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Sunday 30 December 2012

Super scrimping shopping and cooking

Dear reader, (if there are any?)

Is it just me who thinks all the sale stuff is just what they couldn't sell last year?

I don't bother with them. How I tittered when I saw pictures of people queuing for the Next sale and flying over from China to buy cheaper Designer gear. They said they had to spend a lot to recoup the £700 air fare.
Not for me. I have been reading Frugal Queens resolutions for the New Year and noticed that a lot of people use the envelope system for shopping.
Today was the first food shopping for the £40 we have set ourselves for the week, to include packed lunches for work.
Off we went to Lidl and managed to get a load of stuff for £37.
We have decided to make our own bread now instead of paying £1.50 a loaf so we bought bread flour for 50p. We also got a gammon joint which I will boil in the slow cooker, then sliced for sandwiches. This was £3.99 and much more meat than the packets of wet ham.
We bought pork loin steaks as these were the cheapest and then popped to Asda to get pigs liver.
Along with some breadcrumbs from the end of the loaf I saved and onion, I made 23 faggotts from Frugal Queens recipe. They were then roasted in an onion gravy and will do us for about 5 meals with some mash and veg. They are delicious and I know what's in them.
I also took note of FQ's lasagne recipe and made a large and a smaller lasagne from 400g of minced beef. The secret is to bulk out the meat with diced carrot, onion and celery which I put in the food processor to get small.
I am trying to cook in bulk and will do a beef casserole tomorrow and maybe a curry which I will then portion and freeze. I have a large order from approved food coming soon and have ordered a load of naan breads. They come in twos and we top them with a homemade tomato sauce and whatever else we have. Topped with cheese and grilled, they are the most lovely pizzas.
I can smell dinner now, faggotts in rich onion gravy, garlic roasted potatoes and veg......gotta go.

SJE.x

11 comments:

  1. Hi Sarah,

    Taking cash to the supermarket is a great way of focusing the mind of necessary spending. Lots of money will be saved from taking sandwiches to work. Well done on using that excellent idea.

    Hope you put a little of that left over change in your sealed pot too.

    Regarding membership to your blog. I have looked and looked but I don't know where you joining link is.

    Perhaps others have too?

    Have a great frugal new year. Good to see you are following some of Frugal Queen's ideas. Don't forget to have some fun too!

    Sft x

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  2. Oh, right, I have joined you. Good but where is your followers list so others can too.

    I've put you on my blog roll. Lots of people will see you there.

    SFT X

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  3. Dear SFT, thank you for your lovely comments, was so excited to get them. I have to confess I have no idea how to get the followers list up on my blog. Am checking now how to do it. IT was never my strong subject at school!
    Have had a look at where you are staying, it looks lovely.

    Sarah
    Xxx

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  4. Have done it now.....I think. Thanks for taking the time to guide me.

    Sarah
    X

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  5. This is one of the things I do with my AF naan breads

    http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/269502/Phil-Vickery-s-baked-sandwich-naan

    I use this recipe, but use whatever I have in the fridge as fillings. Good hot one day, and cold the next for lunch.
    My son gave me the Christmas turkey bones to make stock with after he'd stripped the carcasse. There was enough meat left for 4-5 meals for two of us, a huge pan of stock and I stripped the bones again once I'd stewed them and got a few meals for the cats.
    I try to feed two of us on £20 a week and AF really helps me with that. I buy staples and also treats which I otherwise couldn't afford. I'll be interested to read what you think of your order once it arrives and how you use some of the items. Most people find AF addictive and also have a mountain of cous cous!
    I'd be interested

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  6. Hi Carrie,

    Thank you so much for commenting. I have only been blogging a few days and its weird writing about yourself and wondering if anyone will read it and if so what they will think. Thanks for the recipe, it looks lovely. I'd be most interested in some of your ideas for feeding 2 for £20, that is brilliant! I have used AF before and it's so funny that I do have a load of couscous in the cupboard!
    I really like cooking so any recipes you have, I would love to read.
    Best wishes for the new year and thanks for dropping by.

