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Soaring Food Prices

  • Thread starter Thread starter harborne
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harborne

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How about we all try and think of a nice, nutritious, cheap meal to try and combat the way food prices are rising at the moment?

I had egg, chips and beans tonight, nothing very imaginative but absolutely delish - and cheap.

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Harborne
 
Good idea. Harborne. Being of the generation I am there, is a part of me that just loves the decent tasty meals my Mom used to make during and after the WW2 years. I also love to try all kinds of cultural foods from around the world and cook them as well. I have several vegetarian cookbooks with some great recipes in them. Corned beef hash is one that I like. By the way, I saw
a reference in one of the Brit newspapers the other day that sales of vegetable seeds have risen 60% this Spring. Looking forward to seeing some other contributions of tasty reasonable recipes.
 
Any canned fish ie sardines pilchards mackeral served with a green salad boiled potato and crusty bread.
or


Onion garlic and celery (the holy trinity) cooked in a little butter till soft can be used for a base for the fish served with rocket. Both cheap and healthy.
 
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Harborne,

Growing up, chips, eggs and beans were staples in our house. So was soup, stew (more vegetables than meat) stovies, tatties & mince, any kind of soup made from meaty bones and lots of fresh vegetables. I still love the soups and stews to this day and make them often. Not because of cost but simply because I enjoy them. There was also Welsh Rarebit for our tea and cheese and egg on toast. Corned beef hash was and is still a favorite of mine. All inexpensive and easy to make.

Chips and eggs...I haven't had home made chips in more years than I can remember. I used to love to make a chip sandwich with chips, bread and butter.

Norma
 
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Gosh, are we going back to the war years again ? I hav'nt got a gun or I could go and shoot some rabbits or any of those other things classed as vermin and perhaps get paid for it as well.:D

I do realize that there are people out there who could feel it much worse than others. Instead of the retailers selling " Buy One Get One Free" would not it be better for them to reduce the item to a more realistic price?
After all they are telling us there are food shortages due to growing for Eco fuels.
 
Yes it would, Ger22van but that's just to get you in there of course. If they had the public's interest at heart they would reduce the bare necessities and continue making their profit on non-necessary items like vases, candles, electrical goods, but that wouldn't make economic sense for them, would it!
NAS tatties and mince, home-made soup I suspect you've a little Scottish in you haven't you? I learned to make my soup up there and my tatties and mince with carrots and onions. Yummy.

Harborne
 
Hi Harborne
What a good idea, we are all feeling the pinch and any tips for cheaper nourishing recipies is a help to the family budget.

I think much of the cheaper fresh cuts of meat seem to have vanished, things like collar bacon and bacon hocks all used to provide a tasty cheap meal. Bacon with potatoes & swede or cabbage fried in the bacon fat make another cheaper meal if you like that sort of thing.

Being short on food in the war years made people appreciate the food they did get even more and made them less fussy eaters. It also prompted them to grow their own Veg and even today if you dont have a garden you can still grow things like salad or even potatoes in a pot.

Years ago when most people relied on a weekly cash wage and had no credit cards and had to make the money last until next Friday, they sat down and wrote out a weekly budget including food menues and costed out the items to see how far you could make the money stretch for the week. In the days of the sunday joint we used to use up the left over meat with carrotts and onions in a meat and potatoe pie on Mondays.

Porridge Oats are a good nourishing and filling start to the day and can help lower cholesterol. Many of the oats on sale in England like the microwave oats dont give as good a constiuency and its better if you make your own porridge the old fashioned way with 1 cup of oats to 2 cups of water and one cup of milk with a pinch of salt cooked for 6 minutes, served with jam, fruit or just sugar and milk it sets you up for the day.

Things like stew made with 3/4 lb of beef or lamb or pork instead of 1lb and country soup mix (not just barley mix as it is more tasty) carrotts, swede, onion and potatoes cooked with a vegetable stock cube and thickened with a table spoon of cornflour and bisto. Served with bread of needed this lasts for 2 or 3 days in kept in a fridge.

Left overs or packs of bacon bits can also be the basis of cheaper meals if you are not a fussy eater.

Any left overs like potatoes or vegetables can be fried up with pieces of cooked sausage and bacon with chopped up onions mixed in. Smashing with HP sauce, or you can do the same with pasta, sausage, bacon bits, chopped peppers & onions and tomatoes.

Anytime I cook mixed vagetables or sausage or bacon I cook a bit extra and save it in the fridge and use it in spanish ommlette with bits of bacon, sausage, onion, pepers, tomatoes and a few mixed veg mixed with beaten eggs and served with chips or toast.

Cottage cheese on toast is another lunch time snack. Banana Sandwich is filling. Egg & Bacon Toasted sandwich.

Use up stale bread and make a filling sultana bread pudding, put stale cake or make your own cake and put a piece in the bottom of a jelly with a bit of chopped up fruit or a smal tin mixed fruit and serve with carnation milk or top with thick custard.

I am glad to see more people returning to preparing fresh food rather than buying a frozen meal.

One website and forums which has lots of money saing ideas, shopping tips and recipies is the Martin Lewis Money saver site.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=33

https://www.beyondbakedbeans.com/ a good site for students with lots of cheap recipies.

