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Badger posted:Unfortunately cheapest i have found is still the big supermarkets. Tesco do 3 chickens for a tenner at the moment which isnt bad. There's a butchers in the Arndale Centre Food Market in Manchester city centre which is decent value. Maybe not worth a trip into town for, but if you live in the city centre then it's cheaper than the express shops and, probably, the supermarkets. The only price comparison I can think of off the top of my head is minced Scotch beef, which is ~£5.40/kg at the butchers, whereas at the supermarket it's around £8.00/kg. There's a cheap greengrocers there too, and a big fishmongers - although I haven't bought anything from there.
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Dec 23, 2014 23:26
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Faithless posted:BRITGOONS - Best place to buy cheap meat?
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Dec 25, 2014 11:10
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Badger posted:Unfortunately cheapest i have found is still the big supermarkets. Tesco do 3 chickens for a tenner at the moment which isnt bad. Cheapest place I know for chicken is one of the major halal supermarkets on the curry mile. It's so cheap its almost suspect. One chicken breast the size of 4 breasts from asda comes in at £2.40. Last time I tried to buy beef from there though I turned around for a second and only realised when I got home they'd given me lamb.
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Dec 27, 2014 11:33
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Umbriago posted:There's a butchers in the Arndale Centre Food Market in Manchester city centre which is decent value. Maybe not worth a trip into town for, but if you live in the city centre then it's cheaper than the express shops and, probably, the supermarkets. I would not recommend these butchers. Edit :- Mostly because half the staff are not butchers so they're a bit poo poo and I bought the worst brisket from there once. So I wouldnt recommend them for meat snobbery reasons rather than price.
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Dec 27, 2014 11:34
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Faithless posted:I would not recommend these butchers. Where would you recommend instead? I'm not familiar with anywhere else in the city centre and I want the best meat!
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Dec 31, 2014 02:06
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so I've lost my job and just found out how much I'm going to get from unemployment till I find a new one. I have gone from 960 dollars a month to 696 dollars a month. 260 for rent, 70 for internet, plus about 80 for electric, say 40 dollars for gas? 246 dollars for a month of food. I am seriously at a loss here. Also I know beans and rice are pretty much going to be my go to, but cheap desserts would be awesome. Butter is expensive and almost every recipe I find calls for it. But having sweets helps a long way with dealing with depression.
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Jan 9, 2015 09:52
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Leper Residue posted:so I've lost my job and just found out how much I'm going to get from unemployment till I find a new one. I have gone from 960 dollars a month to 696 dollars a month. 260 for rent, 70 for internet, plus about 80 for electric, say 40 dollars for gas? 246 dollars for a month of food. I am seriously at a loss here. It's pretty drat awesome.
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Jan 9, 2015 10:08
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bowmore posted:The Good & Cheap cookbook looks like it would be right up your alley. thank you, bookmarked.
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Jan 9, 2015 10:26
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Leper Residue posted:thank you, bookmarked.
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Jan 9, 2015 10:28
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Buy a whole chicken every single week and use it in 2+ recipes. Like, bare minimum you can get a pasta and a rice dish out of it that should last you a couple days each. I've been stuck on unemployment with odd jobs for several months and food is really easy as long as you don't ever buy anything that's premade. You'll get sick of rice and probably miss pizza or whatever, but it's a good way to get creative with your food that'll benefit you even after you aren't a wretch anymore.
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Jan 9, 2015 10:44
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Pizza can be drat cheap to make. The most expensive part will be the mozzarella, but you just have to keep an eye for it to go on sale. Make dough if you can, the materials come out to like 60¢ in materials. Otherwise you can keep an eye out, my grocery store sells dough balls for a few bucks each, but every few weeks they go 10 for $10 and I'll usually stock up and freeze them because they are pretty good, just a basic dough of flour, salt, water, and yeast. Finally, use tomato paste instead of sauce, 1 can for 55¢ will cover two regular sized pizzas and it's got way less moisture then tomato sauce so the crust cooks better since you don't have sauce boiling on top. You should probably already have spices, but a popular thing to point out in this thread is to go to an ethnic market to get spices for pennies instead of grocery stores for dollars. And for toppings, it's a good way to use that leftover bit of chicken that isn't quite enough for a meal, or those peppers that are about to go bad because you forgot to use them. My other piece of advice is to go to the library and get Ratio by Michael Rhulman. It'll teach you a lot of fundamental rules of thumb for cooking and you won't have to pay for overpriced bread, salad dressing, or desserts again.
