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Budget recipes and $saving ideas

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Category: Fun Stuff
Forum Name: Food and Recipes
Forum Description: Got a failproof recipe that you'd love to share, or looking for an idea for dinner? Swap recipes here!
URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=16767
Printed Date: 30 November 2024 at 11:44pm
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Topic: Budget recipes and $saving ideas
Posted By: Kellz
Subject: Budget recipes and $saving ideas
Date Posted: 29 April 2008 at 12:38pm
Please add your tips/hint/recipes on how to save $$ and still eat well!
Would love to know how to make meals from scratch,..without using pasta sauces/ jar sauces/ meal flavour sachets etc etc



Replies:
Posted By: MrsMojo
Date Posted: 29 April 2008 at 12:55pm
I made a really yummy easy pasta sauce the other day.

I sauteed some chopped red onion with a rasher of chopped bacon, added 2 chopped ripe tomato's, a dash of cream (water would be fine) some dried italian herbs and salt and pepper.

This took less than 10 mins to chuck together and was enough for one big serve.

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Posted By: aimeejoy
Date Posted: 29 April 2008 at 1:41pm
I made pasta sauce last night, much the same as Jo's above but I didnt add any water as they were frozen tomatoes from my garden. Had to thicken with a little cornflour, but tasted yum. You can also make a huge batch (minus the bacon) and freeze it - either leave it lumpy or whizz it up til smooth.

Can you make cheese sauce from scratch? Melt butter in a pot, add flour and mix to a paste. Gradually add milk til its the right consistency then add grated cheese, salt and pepper. Sorry I dont do quantities cos I always make it up as I go.

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Aimee

Hannah 22/10/05
Greer 11/02/08


Posted By: aimeejoy
Date Posted: 29 April 2008 at 1:46pm
Baking saves lots of money if you buy big bags of flour, sugar etc. And marg works just as well and is heaps cheaper than butter.

Breadmaker bread from scratch, not a baking mix.

If you dont have your own vege garden, you can still buy lots of something when its on special and preserve it. We have finished all our summer crop stuff now and waiting on winter veges, but for example, broccoli is on special for 99c at the moment, so I bought quite a few to blanch and freeze like I did with mine from the garden. Same with tomatoes - just cut in half and chuck in the freezer when on special.

Have one (or more) meatless dinner a week.

Frozen veges are cheap and just as good for you.

Make oven fries from potatoes, rather than frozen ones.

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Aimee

Hannah 22/10/05
Greer 11/02/08


Posted By: aimeejoy
Date Posted: 29 April 2008 at 1:51pm
This is what have had for dinner in the last week or so...

* corned beef (in crock pot with onion, garlic. bay leaf and peppercorns), spuds, carrots, broc and cauli
* sausages/chops/cheap steak/chicken pieces, spuds and mixed veg
* mince and pasta (in crockpot - brown mince and onion, chuck in crock pot with dry pasta, chopped tomatoes, mixed veg, water, baked beans... anything really)
* cheap fish and homemade chips
* casserole/stewing steak, lots of veges, beef stock, garlic, onion, tomatoes - in crockpot, stovetop, oven or on fire
* stirfry (either pork, beef or chicken and I dont use much meat, just heaps of veges, usually frozen ones, and rice)

Meat can be really expensive so you need to either have less meat meals a week or make a small amount go a long way with stuff that is cheap like veges, baked beans, rice etc .


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Aimee

Hannah 22/10/05
Greer 11/02/08


Posted By: lizzle
Date Posted: 29 April 2008 at 2:00pm
we are adding pulses to our stews - more fibre and cheaper. Healthy Fod mag has ideas for cutting food bills by $50.


Posted By: Mummy2three
Date Posted: 29 April 2008 at 2:04pm
This is a nice, cheap and easy recipe I use in the slow cooker

Sausage casserole    
Cut up about 6 raw sausages into chunks, add diced potato (however much you fancy) and about 1/3 a bag of triple mix veg (corn, carrot & peas) then either 1 packet of tom soup mix (or cream of chicken is good too) plus 1 cup water or a tin of soup them mix it all about and cook about 5 hrs on low or about 3.5 on high. The sausages come out really tender and it makes great leftovers.


Posted By: fairsk8
Date Posted: 29 April 2008 at 3:07pm
Cheese sauce recipe is in Edmonds cookbook.

