Good food can be cheap.....
Discussion
Tonight I prepared a cheap healthy meal for my family which cost less than 75p per person.
Gammon from butcher £1.99 which I boiled and served a family of four and have enough for my lunch at work.
five spuds for mash - approx £1
greens from my mates garden - Free
Gravey - 20p or so.
And it tasted fantastic.
Who said a family can't eat well on a budget!!!!
Gammon from butcher £1.99 which I boiled and served a family of four and have enough for my lunch at work.
five spuds for mash - approx £1
greens from my mates garden - Free
Gravey - 20p or so.
And it tasted fantastic.
Who said a family can't eat well on a budget!!!!
Good start but you could have got the spuds much cheaper...plus if you'd have been really trying you'd have used the gammon stock to make a pea and ham soup...then I might have been impressed!! 
Sounds like you're a new convert to the "cooking from scratch" school of thought, you should keep at it, you'd be amazed how cheaply and well you can eat when the majority of what you buy doesn't come in jars and microwave packets!
I've gone back to baking breads/cakes/quiches etc. from scratch, I haven't done a freezer shop for nearly 8 weeks (only two of us) but the freezer is fuller than ever and I've only bought storecupboard stuff, I spent less than £100 on food in August and that including a £15 Dominos pizza blitz (I normally make pizza but couldn't be arsed!) and we eat really well.
edited to add....Sainsbury's "feed your family for a fiver" campaign always makes me laugh! A fiver for a family, that's much more than you need to spend. It's a good start to get people cooking though.
Sounds like you're a new convert to the "cooking from scratch" school of thought, you should keep at it, you'd be amazed how cheaply and well you can eat when the majority of what you buy doesn't come in jars and microwave packets!
I've gone back to baking breads/cakes/quiches etc. from scratch, I haven't done a freezer shop for nearly 8 weeks (only two of us) but the freezer is fuller than ever and I've only bought storecupboard stuff, I spent less than £100 on food in August and that including a £15 Dominos pizza blitz (I normally make pizza but couldn't be arsed!) and we eat really well.
edited to add....Sainsbury's "feed your family for a fiver" campaign always makes me laugh! A fiver for a family, that's much more than you need to spend. It's a good start to get people cooking though.
Edited by Piglet on Tuesday 26th August 09:36
Piglet said:
Good start but you could have got the spuds much cheaper...plus if you'd have been really trying you'd have used the gammon stock to make a pea and ham soup...then I might have been impressed!!
Sounds like you're a new convert to the "cooking from scratch" school of thought, you should keep at it, you'd be amazed how cheaply and well you can eat when the majority of what you buy doesn't come in jars and microwave packets!
I've gone back to baking breads/cakes/quiches etc. from scratch, I haven't done a freezer shop for nearly 8 weeks (only two of us) but the freezer is fuller than ever and I've only bought storecupboard stuff, I spent less than £100 on food in August and that including a £15 Dominos pizza blitz (I normally make pizza but couldn't be arsed!) and we eat really well.
edited to add....Sainsbury's "feed your family for a fiver" campaign always makes me laugh! A fiver for a family, that's much more than you need to spend. It's a good start to get people cooking though.
I agree with what you say about Sainsbury's it does make me laugh. I actually cook from scratch quite a lot. My point is that all these people who bleet on about how much it costs to buy good food and then go and shop in Iceland feeding the family on chips and burgers need to take a long hard look at what they are doing. Sounds like you're a new convert to the "cooking from scratch" school of thought, you should keep at it, you'd be amazed how cheaply and well you can eat when the majority of what you buy doesn't come in jars and microwave packets!
I've gone back to baking breads/cakes/quiches etc. from scratch, I haven't done a freezer shop for nearly 8 weeks (only two of us) but the freezer is fuller than ever and I've only bought storecupboard stuff, I spent less than £100 on food in August and that including a £15 Dominos pizza blitz (I normally make pizza but couldn't be arsed!) and we eat really well.
edited to add....Sainsbury's "feed your family for a fiver" campaign always makes me laugh! A fiver for a family, that's much more than you need to spend. It's a good start to get people cooking though.
Edited by Piglet on Tuesday 26th August 09:36
Good food doesn't have to cost the earth and needs very little prep because of its quality.
We spend a fortune on "food".
Oh..the actual grub costs peanuts because I do my own portioning of fowl and buy veg loose. One day I'll buy half a pig/lamb and store it in the freezer.
Sadly we like wine. Add that to most meals (even if you know a thing or two and buy good wine at keen prices) and the cost of "eating" goes up...
Oh..the actual grub costs peanuts because I do my own portioning of fowl and buy veg loose. One day I'll buy half a pig/lamb and store it in the freezer.
