Sneaky ways to save the pennies

Lesley_Gaye

Well we made it. Heating didn't get put on until 1st November. Even now, I have only turned it on a couple of times, the rest of the time we are using (free) bits of leftover wood from various places on the open fire, and only in the eve so far. I know it will get colder and we will have to have heat from something during the day soon, but every day I can last out, is a day saved in my book!

Fruball

DonnaDoop wrote: »

Ive been reading about bulking out stews and mince etc with lentil, veggies....... Im now looking for honest opinions on how these taste, I dont want to spoil a good lump of stew in the slow cooker without knowing how it turns out - thanks !

I haven't tried it in stews yet (although I bung a few batch cooked and frozen mixed beans in stews) but I always chuck in a handful of oats, and a cup of lentils with my Spag Bol and Chilli and nobody in my house has noticed.

They taste fine and virtually dissappear into the meal

I think you'll be suprised at the result

geordie_joe

Nicki wrote: »

The loose powder is far far cheaper than the tablets, and its much easier just to pour a bit less in the dispenser than it is to wrestle with a knife and a hard tablet, trying to cut it into bit!

I don't have a dishwasher, but maybe it's also easier to pour a bit too much powder into the dispenser too.

It may be that powder is cheaper when you use a whole tablet, but not cheaper if you only use half a tablet, getting twice as many washer out of a set number of tablets.

Apart from that, in my experience manufacturers will always add a bit extra to the recommendations, to make sure their product works for everyone. Then add a bit more just so they can sell you more.

Need I mention the last three words on my shampoo bottle? "Rinse and Repeat".

Nicki

geordie_joe wrote: »

I don't have a dishwasher, but maybe it's also easier to pour a bit too much powder into the dispenser too.

It may be that powder is cheaper when you use a whole tablet, but not cheaper if you only use half a tablet, getting twice as many washer out of a set number of tablets.

If you know that you want to use less than the recommended dose I don't understand why you think that loose powder would be harder to use? My dw suggests that you use one tablespoon of powder, and provides a tablespoon scoop to measure. If I wanted to use less, I'd only fill the scoop half way. In any case, the soap dispenser in dishwashers is very small, so it would be hard to overfill it by accident.

Branded dishwasher tablets are about £5 for 28, so even if you cut them in half, you would be paying about 9p per wash. The same brand loose powder is £2.15 for 1kg. If you use the recommended amount you'd get 66 doses out of this at approx 3p per use, and if you used half doses, that would go down to 1.5p. Even given a bit of overmeasuring, that's still a big saving.

Bambywamby

RE washing machunes: Tablets can be cheaper than powder when on offer and I don't find them as messy as powder. However I prefer liquid, you can water it down to stretch it, it doesn't leave gloop in your drawer or white chalky marks on coloured clothes if you have over filled the washing machine...which I frequently do lol.

Beccatje

abaxas wrote: »

This may be gross but...


Most expensive foot creams have uric acid in them to break down hard skin.

Doing a no1 in the shower has the same effect (subject to being the correct sex :P)

Just make sure you have a good wash afterwards.

It works brilliantly on swimmers foot!

And if you're a girl, just lift your foot up under the flow.

Becca

Valli

OrkneyStar wrote: »

Lots of people swear by lentils or oats but they just don't cut it for me. I eke out the stew with an extra carrot (or three depending on size), onion or two, also you can add doughballs, mmmmm x

That's reminded me to post that I make suet dumplings (I use vegetarian suet) - very easy to make - but DO knead them for a lighter cooked texture - plain flour, suet and water. I make double the quantity, roll them, freeze half uncooked. Pop them in the top of a stew for that last 20 mins or so and they are filling and tasty - especially useful if you're trying to fill a strapping teenager.

To use the frozen ones you can do that straight from frozen but better to let them thaw. They can also be frozen e.g. with leftovers, cooked - and are equally tasty.

Valli

dianasnan wrote: »

Shirley Goode (remember her from the 70's and 80's used to do things like this including saving your orange peel to make marmalade.http://www.shirleygoode.com/

You can use ANY citrus peel..but do wash in hot water...(see my earlier post...I used to work on a refinery which produced this chemical)

canidothis

DonnaDoop wrote: »

Ive been reading about bulking out stews and mince etc with lentil, veggies....... Im now looking for honest opinions on how these taste, I dont want to spoil a good lump of stew in the slow cooker without knowing how it turns out - thanks !

Last night I made a chilli from 175g of mince, added grated carrot, oats AND lentils, nobody noticed they all had their fill and there is enough left for 1 lunch next week!:j

wizk1

Rather than paying at least £1 for a jar of Dolmio or equivalent ready made pasta sauce, here's a recipe I learned from my mum. Not only is this a doddle, but the results are rather a rather decent, if not better alternative to the jar, and costs pennies. The following feeds 2 people...

1 tin of chopped tomatoes (preferably with herbs) - 28p from Aldi
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 onion finely chopped
A tsp of italian seasoning
A small dollop of tomato puree
A small amount of olive oil (Again, Aldi's is very good)

Heat oil in a small saucepan over moderate heat with the italian seasoning, to bring out its flavour.

Add the onions and fry until they are soft

Add the garlic. I tend to add a little bit of fresh chilli at this point to give it a little kick.

Continue stirring for another few minutes.

Add the chopped tomatoes and the puree. (For the avid moneysavers like me, put a little bit of water in the empty tin, swill it around to extract any clinging tomato, and put this into the pan too)

I like to add a bit of grated carrot at this point too, but it's entirely optional.

Heat for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

And there you go. Season with a bit of pepper to finish. I don't bother with salt and sugar as the tomato puree eliminates the need. This pasta sauce also freezes extremely well, so you can quadruple on the measurements, and freeze what you don't use. Please let me know what you all think, and offer any advice you have to make this better