12 Ways to save money on your food bills

Ways to save money on your food bills.

1. Plan what you will eat for the next three days. If you plan for longer you will not be able to stick to it.


2. Try to include one meat free day.


3. Cut down on meat and increase the number of vegetables you eat. Remember that there is protein in peas, beans and lentils.


4. Eat vegetables in season. At this time of year root vegetables are plentiful and warming.


5. Plan to eat dessert. Rice pudding, yogurt, stewed fruit, bananas and custard, jam sponge pancakes with lemon etc. are all pretty cheap and filling and pretty nourishing too!


6. Make your own soups with left over vegetables. Try not to waste anything.


7. Shop twice or three times a week instead of one big shop. Visit local markets for fruit and vegetables.


8. Use your leftovers e.g. use left over pieces of ham in omlettes or scrambled egg, use left over pieces of cheese in rarebit.


9. Fish such as pilchards, sardines, tinned tuna, pink salmon are cheap and useful to keep in stock. They are also good for you.


10. When you make mashed potato , make extra and use to make fish cakes using tinned tuna or pink salmon. You can also use for corned beef hash.


11. Use some of the cheaper cuts of meat such as shin of beef , shoulder of lamb and do not forget offal. You can make such things as faggots very cheaply and they are full of goodness. Make dishes such as rissoles with left over cooked meat.


12. Pasta and rice are excellent in providing the basis of economical meals. They can also form the basis of packed lunchboxes with added ingredients to make salads. Making your own packed lunch is far cheaper than buying one ready made.

Saving money on food will offer huge satisfaction. You will become proud of your achievements and you will find that it is possible to eat really well on a lower budget with careful planning and a little imagination. The result is a better quality of life and more money in your pocket.

Always set the table beautifully so that every meal is special. It is a time for talking about the day you have just had, the things you would like to do, the things that worry you, sharing ideas and information with others.

http://www.cutleryandcatering.co.uk/

Who said romance is dead?

Here is what we had for dinner on Valentine's Day:

• Camenbert cheese pates with a sauce dip


• Duck a l'orange with chunky chipped potatoes and garden peas


• fruit tartlets


• walnut whips


• wine


• rose
  
  

This is how my husband prepared the meal

1. 
   
   Go to Marks and Spencer and taste all four wines included in their offer and choose one


2. 
   
   Choose a starter, maincourse, side dish and dessert and take to checkout grabbing walnut whips on the way.


3. 
   
   Arrive home and lay the table with best china, glasses, cutlery. Plonk rose in vase.


4. 
   
   Put food in oven. Take frozen peas from freezer and cook. Open wine.


5. 
   
   Drink wine whilst serving food.

The Starter

The main course

The dessert.

6. Fall asleep in arm chair while wife does the washing up!

Well, I guess it was our 47th Valentine's Day and it did save going out on a cold night. What made it special , though , was that he set the table so beautifully!

>Eat, Drink and Be Merry

Shopping for food in Chesterfield

We went to visit Chesterfield where there is a really good market. They sell all kinds of things including fruit, vegetables, bread, cakes, cheese and so on. There is also a covered market and here we found a wonderful and really helpful farmer/butcher. We had a really interesting discussion about his Sheffield knife and the whole queue seemed to join in!


Because this has been a market town for generations and the market has thrived, there seems to be an absence of supermarkets in the town centre and so wonderful food shops have grown up around the market place such as this bakery. The cakes and pork pies we bought were delicious. (The nicest pork pie I have ever had!)


and they were selling the most wonderful cakes for Valentine's Day. This is just a sample. You may prefer to make your own and, if you do,we have everything you need for baking.

The market in Chesterfield is well worth a visit if you like good food. If you look closely you can just about see the famoustwisted spire of the church.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry

I thought it would never happen!

Our son is a performance poet and comedian. He is talented and eccentric. He was commissioned to do a series of workshops in primary schools about healthy eating. In the process he seems to have converted imself! For years he has had a diet of takeaways and junk but now this is what I spotted in his kitchen. He regularly cooks stir fries, makes smoothies and soup.

There seems to have been another knock-on effect as well. His house is now so clean and tidy that you have to take your shoes off straight away. Never thought it would happen, but it has! For for all parents who despair about their offsprings housekeeping and cooking - there is light at the end of the tunnel. In the meantime buy them this set for people setting up home and be patient.

Can you spot the mistake he made with these vegetables? Our section on catering tips about cooking and storing vegetables is here. This is where you will find the answer.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry

Shopping for Food - Borough Market

Visiting food markets is a wonderful way to spend your time. If you love food then you would really enjoy a visit to London's Borough Market. There has been a market in the area since Roman times and a market on the current site since 1671.



This is a real bustling market for foodies but, be warned, it is expensive. That said, it is quite fascinating. There are specialist stalls selling sea salt, butter, spices, mushrooms. There is a stall selling simply juice, there are game dealers, fish mongers, bakers, stalls selling cider, wine, cheese.



A fishmonger's stall

A bread stall

This stall sells all kinds of mushrooms
but can you guess what these are piled high on the stall below???? *

I wonder if anyone who lives in London actually does their weekly shop here. Wonderful the food may be, but so is the price!

http://www.cutleryandcatering.co.uk/

*Answer is: chocolate brownies!

Eat, Drink and Be Merry