make roast meals go further by making stuffing and yorkshire pud and cooking inpie dishes, great filler upper. (yes i know its full of carbs) but make it from stratch like our parents did. Is it my imagination but was there less cancer, adhd etc back in our parents day. To me that means home cooked! ! !
dezzie,
Aug 15, 8:55am
if you have a local bacon place you can buy "ends" they are usually super smoky as well so you don't use as much, in whatever you are making, a kilo lasts about two weeks here, and is 8. 99, we use it in scrambled eggs (cook up some bacon bits first) pasta cabonara, bacon and egg pie (homemade pastry) and use the leftover bits of pastry to put in patty tins and make like mini quiche pies, with bacon bits whatever left over vege are in the fridge and topped up with beaten egg with a tiny bit of grated cheese on top.
winnie15,
Aug 19, 8:43am
bump don't want to loose this thread. .
tinkerbellsdust,
Aug 21, 1:05am
im a planner too one of my best creations ever has been the home made pumpkin soup with fresh chillies in it, a whole pumpkin and some chicken stock, theres always alot of it, more than enough to feed everyone and its cheap. then if you have any left over meats or veg from another nights meal you put it in a frypan with curry, cumin powders and onion then add the rest of soup, heat through and put over rice. just like butter chicken
darlingmole,
Aug 21, 3:08am
it's me, Darlingmole, I'm back well everyone I've found that although it's a challenge it CAN be done. However I am sick of baking and bulking up these days! But we have eaten healthily due to being wise with food/money and haven't gone hungry. It kind of reminds me of when my great-grandmother lived with us after Dad died ... times were tough, but never insurmountable. I am grateful to everyone on here who's contributed info and advice :-)I shop up in Kumeu/Hobsonville and know of lots of "haunts" in auckers these days, so a HUGE thank you to everyone for lots of 'heads up' ! ! !
winnie15,
Aug 23, 6:10am
well done on your challenge it would have taken up a lot of your time but good to hear it can be done!
lexus_,
Aug 26, 4:55am
Meats... sometimes its cheaper to buy a whole chicken (or maybe 2 if you need to feed 9) and cut it up yourself! my partner is a butcher, so thats what we do its far cheaper most of the time. also, mince is great when its cheap! i cook up a huge amount either in bolognese or lassagna etc. and freeze it! to make like tv dinners, quick and easy!
sherrydog,
Aug 26, 8:37am
Check when your supermarket 'lowers' its prices for meat. Often late on Sat they will 'special' meat and it is a good time to buy and put in freeze for later use. Buy good quality mince - not as much fat - and 'stretch' with added rice/pasta and veges. Tinned tuna makes a lovely curry and sausages can be either grilled or casseroled with onions and a cut up apple. Good luck - hope you get some good ideas.
chonnni,
Sep 1, 3:20am
I was cheeky and went to my local supervalue supermarket, and they had no size 16 chcilkens left for $6. 99 so I asked when they would have them in as special had only just started that day and they said not till tomorrow, they know I go there twice a week to look at specials so I said can I pay for it now and you hold one and ring me when they are in, the shop owner said look I have one size 20 in the freezer that has been there since tuesday last week but frozen the whole time you can have that for $6. 99, man I was stoked, and nthing wrong with it at all. Someone also said to ask for rainchecks on things that are in special but out of stock, so at countdown a few weeks ago tararua butter 500g was $2. 29 so I asked for a rain check she said how many do you want to buy, I only asked for 2 but going to last me for so long.
angel732,
Sep 1, 5:43am
SUBWAY was in subway Rangiora 2day at lunchtime when one of the staff took a trip to the 'skip'. I was totally shocked to see her dumping a huge plastic bag full of bread rolls. . probably 50 or so. what the hell is wrong with taking them to the local school? why be soooo wasteful? HANG OUT AT SUBWAY ROUND LUNCHTIME I RECKON.
darlingmole,
Sep 1, 6:12am
Angel it's like this (unfortunately) I use to be a waitress, loved the job but hated the waste of food in the restaurant so asked the owners why the heck they threw the good food out? ! SIMPLE. From a legal point if they gave their food to City Mission or similar or anyone and should that person or people get any kind of sickness/food poisoning? The restaurant would be liable and get fined. SUCKS but there you go. For doing a good deed they could get their restaurant closed down.
janny3,
Sep 11, 2:58pm
Smell of an oily rag Some good ideas here if it helps: http://www.oilyrag.co.nz/ & http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/
valentino,
Sep 27, 1:06am
z... .
gibbous1,
Sep 28, 1:00pm
Cheap meals A regular meal we do is soup with pancakes or crepes (usually do crepes as better on the amount of protein). Our local butcher does three meaty chicken carcasses for $1! ! !
Falafels also work out very cheap and make for a filling nutritious meal.
