Oh Trill, I'm falling about here . Up here in the "city" lamb loin chops is a ChaChing dinner...up to $25/kg depending on where you shop...same goes for rack of lamb. I do remember a time when it was practically the cheapest thing in the butcher shop but no more! *sigh* I've been buying up lamb shanks for the deep freezer at $4/kg, I think someone's made a labelling mistake at our shop because the rival's selling them for $10/kg...although I did notice the price went up by a dollar as soon as the coolish evenings started . I'm sorry I have such a whiney note in my voice, but lamb is my absolute FAVORITE but it costs a fortune!!! We mostly have roast lamb - because that's the most economical way to have it - but not often.
ETA
Couldn't say how much we spend per meal, I'm feeding four (one with a very big appetite) and I often cook something, stretch it out with extra veggie, then it's 2 nights dinners. Pot roasts and silverside (slowcooker of course) is a good option which will do 2 nights, add some cauli cheese (which *everybody* loves) and it's quite a substantial meal with a few other veggie on the side. I also chuck a can or two of beans or lentils in with every stew I do, it means you can get away with using less meat but still have leftovers for the following night. Can you tell I'm a big fan of not having to cook every night? Other things that stretch the budget:
Pasta - using a jar sauce (sorry) but add a few interesting ingredients, like a single chorizo, sliced & fried, mushrooms, a sprinkle of olives. Serve with a side of steamed veggie
Veggie fritters - my family are mad for these - no matter what I put in them - because it's practically the only 'fried' type food we have. Serve with fried tomatoes or anything you have on hand really.
Ratatouille - I make a big batch in summer when all the veggies are cheap, then freeze. It's an instant dinner-stretcher, good for when you have leftovers but not enought for a whole meal - just add ratatoiulle. Also good for disguising cheap cuts of meat (bake in ratatouille - mmmm)
Have a designated easy-tea night - open a can of soup (or get a container out of the deep freeze) and have it with grilled cheesies. Or scrambled eggs. Or baked beans. Whatever your family likes that's quick and brainless.
Last edited by AnyDream; March 15th, 2010 at 09:21 AM.
LOL MD, you're right! Loin chops are expensive in the city too, I forgot about that. I take it for granted too much that we dont have to buy lamb, so I forget how much it costs in the shops.
OK, here is a tip. If you buy your meat at a butcher, ask for Hogget as opposed to Lamb because a Hogget is an older lamb, and in theory not supposed to be worth as much but Lamb is much dearer. Some butchers will sell Hoggets for as much as lamb and label it as lamb, which is technically true but tere is a difference, but people who don't have knowledge of that wont realise there is a difference. You could even ask if they have Mutton, which is older sheep - no longer lambs. Not many butchers in the city would sell Mutton and certainly not the supermarkets but it wont hurt to ask because it is cheaper again.
And currently lamb is really expensive and will be for quite some time. The market is really strong for Aussie lamb and sale prices are at record highs and the cost that the buyers pay in the sale yards is passed onto the consumer, hence the high prices of it. Beef however is dropping slightly so cuts of beef will be cheaper than lamb.
The bitter irony is, you are lamenting at the cost of lamb, but we profit from that because we sell them for so much. On friday we sold 60 lambs at sale and got $128 per head for them!
Last edited by Trillian; March 15th, 2010 at 09:18 AM.
I can get midloin chops for $10/kg at the Vic Markets. So if I want lamb I'll buy it from there, otherwise it has been suggested it can go up to as high as $40/kg and I've seen frenched cutlets for more than that at safeway!
Our tea last night cost $8.70, so $1.74 per person. We had rissoles (bought pre made and marked down), vegies and one of those continental pasta side dishes.
I'd say I usually spend around $15 per meal on average though. Although one night I stopped in at Safeway and grabbed some pasta, tuna and a jar of sauce for around $5.50. I was quite proud of that effort
We'd spend, on average, $5 per meal - but all we usually do is dinner. DH has lunch at work and maybe a bowl of cereal in the morning if he gets up in time - and I never bother with breakfast at all. I have lunch, which usually consists of a pie or sausage roll that I chuck in the microwave or oven.
But when I say $5 per meal, it's because we usually buy, say a $8 tray of beef stir-fry and split it up into two meals worth before putting it in the freezer. Then, we're basically using $4 of meat, and either one cup of rice, one cup of Deb or some salad
BUT! This is just me and my DH (as DS is still way too young to be eating what we eat)
. Up here in the "city" lamb loin chops is a ChaChing dinner...up to $25/kg depending on where you shop...same goes for rack of lamb. I do remember a time when it was practically the cheapest thing in the butcher shop but no more! *sigh* I've been buying up lamb shanks for the deep freezer at $4/kg, I think someone's made a labelling mistake at our shop because the rival's selling them for $10/kg...although I did notice the price went up by a dollar as soon as the coolish evenings started
. I'm sorry I have such a whiney note in my voice, but lamb is my absolute FAVORITE but it costs a fortune!!! We mostly have roast lamb - because that's the most economical way to have it - but not often.
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