I eat my main meal at lunchtime. This is last week's lunch - corned beef with mashed potatoes, salad and homemade relish.
Although I seem to be moving further away from meat meals, I've had a craving for corned beef lately. It's a reminder of my youth because corned beef, mashed potatoes, cabbage and relish/pickles was a popular meal in Australia's suburbia in the 1950s/60/70s. My main problem with it is that the pieces of corned beef on sale at the supermarket are quite big and I don't want to waste what I buy. So when I see a small piece, I grab it, and at home, divide it in two and have a more reasonable size to cook and eat in the following days. I also use corned beef as a cold cut for sandwiches and when I make meatloaf, I divide that in two as well, eat one half for a couple of days and freeze the rest.
These meals are egg-based - above: asparagus quiche with filo pastry, below: tinned red salmon with boiled eggs and salad.
.jpeg)
Another thing I've been thinking about recently is how the increasing cost of living is impacting people all around the world, and how we can respond to it in a common sense way. First of all let me put my hand up and acknowledge that it's been fairly easy for me to keep my food costs to a reasonable level. I don't have to consider other family members who want their steak or leg of lamb meals and don't want to think about balancing the budget. This week at my local Woolworth's supermarket a leg of lamb large enough for a family roast (1.8kg - 2.8kg) is $42. Buying a leg that size will give you leftovers for meals the following day as well as cold cuts for sandwiches in the lunchboxes. Other popular meats include T-bone steak - $30 kg, Scotch fillet steak - $41.50 kg and eye fillet - $52.00 kg. If you buy eye fillet from the butcher, it costs around $70 kg. 😳 Cheap sausages are $5.90 for 550g, Angus beef sausages are $9.00 for six sausages. If you're going to serve your steaks with a salad, one iceberg lettuce is $3.00, 500 grams tomatoes is $5.00, a cucumber is $3.50, red onions are 68 cents each, so two = $1.36. I think you probably have the makings of salad dressing at home (olive oil/vinegar) but if you have to buy the processed dressing, it will cost you $3.00. You'll get 6 bread rolls for $2.85. To buy a steak/sausages and salad for four people for ONE meal will cost around $66!
There are a few delicious meat meals made using the cheaper cuts of beef - skirt steak, gravy beef, blade steak are just some of them. If you slow cook them as a casserole, stew or soup, they'll provide a wonderful meal that your family will enjoy. They're also suitable for freezing, so store your leftovers in the freezer for backup meals in the following days.
Meatballs, cabbage and boiled potatoes.
Beef casserole, using the cheaper cuts of gravy beef or skirt steak, with herb dumplings.
Leftovers - pasta with bolognese sauce.
I wouldn't pay that because I could make something delicious that would be much cheaper and nutritious for less. Everytime someone pays those prices it tells the supermarkets that we're willing to pay those inflated prices. And if you just buy the salad it's still $12.86. Instead of salad, you could do a potato bake - that would cost you $4.50 for 2 kg potatoes, one onions is 68 cents, a small jar of cream is $3.75, pack of pre-grated Parmesan cheese - $2 and your electricity to bake it would be around 50 cents. That option would cost $9.43. Remember, theoretically, I'm cooking for a 4 person family.
.jpeg)
Egg and bacon pie.
Making shortcrust pastry. It's easy but if you need a quicker option, buy a pack of filo pastry and use that instead.
OR you could make a quiche from scratch. That would cost $5.70 for 12 eggs (you'd have 6 leftover for breakfast), small jar of cream $3.75, garlic and onion about 85 cents, 500g bacon $6.75, and cheese $7.70. The homemade pastry would be $1.40 for 1kg of plain flour, $7.00 for 500 g butter (you'd have almost ¾ of the butter left over), the rest is just salt and water.
There's a recipe for pie crust on Grandma Donna's blog here. This option would cost around $24.75 to make the quiche and you'd have eggs and butter leftover for another day and probably have quiche left over for lunches the following day. Add the salad at $12.86 and this meal would be $37.61. Both are reasonably healthy options but one meal is almost half the price of the other.
