Friday 17 March 2023

The Daft Things You Do on Day 11 V.R.E

Here is the daft thing..........Tipped the pack of Essentials brand fruit and nuts 59p from Aldi  onto a plate so I could fish out all the sultanas and raisons to make a small sultana sponge - I do like baking. (Forgot to take a photo before I took out the sultanas and I'm not quite daft enough to put them back to take a photo and then take them out again!)


Using 3oz Willow fat, sugar and SR Flour and 1 large egg and a handful of the fruit. Forgot to add baking powder - duh!

I checked their websites and don't think Aldi do any Just Essentials Range cakes. Morrisons and Asda both do packs of 6 very small sponge rolls for 55p - but they don't look very good and because I like baking, I had to work a little into the V.R.E. So I made Scones in week one and sponge for week 2. I discovered that Morrisons also do Savers Range Scones at 10 for 65p - which is cheaper than making but I've no idea what they are like. 


Next main meal, the first one with something not made in my kitchen.
This was the ready made Value Range Beef and Onion pasty, there were a few of the canned potatoes left in the fridge plus fresh cabbage and the frozen mixed vegetables and I made a little gravy using the Value Range gravy granules.


The pasty isn't something I would usually buy and at just 45p, I wasn't expecting much meat inside - and there wasn't and what was inside was tasteless but with all the vegetables it made a meal that fitted well into the experiment.


Running Total so far £49.12


Happy St. Patricks Day to everyone who celebrates it.

Back Tomorrow
Sue



34 comments:

  1. I doubt you'll buy that pasty again, but at least you know to avoid it.

    Believe me, NOTHING can beat freshly home-made scones! Will put the recipe up for the Apple and Cinnamon ones I made last week. Divine.

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    1. Yes please, they sound delicious!

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    2. It will be scones again after I've eaten the sultana sponge

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  2. Back when money was very tight, I used to buy the cheapest tins of "fruit cocktail" and patiently separate out the different fruits <peaches, pears, grapes) so I could arrange them on a flan in concentric circles - and put the 2 half cherries in the middle.

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    1. My Mum would do that too - everyone always wanted the cherries!

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  3. Hey, not daft at all. I have seen Jack Monroe and other frugal bloggers do this with frozen mixed veg. You cake looks good. I'm enjoying reading your V R E blog posts.

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    1. I tried with the mixed veg - such tiny bits so I soon gave up

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  4. WintesEndRambler17 March 2023 at 08:30

    I don't mind using value range flour, some biscuits, but I've tried Morrisons cheap gravy granules and really didn't like them, and I think Aldi custard creams too were not to be repeated, The ranges vary in quality across the board depending on the item. Sometimes I think it's just the packaging that's done cheaper...but some things I now steer well clear of. x

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    1. Definitely not a fan of value biscuits - they always seem to taste dusty

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  5. I would have made a fruit and nut loaf! Scones are so easy and quick to make and have to be eaten fresh so I would never ever buy them. I use good fresh flour milled at the water mill down our lane, the best South Downs butter, a pinch of baking powder and milk (don’t weigh anything, I’ve been making scones for so long I can do it all by spoon and eye). I always preheat the oven to 200 degrees for the five minutes it takes to assemble ingredients, rub butter into flour and stir in the milk and gently draw it together into a round which I score into four quarters, onto a baking sheet, into the hot oven for 15 mins and eaten with homemade jam and a blob of Sussex made clotted cream - heaven! My simple 2-egg omelette (eggs from our smallholding friend) cooked in butter was delicious. I flavoured it with sea salt and fresh chopped chives from the garden. Tonight will be potato and leek gratin and husband will forage some wild garlic to wilt into the leeks for extra flavour while on his cycle ride as I am at work today. Sarah in Sussex

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  6. Doing very well, reminds me of my war ration years.

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    1. Not quite so drastic - but working out OK so far

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  7. Are you reaching a conclusion about Value Range? You've mentioned some that didn't quite come up to snuff.

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    1. I knew some would be OK and others not so good but it's more an experiment to see what it would cost for one person to base their meals on the various Essential and Value range products for 4 weeks. And to find out how much below the so called average spending.

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  8. I always buy those mixed bags of nuts but when I make Walnut slice I end up fishing out all the walnuts in the same way as you have taken out the sultanas! I often think that value for money is not just about price - dearer food often has more taste than cheap food and less additives to bulk them out and give them taste - food has to be satisfying and nourishing to eat as well as cheap. An interesting experiment you are doing though and you will find what is acceptable to eat for you in the cheaper products - always worth a try.

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    1. Some good value ranges and others not so. It is just an experiment to see what meals can be made using just Value Range products and the cost.

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  9. Well it certainly looks delicious on the plate Sue

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    1. It was OK but not sure what was in the pasty!

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  10. Cake looks delicious and I am enjoying your experiment results. Catriona

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    1. I'll keep going to the end of 4 weeks then will have had enough of food blogging for a while

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  11. I make a 'meat ring'. I brown my hamburger up with onions and peppers and bits of potato and whatever bits of vegetables I have on hand that need to be used. I wrap it in dough, in a ring shape, let the dough puff up, and then bake it. Even the picky boy loves it, and it is something that can be sliced up and put in the freezer for later.

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  12. I've no doubt that I have done similarly daft things during a challenge. ;-)
    Perhaps I'm one of the few people that considers picking out the raisins or separating out mixed veg or mixed frozen fruit pretty 'normal'.

    This is proving to be a really good experiment, after you will know what you can continue to buy and what to avoid completely. Once you've finished with the supermarkets cheap lines you could perhaps move up a notch and do M&S or Waitrose Essentials range. :-)

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    1. Waitrose and Sainsbugs are both too far away but I'm wondering about seeing how expensive it would be to buy everything from Farm Shops, local manufacturers, butchers etc - and avoid supermarkets, although it would mean trekking around the county and would be more like £200 for one person!!

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    2. You did something similar, was it last year or the year before, and although the items were more expensive you ate really well and enjoyed it. It would be interesting to see it again now that supermarket prices have risen so much. Many farm shops are still able to keep their home produced food costs down and are matching up more with the supermarkets, as they have no transport costs to factor in.

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  13. It's so interesting how variable the quality of these value ranges are. I suppose some of it is fresh value versus processed value - agree with the comment about dusty biscuits!
    Alison in Wales x

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    1. Some things are certainly better than others. Definitely not buying some again and grateful for that!

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  14. I am curious about what meat was inside the pastry. Like you said, with all the veg this made a good budget friendly meal. Your Sponge cake looks great. Quality baked goods are hard to find. At Whole Foods (WF) they made excellent cinnamon scones and I was buying them occasionally. Suddenly, they changed the recipe and my last scone was more like cake. They also modified the Mango Mouse cake and the last cake I bought was just ok. I might have to learn to bake.

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    1. I think the meat was the minimum of beef they could use to call it a beef pasty!

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  15. P.S. Just thought I'd tell you I have found one branch of my family (who went to London) and are Bakers for several generations, father to son, hail from Bury St Edmunds. I have found several bakers in various branches, so no wonder I enjoy cake making.

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    1. My family on one side were always agricultural workers - must be why I like growing food!

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  16. You are learning what is actually of value and has taste with this experiment. Your meal looks great, even if the pasty had no real meat or taste.

    God bless.

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  17. wow it does look delicious even if the pasty wasn't the greatest! Part of experimenting is deciding what is actually value for money and what isn't worth buying. In the end though part of it is nutrition and how hungry you are. I think that nowadays (really makes me sound old lol) people are more about the taste of food rather than being thankful there is food on the plate and your stomach is full even if it wasn't the best tasting meal lol

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