Food savings in winter...recipe ideas etc

Well I'm sure all of us are thinking the same kinda thing here...when its winter what to eat and how to make it stretch. I have found buying meat in bulk and packaging it all in seperate portions like mince a KG pack around $10 I can make 5 portions out of it-easier to defrost that way rather than a massive packet...And buying budget alternatives when available as well..

Anyone else have helpfull tips out there to share?

Yep. Ditto.
And bulk buying other stuff. Sticking to seasonal veges. And so on.

Well I'm sure all of us are thinking the same kinda thing here.when its winter what to eat and how to make it stretch. I have found buying meat in bulk and packaging it all in seperate portions like mince a KG pack around $10 I can make 5 portions out of it-easier to defrost that way rather than a massive packet.And buying budget alternatives when available as well.

Anyone else have helpfull tips out there to share!

Food savings in winter is very similar to those in summer:

Buy bulk and/or specials and freeze in portions.

Have a huge vege garden - in Northland and Auckland you can live out of your garden all year round - further south you have to freeze, bottle or pickle and ferment.

Cook in bulk (sauces and soups, casseroles etc) then freeze for later use.

Learn how to cook from scratch - that eliminates simmer sauces, soup packets etc etc and makes for a cheaper and much more tasty result.

Learn how to use herbs and spices effectively - much cheaper than buying pre-packed sauces.

Make use of farmers markets or growers markets - and learn how to cook vegetables, rather than relying on cheap carbs like rice or pasta etc. A pumpkin can feed you for 2 or 3 meals as a base ingredient and currently costs about $1.50. Buy 10 or 20 now and store them!

.

Make use of farmers markets or growers markets - and learn how to cook vegetables, rather than relying on cheap carbs like rice or pasta etc. A pumpkin can feed you for 2 or 3 meals as a base ingredient and currently costs about $1.50. Buy 10 or 20 now and store them![/quote]

How fortunate you are. Down here pumpkin is at least $1.50 per kilo and that is at the markets, not the supermarket.

we are really lucky here found pumpkins 50 cents each I have cooked and frozen mine in zip lock bags nice and easy to add to soup or a stew that way.
I have 5 in my family we have a vegetable garden and bulk buy.
I bake everyday make my own Jam, relish and tomato sauce.
I cook everything from scratch if you have the time making relishes and sauces is a great way to barter with others it's amazing how much people love a good pot of homemade jam.
A really good tip is to make double and freeze what you can so when you don't feel like cooking you have easy meals that don't cost a fortune.
Asian supermarkets are a fantastic place to bulk buy, very good for herbs and spices.

Thats my favourite tip.The other night I got an Icecream container of "Pumpkn Kumera & Peanut" Soup out of the freezer at about 5pm, put it in a big pot on low... grabbed some foccaicia from the freezer as well (buy 2 to 3 loaves when I see it reduced to clear)... continued doing what I was doing and we were all eating half an hur later... no stress, no bother, healthier ... minimum cost.

Summer - grow masses of tomatoes, peppers, basil, coriander, celery etc. Stew and put in freezer bags- we still haven't run out.
Grow pumpkin, 1 or 2 plants will give you enough pumpkins to last a whole winter.
Eat more vegetarian food-cheaper per kilo than meat.
Buy more dried food like chickpeas.

we are not vegetarians, but we eat heaps more veggie food now cos of the cost of meat

Last night we had a baked spicy mexican rice dish, plus nacho chips with melted cheese

as an exercise I priced planned 15 of the main meals and 15 desserts I have placed them on the ''who needs a budget thread'' check them out.They are everyday full meals inluding veges and all ingredients

I have to disagree. We have a vege garden. The silverbeet is sitting doing nothing, OK it hasn't gone to seed but neither is it growing. The other bits planted end of autumn aren't doing anything either.
You can grow things so that you can harvest in winter, and you can plant out early spring but you can't grow in winter.

I am glad you know more about me and my land than I do myself lythande... Why would that be? Have you been here lately?

I have planted a whole lot of stuff 2 weeks ago and is has more than doubled in size since then. The last terrace I planted was leeks, spring onions, different lettuces, endives and spinachbeet, broccoli, cabbage and cauli and some new parsley plants. All of these are actively growing and I expect to harvest them in about late August, early September.

I am much more fortunate than that - I grew over 200 pumpkins myself this year - so even the kunes get some :)

make use of the cheap cuts of meat and use the slow cooker.As for winter veges, try to grow them in a spot you can cover (in winter) maybe with clear polythene, acts like a grwoing tunnel.

I wouldn't buy 2 pumpkins these days. At $1.50 each, uli they must be near being pig food. They are just not keeping. I deal with a whole pumpkin now and freeze it in meal lots, as they are not lasting at all.

Not everyone has the luxury of space for a large vegetable garden ...or a temperate climate.

