on 26-02-2015 10:54 AM
on 10-03-2015 05:35 PM
on 10-03-2015 08:00 PM
@donnashuggy wrote:Yes and real food is cheaper, we could buy 4 kilos of potatoes for $2 onions for $1 a kilo, cabbage and carrots etc are so cheap.
You just need to buy things that are not too expensive and you can eat very well on a budget
Donna, I wish I lived where you are, regarding prices. Or Vicr.
I live in a small country town with only IGA as our Supermarket. No way can we ever buy potatoes or onions for that price. One Kg potatoes $1.69 and onions the same price or more. Nothing is fresh every day. Fruit and vegies are delivered once a week here.
The only real fresh and cheaper fruit and vegies I can only get when going to a Sunday market in one of the next towns. At least or IGA has started to sell local produce from growers in this area. It is a little dearer, but we rather support oue local growers than buy imported stuff. Even our free range eggs come from aplace where we can go and see for ourself how the chickens roam all day in large paddocks.
I don't know where our meat and fish comes from, but it is not cheap. Lamb loin chops $30.- per kilogram, comes to about $2.- per chop. Sausages $14,99 per KG and that is about the cheapest meat. (I hate sausages)
Erica
10-03-2015 08:14 PM - edited 10-03-2015 08:19 PM
Erica
You must have farms nearby. Do any of them run sheep or cattle ?
Might be worth a visit or ask around town if you can buy a carcass, either aliveor if they will kill and cut it up for you.
I wouldn't recommend cutting up a cow, it is hard work.
You can normally pick up a Sheep for $60 cash to a farmer, depending on the type.
I like 2 tooth or older, even mutton as I like the flavour.
Hopefully you have a freezer.
Just a thought.
on 10-03-2015 08:22 PM
Oh those prices were in Perth last weekend, I could not believe how cheap it was.
Here in Bondi we have Harris Farm and they have lots of of imperfect stuff so cheap and fresh, I think I paid $1.39 a kilo for tomatoes yesterday and there was nothing wrong with them. I can't stand waste so every time I go shopping I buy 2 bananas in hope that the kids will eat them when they are ripe ( I go shopping almost daily though as it is convenient for me) We also grow a lot.
Soups are a great way to save too, we love Indian and spicy food. I made a great tomato rice yesterday, I make my own yoghurt so that works out economical too.
on 10-03-2015 08:25 PM
Here is the recipe http://indianfood.about.com/od/ricerecipes/r/tomatorice.htm
I cook with ghee instead of the oil, when it is cooked you can toss it in with salad, wrap it up in lebanese bread with other goodies, so easy and so nice, last week I made coconut rice which is really good too, next I am going to do coriander rice but I need to find a good recipe.
on 10-03-2015 08:28 PM
Vicr, thank you for the advice, but - what would I do with a whole carcass of meat?
I live in a small Retirement Village Unit. Only freezer I have is the top of the Refrigerator part. Besides, both Peter and I are small eaters.
There are plenty of sheep and cattle around, but the farmers are not allowed to sell to individuals for private slaughter. Those times have gone.
My daughter in North Queensland lives on a cattle farm that belongs to her SILs mother. They buy a steer now and then, have the butcher come and take the animal and bring back all meat cut and packed. Including the bones for the dogs. But my daughter has a large chest freezer to keep her meat for month.
I do have a tight budget, but we survive. I have lived through times when we hardly saw a piece of meat and cabbage soup was a treat. That was a long time ago, but never frgotten.
Erica
on 10-03-2015 08:33 PM
on 10-03-2015 08:38 PM
on 12-03-2015 10:59 PM
Update on the tuna
John Bull Tuna cleared of scombroid poisoning
The NSW Food Authority has found the batch of John Bull Tuna linked to the Soul Origin tuna salad food poisoning scare in Sydney to be safe but found the salad to contain nearly 20 times the safe levels of scombroid histamine.
Scombroid or histamine fish poisoning usually occurs when naturally occurring bacteria in certain species of fish produce an enzyme that converts histidine in the fish to histamine, the NSW Food Authority said.
"The safe threshold is 200mg of histamine per kilogram, the tuna salad had 3950 mg per kilogram," a spokesperson for the authority said.
Food Authority test results released to the importer of John Bull Tuna, Victorian company FTA Food Solutions, said "all cans tested from the batch of John Bull tuna supplied to a Sydney café, where a number of people became ill, are all clear and fit for human consumption".
"It is possible for histamine levels to rise due to cross-contamination with histamine causing micro-organisms after a can is opened," an FTA Food Solutions spokesperson said.
Takeaway outlet Soul Origin used John Bull Tuna, a catering brand not available to the public, in its tuna salad, which caused seven people to fall ill from scombroid poisoning.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/john-bull-tuna-cleared-of-scombroid-poisoning-20150311-140iq2.html
Soul Origin found in food courts in shopping centres.
on 12-03-2015 10:59 PM
Donna - was the burger place you went to on holiday called Grill'd?