The Credit Crunch recipe thread

[Rakey]

Anyone else becoming very poor at the moment?
I'm needing to save money, but I don't want to compromise taste or my nutrition.

Any cheap recipes please post here.

[bradders]

baked potatoes with tomatoes and Pure sunflower spread, add chilli powder, black pepper, paprika and parsley to taste. costs about 20p a plate if you get class II vedgies from local greengrocer.

[bradders]

versatile tomatoes:
chopped/ peeled tomatoes from can
a few mushrooms
an onion
-chilli/ curry style: add chilli, paprika, ginger and a touch of turmeric and soy sauce to taste

-italian: basil, chilli, oregano, garlic and parsley to taste

serve with rice or pasta

about 30p per plate

[bradders]

it's also now cheaper to make bread at home than buy it especially if you use a breadmaker

[Risker]

Shepards pie, fry some onion until soft, add drained tinned beans, tin of chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, crumbled stock cube or gravy granules, tabasco sauce, any veg you have lying about, courgette, capsicums, aubergines, carrots etc. chopped. (peas are essential), salt-n-pepa (the band). Either cook until it's thickened or use gravy granules to thicken.

Top with mashed potato (the mash will sink into the filling less if you let the filling cool first)

Heat through in the oven if you need to then brown under the grill (saves fuel browning under the grill rather than in the oven)

You could also deliberately make more mash then you need allowing you to make bubble and squeak the next day. Or before you mash it, boil extra potatoes for making potato salad.

[Hemlock]

it's also now cheaper to make bread at home than buy it especially if you use a breadmaker

Not for us it isn't because it's so delicious we scoff the whole loaf

We do red dragon pie when we're poor: left over veggies + tin of beans, tin of tomatoes, any herbs and spices in the house suitable (even curry spices), rice and other general leftovers all topped with mashed potato.

Toad in the hole: Toads: vegan sausages in vegan batter with a few frozen veggies.

Sometimes when we simply haven't enough money to buy fresh food we'll buy loads of frozen veg and fruit which doesn't go off, is still healthy and means you can get your veg everyday.

Morrisons 8 pence instant noodles with a handful of vegemince thrown in and some frozen peas or spinach - delicious.

[sandra]

I often make Potato and Onion casserole. It sounds simple...........well, it is simple but surprisingly delicious. Cut potatoes into thin slices, layer a casserole dish with potatoes, then add a layer of onions (cut in rings) add a little salt and black pepper. Just keep layering until you've almost reached the top of the casserole dish. Then add 1/2 to 3/4 pint of soya milk. Put on the lid and put in the oven at 200 degrees centograde and cook until the potato is soft. Then remove the lid for the last 10 minutes of cooking.
It's very cheap and very tasty!

[sugarmouse]

I haev thought about this a lot lately as I am very short on income at the moment, and rather than change that (I am enjoying the free time that comes with not working, for the moment) I have learend to be frugal. I also have more furbabies than usual, so I haev to keep money aside for their upkeep.
I do not like to support supermarkets, most of the stuff is from other sources but, I do buy tomatoe juice etc from supermarkets, because they are so much cheaper than anywhere else, needs must.

I buy:

• Tinned Tomatoes
• Dried beans of different kinds (in bulk is cheaper)
• Frozen peas,frozen onions and chopped peppers, shop around for cheapest ones
• Veg stock
• Flours
• pure spread or olive oil (the most expensive things on my list!
  rollseyes_ani:
• Tomato juice (cheapest I have found is 36 p per litre
• Seasonings/herbs spices, bought in bulk

Obviously I buy other things too sometimes but those basics are cheap. And frozen veg, dried beans minimises on wastage.

With that lot I can make various soup, stews, broths,sauces, salsas, purees for very little money. I also buy popadums as a cheaper healthier alternative to bread, and salad. I try to buy salad from supermarkets or the co-op,late in the day when it is reduced. I have even (this is sad) asked at the market for the stuff they are throwing uot, 'For my guinea pig' and then used it myself. Obviously Muftie got first dibs though! But there was nothing wrong with the veg from there, it was just not quite fresh enough to sell. I use the spread or oil, flour and water to make crispbreads..adding herbs and spices to them for variation.
Note though, I am trying to lose weight at the moment!

[BlackCats]

(That potato dish sounds nice Sandra I think I might make that today with maybe a few spoonfuls of that Free and Easy cheese sauce mixed in with the soya milk.)

