Grocery shopping advice?

[Tank]

You have plenty of time on your hands, so why not grow your own vegies? It's easy, cheap & pesticide-free.

yes, It's easy, cheap & pesticide-free - but it also involves work.

You can see where your idea falls down for Mark ?

[MsKABC]

You have plenty of time on your hands, so why not grow your own vegies? It's easy, cheap & pesticide-free.

yes, It's easy, cheap & pesticide-free - but it also involves work.

You can see where your idea falls down for Mark ?

Let's just say I was laying down a challenge. Or stirring. One of the two It's a good idea though, you have to admit
Be interesting to see what excuse he comes up with.

[davebullet]

I'll feed anybody for $25 per week and show a handsome profit.

OK. First rule. Buy INGREDIENTS, not prepared food. Fundamental rule, if it comes in a can or packet, pass it by.

Rice is your firend. It's cheap (buy a sack from the Indian stores).
Buy a chicken (raw one). No stove, so joint it out, fry it for Maryland chicken, Oriental chicken, chicken chasseur. . Save the carcase. With $5 worth of split peas lentils and barley , and a few veges , that'll make a huge pot of nutricious chicken soup. Last you a month. Easy as to make . (Add a bacon bone and it's to die for)

Veges are CHEAP. You can get a huge amount for $10. Carrots, cabbage, broccali, onions.

Sausages are good , about the only sensible thing you bought. Bread's cheap if you buy the cheap loaves, but not as cheap as rice.

Invest $10 in spices and herbs. Not only are they good for you (don't stint the garlic!), but they turn ordinary food into a feast.

Look around the butcher (or supermarket , but butcher is better). Find a cheap cut of meat (mutton flaps work well). Cut up and trim. Fry in a little oil until brown. Put it into a casserole pot. Add carrots, potato cut up, lotsa onion, lotsa garlic (no, more garlic, that's not a lot . More , More , LOTSA garlic) . Add worchester sauce , soy sauce, spices and herbs, a sprinkle of brown sugar, a cup of vinegar. Top up with water. Put in the over - bugger you aint got one , OK, make it an Irish stew just simmer it VERY GENTLY AND SLOWLY on the hotplate. Should take about 6 hours to cook. My casserole feeds two of us for 6 meals. Costs about $6 . Dollar a meal. Easy as falling off y' bike.

Wots wornga with peasant food anyway. They eats bloody well does the peasants.

+1. Also add Homebrand Weetbix (cheaper and the same as Sanitarium Weetbix)

The key is - don't buy any "ready made / sauce in a box" you pay for packaging, advertising and convenience - not any quantity (and quality is dubious too).

When I was on my own - cooking for 1 - 3 makes little difference to the time.... so cook for 3 - split and freeze it then you have heat and eat meals on the cheap when you need it.

[NOMIS]

if you had transport, there lots of national parks with chickens running around a few turkeys to..- not nice eating most of the year, learn how to swim go up to wenderholme get some kina, take a pole spear - $20 or make one. and learn how to catch fish ... im not kidding by the way,

Or if you where nice id let you borrow my flippers and spear gun. if you dont beleive me it's what i been eaiting all weekend , my food this weekend besides lunch after church cost me $0.00 and maybe about $15 in petrol. and a hell of alot of fun doing it, oh and I think i have enough to feed me and a mate until next weekend, mix it up with some veges that growen in mates bag yard and its a beatuifull meal every day of the week, what ever still in the freezer by tues night will go in the smoker.. - can make a smoker for less than $10 and wil last you for agggggeeeessss. or byt a wharehouse jobby for $20 - there ok. - can even smoke on you bbq. manuka bark from the bush near by is free and tastes great.

now the down side - if you eat that kinda food (seafood) everyday you are at greater risk of gout and obesity.. aparntly.

oh and it takes effort. - come on skid you dont mind effort>?

[Tank]

Live off the land

Pfft Why live off the land when you can live off the taxpayer. (from the book of skidmark)

[Beemer]

I got sent this pdf that has recipes for OAMC - Once A Month Cooking - it's a cheap way to have meals on tap all the time. Do you have a freezer? If so, cook in bulk and freeze in meal-size portions. If you don't, cook enough to feed you for a couple of meals and eat the same thing for two nights in a row.

There is just me and my husband at home and so when I cook something it's enough to feed four so I either freeze one meal or we have the same thing the following night. Those jar sauces are great - we use the butter chicken or creamy chicken and mushroom ones (use the Chicken Tonight ones as the Select ones aren't that nice). You can cook veges to go with them as well as rice - beans are lovely with the mushroom one.

You could pick up a cheap crockpot too, then leave the food cooking all day and come home to a lovely casserole - not that it's all you can cook in them, you can cook chicken, beef, sausages, etc.

