Can we have a food is so expensive atm and this is how to save money thread?

[jenk1]

cos i did a shop last week and i was staggered at how much prices are going up.

i know lidl and aldi are cheaper but you cant always get everything there.

am on income support now and have to count my pennies carefully.

TIA

My 2.5yo DD, her dad and I all love this with rice. Usually have a dish of veg to eat as well.

For an two adults and a toddler:
Mix three eggs with 200 ml water in a bowl you can use for steaming. Don't beat the mixture, just stir all the eggs and water together until even. Steam 7 mins with the lid on the pan of water, 7 mins with it off - until the mixture is set - like a creme caramel. Don't let it overcook because then the surface starts bubbling up and goes grey and looks disgusting.

Pour about enough light soya sauce over the top to cover the surface thinly. Can add sesame oil and white pepper if you like.

The light texture is particularly appealing to young 'uns. Good food for when sick.

And if you have leftover meat you can chop it small and add to the egg mix before you steam it. Or fry some mince with onion and put at the bottom of the bowl before putting the egg on top.

y1n - i have to say it sounds disgusting! What's it like? Omelette? Custard? DH is not in tonight so I might tentatively try it - without the mince.

y1n - to be honest i can't picture that either...

much prefer an omelette with rice and peas (costs about £1 per person or less!). add herbs from garden for more tasier versions!!

Make sure you check your receipt, dozy mare in tesco today, I bought some things and she got a bit trigger happy on the scanner, had to go back to customer services for a refund. Bring cash only, say £??? and a list, therefore if you run out of money you can't overspend

Sorry if someone has already said this but generally reports show that frozen vegetables are not that much nutritionally different from fresh ones however frozen does tend to be cheaper!

y1n - is that a Chinese dish?

Bottled out and made tomatos oup instead - 1 tin cheap chopped tomatots, 1 packet passatta, onion garlic and pint stock. Whizzed up and added a bit of cream. BIG pot for about £1. Enough for 2 with bread, at least 3 bowls each.

Buy meat/fish from the reduced cabinet and freeze. Also cook stuff like spag bol, risotto etc in large portions and freeze the leftovers. (some hygiene fanatics may, I suppose, get flappy over this but DS and I have never had any tummy troubles from doing it).
SOme things in the basics/value ranges are just as good as regular ranges but odd-shaped or less pretty (veg, frozen veg etc) other things are fairly noxious (meat, pasta) so experiment a bit.

For pulses, dried fruits, rice etc if you can get together with friends you can bulk order from Suma wholefoods - you need to get together a minimum of £200 between you, but it is massively cheaper as you're getting trade prices. Also if you are trying to get organic stuff you can buy it for less than you would pay for non organic in a supermarket. We buy oats, rice, lentils in 25kg sacks then split them up.
Also, depending on where you live (and how you feel about it) then skipdiving can be really worthwhile. We have friends in Leeds who get all their veg from the skip round the back of their nearest supermarket, I also know someone else who lives near a trendy big organic shop who gets loads of really nice stuff that they chuck just cos its near its sellby date.
Doesn't work in rural areas (unless they're posher than here, maybe) - friend from Leeds was most miffed when he tried the skip round the back of our Spar

euww - rather eat from hedgerows!!