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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote _SMS_ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 January 2011 at 4:29pm
This week i spent $15 on meat which wasnt much at all.

We dont have any local butchers only mad butcher etc but they arent cheap. Also the market is in the next town too so not that local, it'll cost me at least $10 in petrol
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote xLUCKYx Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 January 2011 at 6:07pm
Wow we spend average $8-$10 per dinner on meat so up to $70 a week. This is potentially our biggest place to save :-) Tonight was good - had DF's freshly caught fish for dinner :) Delish!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote _SMS_ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 January 2011 at 8:07pm
I normally spend $50 on meat but i wasnt paying the prices for sh*tty quality meat this week.

i wish we had a good butcher near by
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Plushie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 January 2011 at 10:31pm
Something i'd forgotten until the chickens came up - i learnt this while flatting. Depending on the size of your family buy the big roast chickens on sale and cut them up - if you get 2 chooks then you have 1x meal drumsticks and up to 4 meals using the breasts (in a stirfry to spread the meat out). Then you can boil the carcass to make chicken soup, also using up the random left over bits of meat left on. 2 chicken carcasses make a heck of a lot of soup and it freezes well.

Or get one, roast it, have your roast meal, left overs for sammies the next day - or shred it up and make a large quiche (shredded chicken can go quite a way - and if you make extra roast vege the night before it leaves you basically no prep as all you have to do is make the egg mix and bake) then do the soup thing again with the left overs on the carcass.

Might be a bit student povvo for some and the DH's out there that like their meat meals might turn their noses up at chicken soup....but it is a good way to make one chicken go 2 - 3 meals and if you can get them on a good special it can be worth it.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mrsturtle Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 January 2011 at 10:53pm
Another thing that we do with left over chicken is make chicken tetrazine which is fettacuni pasta partly cooked then in a microwave bowl add 1 chopped onion 2 rashers of bacon chicken 1 c chicken stock (which you can make from carkas) and pkt of mushroom maggi soup mix made with 1 cup of water microwave for 10min then mix bread crumbs and melted butter together and sprinkle ontop microwave for another 10min. Its a fave of hubbys
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote myfullhouse Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 January 2011 at 12:25pm
I also make a chicken and roast vege pie with my leftovers, although the price of pastry pushes the meal cost up
Lindsey


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote pudgy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 January 2011 at 4:10pm
Originally posted by Linzy Linzy wrote:

I also make a chicken and roast vege pie with my leftovers, although the price of pastry pushes the meal cost up


Pastry is super easy to make and you can use a good oil instead of butter.

Basic pastry

25g plain flour
55g butter
2-3 Tbsp cold water
Pinch of salt

Mix flour and salt in a bowl, then add cubes of butter. Rub butter into flour until there are no lumps, then slowly add and stir in enough cold water to bind dough. Wrap in clingwrap and chill for 10-15 minutes before use.

It works really well GF as well and use oil to make DF

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jaycee Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 January 2011 at 4:25pm
oohh - good to know about the oil. How much do you use?

I made a super pie to use up the last of the turkey and roast vegies. It was the first pie I had every made and it was yummy. Even my picky girl scoffed it


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Plushie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 January 2011 at 4:35pm
I don't make it with pasty...gluten free and all.

I will have to dig out the exact quantities for the recipe but basically get a dish, put all the food into it and then pour over an egg and flour mixture and top with cheese (if you want you can put cheese in the mix as well but cheese is expensive!). I guess its more of a giant fritatta then a quiche - they're reffered to as 'self crusting quiches'

ETA: here is the Jo Seager version. We have left over quiche all the time, rouge roast vege, potatoes, left over meats...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote pudgy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 January 2011 at 8:02pm
Originally posted by jaycee jaycee wrote:

oohh - good to know about the oil. How much do you use?

I made a super pie to use up the last of the turkey and roast vegies. It was the first pie I had every made and it was yummy. Even my picky girl scoffed it


I guesstimate it Haven't had a dud yet.

mmm fritatta is yummo
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote happymum21 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 January 2011 at 8:19am
Milk - I hate having to pay more than $4 for 2L of milk so often I buy the UHT milk in boxes. Most of the time they are less than $2 per litre and I'm stoked they now have calcitrim in the boxes. It's also handy as I live quite some distance from town to have them in the cupboard so we never run out of milk.

