Items to make quickly and cheaply (food/cleaning/body)

[Sleepeazie]

recently I made some shake ‘n’ vac and have also previously made a face scrub and a foot scrub.

I always try and make convenience food items myself, such as; stuffing, Yorkies, soup, sandwich fillings, wraps (not successful), flat breads and bread.

i know I want to try making chutney.

are there any items that you make without a second thought, but know/suspect others won’t?

im hoping to get some ideas for things I haven’t thought about making before.

this is a coat saving / lowering UHP exercise for me.

thanks x

I have white, Irish, post menopausal skin. One thing that’s the quickest and easiest thing to smooth/moisturise my face and hands is chamomile tea.

Make the tea, store in the fridge and just a little after washing my hands or my shower etc makes my skin lovely and smooth. I just dip my fingertips in and smooth around. It’s like it makes the scales of my skin lie flat and quiet.

Also (and this is not medical advice but I got it from a government phone line doctor), chamomile tea is a very quick cure for conjunctivitis. Make the tea, store it in the fridge and use a fresh cotton pad regularly to slosh over. It was like magic on my dd. I kept it up for about four days. For the first evening, I sloshed every hour, four times per day for the next three days.

That definitely counts as you’re repurposing a household item - which cuts down on the need to buy alternative products. Also it’s works on the cutting UHP level.

my bread also , always has a crust - so im
interested to hear any replies too 😊

Ooh that’s something completely new to
me. It is these sort of tips that have been lost to, some of, us with previous generations. I love the idea of the medicine cupboard being as herbal as it can be 😊

Sodium percarbonate is your green bleach. Eg white laundry, sinks, toilets etc

Don't get a special kit for butter. I don't have a stand mixer, I just do it in the food processor. Ditto cakes, and even bread.

@SoapCollector maybe try a milk bread, they tend to have a softer crust, and wrap it in a tea towel or two while it's cooling off.

I once found a fabulous recipe for chocolate syrup. Really easy, something like sugar, water , cocoa and a knob of butter, took like 5 mins to cook, and made delicious fresh syrup that kept for a few weeks in the fridge and went well on ice cream, or made hot chocolate. Ofc too much refined sugar for some, I'm sure, but a big improvement on the made-mainly-of-E-numbers bottle we had in the cupboard. Frustratingly I got the recipe from a FB reel and haven't been able to find it since. Must look again.

I preserve lots of things - beetroot is a favourite - and I've made vinegar this year. Flavoured gins with garden fruit, beeswax wraps, bread and pastries - try Vindi's kitchen or Heartbeet kitchen and Gail's cinnamon buns are amazing - coleslaw, chicken goujons, curry and Chinese sauces, butter from cheap cream. I'm sure there are loads more.

This is a good example of my cost cutting/ being sustainable policy.
Don’t use it. I’ve never in my nearly 60 year old life used fabric conditioner. We have a cleaner (temporary arrangement for a couple of months while the house is ridiculously full) at the moment and I’m horrified at the quantity of product she gets through. We’re getting through 3x the cost weekly of product- elbow grease and a micro fibre cloth does the job as well.
Food wise I make my own bread, cakes, biscuits etc. and at least 3 meals a week (several adults wfh) is lentil soup. It’s cheap as chips nutritious and delicious.
I also make my own pasta. Not necessarily cheaper but saves having 20 kinds in store. I can make lasagna sheets or ravioli in half an hour.
If you don’t have kids at home scrap milk. It’s heavy, expensive and goes off. I buy it in for guests I turn the inevitable leftovers into bechamel, paneer, or crème caramel.
And eggs! So cheap and basis for savoury and sweet food. soufflé, quiche, carbonara, eggs Benedict, chocolate mousse…
Dont buy food out of season and check out Lidl/ ethnic shops. DH and I were reminiscing this morning about the large jars of cherries you used to be able to buy for 89p. We used to turn them into clafoutis/ have them on pancakes, with yogurt etc.
Reduce meat. And if when you do have it make it stretch. So chicken then makes soup and/ or stock for risotto; beef and lamb, cottage, shepherds pie or stovies etc.

Sage tea for sore throats. And/ or ginger and honey, not lemon as often suggested- have you ever got lemon juice on a cut!?! Boiled salt water for poultice, cleaning grazes. Peppermint tea or camomile tea for stomach pain.
And in a swift vibe change from herbal remedies chat gpt is fantastic for meal suggestions- im sure there’s a whizzy version which will give you recipes from a photo of what you have, I laboriously type in the contents of my fridge…

Thanks for this. I’m only occasionally fabric conditioner (well actually elixir gel) user, due to cost - and the worry about how synthetic it is.. but I love the smell, so was hoping a natural alternative existed.

I finally made butter 🙌, so easy and it’s beautiful. I make bread, cake, biscuits, dressings etc already. I don’t make my own pasta, but t.b.h i buy the value packs (45p ish for 500g) so I’d be doing it for the love of/freshness - rather than cost. I will attempt at some point, for the latter reasons.

i am a cleaner! I’m the opposite to your cleaner by the sounds of it. I’m known to use washing up liquid as a first port of call or bicarbonate/vinegar. Usually my clients’ are asking me if they need to get me more products!. I’d be asking her to use less, maybe cite a tight chest or something if you’d feel awkward x

Thanks for this Lamelie, I have used chat GPT but I usually run out of messages allowed as I want to tweak the options if I (usually the kids) don’t like something. I also tried to get ChatGpt to compare prices at all major supermarkets with loyalty programs and give me a shopping list for each store, using the cheapest products - but it admitted that it couldn’t do it. I think it’s a great tool though x

For simple, what can I cook with this questions I use the AI function on WhatsApp

I never even knew that function existed 😂. I've just been on and asked if about some porcini mushrooms I’ve had in the cupboard for 6 months!

wow that’s a game changer - thanks so much x