The news this week has been all about how prices are rising and wages are not keeping pace. Since we try to live on a fixed income we have certainly noticed rising food prices since the start of the year and have done various things to accommodate them. However, this is the first month when I thought that if I don't make some bigger changes we are going to go over-budget.
The first thing we do is we never buy fish. Just as well as the price has risen by over 10%, that and some other things like most meat are just out of reach of the budget. I have also changed the menu this month, researching what provides the best value for money. A long time ago, when we were first married we switched to only eating vegan as it was much cheaper. We can't do that now because of food allergies but we still only eat meat twice a week and that is mainly because MasterShoestring loves it and he can't eat lots of other things.
I have stopped buying special dairy free milk and just make sure MasterShoestring gets enough calcioun from other things e.g.) baked beans. The special milk was £1.50 a litre, a tim of baked beans can be had for 28p, so a big difference there. We have also switched to the basics brand for most things or make it ourselves e.g.) ice cream and lollies.
I have also been watching out for specials as Tesco and some other places now have weekly offers same as Aldi and Lidl. The cheap supermarkets are over 10 miles away from us so it isn't worth making a 20 mile round trip every week but I do look at what is on offer closer to home and got a pineapple for 49p at Tesco this week.
We are growing a bigger garden this year and so far that is paying off and has provided us with salad every day since the start of May. The strawberries are coming now and the blackcurrants are turning black. Looks like the apple harvest will be good this year too. We are also drinking more tea and less coffee and I'm making bread with ordinary flour rather than bread flour. I checked and the percentage protein difference is only a couple of percent and so far no-one has noticed any difference in the loaves. I think the loaf is very slightly denser but if you give it two provings it seems to be fine.
When school breaks up I'll have MasterShoestring's lunch money to use to stock up on basics for the future as I think that food prices will continue to rise. What are they doing near you ?
Food prices continue to rise, I have noticed meat becoming increasingly expensive. I don't know whether you avoid fish because of the expense or because you don't like it but canned oily fish such as pilchards, mackerel and sardines are very reasonably priced and can be turned into fish cakes, pies, quiches etc. My diet is a little restricted due to various food intolerances so I have some understanding of the problems you face at times. Pam
ReplyDeleteDear Pam,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for the tip !
Yes! Things seem to be shooting up in price. I would second Pam's suggestion regarding tinned fish. A tin of tuna mixed with a tin of drained and mashed kidney beans, some breadcrumbs, 1 egg, 1/4 to 1/2 cup of chopped onions and 1tbsp of lemon juice makes wonderfully crispy 'different' fishcakes with no need to flour them or coat in anything. Alternatively chop an onion and boil in a little water to soften slightly. Add some chopped peppers (I use mixed ones to add some colour) to also soften, then drain. Add a tin of tomatoes, some oregano (or mixed herbs if you don't have any) salt and pepper, then heat through while putting some pasta onto cook. At the end of the cooking time add a small tin of tuna to the sauce just for a minute or so and then pour it over the pasta and serve. This is also lovely in the oven, topped with garlic bread. These are both tried and tested favourites in our house, with the pasta being known as 'Dad's Pasta' as my father saw the recipe on tv and passed it onto me many years ago. We recently saw a recipe on a local programme for fishcakes made with smoked kippers and decided to give it a whirl since we had one sitting in the freezer. Basically heat a kipper through under the grill and then remove the bones and flake it. Add potato simply mashed without butter or milk, then chopped onion or spring onion and a little chopped fresh fennel if you have any. Shape, season, then cover in flour, dip in egg and then breadcrumbs as per regular fishcakes. This makes absolutely loads of fishcakes, which freeze beautifully and the strong kipper flavour is mellowed down into something much easier to eat. I hope these give you some ideas. Best wishes, Tracy
ReplyDeleteThat is so great to get such useful recipes, many thanks !
DeleteGlad you liked them. I forgot to mention that although I don't coat the tuna fishcakes in anything, I do flour my hands when making them into patties as they can be very sticky! Tracy
DeleteThanks, that was so kind of you to mention that, before they got made !
DeleteI've just discovered a handy help from mysupermarket.com, I can set alerts on foodstuffs that I use regularly and then I get an email when the price drops. So then I can bulk buy foodstuffs we regularly use. Previously I tried to buy things when on offer but sometimes I'd miss the cycle, at least now I don't miss them.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a great idea, I'm going to find out how to do that !
DeleteGive me a shout if you get stuck :)
DeleteOur prices are going up here in the US. I think you still pay more than we do what with all our food subsidies. I'm vegetarian so that helps. My husband eats more vegetarian than he probably realizes! As for the Milk, there are recipes on the web for making oat milk with oats, water and a bit of honey. Very good and not too expensive if you use off-brand oats. I even use more water than the recipe calls for and no honey at all.
ReplyDeleteDebbie
Thank you for suggesting about the homemade oat milk, I'm off to search for some recipes !
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