I have been buying the value versions of everything lately, tins of beans and tomatoes as they taste exactly the same as the more expensive organic ones. Also you can get value rice and spaghetti and potatoes etc. The local market usually do big scoops of fruit/ vegetables for £1 which might go off more quickly but you could use them to make larger portions of dinners and freeze them.

I agree with what everyone is saying about just keeping it basic and adding herbs etc for flavour. I'm quite unadventurous and I basically just use passata as a base and add different things to make it a curry/chilli/ bolognaise etc. Sometimes dishes gain more flavour with how much time you leave it to simmer rather than having expensive ingredients I think.

[beanstew]

See below

[beanstew]

This is a recipe I got off my Mum.

You will need:

• 1 onion
• A few potatoes
• A cup of boiling water
• A decent sized teaspoon of yeast extract
• A splash of veggie Worcestershire sauce
• Black pepper
• Vegetable oil

Method:

• Chop onion and fry in a frying pan until starting to brown
• Slice potatoes and layer on top of onion
• Dissolve the yeast extract in the water. Add the sauce and some black pepper and stir well
• Pour the mix over the spuds and onions
• Cover the frying pan
• Simmer until the potatoes are soft

This doesn't sound like much but is very yummy and filling and just dandy on a cold wet day like today.

[bradders]

that sounds great

[Ruby Rose]

I want marmite potatoes now. And Sandra's potatoes too. Potato and potato.

[bradders]

being Irish I shouldn't encourage this behaviour but ah well here goes
"patasoes patasoes patasoes!"

[twinkle]

I often make Potato and Onion casserole. It sounds simple...........well, it is simple but surprisingly delicious. Cut potatoes into thin slices, layer a casserole dish with potatoes, then add a layer of onions (cut in rings) add a little salt and black pepper. Just keep layering until you've almost reached the top of the casserole dish. Then add 1/2 to 3/4 pint of soya milk. Put on the lid and put in the oven at 200 degrees centograde and cook until the potato is soft. Then remove the lid for the last 10 minutes of cooking.
It's very cheap and very tasty!

Ah, that's a variation of what my mum calls "hunter's pie"! I've always thought it was a strange name for a vegetarian dish. You can also make it with stock instead of soya milk, add a layer of carrots, or (extra delicious, though more expensive) add in a layer of smoked tofu. Perfect winter food

[bradders]

yummy

[twinkle]

I would like to champion red lentils in this thread, as they are so cheap (esp in bulk), quick to cook and good for you (fibre, iron, protein... erm, probably lots of other good stuff too).

Can't get easier than lentil soup - fry an onion, add any herbs and spices you like with salt pepper, throw in lentils, cover with water (add stock poweder/cube if you like), cook until they're soft, fab with some nice bread. Good with peanut butter stirred in too.

You can make double quantities of the above with less water, and reserve some of the lentil goop before adding more water. That can then be used later on as a sandwich filling/dip depending on how much it's firmed up as it's cooled. Add in an equal quantity of breadcrumbs and fry up as tasty lentil rissoles (extra nice with fresh herbs).

[Hemlock]

There is always wild food of course, me and Corum pick apples, sloes, elderberries, blackberries and mushrooms from the wood and gather seaweed and sea kale and make rissoles and stuff like that out of them!

[Stu]

Is it just me, or is everyone being somewhat suggestible? I don't feel that I'm any worse off at all.

[bradders]

Is it just me, or is everyone being somewhat suggestible? I don't feel that I'm any worse off at all.

I don't either but I think a lot of people out there who work for agencies or in construction or in any shaky job will be and will want to save any penny they can until the worst is over.
(truth is of course the media talked this into happening in the first place, just like the tories are talking down the pound right now)

[Roxy]

The cost of living seems to have gone up considerably here. Whilst petrol has come down in price, groceries seem to have gone up. Fresh produce seems to have gone up in price too. The local produce season is now dwindling, and the amount of produce we get from California is now limited too. Produce is being shipped from Florida, Mexico and other far off places - which adds to the cost.

[bradders]

I've noticed bread is coming down in price as it fruit juice and cereal at the moment, nothing else I buy has gone up at all

[Stu]

I don't mean to belittle anyone who is affected. It's just that I personally haven't seen any difference, from my perspective. Everything I buy seems to be the same price.

[Risker]

There is always wild food of course, me and Corum pick apples, sloes, elderberries, blackberries and mushrooms from the wood and gather seaweed and sea kale and make rissoles and stuff like that out of them!

