Budget food/living

french onion soup - for eternity

so good, and if i could collect the gases emitted after i have eaten it, my fuel bill for winter would be zero

Yes, you read that right.

WHOA! Onion stampede!

sausage stew

will decant off the juice and reduce it before i have any more.

hearty and warming, just what was required after a wet ride home.

slow cooker rocks, as the house smelled of garlicky sausages, onions and peppers when i got in.

Got any onion soup recipes?

Onion + water ...?

with thyme flowers, Tavel Rosé, tomato concassé at the last minute and a whole crottin chavignol.

Chop a load of onions and a big leek, put on a low heat with a knob of butter and a bunch of bay leaves for many hours, until they're all soft and brown, then pick out the bay leaves
Add some brown sugar and caramelise slightly
Add half a can of Mackeson or Old Peculiar or other very malty beer (I tried to make this with Guinness and it was crap - the malty-ness is essential)
Add some stock, a bit of red wine vinegar, and season to taste
Serve with a big crouton topped with Stilton and melt under the grill

High heat is what you want to "brown" the onions...it's the half burntness that gives the flavour....

My favourite budget food is Majedarah which my Lithuanian step mother learned from her Lebanese family in law...involves brown lentils, LOADS of nearly burnt onions and a sprinkling of rice.....deeply satisfying for flavour and fillingness....dogs on travellers sites love it too.

Onion + water ...?

Ground nutmeg!

This week I am eating amazing super steak ragu... about £4 a kilo all in.

High heat is what you want to "brown" the onions.

Not if you leave them for four hours. Low heat = brown sweet soft onions. Then turn them up at the end to scorch them slightly.

^^ agreed on the slowness + scorching.
CHEAP OFFICE LUNCH i'm enjoying immensely at the moment =
cooked beetroot all sliced up + tin of sardines (or mackerel) + some spinach leaves + a sprinkling of feta....
all tossed up, costs basically nothing, lasts about two or three lunches, tastes a treat

Sardines or Mackeral - the dude next to you must hate you... We have a lady that eats boiled eggs every day... honks!

lolz. it's just me and two others at our tiny office, so they have to put up with it.
but i hear ya!

boiled? pssssshhh

Sainsbury's tinned mixed pulses, cans contain mixed Chickpeas, Soya Bean, Black Eyed Beans, Pinto Beans, Red Kidney Beans, Adzuki Beans

Normally £1.22 per can, but they are included in the 5 for £2 deal on canned goods at the moment.

Supermarkets are never going to offer budget living / cheap food.

Anyplace that is obliged by their articles of incorporation to maximise shareholder wealth will never pass on savings it doesnt have to.

Go to a grocer. Tell him what you want and how much money you have. He'll probably sort you out.

I am there

"I want four kilos of asparagus and I have £1.17"//"Fuck off"

Within reason you goon. Hes got to make a living too.

What's the difference between a greengrocer trying to make a profit and a shareholder trying to make a profit? Independents are sometimes cheaper than supermarkets on some items - and once you factor in the time of taking a morning off work and traipsing to the greengrocer to get your fruit, the baker to get your bread, the butcher to get your meat, the wholefoods to get your rice and oil, and the deli to get your cheese, then the couple of quid (literally) that you might've saved by not going to Asda at 7pm doesn't seem like that good of a deal.

You don't have to buy it, saw it and thought someone would like it.

Sorry have my grumpy pants on.

^ We still talking about tinned beans? - 40p for tinned beans that aint in tomato sauce aint bad at all though.

Today somebody mentioned that brushing your teeth during your morning shower saves money.

I just worked it out - I could only find figures for the US, but if a ten-minute shower costs $1.50 (90% of which is heating the water), then adding two minutes to your shower to brush your teeth adds $.30 per shower. Two extra minutes x 4 people x 365 days = $438 a year extra. The water cost of using the sink for two minutes (I estimated that at 8 litres of water) x 4 people x twice a day x 365 days was about $50 a year (presuming that you leave the tap running, which is wasteful).

Conversely, showering for three minutes (i.e. turn shower on for a minute to get wet, turn off to wash, turn on for two minutes to rinse) would save the same family $1500 a year.

oxtail

why are you mocking me so?

8 hours of cooking so far, the house smells divine, but the meat has yet to relax and fall from the bone.

the flesh has started to retract and pull away, but clearly needs to let go and give up

tomorrow shall be red cabbage slowly cooked with apple, onion, vinegar, sugar and some seasonal spices - an industrial quantity shall be produced