A great cookbook to find is one called dollars and sense, it is written by a lady who decided after having her children she wanted to stay a SAHM so her family went down to one income. The book has lots of recipes/hints/tips for eating/living off one income with a family.

ETA: It is not the dollars and sense book I am thinking about as that is by Allison Holst, but it has a similar name. I am now going to sit here and rack my brain for the name of it.

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http://www.bump-and-beyond.com/">


Posted By: fairsk8
Date Posted: 29 April 2008 at 3:12pm
Aha, didn't take long lol. 'Destitute Gourmet'(sp?) is the name of the book. Can't think of the author though.

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http://www.bump-and-beyond.com/">


Posted By: fairsk8
Date Posted: 29 April 2008 at 3:33pm
Ok me again lol.

Sophie Gray is her name and here is a link to her website as well, which has a forum on it.


http://www.destitutegourmet.com/ - Destitute Gourmet

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http://www.bump-and-beyond.com/">


Posted By: MrsMojo
Date Posted: 29 April 2008 at 4:17pm
Originally posted by aimeejoy aimeejoy wrote:

Can you make cheese sauce from scratch? Melt butter in a pot, add flour and mix to a paste. Gradually add milk til its the right consistency then add grated cheese, salt and pepper. Sorry I dont do quantities cos I always make it up as I go.


I make a yummy cheese sauce whenever I've sauteed onions and bacon for a different recipe. It makes the best macaroni cheese.

Once onions and bacon are removed from the pan I add a dab of mustard (about 1/2 teaspoon or less I guess), a knob of butter and a spoon of cornflour. Once the cornflour starts going frothy I gradually add a cup of milk. As the milk heats it pulls the flavour from the onion and bacon. Then add the cheese and put it in the freezer for a quick and easy meal later or use straight away.

I've also typed my fruity oat slice into a seperate thread, it's a mix between a muesli bar and a cake and it has dark choc melts in it - mmmmmm.

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Posted By: Red
Date Posted: 29 April 2008 at 6:13pm
Also, because milk is expensive at the moment I have started using powdered milk for sauces and baking. Don't notice any different.


Posted By: Bumble
Date Posted: 29 April 2008 at 6:55pm
I am looking at getting that new cook book "4 Ingredients" by those Australian chicks.. Am going to check it out tomorrow.

Then I'll plan our meals and only buy the stuff that we need for them :)

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formerly known as "Bee"

Ethan ~ March 2003 Big 6 year old school boy!
Micah ~ Aug 2008 ~ Smiley pants who loves telephones!


Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 29 April 2008 at 7:11pm
I got Mum and MIL that cook book for christmas, might have to borrow a copy back!

Lol Aimee,..yes I can make white sauce. Hadnt thought about using marg instead of butter in baking tho,...the last baking I did was months aho, and was dairy/egg free anyway.
Great tips aout frezzing cheap vege! I will so go and stock up on brocolli,..we use heaps of it fresh and frozen. And hopefully tomatoes are on sale too. what can u use them for once they have been frozen? Like are the ok in salad still of just in cooking?


Posted By: MrsMojo
Date Posted: 29 April 2008 at 7:18pm
Tomato's are only good for cooking once they've been frozen, you can't use them in salads, but they pratically self peel which is a great advantage if the recipe calls for it.

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Posted By: Red
Date Posted: 29 April 2008 at 7:53pm
I don't know if that recipe book has come out yet has it? Sounds good though. Hmm, all this food talk has got me motivated to do some baking ....


Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 30 April 2008 at 9:22am
I've got the 4 INgredients cookbook, haven't used it yet tho

Thanks for the tip re broccoli Aimee coz my girls eat it just about every night. So do you just blanch it in boiling water then freeze? And when you defrost it, do you just boil/steam it as per usual?

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Maya Grace (28/02/03)
(02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)


Posted By: caraMel
Date Posted: 30 April 2008 at 9:44am
I my 4 ingredients cookbook! Was my best Xmas present after my laptop!
What's great is you can add more to the recipes if you want to but they are great as they are too.
Lots of good kids recipes in there too.

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Mel, Mummy to E: 6, B: 4 and:



Posted By: peanut butter
Date Posted: 30 April 2008 at 9:53am
Originally posted by aimeejoy aimeejoy wrote:

Can you make cheese sauce from scratch? .