.jpeg)
I buy frozen Australian peas and grow the greens and herbs I eat every week; they're really easy to grow, even in pots. My list includes parsley, chives, basil, cucumbers, radishes, rainbow chard, perpetual spinach, lettuce, chillies and green onions. I grow the lettuce in the shade of the bush house/verandah, the rest grow in the sun in the old sandbox. All of them are easy to grow from seed. I sprinkle seeds on the top of good potting mix in pots and grow in the shade. It requires water every second day and it will grow fast. I let the plants grow for about 4 weeks and while they're still small, I harvest a quarter of the pot with scissors and add them to my salads. The lettuce continues to grow after harvesting so I just give them a drink of Seasol to keep them healthy and they'll be ready to harvest again in 4 weeks. Setting yourself up to grow some of your own food will cost around $40, for seeds, potting mix and Seasol, but that should keep you going for a few months.
If I were to buy fresh parsley, chives, basil - all $3.20 a bunch, and rainbow chard - $4.70, spinach - $3.90, lettuce - $2.50. I woudln't buy all of them every week but most weeks herbs and green would cost me $10 if I didn't grow them myself. I think this is an excellent chore for one of the kids to take on. They'd learn to produce food and give the family the FRESHEST herbs and vegies every week. But even if you do it yourself like I do, it's well worth it.
Here is a list of some of the many vegetables, legumes and nuts that contain protein.
What I'm getting at here is that there are always options and protein doesn't have to be meat, chicken or fish. You don't have to choose the thing you've always chosen. Be wise and think of what you can do with different ingredients and when this cost of living crisis is over, and it will end, you'll be proud of how you got your family through it by changing what you eat and adjusting what you spend.
Homemade potato and curried mince pies - no pastry.
.jpeg)
Vegetable frittata - which is just a fancy way of saying eggs with whatever vegetables are in your fridge.
The main problem moving away from meal, chicken or fish meals is that they all deliver the protein we all need. However, that doesn't mean there's no substitute for meat, fish or chicken. Egg, milk, cheese, yoghurt, legumes and pulses such as chick peas, split peas and lentils are all high in protein and they're all cheap, healthier than meat and better for the environment. If you have some tried and true meat-less, or almost meatless, meals, please share them with us. And don't forget tinned fish such as tuna and salmon. Boths are cheaper than meat and very nutritious.
Mostly meat-free egg recipes
45 reasons to have eggs for dinner
Delicious RecipeTin Eats mealsLet's think about unit prices, generic brands and being flexible with our choice of brands.
Unit prices are generally displayed under the product price on supermarket shelves. Checking the unit price gives us a more accurate understanding of the value for money of each item - even if something is "on special". So make your selections based on the unit prices, not the product price.
Generic brands can help you make ends meet in times like these. Supermarkets are retailers, not manufacturers so the generic brands are made by the same manufacturers that make the branded products you know well. There are no factories set up to make inferior generic brands - so manufacturers making flour, butter, tea, sugar etc. for the supermarkets just change the packaging and produce the generic brands you see on the shelves. And they're all cheaper than the well known brands.
Being flexible - this is good advice all through life. Flexibility helps us cope with difficult times and situations. We can all switch to generic brands when we need to but we can also substitute ingredients so we don't have to buy something we might use in just one recipe. If a recipe you want to try suggests something you don't have in your pantry, look up one of the websites below to find a substitute for it.
Allrecipes
Food Network
Food52
.jpeg)
Baking for the grandkids - cup cakes and sausage rolls.
And finally, use your common sense and go with your instinct. Often your instinct will guide you in cooking. Back yourself in everything you do. You might have to stop and change your mind when it doesn't work but every time you do something new, it will teach you something. Open up your memory bank and store everything you learn for another time when you need it.