-frozen vegies sometimes work out cheaper than fresh in winter, and the nutrients are locked in, often better for you than vegies which may have been sitting around for a week before being bought.
-keep an eye on TM (home and living- food and beverages). I get great deals on bulk stuff on here, sometimes I go shares with another family or two. For instance I got 10kg of cooking apples really cheap and the resulting stewed spiced apple has given me oodles of icecream containers full. Walnuts, fresh and organic - buy them in bulk, as when you win the auction, the seller usually offers you as many kgs as you want. Save on freight by bulk buying and go halves with someone else. Right now I have 10kg of frozen strawberries in my freezer for a grand total of $20. We had hot strawberry shortcake for dessert.

-crockpot meals go a long way. Small amount of meat = a great meal.
-soups: dump in all your withering vegies
-flour, sugar etc can be bought in bulk, again, share with another family
-can you get a Gilmours card?
-mention to neighbours you would love any excess fruit or vegies - repay with something made from it, like jam, or lemon honey.

Which is all very well if you are not run off your feet working full time, managing a family, taking kids to sports, music, tuition etc,AND you have a backyard with some space. Not all of us do.

FTR though I have a pretty good herb garden in pots, several fruit trees in pots, and enough spinach and silverbeet to feed my family of 8.

I'm budgeting very carefullytoo and having to think hard about best nutrition for my dollar.
While in Central Otago this summer, I bought big boxes of cheap apricots and peaches, lovely juicy and too ripe for the markets. i tooke them home, stewed them gently and froze them flat in zip lock bags. We're now enjoying them on cereals and puddings. Rhubarb grows so fast I give it away and the rest I chop and freeze in big bags, cooking a few handsfull at a time.

Yesterday I bought 3 lambs hearts for $2.40, lambsfry for $1.98. That will be two meals covered. Meatloaf is surprisingly expensive to make, but vey versatile. It can be sliced thinly and smothered in gravy as well as used in sandwiches. Ibaked some in muffin tins, topped them with whipped potato and cheese and serve them up as pies. Make homemade pastry for your pies and you have cheap variety. Two large salmon steaks for $7.80, which I will cut in half so I get two flash meals from that. The servings will be small, but mixed with lots of veges, they will be adequate.
Even down south, my garden supplies potatoes,carrots, parsnips, cabbage, silverbeet,leeks, broccoli and spring onions. The worst time here is between August and November while we wait for the Spring planting to mature.Sadly my own frozen beans just don't taste like Mr Watties'.
Water down your milk by a third for coffees and milos or custards.

The $1.50 was on special for huge crown pumpkins ... mine are keeping very well. In fact I still have about 20 from last years crop - I just keep them to see how long they will last LOL :)

Sad isn't it?

I actually drove all around NZ to decide where I would want to settle and buy a house and land. Simply because I WANTED to live out of my garden.

Not sure that I would class that as "luxury" - especially when in our area we have over 20% unemployment ... LOL

So everybody makes their own choices. I just listed some options for people that live in Auckland and Northland - if you don't - then sorry - you will have to make ends meet in a different way...

Let us all know how though - so others can benefit from your knowledge.

we are really lucky here found pumpkins 50 cents each I have cooked and frozen mine in zip lock bags nice and easy to add to soup or a stew that way.
I have 5 in my family we have a vegetable garden and bulk buy.
I bake everyday make my own Jam, relish and tomato sauce.
I cook everything from scratch if you have the time making relishes and sauces is a great way to barter with others it's amazing how much people love a good pot of homemade jam.
A really good tip is to make double and freeze what you can so when you don't feel like cooking you have easy meals that don't cost a fortune.
Asian supermarkets are a fantastic place to bulk buy, very good for herbs and spices.

Thats my favourite tip.The other night I got an Icecream container of "Pumpkn Kumera & Peanut" Soup out of the freezer at about 5pm, put it in a big pot on low. grabbed some foccaicia from the freezer as well (buy 2 to 3 loaves when I see it reduced to clear). continued doing what I was doing and we were all eating half an hur later. no stress, no bother, healthier . minimum cost.

Summer - grow masses of tomatoes, peppers, basil, coriander, celery etc. Stew and put in freezer bags- we still haven't run out.
Grow pumpkin, 1 or 2 plants will give you enough pumpkins to last a whole winter.
Eat more vegetarian food-cheaper per kilo than meat.
Buy more dried food like chickpeas.

we are not vegetarians, but we eat heaps more veggie food now cos of the cost of meat

Last night we had a baked spicy mexican rice dish, plus nacho chips with melted cheese

as an exercise I priced planned 15 of the main meals and 15 desserts I have placed them on the ''who needs a budget thread'' check them out.They are everyday full meals inluding veges and all ingredients

I have to disagree. We have a vege garden. The silverbeet is sitting doing nothing, OK it hasn't gone to seed but neither is it growing. The other bits planted end of autumn aren't doing anything either.
You can grow things so that you can harvest in winter, and you can plant out early spring but you can't grow in winter.

Food savings in winter...recipe ideas etc

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