Best Value - what's yours?

[Bettie Boo]

Mine has to be the 3 for £10 chickens you often see on offer. Out of the 3 chickens I have enough for 15 meals for 2 of us...

 

6 x (for each) Roast Chicken dinners (Garlic roasted potatoes, carrots & broccoli, (sausage & sage, tarragon, potato & crouton dressing), gravy, sea salt & fresh cracked pepper)

 

4 x (for each) Spanish Chicken dinners (Potatoes, carrots, celery, garlic, bell pepper, onion, bacon, smoked paprika, rice, sea salt & fresh cracked pepper)

 

2 x (for each) Chicken Pot Pie dinners (mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, carrots, Dijon mustard, flour, butter, creme fraiche, fresh thyme, bay leaves, sea salt & fresh cracked pepper)

 

3 x (for each) club sandwich lunches (bacon, bread, mayo, tomato, lettuce, fresh cracked pepper)

4.5 L chicken stock for soups (chicken bones, carrots, onion, bay leaves, stick of celery, S&P)

 

Obviously I don't cook them all at once. Will freeze 2, roast one for dinner and have a full roast dinner the following night as well. Then make either a large pot of Spanish chicken and freeze it or make Chicken pot pie filling and freeze that, carve off enough for club sandwiches for the following day and boil down the carcasses to make the stock again which will be frozen and used when needed for soups and such.

 

So not including the stock, each chicken yields enough for 5 days or £0.33 per person + vegetables & accompaniments.

 

What's your best value meals?

 

[Naughty Cal]

Meat for the week from Lincoln markets.

 

For £10 you get 8 Lincolnshire sausage, 1lb beef mince, 4 pork loin steaks, 1lb stewing steak, either 2 chicken breasts or 4 chicken quarters and a joint of either pork, lamb or beef.

 

We usually buy one at the weekend and then take the rest home and either freeze it or use it in the week.

[Bettie Boo]

That is good value

[Ray T]

Best value? Stow away on "Bettie's Blessing" methinks.

[Bettie Boo]

Best value? Stow away on "Bettie's Blessing" methinks.

 

Your welcome anytime Ray

[MtB]

The frozen lobsters in Asda. £7.50 each. Fantastic value and two make a GREAT meal!

[Starcoaster]

Ramen noodles... 13p a pack...

[Alan de Enfield]

Being as Lincolnshire is Chicken county the staff shops sell 10kg of Chicken breasts for £10.

 

You just need to know the right people.

[Alan Saunders]

I am not keen on cheap, fast reared chicken; they require cooking skills that I do not have. I end up with flavourless, chewy meat as found in 'ready meals' and similar to the 'broilers', (old, scrawny egg layers) of my youth. No doubt, Bettie and Cal can do much better than I!

 

I remember in the 1950s we always had roast beef (topside or silverside) on Sunday; occasionally my mother would say "Maybe we can afford a chicken this week".

 

MtB, thank you for the tip about frozen lobsters in Asda. I have seen velvet crabs in Lidl. I would relish either but I have no idea how to cook them.

 

Surely, offal, pig's trotters, turkey thighs etc. are the best value. French chefs make offal into delicious dishes but I turn liver into leather. I have ruined many a good beef rump steak when grilling them but I have had good results now that I pan-fry them.

 

Alan (sans compartiment congélateur).

[Bettie Boo]

The frozen lobsters in Asda. £7.50 each. Fantastic value and two make a GREAT meal!

 

 

FROZEN lobster IS sacrilegious !!

 

Please don't talk such trash MtB - you'll loose respect

 

There IS only one way to enjoy East Coast Lobster and it doesn't matter whether it's boiled, broiled, thermidor, Newberg or lazy...but it must be FRESH

Ramen noodles... 13p a pack...

 

OK - you've got me, I can't top that

[Bettie Boo]

I am not keen on cheap, fast reared chicken; they require cooking skills that I do not have. I end up with flavourless, chewy meat as found in 'ready meals' and similar to the 'broilers', (old, scrawny egg layers) of my youth. No doubt, Bettie and Cal can do much better than I!

 

I remember in the 1950s we always had roast beef (topside or silverside) on Sunday; occasionally my mother would say "Maybe we can afford a chicken this week".

 

MtB, thank you for the tip about frozen lobsters in Asda. I have seen velvet crabs in Lidl. I would relish either but I have no idea how to cook them.

 

Surely, offal, pig's trotters, turkey thighs etc. are the best value. French chefs make offal into delicious dishes but I turn liver into leather. I have ruined many a good beef rump steak when grilling them but I have had good results now that I pan-fry them.

 

Alan (sans compartiment congélateur).

 

You are actually quite right Alan, the cheap cuts or mass produced cuts of meat are best used in dishes where the main flavor isn't reliant on the meat in question; but are good casserole type dishes.

 

If we are having a grilled or B'bque piece of meat I'll pick something up form a decent butcher and not over season it.

[Woodstock]

Farm shop at Wheaton Aston on the A5 £4.99/kg for shin of beef- makes the best beef curry.I find supermarket chicken a bit bland so would pay a little more for one from the farm

[Naughty Cal]

That is good value

And it's nice meat as well.

 

We went to a farmers market on Saturday and stocked up with meat, allegedly for a week but we have stuck loads in the freezer.

 

It was more expensive at £20 but we got a beef topside joint which I slow cooked yesterday for dinner, 4 chicken breasts, 4 chicken quarters, 4 lamb steaks, 8 pork loin steaks, 1lb steak mince, 1lb back bacon, 12 lincolnshire sausages and 4 smoked gammon steaks.