Ijust made some for Tom last night. 25gm butter, melted...add 2 tables spoons of flour, stir till thick, add 1/2 cup milk, stir till boiling (or thick) and another half cup of milk/stock/vege water. Stir till right consistency. Remove from heat and add 2 tablespoons grated cheese.

This made enough to mix with his mashed veges and to go over our veges also. YUMMMY!!!!


I buy meat in bulk from a butcher as I am fussy about quality and like to buy organic/free range. For $80 I bought 1kg organic beef mince, 1kg diced free range pork, 1kg diced beef, 8 lamb loin chops, 4 HUGE pork chops, 12 sausages and a huge corned sliverside. This will make at least 15 meals so with a few non meat meals thrown in it should last at least 3 weeks. and the meat is FANTASTIC!

We add pulses to lots of meals like casseroles, nachos, spag bol etc.


Posted By: peanut butter
Date Posted: 30 April 2008 at 10:00am
Heres a though with regards to cheese prices (its a little tongue in cheek). Now that prices are so high for bog standard chedder...start buying imported fancy cheeses......they just might work out cheaper. We have a gorgeously addictive cheesemongers in chch and whilst I have always thought it a luxury...now it doesnt seem comparitvely so expensive.   

I have never skimped on parmesan. I love pasta and italian cooking so I always buy regiano parmegiano at $70/kg.....however $7 worth lasts a good month!!!! and is devine!!!!


Posted By: cuppatea
Date Posted: 30 April 2008 at 10:45am
Hey nzpiper where is the butcher you go to? I am sorting out the freezer today so I can bulk buy some meat and freeze it and I like the idea of going free range/organic.

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Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 30 April 2008 at 10:45am
Originally posted by Maya Maya wrote:

I've got the 4 INgredients cookbook, haven't used it yet tho


ooohh, must have a look next time i am over!!!


pasta sauce can also be made with cheap canned tomatoes. i never knew about freezing tomatoes, might get hubby to plant even more next season so i can try it!

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http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker">


Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 30 April 2008 at 10:47am
oh and honey and soya sauce make a good marinade.

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http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker">


Posted By: lizzle
Date Posted: 30 April 2008 at 12:25pm
someone was telling me about making past a sauce in the crock pot. throw in tomatoes, some chopped garlic and onion. leave in the crockpot over night and then add herbs etc the next moring. never tried it, but will when tomatoes are on special next.

apparently you can also do something similar with stewed apples - prepare - throw in crockpot, add a wee bit of water. leave overnight.


Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 30 April 2008 at 2:09pm
oh and not sure how practical or cost saving it is but you can make porridge in the crock pot overnight too!

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http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker">


Posted By: fire_engine
Date Posted: 01 May 2008 at 4:42pm
I do pumpkin/kumara soup which might do 2 lunches each plus a weekend dinner with bread; leek and potato soup - does 2 meals each with toast. Minestrone is fab - does 3+ meals for 2 and probably costs $5.

Pastas. I do carbonara - spaghetti with bacon, egg and milk (not cream cos I'm cheap) and parmesan; penne with tomato sauce - 1/2 can canned tomatoes, 1/2 can tomato paste, basil, bit of balsalimic, bit of sugar and some olives.

Pumpkin/spinach lasagne with cottage cheese. Cook pumpkin till soft. Layer pumpkin, spinach, mix cottage cheese/egg/milk, can tomatoes, lasagne and repeat. Finish with cheese (or make a white sauce and sprinkle cheese over). Bake 180 for 40 minutes.

Bacon and leek pilaf - fry bacon, add leeks, add 1-2 cups rice, stock and let cook for 20 minutes

Sausage and bean casserole from Dest Gourmet - can post recipe tomorrow

Bake sausages (I love signature range pork and fennel), and potato wedges with paprike sprinkled over. For last 10 minutes add olives, peppers and chunks of left over bread.

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Mum to two wee boys


Posted By: popcorn
Date Posted: 01 May 2008 at 5:30pm
oh whats your recipe for Minestrone soup? YUM!

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http://lilypie.com">


Posted By: fire_engine
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 1:08pm
It's Simon Holst one. Fry an onion and some bacon (I use 2-3 pieces). Add 3 sticks of celery, 2 carrots, one potato (all diced). Add about 4C water, 1 can tomato, 1 casn kidney beans, 4t chicken stock powder. Boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. Add 3/4 cup small pasta, herbs (I use thyme and oregano), 2C cabbage and salt and pepper. Cook 10 minutes. Add more hot water if needed.