    Sarah. Xxx

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  7. Hi Sarah, thank for your lovely reply. I find this frugal thing so lonely and it's good to know that there are others out there!
    I shudder now when I think of how I used to just pile up the trolley in the supermarket unthinkingly! I'll never EVER do that again.
    I'm not sure I could/would want to feed us on so little if I was working, but we have both been made redundant in the past few years and since I am close to retirement age I have decided not to look for another job. My husband has an occupational pension and once all the bills are paid we have £100 a month for everything. I put aside £20 for food, £5 for household stuff (toilet rolls etc) and anything else comes out of my savings.
    I have a food stockpile - buy lots when very cheap - and shop from there first. I have a stockpile purse and put the money in there when I use anything from the SP and then buy for the SP from this purse.
    I chase all the 'yellow label' stuff and meal plan around what's been reduced. I LOVE approved food, lots of my stockpile comes from there.
    I'm really mean about portion size with meat and have pretty much zero food waste. I use lots of 'bitsa' recipes where you can use up all the odds and ends in the fridge - stew, risotto, stir fry etc. I have made lots of jam and chutney in the past year - lovely to eat our rhubarb and loganberries in the winter.
    I also forage for food, I'll write about that if you are interested.
    I also track Aldi's super six and Lidl's weekend half-price offers on this forum
    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=175&order=desc
    I'll hunt down some recipes for you.

    Happy New Year, and successful frugalling :-)
    xx

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  8. Dear Carrie,
    No need to feel lonely. It is difficult especially with friends who don't follow the frugal route. I see them every month rushing out to get the latest handbag or gadget and then struggling to pay bills. I would love to hear about your foraging. I have just finished reading "the moneyless man" who went off grid and without any money for a year and also Cath Kelly "how I lived on just a pound for a year" they really made me think about how much we waste. I don't even get my haircut any more. I get my boyfriend to trim it for me with the household scissors! How bad is that?

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    Replies
    1. I meant to continue but this keeps not letting me type if I make an error. I'm sorry to hear about your redundancies, it's terrible at the moment for jobs. Don't feel lonely being frugal, we are all doing it together and you sound as if you are doing it brilliantly.

      Sarah xxx

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    2. Thank you for your lovely comments.
      Don't be too sorry about my redundancy - my job was very stressful at times and I am much happier now than I was then. I used to jokingly say "I'd rather forage in the hedgerows for nuts and berries than carry on with this *** job." Little did I know....
      There's a lot of info on youtube about foraging, and some good books.
      Alys Fowler has written a lovely book called the thrifty forager. Try and read as much as you can, and ALWAYS identify something from at least two photos.
      Spring is coming soon, so keep an eye out for new green growth and then try and identify some of the commoner stuff. Do you have a garden? If so, much that grows as weeds can be safely eaten. I call these things 'wild food'. They are organic if you garden organically, rich in microorganisms and very fresh - you can be eating it within minutes of picking it.
      Look online for cleavers or goosegrass, chickweed, hairy bittercress (tastes just like cress). I'm sure you can identify nettles and dandelion - you will find ways to use them on the internet.
      I collect 'greens' in the spring, and fruit such as elderberries, blackberries and apples in the autumn.
      R
      xx

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    3. some links that you might find useful
      http://www.wildfoodschool.co.uk/urban/wfsURBANGUIDE.pdf

      http://www.eatweeds.co.uk/

      The following link is american, but he explains the general principles of foraging, especially safety, very well in the first video. There are some plants he talks about which are common to us and the US and many we will not find here, but the thought of him planting dandelions in his garden because they don't grow wild there had me in stitches!
      http://www.youtube.com/user/eattheweeds

      Wildfoodschool has a series of videos
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQclbM-9pnI

      and if you explore the Turtle Lake Refuge website you will find lots of info about growing microgreens.
      Don't be put off by the rather 'alternative' approach, there is good information, links and videos there.

      I also grow beansprouts - alfalfa being my favourite. Very very easy once you've got the hang of it.

      I've not really done a great deal of spring foraging - I'm new to it, and the weather wasn't too kind last spring. Last autumn was poor too, but the autumn before, when I began, was really good.
      Good luck with it, I've found it's quite addictive,and while I am travelling round now, I look at the landscape differently, looking out always for potential foraging sites and noting down possibilities to go back to later.

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