Sadly we like wine. Add that to most meals (even if you know a thing or two and buy good wine at keen prices) and the cost of "eating" goes up...
Don said:
Sadly we like wine. Add that to most meals (even if you know a thing or two and buy good wine at keen prices) and the cost of "eating" goes up...
This made me laugh...I blew the last of our August grocery "budget" and some of Septembers on beer last week as it was on special offer! The upside is we've got enough beer to last us til Christmas and we saved £40 on the beer and got two lots of £10 on the Tesco delivery so it was a bargain reallyWe buy our wine from Calais vin on the way through France so we're well stocked already.
What really makes me laugh but in a sad way is when people say " I can`t cook "
This is a good thread especialy for people of the above persuasion.
If I ever ventured into Iceland or any similar establishment I give anybody the right to skewer me and stuff garlic up my A&&! And put me on a Barbie!!
As long as she is in the Air Stewardess Outfit:-P
Watch-Collector
This is a good thread especialy for people of the above persuasion.
If I ever ventured into Iceland or any similar establishment I give anybody the right to skewer me and stuff garlic up my A&&! And put me on a Barbie!!
As long as she is in the Air Stewardess Outfit:-P
Watch-Collector
Watch-Collector said:
What really makes me laugh but in a sad way is when people say " I can`t cook "
This is a good thread especialy for people of the above persuasion.
If I ever ventured into Iceland or any similar establishment I give anybody the right to skewer me and stuff garlic up my A&&! And put me on a Barbie!!
As long as she is in the Air Stewardess Outfit:-P
Watch-Collector
This is a good thread especialy for people of the above persuasion.
If I ever ventured into Iceland or any similar establishment I give anybody the right to skewer me and stuff garlic up my A&&! And put me on a Barbie!!
As long as she is in the Air Stewardess Outfit:-P
Watch-Collector
Well said that man!!!!The one that bugs me is as someone said above "I can't afford to eat well" as they pile jars of sauce, fizzy drinks and processed food into their trolleys...
I don't cook well by any means and I have pretty bland taste in food (OH keeps the chilli sauce to hand when I'm cooking!), but I can cook good food at low prices and make use of the leftovers. I've read awful things on other forums where people roast chickens, carve the breast, pull the legs off and bin the rest. We strip all the meat off a carcas for risotto or similar and I feel bad if we don't have time/freezer space to boil the carcass for stock!
I don't cook well by any means and I have pretty bland taste in food (OH keeps the chilli sauce to hand when I'm cooking!), but I can cook good food at low prices and make use of the leftovers. I've read awful things on other forums where people roast chickens, carve the breast, pull the legs off and bin the rest. We strip all the meat off a carcas for risotto or similar and I feel bad if we don't have time/freezer space to boil the carcass for stock!
On the subject of good food and using up leftovers, have a look at http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipes/list?food... there are some nice looking recipes for leftovers which might give some inspiration rather than the "same old" bubble and squeak or whatever you're favourite is.
Use the tabs across the top and the sides of the pages as well.
I thought the portion guide was quite useful, it's easy to cook too much and then either eat it all or waste it.
One to send to your non cooking friends perhaps!
Use the tabs across the top and the sides of the pages as well.
I thought the portion guide was quite useful, it's easy to cook too much and then either eat it all or waste it.
One to send to your non cooking friends perhaps!
Piglet said:
The one that bugs me is as someone said above "I can't afford to eat well" as they pile jars of sauce, fizzy drinks and processed food into their trolleys...
I don't cook well by any means and I have pretty bland taste in food (OH keeps the chilli sauce to hand when I'm cooking!), but I can cook good food at low prices and make use of the leftovers. I've read awful things on other forums where people roast chickens, carve the breast, pull the legs off and bin the rest. We strip all the meat off a carcas for risotto or similar and I feel bad if we don't have time/freezer space to boil the carcass for stock!
Quite agree, takes me 15mins to carve a chicken and get ALL the meat off!! And the freezer is full of stock also.I don't cook well by any means and I have pretty bland taste in food (OH keeps the chilli sauce to hand when I'm cooking!), but I can cook good food at low prices and make use of the leftovers. I've read awful things on other forums where people roast chickens, carve the breast, pull the legs off and bin the rest. We strip all the meat off a carcas for risotto or similar and I feel bad if we don't have time/freezer space to boil the carcass for stock!
I buy my meat from a farmer friend of mine, but can't get enough of it, the chickens are about 3.5kgs and cost about £10 but taste superb, 2 legs take up the whole plate. He also does beef and pork,great burgers and sausages but as I said we're always running out. Can't get enough of the 'Real food'
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