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I'm in the UK, so substitute shops, and some will just plain be different. Still, we have poors too! 1) Always check the price per kilo/lb/moon-measurement. Then check the aisle AND the fresh counter. At Sainsburys I can either get the "mild white cheese" from the aisle or the "taste the difference somethingorother cheddar" for the same per kilo price. The mild white is the cheapest pre-packed cheese. The expensive premium range cheddar is the cheapest of their cheese aisle cheese. The prices of the two are generally around 5% from each other or less. Check for deals, and expensive cheese counter cheese often ends up CHEAPER than "mild white cheese". The same goes for hams, fish, meats, etc. Sometimes pre packed is cheaper, but it's not unusual to be able to pick up better, cheaper food from the fresh counters. There's literally no downside to it, and I honestly don't know why anyone would buy the crappy pre packed stuff. 2) Try all the cheap options once. Some will surprise you, while others won't be great. Iceland, our cheapest supermarket (at least the cheapest I can get to on one bus), sell better (frozen) chicken filled with cheese and bacon than the more up market supermarkets. They aren't healthy or particularly nice, but they are a fast option, and actually nicer than the similarly unhealthy, not very nice options that cost twice as much elsewhere. Then there's minced meat. The cheap minced beef here is really gristly and oily, and not very nice. The minced pork and chicken are far better, and the same price. So we use them in our chillis / pasta dishes instead. 3) nThing the "use shops meant for minorities" thing. I'm in London, so I can pop in to Chinatown and grab a pack of chinese pancakes. A frozen pack with enough pancakes for about 30 meals, for about £1, Crispy duck too expensive? Use a cheap cut of pork, marinade it in chinese spices then slow cook it, crisping it up towards the end. It's close enough and pretty drat cheap. There are other bargains there too. And of course, it's fun shopping somewhere where there are so many "strange" foods. 4) Also nThing the slow cooker advice. I don't see the point of a rice cooker though, it's not that difficult to simmer it for half an hour on one stove while preparing and cooking whatever's going with it. 5) Treat yourself. We're poorer now than we've been for a while, and yet happier with our food. Why? We've cut down enough that we can afford a £2 desert every few days. Find something cheap and nice for after dinner and it takes the sting off the fact you are eating so cheaply. 6) Grin and bear it. I've gone from drinking Pepsi Max to Iceland sugarfree cola. It tastes of fizzy caffeine. Giving up would be painful, but switching to ultra cheap (30p a day rather than £2 a day) crap is bearable. 7) If you hate onions, like me, you might think your cheap cooking world is pretty much devastated. But don't worry, leeks work in pretty much anything that usually requires onion, and are actually nice! And not particularly expensive either.
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Nov 24, 2011 13:42
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| # ¿ May 1, 2024 10:31 |
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