They can be found usually in the tea/coffee aisle together with the boxes of soy/rice/evaporated milk etc.
Becs

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jazzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 January 2011 at 12:55pm
DH & I have planned some meals out to use what what we have instead of doing an extra shop. So I cooked some chicken pieces & used the meat in a rice dish. I made home made pizzas last night & tonight I am making spaghetti bol & making the pasta from scratch. Tomorrow night I will use up the left over fresh pasta in a carbonara. So would of save $. I am enjoying making stuff from scratch so will plan out more meals when I do the shop this week & see how much I can knock of the bill & if we eat better.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote xLUCKYx Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 January 2011 at 1:06pm
I'm going to go a bit more vegetarian. I can soo live without meat but DF can't so I will take more vege options and I am just going to portion control his meat.

He and the kids will have lamb chops for the next two nights while tonight I will have fresh caught snapper from yesterday (thanks DF!) and tomorrow egg plant steaks - yummmmy!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote myfullhouse Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 January 2011 at 1:17pm
Originally posted by mum2alana mum2alana wrote:

Milk - I hate having to pay more than $4 for 2L of milk so often I buy the UHT milk in boxes.

Does it taste any different? I can get milk up the road for $6 for 4L but when we use up to 2L a day it can get expensive.
Does any one else have any other cheap milk buying options? I remember years ago my aunt (in Kerikeri) used to be able to buy milk in bags which was cheaper but I haven't seen those here. I am wondering about using milk powder in my baking and cooking but last time I tried it I wasn't fussed on the taste for cereal etc
Lindsey


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jazzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 January 2011 at 1:30pm
I used to get the milk in bags from the mad butcher after a friend put me on to it, it was $1 a ltr bag..those were the days I used to get the milk boxes when we lived in the country, stuff driving 20mins to get milk, lol.

I am cutting my kids milk down as D1 & 3 love it & will drink it all day, & DS3 is getting a bit chubby so its water & 1 milk a day & its going well & saving the $$

Edited by jazzy
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mrsturtle Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 January 2011 at 7:48pm
We get the milk from the petrol station 2 x 2l bottles for $6.50 we go thru it pretty quickly even the petrol guy commented about it lol.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote happymum21 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 January 2011 at 8:35pm
Originally posted by Linzy Linzy wrote:

Originally posted by mum2alana mum2alana wrote:

Milk - I hate having to pay more than $4 for 2L of milk so often I buy the UHT milk in boxes.

Does it taste any different? I can get milk up the road for $6 for 4L but when we use up to 2L a day it can get expensive.


Nope doesn't taste any different to me. I am not a huge milk drinker, just have it on cereal and in coffee/tea. I hate the taste of blue top milk, too fatty for me.
I have milk powder to use when baking but yeah I don't really like drinking milk made with milk powder, we grew up on a dairy farm but always had skim milk made with milk powder
Becs

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jazzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 January 2011 at 8:56pm
Originally posted by pudgy pudgy wrote:

[QUOTE=Linzy]

Pastry is super easy to make and you can use a good oil instead of butter.

Basic pastry

25g plain flour
55g butter
2-3 Tbsp cold water
Pinch of salt

Mix flour and salt in a bowl, then add cubes of butter. Rub butter into flour until there are no lumps, then slowly add and stir in enough cold water to bind dough. Wrap in clingwrap and chill for 10-15 minutes before use.

It works really well GF as well and use oil to make DF



how much flour do you use as 25g won't work...I need an easy pastry
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote pudgy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 January 2011 at 9:31pm
Originally posted by jazzy jazzy wrote:

Originally posted by pudgy pudgy wrote:

[QUOTE=Linzy]

Pastry is super easy to make and you can use a good oil instead of butter.

Basic pastry

25g plain flour
55g butter
2-3 Tbsp cold water
Pinch of salt

Mix flour and salt in a bowl, then add cubes of butter. Rub butter into flour until there are no lumps, then slowly add and stir in enough cold water to bind dough. Wrap in clingwrap and chill for 10-15 minutes before use.

It works really well GF as well and use oil to make DF



how much flour do you use as 25g won't work...I need an easy pastry


whoopsies typo should be 125g
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jazzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 January 2011 at 4:22pm
pudgy thanks I want to give it a go
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