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Jan 9, 2015 14:17
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Yeah pizza is dirt cheap to make. As mentioned, cheese is probably the most expensive thing. Tomatoes would be if you wanted to get good ones, but you can still make a drat good pie with cheapo tomatoes instead of good san marzanos. If you aren't gonna make your own dough, I would go to your favorite pizzeria and just ask them to sell you some dough rather than buying lovely store brand stuff. It might be cheaper, and it will definitely be way better. The best thing about unemployement was that you could shop any time, so you were not rushed. Look at what proteins are on sale, and force yourself to try new dishes with what's cheap. Definitely check out other grocery stores to see prices. Some places do certain things for very cheap. Ethnic places are good spots to scope out for cheap protein, veggies, and, very cheap spices. Also figure out when your seafood dept takes stuff and cuts the price in half. You can sometimes get fish and other stuff for practically nothing as a way to treat yourself. Also as mentioned, rotisserie chicken is one of the best values since it can be used so many ways, and then you can use it in stock. If you really wanna go all in on cutting costs (as you should) learn to make your own.
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Jan 9, 2015 16:36
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You can make your own mozzarella and it's drat cheap, only cost is really the initial materials For example here's a kit http://www.austinhomebrew.com/Cheese/Kits_5/AHS-Mozzarella-Cheese-Kit-10-Batch.html#.VK_2givF8wo Makes 10 batches of 3/4 lb each, only extra thing you need to buy is the milk itself.
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Jan 9, 2015 16:43
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Milk around here is 3-4 bucks and so is a pound of mozzarella. I've made it a few times and it's nice cause you can make ricotta from the leftover whey, but I don't know that it's gonna be a huge time/cost savings compared to getting on-sale mozz. It all depends on local prices though, so ymmv.
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Jan 9, 2015 16:48
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Leper Residue posted:so I've lost my job and just found out how much I'm going to get from unemployment till I find a new one. I have gone from 960 dollars a month to 696 dollars a month. 260 for rent, 70 for internet, plus about 80 for electric, say 40 dollars for gas? 246 dollars for a month of food. I am seriously at a loss here. http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/scotch-shortbread-cookies These are nice and as minimal as you can get.
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Jan 9, 2015 16:53
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Daedalus Esquire posted:Milk around here is 3-4 bucks and so is a pound of mozzarella. Where the hell do you live that mozz is that cheap? It's easily $8 a lb here
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Jan 9, 2015 17:07
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Pizza is a good idea, I still have a decent amount of yeast left over so the dough should be fine. But yeah the cheapest mozz I've seen around here is 4.99 for a little ball. I'll probably have to switch it with generic blocks of cheap cheddar or something.Pharmaskittle posted:Buy a whole chicken every single week and use it in 2+ recipes. Like, bare minimum you can get a pasta and a rice dish out of it that should last you a couple days each. I've been stuck on unemployment with odd jobs for several months and food is really easy as long as you don't ever buy anything that's premade. You'll get sick of rice and probably miss pizza or whatever, but it's a good way to get creative with your food that'll benefit you even after you aren't a wretch anymore. I've been stressing out so much I completely forgot about whole chickens. That Works posted:http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/scotch-shortbread-cookies This calls for a pound of butter. That's an entire box of butter. I'm somewhat hesitant of this.
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Jan 9, 2015 18:14
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Leper Residue posted:Pizza is a good idea, I still have a decent amount of yeast left over so the dough should be fine. But yeah the cheapest mozz I've seen around here is 4.99 for a little ball. I'll probably have to switch it with generic blocks of cheap cheddar or something. Probably a good time to work on a sourdough starter, no more yeast costs and tons of great bread (and something to take care of and do while you have more time)
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Jan 9, 2015 18:21
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The low-moisture part-skim mozz--not the fresh little balls, but the kind of cylindrical one--is around $5 where I am for 16oz, and the little balls of fresh mozz are like 8oz for $4. And you honestly can't tell the difference when you cook the pizza. Provolone is also excellent and traditional for pizzas, and though it sounds a little weird, deli provolone can be a great cheese for your pizza as long as it's not the only thing on there. Also, if you like ricotta, big tubs of the stuff on pizza drizzled with olive oil are delicious on pizza and can come out much cheaper than mozz. You can use it as a sauce-like base with garlic and pepper and salt (you HAVE to salt the ricotta) and then put toppings on it, or you can use it as a cheese layer in conjunction with parm or romano. (Romano tends to be cheaper than parm, I highly recommend checking it out--and those tubs of pre-grated are crap no matter the price, find a place where it's under $10 a pound, buy a whole chunk and use judiciously.) Also: I wouldn't use tomato paste for sauce because it won't taste right. Get $1 16oz can of crushed tomatoes and use that. It'll still have some texture but it'll have a fresher tomato flavor. Spread your sauce THIN. Your crust should be super thin, almost able to be seen through, your sauce should be maybe a scant half a cup over a very large pizza, and then your toppings spread lightly throughout. (Don't overload on toppings!) You don't need a complete cheese coverage, either; your cheese will spread out as it melts. Cook at 500 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the crust is lightly golden on the bottom and crispy, and it should feel pretty darn decadent.
