General Chat

In the days when I was very broke I mixed dry sage and onion stuffing with mince. It tasted good and bulked up the meat.

Wendy x

I have added 2 Weetabix and extra tomato puree to a pan of bolognaise, when the children asked if their friend could stay for tea.
Nobody was any the wiser, so I sometimes repeated my 'recipe.

Gwyn

How the other half live!! Couldn't believe the waste on Wednesday's programme. Having a frugal childhood (the 1950's), equally frugal 60's, 70's, which included my OH's redundancy, unemployment for long periods of time, the 80's were an eye opener, but even then, money was not thrown around. The weekly trip for groceries was just that, no popping into town for extras.

Now that we are OAP's, we already know how to stretch the money. The other night I took medallion steak from the freezer, put it in the fridge overnight, and found that it was did not smell fresh. Our tea that night was a vegetable bake, carrots, onions, mushrooms, pepper and parsnips, with mashed spud - very tasty. On the following night, because our meat was for two meals, I opened a tin of macaroni cheese, and we had that with mashed potato.

Today I received a voucher for the price of the meat from T****co, after informing them of the less than fresh item.

Looking forward to next weeks programme.

I watched the programme with o.h. this week, and he was astonished when I said I had used oats to bulk out savoury mince which I often make in bulk and freeze in portions. Next time I make it I know he will be looking out for it so I will not put much in so as to fool him lol, but the time after that will add my usual quantity lol

Good for the cholesterol problems too as well as making the mince go further.

Glad you got the money back for the meat, Angelsong.

Lizx

Well,he has made me look a liar again!
We had sweet and sour for tea on Thursday.Friday I manged to make the leftovers into soup and some sausages.Enough to have for tea and some to freeze.

THE OLD MAN ATE THE SOUP!!!!! All of it!!!!!

I thought the recipe for hand and face cream on the programme might not be that economical as you would have to buy glycerine and palm oil which don't feature largely in my weekly shop.I think a cheap bottle of moisturizer might work out cheaper.

After reading about the programme on here Oh and I watched it this week.couldn't believe the family spent so much in a week and the amount of pocket money the children got!!...and... the waste of food was amazing!!
how many others waste?nothing gets wasted in our house.I even freeze little bit of left overs for my daughters dogs and now Oh can't eat the crackling off pork I cut it up for the birds who need the fat especially in winter.Peelings tea bags etc go in the compost bin.They have had it too good for too long and can't cope with economising like older folk can.
What about the lady who loved going to the dump and rescuing things,and I must admit to ironing wrapping paper before now!
I agree with Sharron that I couldn't be bothered with making the hand/face cream.they say that cheap cream is just as good as the expensive type.
Must watch next weeks!

Interesting to read that when they recycle soap they put olive oil in with it. I used to hae a small plastic barrel which I put soap bits into to press into shape, and they always came away, now I know why!

Just a quick cheap recipe for Meat Loaf to cook when you want something quick and tasty - can cook in oven at same time as other dishes.

1 pack pork sausage meat from a local butcher (wrapped in plastic roll)
1 pack stuffing mix (Sage/Onion or any other)
1 egg
3 or 4 dollops tomato ketchup

Unwrap sausage meat & squeeze into large bowl. Add other ingredients, (you can use 2 eggs if you want) & mix whole lot up together. You could add sliced vegs into it, like peppers at this stage. Put into 1lb loaf tin & make patterns on top with a fork. Bake on middle shelf for around 40 mins at Gas 5. Serve in thick slices, hot or cold.

I also open a tin of Beanz without taking the top totally off, tear off the paper label & stand on top shelf of oven at same time. It's ready at same time as sausage meat loaf. Have also been known to do baked potatoes at same time.

Thanks for hints & tips - the soap especially.

Vicki

Morning,

I'm typing today with my tail between my legs - I've not been as economical as I could have been this weekend - but to be fair to myself I have 3 interviews last week and another 2 this week - so life has been fairly hectic.

Although, on Friday evening I did feed 6 on Friday evening with 1 and a half pound of mince I made a lovely chilli and we had a party in the garden - complete with the pool table which since relegated to the garden has had more use than in the past 5 years!! The chilli was accompanied by nachos (25p a bag M*****ons special, dips, olives (already had) and feta - (A*di -77p) (nibbles) - and served with garlic bread (3 baguettes for £1)

I also keep partial bottles of wine and keep it to add to sauces. - So I suppose in hindsight perhaps I wasn't as bad as I thought I was.