Louisa
 
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Harborne, I have more than a little Scottish in me! I also add carrots and onions to my tatties and mince. Mom always used dried lima beans as well but I don't care for them so leave them out when I cook it.

Lousia, you've made me hungry with all your suggestions! They all sound delicious.

Norma
 
Sorry to burst your bubble - Sausages chips might be cheap and tasty but full of fat. . . Lean beef mince with carrots and onions along with mashed potatoes is great. . .
 
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Tattie Soup: 4-5 medium potatoes, 1 onion, 4 carrots, 1 leek, some smoked bacon or a ham cube, parsley (dried parsley serves the purpose just as well), seasoning. Cut potatoes and onions into cubes, grate or blend the carrots. Bring to boil and allow to simmer for about an hour. Add the leek and parsley during the last 10 minutes. However much water you use depends on how thick you want it. This is a good, nourishing meal and goes superbly with a bit of crusty bread.

Harborne
 
just tucking in as it were to bacon egg and mushrooms but the Minces stew rings My bell Norma!
 
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I had a healthy breakfast (porridge) but think I'm going to have a damned unhealthy lunch!
 
A Large chicken goes a long way. I bought 2 the other week and cooked them together... I quarter the chickens as it is quicker to cook. Put the legs in a casserole with all sorts of veggies and then put a good handful of rice in when chicken nearly cooked....cool down and put in the fridge overnight and skim the fat off...then freeze down into 1 or 2 sized portions. I roast the breast...so a lovely Roast. Make enough gravy to make up some meals for the freezer. I have jacket potatoes as they are done in the oven at the same time as the chicken... I can slice the potato up too for the tops of my freezer dinners. Any cold chicken can be frozen too to put in curries, sweet and sour sauces etc. I make stock from the carcass to freeze in case I need it at any time. Hmmm... I'm feeling hungry!! Georgie
 
Thanks to everyone for the recipes. I make sure nothing goes to waste these days. While I understand peoples worries about about fat in the diet I think a little is no bad thing in winter when the body needs extra energy to keep warm. This is no excuse to binge on greasy food.
I can remember in the 50s at school being advised to always have a slice of toast with butter ( no chance ) or dripping in the morning.
My best friend in the kithen is a slow cooker and a slicer dicer. Ideal for soups and casserols. I chuck everything in and let it get on with it overnight. Feel hungry now.
 
I have just made my all time favourite, cottage pie.
I use a very large pan, brown mince, add onions, mixed veg and a can of baked beads, couple of oxo cubes pepper, and a dash of worcester sauce, so cheap and this makes 4 meals for me, I will even have it for breakfast sometimes, good grub and healthy and warming, go a bit mad and sprinkle cheese on the top of the mash topping and grill.
 
Just found an old co-op cookery book out with good old traditional meat dishes and came across these vouchers. Don't think they are worth anything now. Jean.
 
The link I posted above is not working,type in your search engine,"woolton pie" and it will lead you to WW11.recipes,probably the healthiest diet we ever had.Muscle building, pigs trotters are good ( a staple diet when I was a lad ),and most farmers markets give them "free to a good home".
Buy your meat by the kilo,they don't do the offers in Tesco by the pound.
 
Ray Barrett said:
The link I posted above is not working,type in your search engine,"woolton pie" and it will lead you to WW11.recipes,probably the healthiest diet we ever had.Muscle building, pigs trotters are good ( a staple diet when I was a lad ),and most farmers markets give them "free to a good home".
Buy your meat by the kilo,they don't do the offers in Tesco by the pound.
Click to expand...
Blimey Ray, where's your Farmers' Market? Ours in Banbury charges for trotters, not much but still charges. BTW I love 'em.
 
David our butcher up the beacon charges 25p for a trotter with a small knuckle hock. Not bad eh?. Wish I could get tripe as I used to love it. Jean.
 
Hello David,
Daventry is my local farmers market,however, I think the lady likes me,Usually,I turn up on my bicycle looking poor and pathetic,it works for me.
We go to Betts butcher's in Banbury about once a month,on old wrinkly's day,and always do a good deal there,they also have tripe,if Jean was interested.
 
Ray how farr to Banbury?. Maybe I could be the lady on a fine horse and ride up sorry down there. Jean. PS. Norma that sounds delicious especially with crusty bread. Jean.
 
Ray, hats off to you for riding in from Daventry!
I used to know one of the butchers in Betts and he gave me some GREAT deals which I'm sure the manager wasn't aware of. Do you remember Fowler's butchers almost opposite? No relation unfortunately. They closed down a few years ago but when we moved house 2 years ago I found one of the sons living a few doors down.
We've started using Sainsbury's Basics range and all the tinned stuff we've tried has been fine. Also their stewing beef and mixed root veg. are good. I've made stews which have given us 4 meals for the £5 Jamie Oliver advertises. They taste as good as ones costing twice that amount.
The main difference now is that we never throw away any leftover veg in the fridge, it all goes into a stew rather than the bin. If the carrots and parsnips go a bit soft they still taste good when stewed.

Jean, I'm sure you'd look great on your horse!
(Pic from a Gareth Owen on Flickr)
 
David,
Just about to start the dinner,bacon bits from Tesco,spinach,and rooster potatoes,great stuff.What am I saying! remember the good old day's when us bloke's,could only talk about rugby and girls.
 
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