- Gravy beef: Give me gravy beef
over rib fillet any day! Gravy beef is
from the beef shin. It does contain a
bit of fat, but it has so much flavour.
It needs to be cooked slow and steady. - Lamb forequarter chops: These
are cut from the lamb’s shoulder and
are still a relatively good price
(compared to the delicious but
unbelievably expensive lamb cutlets). - Beef chuck steak: Chuck steak is
from the neck region and needs to
be slow cooked to break down the
connective tissue, or it is tough and
inedible. It is more widely available
than gravy beef and works in a similar
fashion, but without as much fat
content. - Corned beef: This pickled meat
may seem expensive, but it can go a
long way. Cook it in the slow-cooker
and serve it with white sauce and
vegetables. The next day, serve it
thinly sliced on fresh bread with
cheese and mustard pickles. - Bacon: Bacon adds flavour to
everything. When in doubt, add bacon!
BREAD
There is nothing in the world like fresh
bread, and yes I do make my own,
because I have a breadmaker and the
mix works out way cheaper ($1.30 per
loaf ). If your family eats a lot of bread
(more than a loaf a day), consider
buying a breadmaker. It literally takes
30 seconds to put the premade mix in
the machine. I do it every night before
bed and wake up to a fresh, delicious,
ready-to-slice loaf in the morning.MILK
For the frugal, milk is as cheap as it has
ever been. In fact, it is cheaper now to
buy 2 litres of milk than it is to buy
2 litres of water.
If you are strapped for cash, and it is
all you can afford, buy the cheaper
supermarket-branded milk, feed your
family and don’t feel guilty about it.
Another very economical optionif you don’t have access to fresh milk
every day is to use powdered milk.
Of course it doesn’t taste as good as
the real thing, but it’s still a great
source of protein, calcium and vitamin
D. It’s also good to use for baking when
the taste doesn’t matter so much.DRESSINGS, GRAVY,
SAUCES AND DIPS
Once you discover how easy (and
cheap) it is to make your own mayo
and salad dressings, you’ll never buy
them again. And you’ll never waste
money by throwing out all those jars
and bottles that collect at the back of
the fridge with expired use-by dates!PHOTOGRAPHYGETTYIMAGESALL^ PRICES^ AREAGUIDEONLY^-^ C
ORRECT^ATTIME^ OF^ PRINTINGFrom The $50
Weekly Shop
by Jody Allen.
Published by
Penguin, RRP
$24.99. On
sale now.Like with any goal, I find that if I can look forward to some kind
of reward at the end, it keeps me going. When I first did the $50
weekly shop challenge, I used Cherry Ripes as my reward, so if
I got to $50 I’d buy one – then eat it after the kids had gone to
bed (toddlers don’t need chocolate!). It was something I really
looked forward to – and even though it was only a very small
treat, I cherished every bite! So use whatever small treat or
incentive you like to keep you going. It might be, ‘If I get my
shopping down to $100 this week, I’ll get my nails done.’
Of course, don’t make the incentive so expensive that you
undo all the hard work you’ve just put into saving money. ■TREAT YOURSELF
book extract
Recently I did a ‘No food
shopping for a month’
challenge as my shopping
balance had gotten out of
control. (Yes, even I fall off the
wagon!) So I used up everything
in my pantry, fridge, freezer and
garden, only buying fresh milk,
bread mix and the occasional
veggie that was pivotal to a
recipe. I thought that was pretty
good. And I tell you what, you
certainly learn to be creative
when you only use what you
have. I came up with some
terrific recipes, and some awful
ones. (One turned out like dog
food. Sookie and Bella loved it!)‘No food
shopping
for a month’
challenge