Is easy as, cheap as and so yummy!!! I also feel virtuous about my vege intake! I double it, and that uses a whole bunch of celery and 1/2 a cabbage,. Freezes well, but if I'm going to do that, I under cook the pasta a bit cos it will cook when reheated.

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Mum to two wee boys


Posted By: tamiem
Date Posted: 03 May 2008 at 3:48pm
Okay... this is going to be a long one...
We save lots of money by growing our own veges. Luckily we have a big garden, but you don't really need that much space to grow a few basics - even put them in your normal garden or in pots. Easy to grow: lettuce, brocolli, capsicum, tomatoes, beans, peas, strawberries, corn etc.Potatoes, zucchini, pumpkin - also easy but require more room. We don't even really bother spraying - just plant, water and weed! If you are new to gardening, either go to your local garden centre and ask them what to plant (you can plant some things during winter - depending on frosts, but maybe wait until early Spring), or buy NZ Gardener HOMEGROWN - it's about $11 and is a whole mag about how to grow your own veges and has recipes too. There is also a system called "square foot" gardens - where everything grows in one square foot - your bound to find something on google!

We froze and preserved heaps of homegrown tomatoes, capsicums & beans this year, so will be cheaper than buying during winter. Some tomatoes I bottled/froze whole, others made into easy pasta sauce (cook onion & garlic, add chopped tomatoes (roughly chop in food processor - don't even bother peeling or seeding) and cook. Add herbs, capsicum, bacon etc as needed.

Also you can freeze milk, bread & butter etc when they are on special.

Hope these ideas help!!!


Posted By: peanut butter
Date Posted: 03 May 2008 at 7:07pm
Originally posted by cuppatea cuppatea wrote:

Hey nzpiper where is the butcher you go to? I am sorting out the freezer today so I can bulk buy some meat and freeze it and I like the idea of going free range/organic.


I go to the one in Beckenham. Cant rememember the name but it is on Colombo st right before the tennyson st turn.


Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 1:36pm
Originally posted by lizzle lizzle wrote:

we are adding pulses to our stews - more fibre and cheaper. Healthy Fod mag has ideas for cutting food bills by $50.


Do u mean the dried pea things or the canned c hickpeas and beans or what? Lol! Sorry I have no clue! We do use the dried soup mix packets to add to homemade soup or stew, but would be cheaper to get the generic brands and make my own mix I think?


Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 1:40pm
Yay feeling good,..have made some good changes already! Have looked at how much food we watse,..and worked out ways not to. I have just frozen : green peppers (I got from a framers market yesterday for.50c each), left over celery (that I would have usually chucked in the bin in a day or 2), got 4 x .98c brocolli to blance and freeze, plus corgettes and beans.

I have a meatloaf in the oven which was full of fresh vege from the framers market,..and will be heaps for dinner and lunches for mon and maybe tues!


Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 1:57pm
Does anyone know how to dry apples and pears in the oven? I know that u can, you slice thinly and place on tray and bake at 50 degress,..but how long? These will make great snacks for Isla,..and pears are cheap at the mo and will last a while when dried!


Posted By: fire_engine
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 2:41pm
Pulses - I sometimes add dried red lentils to bulk it up, but chickpeas etc are all good. I try to buy my beans uncanned and cook them up, though I have read that because MAF now radiates them all on arrival in NZ (to stop sprouting), they don't cook up as well.

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Mum to two wee boys


Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 3:18pm
Where do u buy uncanned beans that u talking about? Are they cheaper that way? DH hates the bakes bean/ chilli bean/bean salad type of beans, so ideas on how to include other types of pulses into stuff and where/how to buy would be great!


Posted By: lizzle
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 3:20pm
I add red lentils and brown lentils too. i buy them from the bulk bin as well as soup mix and it works out pretty cheap/


Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 4:02pm
cool thanks Liz!


Posted By: fire_engine
Date Posted: 05 May 2008 at 10:37am
I get them from the fruit and vege shops - they have a bigger range than Foodtown's bulk bins.

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Mum to two wee boys


Posted By: T_Rex
Date Posted: 05 May 2008 at 11:41am
Kellz... I can remember my sister drying apples and pears in the oven when I was a teenager. They tasted really good, but I also recall my parents going ballistic when they received the powerbill. It takes a long time to dry them sufficiently, so I doubt it would be cost-effective to do it yourself compared with buying them already dried from the bulk bins.