Make one meal a week based on eggs - works out well when you're buying by the tray.
darlingmole,
Sep 28, 6:59pm
As it's not only shopping day but SCHOOL HOLIDAYS again (! ) I've decided to really cut costs and have these kind of meals over the fortnight: baked beans w toast; pasta w fresh sauce, may be a little tuna & vege with it; toasted sandwiches; vegetable soup n rolls; eggs any-style on toast; vegetarian bake with salad ... yes, basically meat free for a while. Also I'm not going to do ANY baking of the sweet variety and just give everyone fruit. Will post later and tell you if I saved any $ (as I find in the holidays that the cupboards/fridge are raided when I'm out the room and don't save much at all - just changed their diet for a while)
toadfish,
Sep 28, 8:02pm
Make the school holidays fun... . Last holidays I took a couple of little girls (7&8) with my big girls to see a show in the Bruce Mason Theatre (we had been given tickets - very lucky) We parked a little way away and walked (to avoid paying for parking)then after I had to think "what for lunch". It was a beautiful day so I took a loaf of soft bread, tomatoe sauce and a bottle of drink from home, brought $5 of hot chips and that fed the 5 of us. We parked up by a playground at some beach on the way to devonport and the children had chip butties and played on the playground for hours. . Not the most nutritious meal but for the twice a year we do it... ok by me! The whole day cost us under $10! !
toadfish,
Sep 28, 8:02pm
blah blah blah The really funny thing is the children come from a well to do. . high earning family, they do heaps of things that cost the earth... and they both said it was the best day they ever had... Lots of laughs... & I thoroughly enjoyed the 2 younger girls. . was like going backin time... . Maybe you could do that for a treat DM with the money you save from your meatless meals... . (minus the show of course that was a bonus... they enjoyed the playground and butties just as much! )
darlingmole,
Oct 2, 3:56am
oh toady - what a lovely idea ... I use to do exactly that with my first 4 kids - and it went down a treat ... hot chips at Long Bay (summer or winter, it never mattered) with bread/salt/sauce & a BIG bottle of water. Have come to the decision that toddlers/lil kids are WAY easier than teenagers to satisfy. My teenagers have only got me running around after them all week to their social agendas (the food hasn't really mattered) so I've only really had to entertain/feed my two little ones. I know that the money part isn't the issue until they're older and realise about the "Joneses" ~! ha! Sounds like you had a good day anyway ...
helen59,
Oct 2, 7:19am
me... I took 4 kids to the movies yesterday. For snacks we had a bag of home made popcorn each and a piece home made brownie. Everyone was happy and it hardly cost anything. I went to Moore Wilsons (Wgtn) a while ago and bought a pile of paper bags. It was an extravagant expense but brilliant. It turns out homemade things taste better from a paper bag. They are also used when we have 'homeaways' on a Fridy night.
tumbleweeds2011,
Oct 3, 4:47pm
I have my little grandaughter once a week and we used to go have lunch somewhere nice but its just too dear for the budget over the last few weeks, she's only 3 so I can do this easily - its lunch at home and then we go to MCDonalds for a 50 c icecream and play in the playground thing, we can be there for well over an hour on 50 c. We live close and park at the supermarket next door.
evorotorua,
Oct 3, 5:38pm
thank you thank you thank you for recognising the absolute thrill of a cheap day out. When my two were little my friends and I had a fixed date at the local pool at 9am on a Friday. In Rotorua the pool is free for under fives (not sure if it still is. that was 10yrs ago)We all brought something to eat and drink and stayed a the pool till almost lunch time. Supervisors were also free so entry didn't cost us parents anything. The pool is shallow enough that safety was not an issue. As the kids got older they just moved to the appropriate end of the pool. By the end of the morning it was sleep time for the littles and a video for the older ones until time to pick 'big' kids up from school. No money involved. Lots of fun.
evorotorua,
Oct 3, 5:40pm
when the kids were older in the summer we had friends that we would go to the lake with when it had been a hot day. We went down about 4pm and took a little bbq cooker. The rule was only bread, sauce and sausages allowed for eating. No salads, no other stuff. Just cheap and nasty. Was a pleasant way to spend the evening and very cost effective. No competition to 'keep up with the Joneses'. (we maintained our nutritional diet on other days! ! ! ! )
winnie15,
Oct 6, 6:58am
bumping .
psychicxpress,
Oct 10, 1:36am
I've taken on two grandies full time (7 and 8) and they are exceptionally sensitive to food colourings, additives and preservatives. Because of this, I've had to go back to the days when everything was made from scratch. This thread is an absolute godsend of ideas and tips... Thank you so much
bettyboots,
Oct 10, 4:36am
Hi all, love your thread. There was mention of a self crusting quiche receipe, could someone please post it for me. cheers.
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