Grocery shopping advice?

[fire eyes]

Oh? isnt that how were supposed to cook????

In an ideal world mate!

[Robbo]

Hey Mark, you can eat both well and inexpensively with a little knowledge. I would suggest that you offer to do some exchange work for some of the KB girls for some handy cooking lessons. eg, lawnmowing, painting, gardening, odd jobs etc. I'm sure that with a little help they will have you up and running on a budget in no time. You won't be a Gordon Ramsey but you will do ok.
Cheers

[bikerboy011]

For breakfast you need some milk, toast, chop chop lol, oats, extra virgine olive oil and cheese. say you have eggs with cheese and toast some days or oats or chop chop on toast other days. And for lunch like a piece of steak, 1/2 cup of rice and lil bit of salad, or you can buy a bag of potatoes maybe some chicken breast and have that instead, you can either grill or frie, grilled is better i reckon. Hmmm for dinner pasta? some pasta, pasta souce, baked beans and some lamb.

[bikerboy011]

oh ya get some mayo and bbq souce

[skidMark]

For breakfast you need some milk, toast, chop chop lol, oats, extra virgine olive oil and cheese. say you have eggs with cheese and toast some days or oats or chop chop on toast other days. And for lunch like a piece of steak, 1/2 cup of rice and lil bit of salad, or you can buy a bag of potatoes maybe some chicken breast and have that instead, you can either grill or frie, grilled is better i reckon. Hmmm for dinner pasta? some pasta, pasta souce, baked beans and some lamb.

Mmmm Chop Chop Chicken.

[CookMySock]

Don't buy "nothing" food. Pasta and lollies isn't food - its just carb/filler.

Buy meat and veg. Small bag of washed spuds (dont have to peel them - just chuck them in the pot), washed carrots, punkin, kumara, parsnip. Will last you all week, fills you up fast, costs fuck all, and LOADS of critical vitamins and minerals.

Look for meat on special. Buy large $20 packs of rump steak, and some plastic bags and break it up into meal-sized portions and boof it in the freezer. DONT leave it in fridge! If your fridge doesnt have a good size freezer compartment then get one that does. Buy any of this when its on special - lamb chops, pork chops, BBQ steak, rump steak. You MUST MUST MUST freeze it without delay. Break up large packs so they freeze properly.

When you get home, pull out what meat you want and warm it carefully in the microwave, and then fry it up. Put a pot on a chuck a carrot, spud, piece of kumara, piece of punkin etc in the pot, and then fry yer steak up.

Tricks ;

Put a BIG knob of butter and a shake of salt and white pepper in the veges. Only use 20-30mm of water in the pot of veges or they taste like shit. Don't boil it really hard - get it really fizzing off then turn it down so its barely bubbling. Don't overcook it or it will turn to vege soup, and a not very nice soup at that.

Add some flavour to your meat - buy this stuff, and sprinkle in on your meat before you fry it. Get the pan smoking hot, add knob of butter, drop steak in, turn ONCE only.

Pork chops are best under the griller or over a flame, coz the edge goes nice and crispy.

Don't buy cheap chicken drumsticks. They are more like old rooster than chicken. Yuck.

Don't buy kebabs and pre-packaged stuff. It's double the price for half the contents.

Try the bottled sauces. "Chicken tonight" and stuff like that. Read the instructions on the jar. Its easy. Cook veges with this, not rice. Rice does nothing for you.

Buy bags of mixed veg, and microwave what you need in a plastic cup, or plastic conflakes bowl.

Don't be afraid to ask anyone "what can I do with this food?"

Steve

[Usarka]

Of your $43 you spend around $12 on Powerade!!!! Instead of using powerade try using 1/4 juice 3/4 water and some salt.

Or if you *really* need a sport drink buy a tub of Horleys replace. 670g for $17 or 2kg for $44.

Yep it's expensive but it's just under half the price of the same amount of bottled powerage.

[Usarka]

i find myself spending 70 bucks and still feel im eating peasent food.

anybody got any advice...

