Nope.
Probably best just to take those photos as academic information, not for practical application.
Probably best just to take those photos as academic information, not for practical application.
Budget belly busters
- Thread starter nigelp
- Start date
Now you’ve got me thinking!
My gran (1950’s) had a wicker basket hay box. She made stew in it in the winter and kept milk cool in it in the summer.
So
1. Could a big cool box with added insulation for a fitted pot work? What are the outside dimensions of yours?
2. Our listed village hall needed roof insulation. In the tight spots they used some 12mm rigid board faced with reflective foil.
I am already thinking of chasing some offcuts of that up for a solar oven - Well they work in Sudan!!!!! I wonder if they’d contribute anything to a thermal cooker.
Thanks for sharing and waking up the other brain cell! @Stew
My gran (1950’s) had a wicker basket hay box. She made stew in it in the winter and kept milk cool in it in the summer.
So
1. Could a big cool box with added insulation for a fitted pot work? What are the outside dimensions of yours?
2. Our listed village hall needed roof insulation. In the tight spots they used some 12mm rigid board faced with reflective foil.
I am already thinking of chasing some offcuts of that up for a solar oven - Well they work in Sudan!!!!! I wonder if they’d contribute anything to a thermal cooker.
Thanks for sharing and waking up the other brain cell! @Stew
Any sort of insulation will work to varying degrees.
Look up the wonder bag.
I do similar for cooking rice and pasta. I bring it to the boile then take it off the heat and wrap the pan in tea towels, hand towel, oven gloves (whatever is there) and leave it to cook through. Not as heat efficient as the other stack but uses less energy than actively cooking it through.
Look up the wonder bag.
I do similar for cooking rice and pasta. I bring it to the boile then take it off the heat and wrap the pan in tea towels, hand towel, oven gloves (whatever is there) and leave it to cook through. Not as heat efficient as the other stack but uses less energy than actively cooking it through.
Hearty stew. Cheap, and delicious this time of year. Lots left for another couple of meals. Probably cost £3/4 tops to make a pot full.
With brown sauce, obviously because anything else is a wrong’un.
With brown sauce, obviously because anything else is a wrong’un.
We are getting into good old roast chicken dinners. A lovely roast then a few nice meals afterwards. My partner makes a nice chicken curry too. It might be a bit unusual but one extra meal out of the chicken is leftover chicken curry in jacket potatoes. I think meat is made cheaper by diluting it with vegetables, grain and beans. Basically cheaper foods using the meat to add flavour and a bit of the bulk if that makes sense.
Stews are classic examples that I'm hard times becomes more veg than meat. Many cultures keep a pot on the go and add to it with whatever they've got. I've been away with mates for a week and we had most of the week one pot going. We didn't add any meat only veg one day and tbh nobody noticed it.
Stews are classic examples that I'm hard times becomes more veg than meat. Many cultures keep a pot on the go and add to it with whatever they've got. I've been away with mates for a week and we had most of the week one pot going. We didn't add any meat only veg one day and tbh nobody noticed it.
Liver and onions, with mashed potatoes of course. (I cheat, and use instant mash,) leftover mash mixed with tuna makes fish cakes for the next day.
I used to love eating liver and onions. Lots of thick onion gravy and a plate of mash. Cheap as chips!
Macaroni cheese is lovely, but a sloppy meal. So, I add a whisked egg or two, depending on quantity, to the cheese sauce, pop it in the oven with a bit of extra cheese on top, and bake it untill all puffed, up, bubbly and golden. It becomes much more filling somehow this way.
(I use one egg per two servings)
(I use one egg per two servings)
Leftover mash? That never happens here.
Gran used to make lovely, small potato pancakes with leftover mash, but mine never turn out as good as hers, sadly.
Sloppy mac cheese? Never happens in our house. Taught my partner how to make a very quick and foolproof mac cheese, now our son prefers hers. Annoying!
I like the baked mac cheese version but our son won't eat it.
Comfort food in my side of the family is my American granddad's pasta bake that he used to call goulash. It's nothing if the sort but it's food that's great for the very young and for the older ones who grew up eating it all those years ago. I can't get my son to eat it because of one ingredient.
It's basically a kind of pasta bolognese but not as fancy. Onions, beef mince, chopped tomatoes and baked beans. Cheap enough. You cook in a pan then bake in the oven. You can add cheese on top if you want but we generally just add brown sauce if we want to. It isn't fancy and most ppl probably think it's a terrible meal idea but it's surprisingly nice if done right. There are some secret additions, as in secret to every family member who makes it. Childish comfort food!
I like the baked mac cheese version but our son won't eat it.
Comfort food in my side of the family is my American granddad's pasta bake that he used to call goulash. It's nothing if the sort but it's food that's great for the very young and for the older ones who grew up eating it all those years ago. I can't get my son to eat it because of one ingredient.
It's basically a kind of pasta bolognese but not as fancy. Onions, beef mince, chopped tomatoes and baked beans. Cheap enough. You cook in a pan then bake in the oven. You can add cheese on top if you want but we generally just add brown sauce if we want to. It isn't fancy and most ppl probably think it's a terrible meal idea but it's surprisingly nice if done right. There are some secret additions, as in secret to every family member who makes it. Childish comfort food!
I add cauliflower into Mac and cheese, bulks it out and adds more goodness as well as taste. Although with the amount of cheese I use and the way prices have increased it’s becoming less and less budget.
I've made a mixed cauli and broccoli one before now, using up leftovers. If you like broccoli it might be worth trying a broccoli cheese.
I think it would pair well with a Stilton cheese sauce.
Oh no! now I've got to go and bust my budget,
and get some Stilton and try it!
It's mostly indigestable fibre with hardly any nutrition so makes sense I watched a chef on tv cook cauliflower steaks and I laughed .
Had a cauliflower and chick pea curry a few days ago. We made two days worth but were out for the second day. It is good stuff anyway but the three day old was superb.
I need to put in something red. It does look a little anaemic - but tastes great.
I need to put in something red. It does look a little anaemic - but tastes great.