If you want the recipe for anything above, please use the search bar on the right hand side.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
A great post, Rhonda. As a vegan of many years' standing, I've had no problem getting ample protein from the pulses and legumes you mention as well as tofu. While I have no need to be budget conscious, these are nevertheless extremely inexpensive and all produced in Australia. On that note, you will find that many of the supermarket owned brands are in fact imported product, mainly from China. This includes canned fruit which has had devastating consequences on our farmers. While I understand that supermarkets keep their food prices much lower than independent retailers, I prefer to support small, independent family-owned businesses, some of whom are also doing it very tough. Perhaps surprisingly they are very often competitively priced, But I say all this in the knowledge that I'm privileged to be able to shop where I want to, and also respectfully acknowledge that this blog post is about cheaper options and will be most welcome by many readers. As always, love reading your posts, Rhonda. :)
ReplyDeleteI feel the same as this Anon. I live in the USA. Our "food supply" has been slowly poisoning us (myself included) so slowly as most of our population have ills never seen before. And I'm not talking about the vaccine.
DeleteWould love the recipe for potato and curried mince pies Rhonda please they look delicious.carole
ReplyDeleteCarole, I don’t have recipes written down, all my recipes are in my head and probably change in small ways every time I cook them. Make your version of savoury mince, add curry powder or paste and top the pie off with mashed potatoes with a sprinkling of cheese and bake.
DeleteWhen we were confined during covid , I said to my children and their friends to always have dried vegetables (lentils, beans ...)and canned fish in their cupboards to have cheap proteins .
ReplyDeleteThis advice still applies. In France we have producer stores in which we find vegetables, cereals, meats, milk, eggs, cheese products around us. The price paid is not more expensive than in a supermarket. You can only find seasonal products there. Like you, I grow green vegetables and herbs, and I cook from scratch. There are always solutions to spend less, and your blog helps us.
I look forward to your next post.
I appreciate all these thrift tips ... thank you!
ReplyDeleteI like to look for what they call "manager's special" sales on pieces of meat. It's usually not a large piece, but with it, I make a sort of quick cassoulet, with three cans of cannellini, lots of herbs, a can of diced tomatoes, some cut-up sausage and chicken broth. It's very tasty.
ReplyDeleteWow, I had no idea meat was so expensive! I haven't eaten meat in about 50 years, but I do enjoy fish a few times a week. Some of my favorites that are also inexpensive to make are salmon patties made with tinned salmon, quiches (we have chooks), lentils and rice, hummus, and homemade veggie burgers. Your dishes look scrumptious. All the best to you.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I have drastically reduced our consumption of meat and dairy, the two most expensive items on our grocery list. We eat lots of beans, legumes, tofu, whole grains, vegetables, and fruits. Growing some of our food helps tremendously, too.
ReplyDeleteHi Rhonda, All of your meals look so delicious! Thanks for the inspiration to grow salad greens. I have a mountain herb garden in the shade. I need to start growing lettuce and salad greens again. Soon it will be time to pick pomegranates and persimmons in California. AwakenedSoul
ReplyDeleteBecause of the increased prices and for our health, we eat much less meat than we did a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteI now really like using peas, lentils and beans in cooking. These provide plant-based protein and are relatively cheap in Germany.
My grain mill is very helpful. I can also use it to grind the pulses into flour and cook and bake delicious dishes from them.
I enjoy trying out dishes made from unusual ingredients and I am always amazed at how good they really taste.
It is interesting to see the prices and compare them with UK prices at Aldi and Asda. We continue to use the WW2 ration quantities for meat, cheese, butter, etc. a project started in lockdown. I cook everything from basic ingredients because it tastes better and to avoid UPF.
ReplyDeleteMy meat budget is now £3 each a week, allowing for inflation. I do look for the offers and yellow-stickered meat and fish, and buy them plain, with no sauces or breadcrumbs reducing the value. A family size pack or joint is often better value, so I cut it into smaller portions or joints and freeze some. The cheaper cuts are often the most tasty. I make stock with bones and clarify fat to use later. I buy cooking bacon, the misshapen bits at £1 for 500g. It tastes the same.
My total grocery budget for the two of us is £40 a week.
It was £30 a week from Asda during lockdown, and they looked after us well, making up our weekly order, substituting at the same price where they had run out of the basic range, and adding a treat occasionally. The pantry is rather too well stocked at present, a habit from lockdown.