For using pulses etc, the Alison Holst Meals without Meat cookbook is great. I often add a bit of meat (bacon is good) to the recipes.

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http://lilypie.com"> http://lilypie.com">


Posted By: popcorn
Date Posted: 05 May 2008 at 1:58pm
Thanks for the recipe Flissty and for all the other ideas on here everyone!

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http://lilypie.com">


Posted By: Two Shoes
Date Posted: 28 October 2008 at 4:13am
Edmonds cookbook has some good/relatively inexpensive ideas for meals. I like the smoked fish recipe in there. It uses a can of smoked fish and has mashed potato on top. It's a good way of getting fish into your diet!

I also like making sausage casseroles, which are
easy to make and don't cost too much.

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http://img73.imageshack.us/my.phpimage=william23098daysold.jpg" border="0">


Posted By: Babe
Date Posted: 04 April 2009 at 5:36pm
*Bump*

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Posted By: ellen
Date Posted: 04 April 2009 at 6:51pm
With the price of cheese nowadays I buy a 1kg block on special, grate about 2/3 of it and freeze in cup size amounts for cooking.


Posted By: Babe
Date Posted: 06 April 2009 at 9:16am
We're really lucky we don't have to buy meat from the supermarket. We get all our meat off the family farm so an entire beast or mutton at a time goes into the freezer and we're really careful with portion control. It means that at the moment we spend less than $60 a fortnight on groceries.
Ellen thats a great idea to grate and freeze the cheese I've been trying to think of a way to make it last even longer than it does so thats perfect.

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Posted By: _SMS_
Date Posted: 13 April 2009 at 3:11pm
i have been using the Campbells website recently for recipe ideas.

Espcially from soups. You dont need to use campbells soups you can use any brand.



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Posted By: SpecialK
Date Posted: 22 April 2009 at 7:07pm
Just my 2c - DH makes an awesome pasta sauce. You saute onion and garlic slowly, maybe a bit of dried chilli as well, and add a couple of tins of chopped tomatoes. Cook slowly with the lid off for about 45 min - 1 hr, until it's all thick and jammy. Then add salt, pepper and herbs. Same idea as Dolmio's but tastes way better and cheaper. You can also make a huge batch and freeze.

Also, I make all my own curry pastes - it takes time, but again worth for the taste and the $$$. I get most of the ingredients, including spices, from an Asian grocer at a fraction of supermarket prices.

Ooh, and muesli - have been playing around with both toasted and plain, won't ever go back to bought stuff.

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http://lilypie.com"> http://lilypie.com">


Posted By: heaf3
Date Posted: 23 April 2009 at 2:55pm
I don't know if this has been said already, but a really yummy recipe is a self crusting quice and it is so easy and really nice! and it can be as cheap as you like depending on what you put in it!

Self-Crusting Quiche
1pkt Ham, 5 Eggs, 3Tbsp Melted Butter, 1&1/2cups Milk, 1/2 cup Flour, salt and pepper, 1cup Grated Cheese. Beat eggs, add melted butter, milk, ham and cheese (and veges etc if using). Stir in sifted flour, salt and pepper. Mix well. Pour into greased quiche dish and bake 30mins at 190'c. Another version, try adding onion, spinach and tomato - basically anything you want!


Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 03 September 2012 at 1:05pm
Thought this might be a good time to resurrect this thread too. Jazzy you might this interesting.

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http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker">


Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 03 September 2012 at 4:36pm
thanks Bizzy


Posted By: Kelz
Date Posted: 04 September 2012 at 10:37pm
Fabulous Bizzy!
Next time I can't find something I'll just ask you

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Posted By: Glorified Feeder
Date Posted: 08 June 2013 at 10:54pm
I cant reccommend enough making a lovely big batch of "hidden vege sauce" - i think I originally got this recipe from Anabel Karmel's book
- then freezing it in little portions. I always fall back on it as it is super tasty and has so many vege's hidden in there. last night it was couscous, which is cheap and takes minutes to prepare, with the sauce a little tuna flaked in. So healthy, so easy and absolutely easy on the pocket :)


http://www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes/children-age-4-10/hidden-vegetable-sauce" rel="nofollow - http://www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes/children-age-4-10/hidden-vegetable-sauce



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