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Jan 9, 2015 18:30
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You can also get one or two slices of prosciutto or another cured meat from the deli for SUPER cheap. Will they give you a judgy look? Probably. But you'll get enough prosciutto for your pizza for $0.50.
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Jan 9, 2015 18:43
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Honestly you shouldn't have a problem with your budget. $50 a week is hilariously doable. You don't have to buy 50 cents of deli meat or worry about how to make your pizza crust as cheaply as possible. Don't eat out, don't buy prepackaged stuff, check out the manager meat specials because those are seriously good value, don't be pennywise but dollar stupid (the example already posted was buy whole chickens because it's more initially than individual pre-cooked breasts from the deli counter but you'll get huge value) e: And on the plus side now you have more time to play MH
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Jan 9, 2015 18:52
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Adult Sword Owner posted:e: And on the plus side now you have more time to play MH Gonna start trading GoKs for cheeseburgers.
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Jan 9, 2015 21:02
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Leper Residue posted:Gonna start trading GoKs for cheeseburgers. One of the funniest multiple-threads-I-have-read crossovers, I gotta say.
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Jan 9, 2015 21:11
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Leper Residue posted:Gonna start trading GoKs for cheeseburgers. Man's gotta eat.
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Jan 9, 2015 21:16
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Once you learn how to shop on a budget, $50 a week should be more than enough for one person, unless you live somewhere with stupidly high food prices. I spent about $100 over the last two weeks for me and my husband, and that included stocking the pantry with a few things and buying a couple of treats. I accomplished this by doing most of my shopping at a Chinese market, which tends to have better deals on meats and produce, shopping in the evening at the other market to take advantage of markdowns, and cutting back the amount of meat in each meal. Buying produce that's in-season helps a lot too. Some of the things I bought were napa cabbage, daikon, carrots, green onion, garlic chives, lettuce, tofu, a couple types of noodles, chuck steak, 5lbs each of dry beans and rice, condiments, spices, sugar, and canned goods. From this I've made things like fried rice, two stir-fry dishes, kimchi, hot&sour soup, egg drop soup (I was on an Asian food binge, okay?), chili, and several other dishes using leftovers. Next week I'll probably spend half as much on groceries since I have a lot of dried goods and things that freeze well, so I don't expect to need much aside from meat and produce. The most expensive thing I anticipate needing is a jar of yeast for some no-knead bread, since I haven't made that in a while.
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Jan 9, 2015 21:54
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Nicol Bolas posted:The low-moisture part-skim mozz--not the fresh little balls, but the kind of cylindrical one--is around $5 where I am for 16oz, and the little balls of fresh mozz are like 8oz for $4. And you honestly can't tell the difference when you cook the pizza. Provolone is also excellent and traditional for pizzas, and though it sounds a little weird, deli provolone can be a great cheese for your pizza as long as it's not the only thing on there. Also, if you like ricotta, big tubs of the stuff on pizza drizzled with olive oil are delicious on pizza and can come out much cheaper than mozz. You can use it as a sauce-like base with garlic and pepper and salt (you HAVE to salt the ricotta) and then put toppings on it, or you can use it as a cheese layer in conjunction with parm or romano. (Romano tends to be cheaper than parm, I highly recommend checking it out--and those tubs of pre-grated are crap no matter the price, find a place where it's under $10 a pound, buy a whole chunk and use judiciously.) Finally someone on this forum who understands what a pizza is supposed to look like.
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Jan 10, 2015 03:28
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The Lord Bude posted:Finally someone on this forum who understands what a pizza is supposed to look like. It only took about 7 years of experimentation to get here, but now I make my own dough and the whole 9 yards.
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Jan 10, 2015 03:39
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Nicol Bolas posted:It only took about 7 years of experimentation to get here, but now I make my own dough and the whole 9 yards. Do you have your own wood fired pizza oven?
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Jan 10, 2015 05:56
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The Lord Bude posted:Do you have your own wood fired pizza oven? It's just an oven, I roast all sorts of poo poo in there.
