 left, is that till the end of the month? I was panicking about having less than £9 left for a fortnight but am sure it's manageable.. I have lots of potatoes!

Love the Swedish recipes, definitely going to try some of them (possibly using my potatoes ), spent a week there about ten years ago and I absolutely loved the food, would love to go back.

Going to try some jam this year I think, am currently experimenting with pickles, made some lovely cucumber & spring onion in slightly spicy vinegar. Anyone have a good pickled cabbage recipe?

Geeky maths is great, and obviously very effective

weezl74

Hi redsquirrel,

Yep, it's til the end of the month! :eek:

Please post your pickle recipes they sound lovely! Mrs Macawber has made a spicy cabbage thingy I remember, wonder if she can be persuaded to help?

Weezl x

redsquirrel80

Well, when I was googling for recipes I came across this thread -http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=588176 - which has some very useful tips.

Also found this site - http://kitchenparade.com/2006/07/refrigerator-pickles.php which I sort of pinched the cucumber one from (not entirely convinced about the brussel sprout one though!)

Mine was basically to chop up cucumber (bought a whole one which would go squidgy before I got through it all) and spring onions (which were looking a bit sad), chuck in a colander and cover with salt for a few hours, balanced over the sink so liquid could drain out. Rinse off excess salt and let it all dry a bit. Boil vinegar in a pan with sugar (used about a tablespoon for two jars worth), pinch of salt, about half a teaspoon of spices (used chilli and paprika I think) and some mixed herbs. Put cucumber and onions into jars then pour over hot vinegar mixture, covering all the veg, put lids on. Allow to cool then put into fridge. Most recipes advised leaving them for at least four weeks but I got curious after about a week and tried some - nice and crunchy and tasty! Have had it as part of a salad, with cheese & bread, and as a side to a curry.

More experiments will be forthcoming!

ceridwen

Hi weezl

Just had few further thoughts on your P.M. to me - but your P.M. box is now full and cant receive any more messages.

so - maybe you might like to send me an email on my "address" I gave you? - so I can send reply back that way:D

shaz_mum_of__2

Hi weezl as for the jam blackberries are low in pectin so need to be combined with a fruit which is high in my case apple i am going for a 1/2 and 1/2 approach my basic jam recipe is 1lb of fruit to 1lb sugar(granulated)plus i soak the fruit overnight in the sugar then in the morning boil until setting point if using apples add them in the morning as they would brown so approx:

£1 for berries
£ .50 for apples if using eating value ones
£.50 for sugar

and this would make 4 jars(ish) you could add a little water but wouldnt get such a good set more of a spoonable jam but you might squueze another jar out of it

there are some recipes here

http://www.allotment.org.uk/recipe/category/chutney-jam-val/jam/

its really easy and tastes so much better

Weezl you will have realized you could buy 4 jars of value jam for the same price think of it as extra special for the price of value!!!

redsquirrel there is a recipe here for red cabbage

http://www.allotment.org.uk/recipe/category/chutney-jam-val/jam/

i too have made pickled cucumbers i used rhonda jeans recipe they are lovely despit my scepticm we all liked them!

http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2007/05/pickled-cucumbers.html

lidl were selling cues for 29p last week still!


Shaz

In_Search_Of_Me

Morning pepys! Shaz if you want any jam recipes let me know!! I have 2 books with yummy recipes in and I think some odd unns!
Umm my bread has gone mouldy so will have to chuck it...annyoying but I dont like putting it in the fridge but maybe need to resort to freezing half unless pepys have other suggestions? I dont eat much in the week but have toast for w/e brekkie...I wondered about a bread bag but didnt know if they made a difference?

weezl74

In_Search_Of_Me wrote: »

Morning pepys! Shaz if you want any jam recipes let me know!! I have 2 books with yummy recipes in and I think some odd unns!
Umm my bread has gone mouldy so will have to chuck it...annyoying but I dont like putting it in the fridge but maybe need to resort to freezing half unless pepys have other suggestions? I dont eat much in the week but have toast for w/e brekkie...I wondered about a bread bag but didnt know if they made a difference?

Morning ISOM (from my sickbed! Did some unfortunate frowing up in the night, but as Mr Weezl is looking and feeling chipper, I don't think it's the food!)

this link says some really interesting things about natural preservatives for homemade bread. The other think you could try is making yourself a little batch of breakfast rolls, rather than a whole loaf, say 4 per weekend...?

Is it freezer space that's the issue?

Shaz- extra special jam at 50p a jar does seem very good, even to me! Have you got any further in your quest to sell your wares?;) Probably a dumb question, but when you were talking about recycling jars, it sounded like lids were an issue.

Erm..... why not reuse the original ones? I found that if you bottle up when the liquid is piping hot, then as it cools, it reforms the vacuum seal that pushes the centre of the lid down, and you get that reassuring 'pop' as the seal breaks months later.

Hiya redsquirrel, we would love to hear more about your adventures in pickling land, pop back and tell more!

Only 3 weeks of the mad challenge to go. And I'm quietly confident. ISOM has worked out a sneaky loophole for me if I get stuck (lovely girl;)) but I in my somewhat obsessive way am determined to try to do it 'properly'!

ceridwen, have PMd you my address, and cleared out my PM box now, oops!:o

shaz_mum_of__2

weezl74 wrote: »

Erm..... why not reuse the original ones? I found that if you bottle up when the liquid is piping hot, then as it cools, it reforms the vacuum seal that pushes the centre of the lid down, and you get that reassuring 'pop' as the seal breaks months later.

Sorry your not well ................look on the bright side you won't be eating anything:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:


as far as lids go i thoght if you were charging a couple of quid for something people would expect a new jar???

guess not

still experimenting with recipes and costs and got sidetracked with card,soap and candlemaking...............

Weezl [STRIKE]if[/STRIKE]when you continue this challenge will you be doing different meals or were you happy with the variety

i dont think i have posted this site before its a fab veggie site might be good for a spot of inspiration

http://www.fatfreevegan.com/

Shaz