feed a family of 4 for under $10, page-17

A good thread which probably would have been largely ignored pre-2007. Many would see it as being tight and frugal, whilst others believe it's the right thing to do due to the subliminal negative massages coming from all corners of the globe.

A good starting point is to stop our obsession with large quantities of meat on our main meals: we can drastically cut down our portions and be better off in many ways, not just financially.

For those who don't mind, risotto is an ingenious way of getting mileage out of small portions of meat. One breast fillet cooked and cut up into a risotto will feed 4 no probs - add some carrot, peas, onion for some sweetness and colour. Or use 3 chorizo sausages, sliced and lightly grilled till golden and stirred thru - a cheap meal with attitude (providing you buy them at the right price like $12 per kilo and not $20+).

A left over roast chicken makes the perfect foundation for sweet corn soup, with the carcass forming the stock along with the small pieces of chicken falling off the bones to used in the soup. Yesterday's roast makes today's soup.

Asians are also clever at extending their meat such as their stir-fries. I've got rice paper sheets to make fresh spring rolls. Wet one sheet at a time, add vermicelli noodles, a little cooked chicken (with terriyaki or use prawns, left over sausages, roast, etc), strips of carrot, some lettuce, optional bean shoots, then roll up and dip into your sweet and sour liquid sauce.

We need to encourage more local/open markets where vendors are not held to ransom by massive lease and rate fees, etc; this must exist to keep the big 2 honest. However, I'm sure the squeeze will be put onto local councils (nudge nudge) to ensure street vendors will have minimal impact on supermarket chains to the point where they'll eventually stop selling.

We had a local farm that starting selling groceries - it got a little big to the point of having refrigeration for many goods. The car park was getting congested such was the popularity. Well, the complaint eventually came by one large company as the vendor never had the license to sell quantities of food - they had to shut up shop completely. The public now have one less avenue to buy their groceries and the large chains can now price their goods as they please.

The time has come for a big change in the way we do business. Online shopping has sorted out retail theft good and proper, and now we have to focus on the mugs.