I second the home brand comment too - most of the home brand stuff is as good as, if not better, than the branded products.

And here's a good microwave curry recipe:

The curry cooks in about 20 minutes in the microwave, freezes really well and makes enough for four servings.

400g rump steak, cut into cubes
1-2 onions (240g), sliced
1 clove garlic (I use minced garlic)
1 tsp grated fresh ginger (I use the minced stuff)
2 tsp brown vinegar
2 tsp light soya sauce
1/4 tsp chilli powder (or flakes)
2 tsp curry powder (I used two heaped spoons)
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup water
1 beef stock cube (or tsp of powdered stock)
2 tsp cornflour

Combine all except cornflour in microwave container (I use my Tupperware stack cooker with the lid on). Cook on 100% power for 15 minutes - I stir after every five minutes. Blend cornflour with a little hot liquid (from curry) and stir into curry to combine well. Cook for a further three minutes on high. Leave to cool then freeze.

You can also cook this on the stovetop (I haven't so can't say what it's like). Place all ingredients except cornflour in pot, bring to boil and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes or until steak is tender. Do same with cornflour and stir constantly until mixture boils and thickens.

[skidMark]

Well some of you may have seen my grocery shopping advice thread... i wasn't happy with how i was eating and well i was impulse buying more than a kid in a candy store.

Got alot of tips advice etc from those on here, and they should approve of what i have bought this week, and hopefully my health will pick up again also.

Brown mushrooms $4.97

Crushed garlic 380 gram jar $3.29

Sealord tuna 185gram (2 cans) $2.89 each ($5.79 total)

Macaroni and cheese (hey it turned out the same as buying pasta anyways lol) 4 packs $2.59 each ($10.36 total)

Ground black pepper $1.59

Red onions 750 grams $3.85

Hellers sausages $3.55

Capsicums 3 pack $1.75

4 pack marinated steak $7.23

Raro 4 packs of 3, $1.09 per 3 pack.

Total... $46

Hi five.

Thanks for the help guys, now all i need is a women to cook it for me lol

Skid.

[bikerboy011]

Good shit, buy some banana's, milk and oates.

[jaymzw]

Ka Pai Solly Mai!!!

[Indiana_Jones]

-Indy

[P38]

That'll cover lunch.

What did ya buy for Dinner?

[Trudes]

That's a great start, keep up the good work! Keep going for fresh!!

[HungusMaximist]

By now you've probably realised that the best food you can eat is the food that you cook and make yourself. It will seem hard at first but keep at it. Go for the easy meals that you can cook with no fuss, and in a good portion which you can freeze or warm up the next day.

Get chopping and cutting mate, fucken therapeutic I tell ya, when I am cutting and chopping shit up I go off into a daze and a world of my own.

How about getting a g/f and let her cook for you?

[Beemer]

Just remember, a man who cooks (AND cleans up after himself when he does!) is very attractive to most women, so don't be in a rush to pass the cooking duties on to a female. Learn how to do it yourself and you could actually find some mad woman who finds you attractive!

[XxKiTtiExX]

Used to manage feeding 2 of us plus our 2 dogs and 3 cats on $80.00 a week. (that said I would put aside an extra $20.00 in case we ran short of bread or milk during the week). I did feel we did reasonably well, we never went hungry and we managed to eat relatively healthily. It was all about buying cheaply (whats on special at the time which means ALOT of browsing while shopping and picking out the best deals and ensuring you put your needs before your wants eg: forget about those bags of lollies or packets of biscuits and opt for something else), cooking larger portions and making something out of leftovers (remember nothing goes to waste, the biggest issue is waste where people throw food out that could have been eaten a second night or turned into something a little more exciting).
Bolagnaise and spaghetti one night and bolagnaise toasties the next. Haha but it was yum. (what I would do for a bolagnaise toastie right now actually).
Couldn't send Daniel shopping (he's useless) $150.00 in one shop and he would just bring home absolute crap so you'd mow through 2 packets of toffee pops (easily $5.00 there) and still be hungry. He knows he has a hard time sticking to a budget and I quickly ended up with the shopping duties.
I think the hardest part is setting up a decent cupboard full of the basics that come in handy when preparing meals. But once your set you'll be right. Even if each week from now on you set aside $5.00 that goes on those little basics (that you have like forever but they come in handy when preparing different meals). Remember with peanut butter, soy sauce, and a bit of honey you can make your own marinate for meat, and the stuff lasts forever.
Mince is a cheaper alternative and you could make things exciting for yourself with one pack of mince eg: make up a mix of mince, onion, 1 egg, bit of salt and pepper and bread crumbs wallah you have enough to make a couple of meat paddys for ham burgers (get buns but freeze them and only use what you need when you need it) and whats left you could turn into spaghetti and meatballs.
You'll get there.