BTW I hate to break it to you - you don't have a job, you are a peasant.

[FROSTY:Me]

STEW --goood old fashioned stew. Its bloody good for ya . You use the cheapest cuts of meat. Then lots of FRESH veggies.
The great thing about stew is you just wait for the pot to cool down then bung the leftovers in the fridge. --Reheat the next night.
Then the next night throw a touch of curry powder in and it tastes different.
Stew - Buy about 1.0kg of gravy beef or chuck steak
carrots x4
spuds.-4 good sized
onion x1
tomatoes x2
Add other veggies
salt and pepper
Dice the meat and toss it into a good sized pot.with water in it chop the spuds into 1/4's -toss them in. cook for about 20 minutes at 180
Now add the other veggies chopped as you like em. cook untill the spuds are soft

Another one is shepards pie.
all that takes is mince,spuds,a bit of butter n milk half an onion and a handfull of mixed diced veggies.
Easy to make and actually looks bloody nice if you wanna impress a lady.
Once again you can reheat the stuff you dont eat

Ixion has it nailed really. FRESH is the way to go for most foods. -best bang for buck.
Inbcidently you will be blown away how bloody nice the cheaper cuts of meat taste.

[Disco Dan]

All those commercial supermarkets are too expensive dude... go for the tired and tested "Parents freezer" shop. Never fails. Especially when they are not home.

[geoffm]

See if you can get a cheap second hand crockpot - it's the biz for cheap stews that taste good.

The problem with living alone is it ai hassle to cook - if you have flatties then you have to...
I put on so much weight when I was in Christchurch for this reason - living on junk food.

Recipes - google is your friend
http://homecooking.about.com/od/cook...wo_Recipes.htm
http://www.recipes.co.nz/one-pan-min...8-e25b4a36da18
http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipes/sear...ooking+for+one
http://www.betterliving.co.nz/conten...ne-or-two.aspx

[Tank]

You ask for help on so many so many very basic life skills.

But - as mentioned - all things like flats, bikes and food come easier when you have a job.

[Ixion]

Thanks for posting this Ixion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have written it down lol

It's nice to write an actual recipe down .. Iv been kind of winging it by throwing everything in a pot and hoping for the best! Kids give me some strange looks sometimes.

You're welcome. The best thing about a stew is that it can be extended indefinately. Just add more water, meat and veges and keep on cooking. My great-great-grandmother used to have a perpetual stew on the range, pot was never empty. You can throw in any other veges you have of course. And any meat doesn't just have to be beef. I never measure though, just throw in whatever I can find.

Top up with water to about a centimetre over the top of the meat and vege. I like my stews thick, so when it's cooked, mix a couple of teaspoons of cornflour into quarter of a cup of COLD water and add SLOWLY to the stew while stirring. Nice thick gravy.

Other good thing about a stew is you can fancify it. Add some paprika and a dollop of sour cream , and voila, Goulash Magyar. Add some mushrooms and a cup of white wine just before serving and call it Boeuf Borgnogne.

[Swoop]

Veges are CHEAP. You can get a huge amount for $10.

Sausages are good , about the only sensible thing you bought. Wots wornga with peasant food anyway. They eats bloody well does the peasants.

Vege's rule #1: Do NOT purchase at the supermarket! Grossly overpriced. Try your local vege shop.
Sausages? Good for increasing the cholesterol... according to my doctor. *mental note to change doctor*
The peasant food will also be much better for a person's health!!

Potatoes are usually pretty cheap if you buy in bulk!
slice em, mash em, puttem inna stew etc.

Precisely! Good old spuds. Guess what, they will even grow in the back garden!!

[MsKABC]

You have plenty of time on your hands, so why not grow your own vegies? It's easy, cheap & pesticide-free. Carrots, potatoes, lettuce, brocolli, silverbeet, tomatoes, courgettes & beans are all relatively easy to grow and will provide almost all your vegetable needs. Google is your friend on all matters regarding budgetting, cooking, gardening & generally being more self-sufficient. Do let us know how you get on