Farm shop at Wheaton Aston on the A5 £4.99/kg for shin of beef- makes the best beef curry.I find supermarket chicken a bit bland so would pay a little more for one from the farm

I love beef shin. Not had it for a long while but it cooks lovely in the slow cooker.

[brassedoff]

6 Cones from iceland for 89p Bargain,

 

I cant afford Lobster like you Mtb lol

Edited August 3, 2015 by brassedoff

[Nightwatch]

Years ago I had a copy of The Murderers Who's Who. Hardback.

 

I lent it to someone, I know who you are, and never got it back.

 

I have just bought a copy via Amazon for 0.01p. Postage £2.00 something. A right deal.

 

Also a copy of The Bargee for £6.00. No postage cost.

 

There's more.

 

Martyn

[Informer Fox]

Mine has to be the 3 for £10 chickens you often see on offer. Out of the 3 chickens I have enough for 15 meals for 2 of us...

 

6 x (for each) Roast Chicken dinners (Garlic roasted potatoes, carrots & broccoli, (sausage & sage, tarragon, potato & crouton dressing), gravy, sea salt & fresh cracked pepper)

 

4 x (for each) Spanish Chicken dinners (Potatoes, carrots, celery, garlic, bell pepper, onion, bacon, smoked paprika, rice, sea salt & fresh cracked pepper)

 

2 x (for each) Chicken Pot Pie dinners (mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, carrots, Dijon mustard, flour, butter, creme fraiche, fresh thyme, bay leaves, sea salt & fresh cracked pepper)

 

3 x (for each) club sandwich lunches (bacon, bread, mayo, tomato, lettuce, fresh cracked pepper)

4.5 L chicken stock for soups (chicken bones, carrots, onion, bay leaves, stick of celery, S&P)

 

Obviously I don't cook them all at once. Will freeze 2, roast one for dinner and have a full roast dinner the following night as well. Then make either a large pot of Spanish chicken and freeze it or make Chicken pot pie filling and freeze that, carve off enough for club sandwiches for the following day and boil down the carcasses to make the stock again which will be frozen and used when needed for soups and such.

 

So not including the stock, each chicken yields enough for 5 days or £0.33 per person + vegetables & accompaniments.

 

What's your best value meals?

 

Why you want spend so much money?

Eat grass for free.

[BlueStringPudding]

Lots of great ideas here if you have a freezer... fewer for those of us who don't! I'll be interested to read about good value meals that remain good value without having to be frozen.

[Naughty Cal]

Lots of great ideas here if you have a freezer... fewer for those of us who don't! I'll be interested to read about good value meals that remain good value without having to be frozen.

We had a slow cooked chicken last night with roasties and veg and are using the left overs tonight to make a spicy chicken pie type affair.

[Naughty Cal]

Lots of great ideas here if you have a freezer... fewer for those of us who don't! I'll be interested to read about good value meals that remain good value without having to be frozen.

We find that buying larger joints of meat works out as better value for the two of us as we get many meals from one joint.

 

OK this lamb leg was part of a half sheep that we bought and stuck in the freezer but there is nothing stopping you just buying a leg from the butchers.

 

So far we had slow roast lamb for Sunday lunch.

 

Here it is prior to cooking with it's garlic and chilli rub.

 

 

And here it is slow roasting, this joint had 4 hours at 120 degrees.

 

 

And so far we have had from it a roast dinner:

 

 

 

Sandwiches for work yesterday.

 

Thai green curry for dinner last night.

 

 

Sandwiches for work today and there is still enough left for dinner tonight, im thinking lamb and mint casserole with root veg mash and Yorkshire pudding tonight, and sandwiches for work tomorrow.

 

So that one leg will have fed the two of us easily for three days.

[twinpot]

What, no gravy.

[Naughty Cal]

What, no gravy.

With thai curry, NO!

What, no gravy.

On a more serious note, No.

 

Neither of us is really a gravy fan. We will have it tonight obviously as we are having a casserole, but we don't tend to have it with a roast dinner.

[MtB]

What, no gravy.

 

Yes sad isn't it? Gravy seems to have fallen from fashion these days. Especially amongst the youngsters and the trendy chefs these days.

Nothing better than Sunday lunch slathered with a pint of really good gravy!

[Naughty Cal]

 

Yes sad isn't it? Gravy seems to have fallen from fashion these days. Especially amongst the youngsters and the trendy chefs these days.

Nothing better than Sunday lunch slathered with a pint of really good gravy!

[twinpot]

 

Yes sad isn't it? Gravy seems to have fallen from fashion these days. Especially amongst the youngsters and the trendy chefs these days.

Nothing better than Sunday lunch slathered with a pint of really good gravy!

Yum,Yum.

[Naughty Cal]

We find that buying larger joints of meat works out as better value for the two of us as we get many meals from one joint.

 

OK this lamb leg was part of a half sheep that we bought and stuck in the freezer but there is nothing stopping you just buying a leg from the butchers.

 

So far we had slow roast lamb for Sunday lunch.

 

Here it is prior to cooking with it's garlic and chilli rub.

 

 

And here it is slow roasting, this joint had 4 hours at 120 degrees.

 

 

And so far we have had from it a roast dinner:

 

 

 

Sandwiches for work yesterday.

 

Thai green curry for dinner last night.

 

 

Sandwiches for work today and there is still enough left for dinner tonight, im thinking lamb and mint casserole with root veg mash and Yorkshire pudding tonight, and sandwiches for work tomorrow.

 

So that one leg will have fed the two of us easily for three days.

More of the lamb tonight.

 

Lamb and mint Casserole.

 

 

And there is enough of this left to make lamb and mint pasties next week. It's going in the freezer though. A bit fed up of lamb now this week!