Oh the frugality!

[quatrefoil]

I'm pleased with myself today.  I bought a couple of chicken schnitzels of the 'must be sold today' for $3, half a kilo of chicken breast in the same category for $3.50 (it's gone in the freezer, where it will be fine), a box of spinach at half price for $2, and a packet of pita bread for $1.  Dinner came out at less than $3 and was not vegetarian

Comments

[montjoye]

Good for you. Bargains are good for the soul I think. Almost as good as getting a present.

[enrobso]

I believe that puts today in the "Win" category in terms of your budget.

I can rarely manage a proper non-vegetarian dinner for under $4 and then it usually involves a lot of potatoes.

[quatrefoil]

I can produce a dish called 'Chewnamornylove' for around $2 per serve. It's based on the dish we were regularly served at college on Fridays, and it's name came from the inevitable incredulous question that was asked of the kitchen staff: 'What's that?', to which the answer was 'Chewnamornylove'. It was a long time before I realised that it had a very superficial resemblance to something known as tuna mornay.

I hasten to point out that my version is a lot nicer, though it bears no resemblance whatsoever to tuna mornay. My friend and former flatmate P has a recipe called macaroni cheese which is surprisingly similar.

[kirieldp]

I do wonder what true tuna mornay is supposed to be like? Is the white sauced Tuna, corn and pea concoction of my childhood true tuna mornay?

[quatrefoil]

I don't believe so - I think that's Tuna Mornay a la Women's Weekly (and the addition of a packet of french onion soup or a teaspoon of vegemite probably also belongs to that school as well).

A mornay sauce is a cheese sauce made with parmesan and gruyere - I suspect that the original version of tuna mornay involved that served over tuna fillets and pasta. Modern Australian variations use tinned tuna, frozen peas and corn, bake the pasta in with the dish and rely on the distinctive flavour of Kraft Tasty Cheddar, not to mention breadcrumbs. And I'll admit that my chunamornylove belongs to the latter school, but you can't expect too much for a couple of bucks per head and it's tasty and filling.

[omnot]

Ah! That sounds like the old family recipe we've given the elegant name of "Fish Gunge".

Tinned tuna? Check. Peas and corn? Check. We add tinned pineapple and champingions as well, and make the white sauce in the still-warm pot while the pasta drains. Curry powder goes in if I get near it, but I'm not sure that cheese makes an appearance at all, and we use no breadcrumbs.

It rates highly as a budget people filler.

[quatrefoil]

Fish gunge seems a more appropriate title than anything tuna mornayish under the circumstances. And it may bear family resemblance to my clean-the-fridge pasta glop.

But I do think that once you've added tinned pineapple, it's a whole different class of food. Not that I'm averse to tinned pineapple per se, but I believe its savoury manifestations should be limited to Hawaian pizza.

[omnot]

I'm impressed with your bargain-fu. I call the "Use By" date the "Freeze By" date. ;-)

I've never made cottage cheese. I was put on a diet featuring it when I was a kid, and it does not appeal much. But it does sound like fun, even if I have to palm the product off on someone else.

[baggyt]

Can you teach me to make cottage cheese? Not that the milk is ever i need of a quick consumption around here. But You never know.

[quatrefoil]

It's dead easy.

Heat the milk up to almost boiling point, but don't let it boil.

Sour it with either a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice or a small amount of citric acid (available from the baking section of the supermarket).

Watch in wonder as the milk separates before your very eyes!

(Note: it smells really disgusting at this point - like very off milk, but the off bit is in the whey which you discard.)

Drain in either a fine seive or through cheesecloth, or any bit of fine weave clean *white* fabric - I have made pink cheese before but it didn't taste so good.

Gently add some cold water and rinse the curds to remove the last of the whey.

Eat surprisingly small amount of cottage cheese.

It's not a cheaper way to obtain cottage cheese than buying it, since you don't get much cheese out of the milk, although you do get more if you're using full cream than low fat milk, but it is a good way of getting some use out of souring milk.