Budget food/living

Went to the butcher and got two sides of lamb breast for £7. One side was enough for four people (so long as you cook it incredibly slowly as otherwise it becomes inedible). Half the price of the same cut in the supermarket, which is cheap already.

Oxtail, redwine,mirepoix of veg, and garlic, bit of thyme and bay leaves in slow cooker, Parmesan polenta later on... Nom nom nom, total meal cost £12 for about 6 portions.......

Red lentils rock: no need to soak, packed with protein and cheap (£3 for 2kg).

You need to soak all lentils/legumes by varying amounts, including Red lentils (which are actually brown lentils with the husk removed). The only lentils I think you can get away with not soaking is puy lentils.

Even from a taste/texture stance, red lentils just aint right if they haven't been soaked. They fail to get to the right texture and taste tainted with the toxins they are full of. Sure you wont die by not soaking, but why put more crap into your body if you dont have to? And suffer an inferior taste and flavour in the process?

Actually soaking lentils (and all grains) long enough for them to ferment (and recycling the culture) is actually very wise. It helps to break down the bad stuff like Lectins & phyates and improves the availability of the good stuff.

As long as you wash red lentils very thoroughly i.e 4 to 5 times, I don't think you need to soak them.

You would be surprised. Lectins have been blamed for all kinds of diseases from arthritis to Alzheimer's. They are in all grains including bread but lectins in legumes can be so high you get immediately sick (like with kidney beans) . The build up of
this stuff can play havoc with the body. Tastewise everyone in my family would be disgusted with unsoaked need a couple hours bare minimum but this is just for taste/texture. But to remove anti nutrients and increase availability of actual nutrients it takes longer. People even do this for animal feed.

I have heard the exact opposite from what you say re: fermentation. Namely that if you let beans ferment on accident it is bad for your insides.

I hear you should soak them, but definately not use that water to cook them in later.

I hear, I hear, I hear? What is this, Mumsnet? The annual convention of the Gillian McKeith fan club? There is plenty of clear and well documented information about the benefits of soaking and fermentation. Or you could all just go back to putting cobwebs on your cuts.

I hear ya.

There's something strangely appealing about the sound of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's cheese-and-onion crisp omelette (and other Christmas leftovers recipes): http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/dec/28/christmas-leftovers-recipes-fearnley-whittingstall

tonight's winter warmer

ham that was on special, cooked with a can of coca cola (left over from a supermarket lunch meal deal ages ago) 4 onions roughly chopped and a handful of pepper corns - all thrown in the slow cooker this morning. joint has now been pulled out, the cooking liquor and seasonings blended and then reduced to a thick gravy

baked spuds

spinach - wilted and then seasoned with nutmeg, salt and pepper

What's the best value for money slow cooker? Any to avoid?

mine cost about £10 or £15

has been an awesome acquisition

What's the best value for money slow cooker? Any to avoid?

I bought a 'family sized' slow cooker from Tesco last year, I can cook a main course and get 4 meals from it - I live on my own :( It was their own brand and was less than fifteen pounds. It has high, low and warm settings. Some recipies will ask for the food to be cooked on either high or low, so this feature is useful. Slow cookers are not a 'high-tech' product so you do not need to spend a lot on one. Tesco / Argos own brand is fine.

Yeah, reading this thread has made me really want to get one and make friends with my local butcher.

earlier this week i did braised oxtail and beef shin

lightly coated the lumps of meat in seasoned flour and browned it off in a pan, this was then put in the slow cooker

onions were sliced and softened in the pan, before deglazing with balsamic vinegar and water, all of this was added to the slow cooker, along with some tomatoes that had seen better days

cooked overnight and gave me the most amazingly rich tasty stew, enough for 5 gargantuan meals, would probably have fed 7 or 8 people with more normal appetites

this was then served with mashed spuds - with additional flavour from the rind of a stilton which had been crumbled on a cheese grater - leaving me with the nicer stilton to eat on its own

What's the best value for money slow cooker? Any to avoid?

They are hard to get wrong. Pick something with the capacity you need and just check online for poor reviews. Find none, bingo.

On mine, the ceramic cook pot can be lifted out, which makes it easier to clean; not an essential feature but nice if you can find it. I'd tell you the model but they don't make it any more (even cheap ones normally last for ages - nothing to break)

Yummy stew James.

Yesterday whilst perusing the reduced section, I found a bag of lamb's kidneys for 35p. I ate four on toast for dinner (sliced, fried in butter, removed, pan deglazed with balsamic vinegar, spoon of wholegrain mustard, drop of flour (very unfashionable!) and splash of milk (cream would be better), loads of black pepper - whisk until cooked - re-introduce kidneys, slop over some nice bread, add diced parsley - delicious). I put the remaining eight into a chilli con carne (along with some reduced lamb neck - £2 for two big chunks), diced very small, which I divvied up and froze.

I also got some reduced squid (about 40p for two servings' worth... of which I ate both). Just floured, fried and topped with salt, lemon juice, mayo and a bit of Frank's Red Hot sauce on the side.

The big Tesco near me always seems to have the best reduced stuff. I don't think anything will ever beat the 4kg pork shoulder reduced to £2.12 though...

At my Sainsbury's if you find the staff member with the scanner putting the reduced stickers on items they will usually knock a further 50% off things that are already going cheap.

My beef shin cost lest than £1, should have been nearer a fiver.

I often do devilled kidneys as a cheap meal for 1, served on toast.

Offal is wonderfully cheap and yet really nutritious, the only problem is that supermarkets in upmarket areas rarely stock it (unless it is high faluting organic yada yada).

Fortunately for me, offal is still unfashionable in Coventry (I think there are only two restaurants which aren't Chinese buffets). I visited my parents over Christmas and I was shocked when the butcher charged me for a pig's trotter!

I still have not cooked tripe, although Hopkinson describes a few recipes for it.

Offal is wonderfully cheap and yet really nutritious, .

Actually much more nutritious in many cases. Liver in particular. Perhaps the most concentrated sources of Vitamins and Minerals you can find.

A cheap source of supermarket meat I found recently is going to big 24hr Asda's that happen to be in predominantly Asian (muslim) areas. Not many people by the meat and it gets heavily discounted by the late evening.

The same goes for Aldi if you want free range chickens with 30% off. Can get them regularly at mine. Taking them down from £5 to £3.50

Whenever I hear "free range chickens" I'm reminded of (the documentary) Food Inc.

: /

Just a heads up people - LiDL have medium cheddar on offer at the moment. 500g for £1.14. Has a long BBE date of beginning of April too.

that's bargain-ous!
and that kind of cheap cheese is fine to freeze

winter twist on stew and dumplings

fed 4 of us yesterday for around £8.. .
Slow cooked ox cheeks with diced onion, carrots, celery, crushed garlic, Guinness.

This offal is pretty tough when raw, it is mitten shaped, you cut the cheeks in half, producing two mitten shapes. Remove any trace of sinew, coat in seasoned flour. Lightly fry pieces in oil, set aside. fry chopped up veg in the same oil for a few minutes put every thing in a casserole dish Add couple tbl spoons of basalmic or malt vingar.. Pour over 440ml can of Guinness, cover dish with lid put in the oven 150deg C for 3 hrs.. Serve with gnocchi, curly kale and horseradish sauce.. The meat will melt in your mouth and gravy is epic.

leftovers taste even better after being chilled for a further day.