Is shopping once a week the best way to save money?

Whenever a conversation about budget eating comes up, it almost always comes down to how often you shop. My view has always been that doing a large weekly shop is potentially wasteful as you never know exactly how the week is going to pan out. I prefer to shop just before the weekend for what we're going to eat over the next three or four days then take stock once I see how much I've got left in the fridge or the storecupboard and when I know what our movements are for the coming week.It's easy for me admittedly because there are only two of us at home now, I live in a town where the shops are...

Read more ►

Making your own drinks

In all the time I've been writing about frugal food I've never thought of making my own drinks. Actually, I lie. I did post this idea for an apple lemonade a couple of years ago and very delicious it was too which makes my lack of interest in the subject even more lame. If I'd had Susy Atkins new book 'How to make your own drinks' before now I might have been better motivated because it's full of brilliant ideas for cheap healthy, mainly non-alcoholic drinks you can make from seasonal gluts of fruit and vegetables. Or even - and as a townie without a garden this appeals to me - by bartering with...

Read more ►

How a Michelin-starred restaurant uses leftovers

I've just spent the past week on a work trip in Alsace (I know, I know, alright for some ... ) and stopped the night on the way back at a hotel we've often stayed in - the Hotel d'Angleterre in Chalons-en-Champagne. It's not as cheap as it used to be but we like it so much we occasionally treat ourselves.What's particularly interesting about the place (and the relevance to this blog) is the fact that the bistro Les Temps Changent (times change) clearly uses the leftovers from the Michelin-starred restaurant alongside which enables them to keep the price of their set menu down to a very reasonable...

Read more ►

Thai trout and cucumber bake

I hesitate to put Thai recipes in this blog because they involve a significant outlay on ingredients but chances are if you're into Thai or other spicy food you'll have a fair number of them already. And if you haven't you can pick them up reasonably cheaply at an Asian store or stall. I hesitated even more this time with cucumber in the spotlight over the recent e-coli scare but at the time of writing the connection has not been proved and so long as you wash and peel the cucumber there shouldn't be a problem. There's been absolutely nothing to link British cukes with health scares.Trout I admit...

Read more ►