Sneaky ways to save the pennies

BigMummaF

Last night's dinner was a touch of this thread plus a bit of Out of Date:p

I bought some pitta breads a long while back & had one pack left. Whilst looking thru the cupboards about a month ago the date label fell off:whistle: so I had no idea of the BBDate;)

So it was cold chicken from Monday, the odds & sods of salad stuff & crammed into pitta. And everyone's still breathing this morning:j :rotfl:

carriebradshaw

sb44 wrote: »

Tear off a few sheets of kitchen roll and cut them up into quarters.

Pop them into a tub or something similar to keep them together and just use one or two at a time instead of a full sheet.

I had the idea yesterday so have only been doing it for a couple days now but it seems to be ok.

When I make my daughter's Marmite toast I wipe the butter off the knife before putting it into the marmite jar and I was wasting a sheet just for this, a quarter is plenty.

you could mix some marmite and butter together and keep it in a little tub in the fridge then you wouldn't have to use the kitchen paper to wipe the knife at all

backtomum

funkyfunkymonkey wrote: »

You are right, I've lost 3 stone in the last year, alot of it down to portion control (as well as not eating chocs/cakes etc in the evening). I generally followed the Rosemary Conley diet - which is quite heavy on understanding portion sizes.

It surprised me that reducing portions to 'sensible' sizes did not leave me feeling hungry. There have been programmes on the tv recently that have said that you do not feel full until 20minutes after eating. That makes sense because my OH will not eat a pudding if he does not have it straight after tea, he says he isn't hungry anymore.

I always weigh the frozen veg, rice and pasta now to avoid wastage. I should also do the same with potatoes 'cos we do tend to over estimate how many we need for mash so end up throwing some out at the end of the meal (or it lives in the fridge in the hope that we might use it for something).

I do try to avoid over loading plates as that leads to over eating, I grew up in an age where we were encouraged to empty our plates.

This approach certainly reduces spend and waistlines.

FFM

You are so right. This year I've lost a stone, by doing exactly this. Portion control is the only way to reduce your weight. Eat anything but eat less of it. I've started this with the whole family - I had been feeding the whole family massive portions! I suppose when you look at the obesity epidemic it makes sense with all the supersized meals, bogoffs etc. Take this for an example I was shopping a couple of weeks ago and was looking to buy a packet of Wotsits. There was an offer on buy 2 get 2 free! So what did I do I ended up with four bags when I'd only gone in for 1. Now in the old days they would have all ended up in the cupboard and we would probably have eaten them in the same week. This time I hid them and they lasted - simple really. And of course it saves money! Also don't bother with sell by dates now I just use my nose, and am trying really hard not to throw anything out - I shudder when I think how much food/money I've wasted through the years!

sb44

carriebradshaw wrote: »

you could mix some marmite and butter together and keep it in a little tub in the fridge then you wouldn't have to use the kitchen paper to wipe the knife at all

Never thought of that.



Shall have to give it a try tomorrow.

Ta!

FairyElephant_2

I use two separate knives, but my DH uses a spoon to get jam etc. out of the jar, so it doesn't get on the same knife as the butter - I never knew this until the other day when I was poorly & he brought me tea & toast in bed (bless!). I wanted marmite (well, Lidl's cheaper equivalent anyway) which he cannot stand even the smell of, so he brought me the 'butter' knife to spread it with and a spoon to get it out of the jar with! Believe me - this is NOT a good option with marmite - you can't get it all off the spoon, and whereas you'd just lick the jam spoon clean afterwards.......

Ches

I believe you are so right about portion control. When I was first married about 150 years ago I used to buy 1/2lb of meat for each meal from the butchers. Now in the days of supermarket packs we have been eating bigger portions. ie. 500g og mince for a bolognaise for 2 people (less a small portion for a very small dog). Today I bought 2x1kg of mince from Mr t's for £5.50 and split it up into 8 meal sized packs of 1/2lb each. That should be enough padded out with veg. I also split the 1lb packs of sausages up into 1/2lb packs (4 sausages is plenty because I only eat 1 in a toad in the hole as not keen). I hope this will lead to a reduction in grocery money, weight and waste. Fingers crossed.

miggy

trying-very-trying wrote: »

Miggy, there's a "don't throw food away challenge" maybe you should try that. It's amazing how much stuff that normally gets thrown out can be rescued. I only very roughly meal plan, but it all gets completely abandoned when I find that I've got unexpected stuff needing used up, i.e something that my neighbour has handed in or some reduced to clears that my dad has kindly brought over for me to use up.

Thanks for this - I shall go and look it up! I took my own advice this evening and made a veggie stew out of as many of the going-out-of-date veg as I could. I'm ashamed to say there were loads of them so we had leeks, spring onions, a carrot, a potato, a stick of celery, a courgette, peas, an orange pepper, a tin of tomatoes, tomato and garlic purees and black pepper. I served it on pasta with some cheese on top, DH had tuna with his and all in all it was a success.
I feel good that I managed to rescue all this and had a (sort of) free meal that was also good for us.
Will certainly try to make a 'finish the fridge stew' part of the routine now.
I can also see further into the fridge than I have for a while :rotfl: .
Okay, I'm off to find the challenge and get inspired!
Thanks:)

karenlaura

Hi I am a Newbie hope you dont mind me posting on here.

I have been trying to follow some of the tips I have read and am very proud of the savings I have made.
However I read somewhere that you could cook a steamed sponge in the dishwasher so I decided to have a go!!
Either I did it wrong or I can safely say you CANNOT:eek:
My DH is still laughing today and I am sure has relayed the story to his mates. Perhaps I will try the tip about cooking it under the bonnet of my car next:rotfl:

Karen
xxx

EssexHebridean

Karenlaura - thanks for sharing that - I have the most wonderful image in my head now!!!

Primrose

Karenlaura - and maybe we can try frying our supper eggs & bacon on the hot metal of our car bonnets after they've been standing in the hot sun all day !!!
I'm sure I've also seen a reference somewhere to cooking puddings in dishwashers. Must Google it to try and discover more.
But I'm sure we could probably do scrambled eggs in our washing machines if they were put in a really water tight container !! But the money saved would not equate the cost of a replacement washing machine & clothes if things went wrong !