DH makes the bread, I bake when the oven is on for the Sunday pot roast.
I grow some fruit, but we buy a lot of seasonal vegetables.
Carrots are 38p for 500g, new potatoes are £1.19 a kilo, broccoli is 89p, a medium cauliflower £1.19, a cabbage is 75p, celery 75p, onions 99p a kilo, 2 lettuce hearts are 79p. They sell wonky fruit and vegetables a little cheaper. We check the yellow-stickered section first.
We have foraged for blackberries and apples from along the canal, and have 89lbs of wonky apples stored away in the cold garage which last us usually into spring. We have plenty of jam and honey from previous years.
Having the four hens makes such a difference, there were shortages in recent years because supermarkets would not pay producers enough to keep in business. Prices have gone up. We sell some eggs at £1 for six, to friends, which pays for their layers pellets, and we give some away.
Oh my goodness, I haven't visited your blog in a very long time and I've got some catching up to do. If you lived closer I think the aroma of your beef casserole and dumplings would have brought me to your door, straight away. That looks so yummy!
ReplyDeleteWell, like I said . . . I've got some catching up, so I'll spend a bit of time perusing your past posts.
Have a lovely week,
Connie :)
Thank you for a fantastic post. Simpler, homemade dishes stretch the budget, are healthier, and feed both our bodies and spirits.
ReplyDeleteI often have people tell me they don't have time to cook. I respond we make time for what matters. Feeding ourselves well does matter.
I followed the Fast 800 blood sugar diet last year which used a lot of pulses,fish, chicken, vegetables and not a lot meat. I was surprised how tasty everything was and I used many ingredients I had never tried before, artichokes, lentils, celeriac, crème fruche, tofu and so many different vegetables every day. Yes, it was expensive to buy so many vegetables but the pulses were cheap. A lot of vegetables were wasted as my husband is a meat eater and living out of town, shopping was weekly. But the diet worked, loosing over 25kg and lowering blood sugar, while feeling energetic and full. I now follow the same recipes but not follow the diet plan, eating the veggies until finished to have less wastage and it is much cheaper. For people who want to eat healthy, the reliance is more on having a variety of vegetables each week. Although the supermarket, charges a lot for fruit and vegetables, we are so lucky that with the variety. I was raised on meat and 3 vegetables, potato, pumpkin and either peas or beans. Corn in season, berries and stone fruit for only a few months a year. If you have little money, that is a cheap way to survive but I enjoy the variety available now, unfortunately the farmers don’t see as much of a profit as they should. Erin
ReplyDeleteHi Rhonda! Thank you for your post!! One pot meals simplify meal preparation. The pressure cooker/instant pot works well to reduce fuel use and cooking time, tenderize tougher cuts of meat and poultry, and soften the soaked dried beans. The following recipes are used as a base, and modified according to available ingredients and family food preferences, especially with regard to spices.
ReplyDelete• Chicken, veggies, dried beans, and brown rice soup or stew, according to how much liquid is added. The long cooking, for the beans, ensures our old roosters and hens are tender and not tough. Basic recipe found here: https://bigdeliciouslife.com/instant-pot-chicken-and-brown-rice-soup/
• Moroccan lentil soup, using brown lentils and modified by adding apples, raisins, quinoa and garam masala, instead of the recommended spice mix, to the recipe
• Indian Mulligatawny Soup, using brown lentils, and adding grain of choice that works well with the cooking time required for the soup; https://thewanderlustkitchen.com/indian-mulligatawny-soup/#wprm-recipe-container-12428
• Osso bucco/beef shank soup: add a grain, and increase the veggies to make it a one-pot meal
• Vegetable frittatas
• black bean burgers with sweet potatoes, https://minimalistbaker.com/sweet-potato-black-bean-burger/, and fresh vegetable salad
Preparing dry mixes: allows modification, convenience, avoids: use of flavor enhancers and preservatives, waste from preparing too much, and is usually cheaper. Please be aware the storage in glass, and when possible, using a vacuum seal to evacuate the air will result in longer storage and less product deterioration. When using dry mixes, fold a coffee filter the size of the inside opening of the jar and insert it above the dry mix, to prevent the dry product from being sucked up by the vacuum sealer.
