Cheap Wholesome Meal!

[saintpeter48]

It really annoys me when I hear or read about people saying that they cannot afford to eat, yet they order take-aways or take their kids to McDonalds!
Yesterday I bought 3 chicken breasts, 2 carrots, one leek, one onion, one parsnip, half a swede, a punnet of brown mushrooms(on offer for 50p), a couple of potataoes, altogether it cost about £7. I diced the chicken and coated the pieces in flour and fried in a large saucepan until a light brown, removed the chicken and added a little more oil and sweated down the leek, onion and mushroom(all sliced) for a few minutes then added all the remaining veg, all of which I had finely diced after a few minutes I covered it all with hot water, added S&P, spoon of mustard, stock cube (I use Bouillon powder), chicken gravy thickening, squeeze of tomato sauce, dollop of vegemite and added the diced chicken and let it all simmer gently for about 20 to 30 minutes, it was really lovely, I had it again tonight and there is plenty for another meal tomorrow! I live on my own and love cooking, that is a great value meal that would feed a family of 4 easily, all for about £7 and will satisfy you a lot better than McDonalds!!

[starone]

Not only that but it takes a bit of effort saintpeter and it is easier by far to go to MacDonalds. Also when I started so-called 'housekeeping' I didn't know how to use a steamer and couldn't understand why the steamed pudding I was trying to make was still in a very soft state hours later (well it seemed like hours). In the end I put it in the oven and baked it. No-one told me to put a lid on top - I know it sounds ridiculous but I was completely un-educated in cooking. Now, in my old age, I will try anything but not so sure I would when I was young.

[DaisyNonna]

Paul Hollywood needing his money? Doubt it.

[starone]

It's ever so easy once you know how.

[ummmm]

Starone - do you not think it takes a bit of effort to go to MacDonalds assuming if they can't afford fresh food they can't afford to run a car? By the time I could walk to MacDonalds, eat and walk back, I could have popped to the butchers and greengrocers, cooked a meal and cleaned up.

[janbee]

Make a big pot of soup with fresh ingredients. It lasts 2-3 days and with crusty bread, it's a yummy wholesome meal

[Old_Geezer]

Surely all the girlies had domestic science lessons at school ? If scared of making a hash in the kitchen they need to woman up a bit.

It's the poor boys who hardly know how to make a sandwich you must have sympathy for. If it wasn't for cold baked beans or take-away, they'd starve to death.

[ummmm]

I had cooking lessons in middle school which consisted of making a fruit salad, some scones and some biscuits. I remember more about the posters on the wall than the actual lessons (the poster explaining what a fly does when it lands on your food....yuk)

Being a fussy eater I've always been interested in food. Being a fussy eater meant I had to learn how to cook because my mother would not cook separate meals. I prepared my own meals from about the age of 10.

[Tilly2]

OG, Domestic Scence morphed into Food Technology. There was very little cookery in the Food Technology curriculum.

[rockyracoon]

They still don't do much in the way of cookery lessons, where me kids go, they have the year divided between design and technology, textiles and food technology.

[saintpeter48]

talbot ....... it is in the news most days that people are going to food banks because they cannot afford to live, and you say my cooking lacks imagination and i'm having stew 3 days running, pray tell me what is wrong with having a really tasty chicken 'stew' 3 days running!! The flavours are devine, the meal very satisfying and hardly any washing up, saucepan, sharp knife, plate, chopping board and knife and fork, just a bit of time and effort needed!

[ummmm]

Because it becomes boring. I would freeze the left overs.

[RATTER15]

Come on!! you dont need any skill to cook a perfectly good meal!

I can cook very good meals, my cooking skill level is nearly zero, if I dont know hot to cook something I look on youtube. You could train a chimp to make a cottage pie or a stew!!

[ummmm]

It's not zero then, Ratter, there is a certain skill to it. Some people instinctively find it easy whereas others could burn water, like my sister!

[Retrochic]

saintpeter why not invest in a few cheap plastic containers and when you make a delicious stew freeze the rest in portions. If you do this for a few days with different recipes before you know it you'll have a months supply of dinners and no need to cook. Another tip -next time use chicken thighs they are much cheaper than chicken breasts and have more flavor.

[mazie]

I agree with RATTERS, if you can read or have a computer etc. you can make a tasty, inexpensive meal. I think what is often lacking is the inclination.

[Old_Geezer]

Ah school cookery for kids considered beneath them and sexist then ? So much for preparing for life. That said it was always sexist, I like to cook and would have liked to learn in school, but that wasn't allowed, that was for girls. If honest, I preferred the metalwork, and later woodwork lessons more though.

[rockyracoon]

I think equipment is a problem as well, I have a friend that is lacking in the cooking skills area, her knives are shockingly blunt, all her pans stick and you'd not find any kind of mixing bowl in her cupboards. All this stuff costs money to buy, a lot of the cheaper cuts of meat need hours of cooking and people just don't have the time if they work long hours. Slow cookers these days are anything but so that's not much of an option either. Basics need to be taught properly in schools, not pizza and fairy cakes.

[saintpeter48]

I dont own a freezer because I dont like frozen food, I really do like to eat fresh food most days, I find that if I keep the '3 day stew' in the fridge the flavours really do come out. Tomorrow I will be making home made burgers from turkey mince mixed with fresh onion, garlic, Bouillion stock powder, dried herbs, dried mustard and ground pepper, cooked and put in a couple of crispy rolls with sliced red onion, chopped gherkin and spread with mayonnaise, a 2 day meal for about a fiver.

[Retrochic]

Old_Geezer my son aged 13 does food tech at school and so far they have learnt about vitamins,carbs fat etc and preparing balanced meals. They are also doing a food hygiene certificate. So far this year he has cooked homemade pizza making the base from scratch, scones, brownies, eton mess making their own meringues and shortbread, and a caeser salad from scratch including homemade dressing and croutons.