cut down supermarket trips ?

[Milims]

Just spotted that this is your first post Irishwillow - so Hi there and welcome to ish. WHy not pop onto the introductions thread and tell us about yourself

[fumanchu]

sprout sandwich NOOOOO! You make yerself a nice cake pet !! Soda bread with salted butter is fantastic..

[citizentwiglet]

I am, personally, drooling at the thought of a kale sandwich. I ADORE kale. I have a load of baby leaves picked from my raised bed that are just begging to be eaten. And I have lemon juice, and everything.

How can people NOT like kale? Philistines, the lot of ya!

[Millymollymandy]

I love curly kale but I don't want to eat it between two slices of bread. It needs gravy.

[oldfella]

Sliced Thick Gravy and Curly kale sandwich anyone?

[Keaniebean]

I was enjoying this thread right up until that. The thought of sliced gravy, ewww. I'm not going to be able to get that one out of my head either,

[Green Aura]

Sorry, just realised the recipe I nicked said garlic powder - I would a little use real garlic, maybe steamed with the kale. And hold the gravy

[fumanchu]

I have been playing with the kale. You can hide it in soup as long as you dont use too much I also used chickweed, turnip tops chard, and lettuce. It all makes nice soup, so I suppose green things are green things and make soup ! Husband is low in iron so it's all good for him.

[Jessiebean]

I don't know anything about kale but Backyard foraging and sprouting seeds helps when the garden isn't cooperating. I have recently been working on bulk buying. We have a Cash and Carry which means I am now buying cheese in 2.5kg blocks, flour in 10kg bags(also from local mill) brown sugar is in 25kg bags. I but potatoes and onions in 10kg bags from the green grocer and walk there every Saturday with the littlies in the pram (very exciting for them, the walk goes past a tram restorer/museum with running tram, railway restoration, over the river and past the charter helicopter farm which has pigs, donkeys and alpacas).Nuts/seeds are bought in bulk online, from the cash and carry or the bulk foods/health food shop and local walnuts bought in 10kg bags. I "make" my own yoghurt buying easi yo sachets online but I don't know how prices would compare to the supermarket stuff where you are.
This only leaves non perishables like milk powder. loo roll and baked beans (chocolate is bought from cash and carry too) to buy from the supermarket which we do about once every three weeks at the moment. Milk (fresh) is bought from the service station around the corner and eggs come from the fruit shop up the road. Doing the research for best prices/sizes etc is the hard bit but if you start by stockpiling non perishables, as others have suggested you will get there I think!

[fumanchu]

I'm getting there Jessie, slowly. The main problem now that I've got a plan is to get the money !

[Green Aura]

Don't know if it would help, fumanchu, but a good few years ago we were on our uppers and found ourselves with £30 to buy a months worth of food! We weren't growing any veg at that time so had nothing to fall back on, other than the store cupboard and freezer, which mercifully I always kept fairly well stocked.

We did a full inventory of everything and devised a full months menu plan based on it - it was pretty basic but fine nutritionally. We then used the £30 for milk and veg (mainly frozen because it's so much cheaper - in that you just use what you need and don't have anything wasted or going off). We actually ate quite well and it gave us time to sort out our problem (with the bank who was holding on to our money ).

I don't think you could do it for £30 these days but the ideas sound. and it would give you a month or two to save up enough to do the bulk shop or whatever you've planned. And if you're growing some veg it would make things even cheaper.

I agree with jessiebean and would also add sprouting (which we'd never done at that time) - great source of vitamins and minerals - chick peas are yummy and so are dried peas! Or pretty much any packets of veg seeds you've got left over (as long as they've not been treated with anything noxious!).

And if you portion up and freeze any leftovers that's a few freebies on the way.

[fumanchu]

I do this every month yes

[shaz_mum_of_2]

Hi guys , very interesting topic and one close to my heart.

I have managed to avoid the dreaded tescopolis for 6 weeks now ......apart from a school uniform run

I belong to a smallholders group and have bought various meat from friends (lamb beef and pork) i stocked my freezer with chicken too on offer at the local coop . I am hoping this will last me a year total cost £200 . I have 4 hens which gives us more than enough eggs for eating and baking . I buy evertything in bulk , spices ,pulses rice etc come from the asian supermarket including chappatti flour for breadmaking. I grow veg and saladstuffs and make jams and chutneys we freeze or pressure can spare fruit/ veg but i find it easier to prepare homemade ready meals in foil trays (shepherds pies lasagne,crumbles cake etc ) that way when you open the freezer you can see a meal . I forage too plums and apples at the moment so lots of jellies and pies etc getting made. I dehydrate small amounts of lifeless veggies too, and then have veggie mixes which jut need adding to stock and pulses for casseroles and soups

If you are really serious about stockpiling google "mormon food storage" it is part of the teaching of the latter day saints to stockpile foods to last your family for a year! best advice costwise is draw up a list based on your menu plan then collect a few items each week /month or set aside a budget for stockpiled items . If your not worried by used by dates check out http://www.approvedfood.co.uk/GROCERIES i buy a lot from them

Best advice is buy lots when a good deal as its a case of buy now and save later on things you would ordinarily buy

Good luck to the OP and everyone else

Shaz

[fumanchu]

Great advice ty. I am interested in AF but when I look I cant seem to find stuff that we eat. And I'd have to hide the dates from the OH who would go into orbit
I do like the idea of freezing meals in tin foil trays - that would be much better than what I'm doing now. I just cook a load in the pressure cooker then throw it in the freezer in plastic tubs from Ikea. But they are bulky and I only quarter fill them, then they take up too much room etc.
Anybody who is so organised that they have a years storage is seriously scarey.. that level of efficiency would bring me out in an inferiority complex
Does chappati flour make nice bread in a BM ?

[shaz_mum_of_2]

Yes it makes a lovely light wholemeal loaf but needs a little more yeast than bread flour also only costs £3 for a sack....i forget the weight just now but think its 10kg