Cheap, nasty, high in salt food.

[Distelsspirit]

What are the health implications if me and DH ate cheap (generally high salt food) between now and christmas?

We are on a reasonably tight budget and just can't manage christmas with 3 children the way we are going. I generally make our food, not much processed food, but it seems to cost a fortune. I spend about £80 - £100 a week on food and just can't afford itr at the moment, however, don't really want us to die of heart attacks either.

Any advice for - cheep recipies

• health advice
• cheep christmas.

Thankyou .

sorry, that was probably shooting from the hip - dh thought you sounded troll-like, by initial post, Distelsspirit.

Just a thought, if your shopping is for more than food (which I would imagine it probably is, I know mine is about that amount and more and includes cleaning fluids etc), if you buy lots of different cleaning fluids it's amazing how much you can achieve with some Fairly liquid (ASDA have it on 3 bottles for £2 deal just now, special packs), a couple of drops into hot water and you can do just about any job at a fraction of the price of all those fancy sprays. Also ditch the kitchen towel, if you use it, use and wash cloths (which can either be bought or made out of old towels etc).

Thankyou for all your messages, Dinny - I am not a Troll, I have been on here for about a year but why did it sound troll like?

I spend that much on every thing from nappies to lunch for the children for school/nursery and cleaning stuff. I do tend to only buy one spray for kitchen, bathroom floors.

The rcipies sound lovely and I will be trying them next week, I have thrown my reciept away, so can't post what I bought but tend to aim for £1 per product as a general rule which I do tend to stick to (so 70 items should be about £70).

Distel,I amnot on a tight budget but I shop very cheaply and eat well.
For a start,if breakfast is Weetabix,homemade muesli or porridge,and lunch is sandwiches,you already have 2 out of 3 meals which cost next to nothing.

Eggs are cheap and nourishing-a frittata thingy features on our menu at leat once a week.
Good tip is to go to an Indian or Chinese place to buy stuff in bulk. A huge sack of Basmati rice (10 kg) costs the same as a couple of kgs in a supermarket.
Also as has been said,beans and lentils are great stuff.
Another favourite is a big vegetable curry served with rice and plaing yoghurt.
I'm a big noodle fan too-packets from a Chinese shop (I'm not talking crap like Pot Noodle!)are fantastic-you can add a bit of chopped cold meat or a whisked agg to bulk it out,along with a handful of greens. Forget about expenxive Pak Choi-old fashioned flat lettuce costs nothing and tastes great.

Another big favourite in our house is marinaded ribs-cost nothing and so easy-sleather in ginger,garlic,soy,honey and chilli or tomato suace then roast. Can never work out why people buy ready prepared. it takes seconds to do it yourself!

Alos love sardines-fresh or frozen whole ones. Gut and roast for 20 mins and serve with bread and salad and a good squeeze of lemon.

What could be better??

Thanks Moondog, the ribs sound lovely.

There was a thread a while back from Custado, I think, and there were LOADS of recipes on that, I will have a hunt out for you.

Agree on looking at your receipts from supermarkets, I slung a candle in once and it was £3.56...unnecessary 'bargain' offers on the ends of aisles you don't need etc etc. It all adds up.

Will be back with thread (hopefully).

xx

Another great one is Chinese style chicken.

Fry chicken pieces with a base of onions,garlic aznd ginger (fry this first and very slowly so that the onions are nicely caramelised. Then add a good opinch of five spice powder,soy sauce and a good slug of sherry (sweeter sort is best). Simmer for about 30 mins and serve with rice and stir fried veggies.

here you go

Any ideas on why this thread sounded like a troll????

No, ignore.

x

Thanks for the link, I am off as we speak to get a pen.

also (am on a roll now, sorry!) I use the bbc.co.uk website, click on food and there are hundreds of recipes on there, you can search on an ingredient and make a meal up.

Good if you get a cheap piece of meat (as in cheap cut, not nasty cheap iyswim) and you want to know what to do with it.

Need to do some work now, will be back after.

xx

Distel,I know you're not a troll,but it sounded a little odd (title of thread)!!

I also buy ham hocks in the butcher.They are huge and tasty and cost £1 50. Again,am stunned that anyone would buy those horrid little plastic packs of anaemic uniformly shaped ham. Costs about the same for six slices!

echo oliveoil's suggestion, you can put ingredient into bbc food website for loads of recipe ideas

now i too am so hungry by all the mouthwatering recipes will be looking out myself now

Hey, really sorry for thinking you were a troll, Distel. It just seemed a bit odd that someone who makes their own food would switch to cheap, nasty food, iyswim... Then I thought I'd never seen your name and came to the (erroneous) troll conclusion! Really sorry if I offended - don't know what came over me. Dinny

If you have a butchers near you, see what offers they do- one near us does massive bags of pork chops / chicken / lamb for £10 a bag, we're buying one of each on pay day and freezing for month. That's in wales, but there was one near us in Somerset too (different chain) so the idea must be around.

We do the eggs thing too, and we often swap chicken for turkey. Cook in type sauces can be replaced by tins of campbell soups for much less cost. And though dh would never go veggie, he's happy with a casserole of flageolet beans / chick peas / tinned toms / savers carrots and savers broccolli, served with savers rice. Even if you add meat, the pulses make it go much further and far more filling.

A bottle of teriyaki sauce for £1.50 was a great investment, has lasted ages and goes with pretty much anything.

Smoked macherel is another cheapy fave of ours that is easy, we also sometimes buy those packs of smoked salmon off cuts (about a quid) and chuck them with cheapy white fish, mashed p[otato and cheese to make a simple but scrummy fish pie.