Also 24 breadbuns and a pack of ham, tub of pease pudding has made 2 enjoyable lunches both of which were consumed at leisure in the sunny garden.

I have an interview with the job centre (to prove I'm actually looking for work) and another one this afternoon for a temporary job which is 20miles away and pays just over half of my previous salary - and I'm not willing to work??

A lot of my time has been taken up by looking after OH and I don't bake as often as I used to,but here's a tip I have used to make a crumble.
Instead of making the crumble,which is quite easy really,I made it really easier by crumbling up some Jamaican ginger cake on top of stewed rhubarb I had frozen and baked it as normal...it was delicious and grandsons had seconds.It is cheap at the moment.Think it was 39p.With some easy mix custard makes a cheap dessert.

When my dad first had his stroke we had a visit from somebody about benefits.She filled everything in that we needed to but I didn't apply for housing benefit as OH was working.

Now he is only on very short hours and signing on he has been told to claim it.It is my dad's tenancy so I rung up about it this morning and it seems we should have been claiming it all along,to the tune of ninety odd quid a week.

Funny thing is that,as I have always been too tight to invest in a squeak, I thought we were not living too badly considering we were on benefits and that they were quite generous really.

Perhaps I should start by saying 'Left over wine? Hallooo!!!'

If you have children around, use caution about freezing the dregs in ice cube trays. One such person said that the 'black currant' ice cubes in her orange squash were really nice! LOL

I am told that,if you freeze cider it will seperate,most of it being a watery sort of ice thing but,ther will be a little drop of liquid that will not freeze because it is the alcoholic component and is known as applejack and is pretty damned good!

That woman in the last one talking about darning her OH's socks - she required a lesson in darning and the wool did not even match. Her stitches were huge!

Lol Chris, I noticed that too and mentioned it to o.h. I think she is the same woman who advised cutting off the leg part of a pair of socks to make new cuffs for a sweatshirt, she told her o.h. when he complained about the loss of a pair of socks that she would hem the foot parts left over and turn them into trainer socks! I would have thought it would have been easier to knit a pair of cuffs for the sweatshirt lol

Sharron, will you get the housing benefit backdated? You could have a rare old party then lol

Brenda, that cake topping for the rhubarb sounds tasty, might try that if I can get some rhubarb, I did spot some last week in our local supermarket, and it was reduced as on last date, wish I had bought it now.
Where was the ginger cake on offer?

Lizx

Party Liz!? I would probably buy an extra bag of currants and thoughtlessly throw away a cheese rind.

I have tried darning but am not good at it. I can turn shirt collars though.

Now I don't have a filthy job I only ever use one soap tablet in the washing machine and the little bags that come with them are very good for holding the pips when you make marmalade.

Our bay tree is being cut down today.It is too big and I rarely use bay. The ground can then be used to grow more things we will eat,like a cake bush!

Liz,
I got the cake in Home Bargains.This week I got a lemon cake that was on offer and will try it over stewed apples.Think you can try any combination.
Oh is diabetic so I have to be a bit careful with his diet,but he has to have a little treat now and then.
Sharron,I only use one tablet of soap in the washer,I did read somewhere that it isn't necessary to use more,especially if you live in a soft water area as we do.

Our water is crunchy,more chalk than water but one tablet does the job. We don't smell much!

When I bought the last washing machine I thought I would use water softener tablets to prolong it's life.They don't tell you they cause rust do they.

I use Tesco water softener tablets in the lavatory sometimes.

Thanks Brenda, don't think we have that store here.

My o.h. is also diabetic but is very naughty and gets his own treats! There's me trying to give him a good diet and he sorts out fairly healthy stuff for his pack up at work, but I was looking for an item on an old till receipt recently to check the cost, I thought I had been overcharged when I bought the same item the other day. Looking at the receipts he keeps in a drawer for said item, I found he had been buying bars of chocolate on a very regular basis, like every couple of days. I did mention to him that I knew his little secret, he said he had been eating the chocolate at work, sneaky beggar. Then he wonders why he doesn't feel well!
Still at least he seems to be staying off the booze now, no secret drinking as far as I can tell for some months.

Lizx

Just waiting for my little girl to head to school then I'm off bargain hunting!

First stop the local garden centre which has a 'real' butchers in it -for my 5kg (11lb) minced steak for £20 - the butcher actually minces it in front of you and then bags it into 500g bags, ready to freeze.

Then I'm not quite sure after that - might head up and get one of my famous veg bags (whole bag for £2) - sounds like a plan... mince and dumplings for tea......

Might even do a bit of a baking session this afternoon :-)
Jx