• salad dressings, spice mixes, etc. ex: https://aamindfullmom.com/diy-ranch-seasoning/
• smoothie powder mix, in individual serving sizes, for convenience. [protein powder and dry additives] – I only prep these for a week at a time.
• tea blends, if using loose tea – stored these in individual 4 oz glass jars.
During the lockdown, I spent time finding many new recipes to try, in an effort to have an arsenal of variety. Recipes for the “sweet tooth” that contained protein were also recorded.
So glad you are back to writing your blog posts!! Carol
Hi Rhonda - I worry about all the people eliminating meat, especially red meat, not to mention fish and dairy. My husband has wanted to reduce red meat in our diet over the last couple years (mainly due to environmental concerns) so I did that - I love the other meats anyway, and beans and pulses, we have chickens for eggs, so I wasn't worried about our protein consumption. Like you we grow much of our vegetables including spinach and salad etc, and we also grow a lot of our own fruit.
ReplyDeleteThen I had a heart health check-up at my local clinic - all was fine except I had quit low Iron levels. The prescription was a daily multi-vitamin or a good sized steak each week. I opted for the steak and am very happy I did - feeling much better for it. My brother up in Darwin has had health issues of late, had also dropped his consumption of red meat and ended up with such low Iron levels that he needed an Iron infusion.
We buy our meat from a wholesale butcher that is a real butcher - the prices are only a little higher than the supermarket but the meat is much better quality, they will cut it the way you want it, they have great specials and old-fashioned meat packs which are very good value, you can buy in bulk and they make their own sausages - lamb and salt bush is a favourite in our house.
Sharon, not everyone has a problem with low iron and we all don't have the same requirements for iron. At my age I need 8 mg a day which I have no problems with, even now when I have meat-free months. When Hanno and I were vegetarians for 8 years, neither of us had a problem getting the iron we needed. We often had baked beans and eggs for breakfast on wholemeal toast, then leafy greens and mushrooms at lunch time as well as iron-rich fruits such as dates dates, watermelon, strawberries etc. We all have to do what our body is indicating and seek the advice of our doctor or dietician. Thanks for your comment. xx
DeleteI always love seeing your meals on a plate with your salads and hearty meals. I agree growing herbs is so easy and saves so much money. Currently I've been harvesting lettuce, rocket, coriander every night for our salads and my son just picked a big bunch of basil to make pesto this morning. I just heard on the news that people on $200,000 are struggling to pay mortgages which I believe given the hike in interest rates. $200,000 seems like a huge salary but also families with two incomes are struggling with the mortgage being the largest cost at the moment. There are lots of ways to save money at the supermarket like not buying prepacked foods and particularly snacks too which are usually highly processed. The only biscuits I've bought from the supermarket in years is rice crackers as we make our own. Once you get some good recipes it's easy to just keep making them. I found an amazing mayo/coleslaw recipe 5 years ago which takes 5 mins to get the ingredients out and 30 seconds with a stick blender, so simple and no additives and preservatives. Doing "no spend weeks" can also help because the second you walk into the supermarket for 3 things you come out spending $50 as you never just buy 3 things. The thing with meat is crazy when mince is $22 a kg and was considered to be poor mans meal, macro organic whole chickens at the moment are $6.50 a kg which is such good value. Have a great week. Kathy A, Brisbane
ReplyDeleteI think when times are "thicker" households get used to better and bigger quantities of meat. I can't tell you how many times I've read "my husband doesn't like casseroles, beans, wants lots of meat." Or kids that won't touch anything but a chicken nugget. It makes the change tough when times get tighter. I always joke that maybe take the grocery budget and send the rest of the house shopping to see how you can't stretch a T-bone steak price for seven meals lol.
ReplyDeleteI finally put my foot down with my gentleman friend. We were having people over and he usually suggests steak. I was going to be short on prep time as well so I said, "can they eat a little lower on the hog this time." We had sloppy joe, coleslaw and a apple crisp. They didn't seem to mind at all.