I went mushroom picking earlier, now I feel funny.

[bradders]

i did pick apples and blackberries recenly, thinking of nettle picking soon too (makes a great broth)

[Risker]

^ Is it not a bit late for nettles? I need someone to remind me when it's a good time to go pick them, and to remind me to take gloves too.

[bradders]

it is a bit late but there are plenty still growing out here at the moment

[Stu]

I went mushroom picking earlier, now I feel funny.

Heh, naughty boy.

[bradders]

most wild mushroms should be fine, should be careful though there must be a guide to it on the net somewhere

[Risker]

^ After you, I like not being poisoned (unintentionally)

[bradders]

^ After you, I like not being poisoned (unintentionally)

so deliberately poisoning you is fine

[sandra]

being Irish I shouldn't encourage this behaviour but ah well here goes
"patasoes patasoes patasoes!"

I knew there must be a reason why I love you so much Bradders!

[Risker]

so deliberately poisoning you is fine

Only by my own choice :P

Really though, everything I've read or seen about mushroom picking says not to do it unless you 100% know what you are doing.

I saw Gordon Hillman on TV once (professor of Paleoethnobotany) saying how he ate a load of mushrooms that were being used to show students the difference between some poisonous and non poisonous mushrooms. He ate the poisonous ones by mistake.

If he can make that mistake then I wouldn't recommend using an internet guide to work out which ones are non poisonous.

[beanstew]

I used to go and collect field mushrooms with my Dad when I was a kid. The soup my Mum would make with them along with homemade bread rolls was one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten and a very fond memory of my childhood.

I love the idea of eating a wide variety of wild mushrooms and have a good book on the subject but the differences between a tasty dinner, an exploded liver and a mad hallucinogenic trip[1] are little more than a slight variation in colour.


1. It's up to the reader to decide whether this is an acceptable outcome or not.

[bradders]

i guess, though there is no real antidote you do need to eat a hell of a lot to kill yourself
that said you need to know what you're looking for, famiarise yourself with just a few safe ones to avoid making huge mistakes

[beanstew]

i guess, though there is no real antidote you do need to eat a hell of a lot to kill yourself
that said you need to know what you're looking for, famiarise yourself with just a few safe ones to avoid making huge mistakes

Just half of a Death Cap can do you in:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_cap

[bradders]

ok that's one exception (a deadly exception though) and by only consuming ones that in no way resemble poisonous ones you can be safe. In this case it has white gills instead of white grey that identify it. Juvenile ones can be mistaken for immature puffballs, answer don't eat immature puffballs.

[BlackCats]

That mushroom soup sounds nice Beanstew but I'm not sure I would risk an exploded liver for it. The trip I wouldn't mind.

I have noticed an increase in food shopping prices but I am shopping around a bit more now for better value food which is no bad thing I suppose. Maybe the fear that prices are going up is making people a bit more economical with their money.

[KcCrash]

Bit off topic but has anybody noticed how much small pet food has gone up in price? Hamster/rabbit food etc?
I have started to buy it less and feed them oats/grains/ fresh food more.

[bradders]

month on month prices are now falling so hopefully things like this will start coming down too

[twinkle]

When I went to the wholefood shop I realised the price of lentils had shot up a lot, especially organic ones, so I got mung beans instead, they were about half the price and my dinner is delicious! (fried onions, any and all spices I could find plus some stock powder, garlic, mung beans and potatoes, covered with water, cooked til beans mushy and potatoes soft).

[Haniska]

Everyone with my company has been affected. Hours and jobs are being cut. Same with my husband's job.
Anyone noticed that morning star chicken tenders are like $4 on sale and half the size? OMG. I haven't bought them in forever.

[bradders]

what is about to happen is the worst part really
as people cut spending, largely out of fear (thank again ITV) companies lower prices and lay off, this leaves more people with less money and thus the cycle continues
it is the complete reverse of stagflation. in this case the only way to get out if the cycle is keynesian economics, take up the slack in the labour market, invest in infrastructure and the country comes out of it with high employment and better infrastructure. not doing this means that the country ends up having to borrow just as much but without the benefits
(20,000 jobs lost in this city in one week)

[flying plum]

back to the foods, i just wanted to say i made sandra's potato-and-onion thing today for sunday lunch, along with roasted parsnips and carrots, braised red cabbage and homemade baked beans.

it was muchos tasteos

amanda