I probably make a chilli in the slow cooker twice a month. It is one of our favourite meals. Sometimes it has meat in it (I brown the mince first before putting in the slow [...]

During the summer I dehydrated  different herbs, fruit, and wild ingredients to make herbal teas.  Herbal teas are a fairly new thing in my life, but a way I have found useful to add more [...]

A cold snap is upon us. It seems extra cold now as it has been a mild winter. We limit the amount of time that the heating is on due to cost. My children and [...]

Christmas shepherds pie is a great meal to make on Boxing day, or later if you have frozen the leftovers from your Christmas meal. There are no quantaties as you use what you have. We [...]

I have had my decorations up since the end of November and so I am looking forward to taking them down soon. For me, wrapping up Christmas isn't just about throwing the baubles in a [...]

November and December are the months that I replenish my cupboards with bought goods. January is also a month for bargains. Whilst other people are out Christmas shopping, I am stocking up on food for [...]

I see people still filling their trollies up week after week in the supermarket. My mind boggles over how they can eat so much and how they can afford it.. The fact is they can't, [...]

Cooking from scratch is a forgotten skill. However it would be so easy to revive if the will was there. I learned all my skills at school and in the Girl Guides. I believe that [...]

Sainsburys, a supermarket in the UK, are selling half price chickens if you use their loyalty card (Nectar). They cost £2.98 each. We haven't had chicken for ages as it has become so expensive. Early [...]

We don't  eat a lot of meat, and we definitely don't eat a lot of bacon because of the nitrates. However, every now and again I will buy a packs of bacon mis-shapes as a [...]

I have a glut of big tomatoes at the moment. We are eating lots every day but I don't want to waste any. I have no more jars to make passatta, and no room in [...]

I needed to make some turkey burgers in a hurry but didn't  have a lot of turkey mince. The turkey mince had been in the freezer a while. I was worried that it wouldn't taste [...]

We have had to eaten similar food each day recently as there is just no room in the freezer. My priority is to freeze vegetables and fruit for winter nutrition. During the summer when the [...]

Managing a low food budget is not easy, and takes time and planning. I seem to be spending a lot of my time preserving food at the moment. Trying to be food secure is a [...]

One thing that I like to do to save money, and cut down on shopping, is to buy ingredients that I can use in lots of recipes. One of these items is oats. Having them [...]

My lifestyle involves spending as little money as possible and making good use of any resources that I already have. Some one asked me the other week if my little, extreme, frugal habits actually make [...]

We try to use the seasons to our advantage to save money. I wish that we had solar panels to use the free sun's energy, but we don't. When I enquired 25 years ago I [...]

I love crystallised ginger in my baking but it is an expensive ingredient that I can not afford to buy very often. Sometimes my daughter buys it for me to thank me for helping her [...]

During the year we make condiments and other useful items for the larder, depending on what we can grow, forage, or purchase for a good price. I don't make everything each year as I would [...]

My pantry and freezer are always full, despite my food budget being below £700 a year. I think that it is so important to have a stock of food as we never know what is [...]

Today is the 80th anniversary of VE day. Spending a lot of time with my grand parents as a child, I automatically picked up some of the war time habits and knowledge in my food [...]

In the UK at Easter and Christmas time. half price joints can often be found in the supermarkets.  Sometimes I buy beef ones and sometimes I buy pork ones.  My friend said to me that [...]

I apologise that I have not posted for a while but I have been sent a few curve balls recently, including my lap top packing in. I am attempting to write this on my phone [...]

I don't buy lettuce. Instead I grow my own, inside in winter, and outside in summer.  I have always grown lettuce, even when I had a flat without a garden.  Lettuce seeds are so cheap [...]