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Jan 10, 2015 09:03
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Got inspired by this thread to make my own pizza for the first time tonight. Turned out pretty well. I used leftover chicken, canned crushed tomatoes I spiced up, some pineapple, and some cheap shredded cheese. I've never made any bread before aside from hardtack, so I did go lazy a little bit by getting a little 75¢ pack of pre mixed flour. Next time I'll grab some yeast and try doing it myself. With how little cleanup there was, this may become a convenient new way for me to use up leftover meat and vegetable bits.
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Jan 10, 2015 09:28
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You've never made your own pizza before tonight? loving hell man so glad your living now
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Jan 10, 2015 11:35
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Leper Residue posted:Pizza is a good idea, I still have a decent amount of yeast left over so the dough should be fine. But yeah the cheapest mozz I've seen around here is 4.99 for a little ball. I'll probably have to switch it with generic blocks of cheap cheddar or something. Scale the whole thing down to a quarter recipe and its only a stick. I can get a 1lb box of butter here for $2 typically though making the full batch for me around $3 total for a lot of cookies.
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Jan 11, 2015 05:19
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Alternatively, you can make pretty decent pizzas on a variety of store bought flatbreads and flour tortillas.
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Jan 11, 2015 05:21
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ascendance posted:Alternatively, you can make pretty decent pizzas on a variety of store bought flatbreads and flour tortillas.
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Jan 11, 2015 05:31
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That Works posted:Scale the whole thing down to a quarter recipe and its only a stick. I can get a 1lb box of butter here for $2 typically though making the full batch for me around $3 total for a lot of cookies. Like butter butter or margine? Butter around me goes for 3.99 on sale, typically 5. Which may not seem like a lot but when I'm pinching pennies, and plan for a box of butter to last for a while that's a lot. But yeah, that recipe is easy enough to scale down, don't know why I didn't think of it. and they seem like they'd do well with a little bit of a simple buttercream frosting or a lemon curd, both of which I've been interested in adding to my knowledge base. all of which uses butter. stupid butter.
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Jan 11, 2015 09:38
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I actually looked at the supermarket near me during a run for frozen dough and they had none. The base refrigerate dough needed to be used within 7 days At this point I have way more materials to let a real dough rise and they will last more than a week. I'm not big into pizza and just had some so it may be a few more weeks until I'd be down to make one. I did buy a block of mozzarella since I don't have enough rennet to make one myself right now though and that won't last forever. I spent way too much on the last grocery run and it was on nothing that sticks out as Horribly Useless but nearly everything was to replenish an ingredient that had run out.
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Jan 12, 2015 09:24
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Leper Residue posted:Like butter butter or margine? Butter around me goes for 3.99 on sale, typically 5. Which may not seem like a lot but when I'm pinching pennies, and plan for a box of butter to last for a while that's a lot. Butter butter, I can't really stomach margarine. I bet you could try vegetable shortening as well but I have no clue if it would be good or not? Bummer that regular butter is so expensive where you are. I get the generic stuff for $2 a box usually.
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Jan 12, 2015 13:24
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I'll use vegetable shortening for a lot of things that don't actually rely on butter flavor, it's pretty neutral in taste so you wouldn't want to use it in pastry crusts but it's fine for a lot of cookies and cakes that are based around other strong flavors. Plus a tub is cheap, and I've found its better for when I'm cooking Mexican.
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Jan 12, 2015 15:00
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Daedalus Esquire posted:I'll use vegetable shortening for a lot of things that don't actually rely on butter flavor, it's pretty neutral in taste so you wouldn't want to use it in pastry crusts but it's fine for a lot of cookies and cakes that are based around other strong flavors. Plus a tub is cheap, and I've found its better for when I'm cooking Mexican. Are you a vegan? If not, switch to lard in place of shortening. It's even cheaper, tastes much better, bakes better, and is arguably healthier. * this message brought to you by the Nevada Pork Growers Association
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Jan 12, 2015 15:24
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^ What this guy said. Daedalus Esquire posted:I'll use vegetable shortening for a lot of things that don't actually rely on butter flavor, it's pretty neutral in taste so you wouldn't want to use it in pastry crusts but it's fine for a lot of cookies and cakes that are based around other strong flavors. Plus a tub is cheap, and I've found its better for when I'm cooking Mexican. I use Lard for my Mexican cooking. It can be affordable and cheap if you go to ethnic grocers. Plus it has the benefit of making the meals taste like my Grandmother made them when I was growing up. It can be used to make excellent Tortillas or Tamale Masa or just as a butter substitute for browning meats in a pan.
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Jan 12, 2015 15:38
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