HAS dinner time become a little dull?
With most of us saving for a break or the school holidays, it often means eating the same budget meals on repeat.
But there are some trade secrets you can use to add the wow-factor.
Follow these cheap tweaks to transform teatime . . .
SOUR POWER: The late chef Anthony Bourdain swore by using sour cream to make scrambled eggs and it is a real game-changer.
Pick up Aldi’s sour cream, 95p for 300ml, and fold into your eggs just as they are cooked to take your breakfast to the next level.
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A CUT ABOVE: Turn cheaper cuts of beef into tasty morsels using a technique called velveting. Sprinkle your strips of beef with half a teaspoon of baking soda, leave for 30 mins and then stir-fry.
The meat should be tender. You could also do this with corn starch. And always rest meat for at least four to five minutes after cooking.
RE-STRAIN YOURSELF: Instead of using a colander to drain pasta water, tip the starchy water into a jar. Add to a bread mix instead of water to give it an extra flavour ‘kick’ or cook rice in the water for added richness.
SAY CHEESE: Want to be king of the BBQ? Make the ultimate cheeseburger by adding the cheese to the burger as it’s cooking, not after.
If cooking indoors in a pan, do the same and flip it at the last minute and let the cheese bubble and crisp up before serving. It will leave a crusty cheese edge known by chefs as a “cheese skirt” – and it’s delicious.
STOCK UP: Instead of cooking pasta in water, top chefs switch to using chicken stock. Also cook couscous, rice and quinoa in meat stock as it adds real depth to a dish.
DRESS IT DOWN: The secret to an incredible salad dressing? A light sprinkling of sugar. Add it while whisking and it should tame any sharp acidic notes. Honey can also be used and it works especially well in a mustard dressing.
TAKE cover when it rains with the pop-up gazebo from Dunelm, was £109, now £87.20.
SAVE: £21.80
POUR a Nescafé Gold Blend espresso. A 95g jar was £5, now £3.50 at The Co-op.
SAVE: £1.50
PARENTS can save a bundle on their next family theatre trip as part of Kids Week.
Get a free child’s ticket with every full-priced adult ticket to 40+ London stage shows.
There are more than 250,000 tickets up for grabs. Book until the end of August. See officiallondontheatre.com/kids-week.
TREAT little ones to a pair of Crocs, £29.99 at crocs.co.uk, or pop to Matalan where a similar pair is now £3.85.
SAVE: £26.14
PREPARE for your next road trip with breakdown cover from The AA (aa.com) and get benefits including 10 per cent off at Halfords.com and 20 per cent off at Greene King pubs as part of the deal.
SMOOTH things over with Nivea Men’s Creme 150ml, now £2.70 instead of £5.49 at Superdrug.
SAVE: £2.79
GORDON’S tropical passionfruit gin is on offer at Tesco for Clubcard holders, reduced from £16.50 to £15 until July 4.
JOIN thousands of readers taking part in The Sun Raffle.
Every month we’re giving away £100 to 250 lucky readers – whether you’re saving up or just in need of some extra cash, The Sun could have you covered.
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Every Sun Savers code entered equals one Raffle ticket.
The more codes you enter, the more tickets you’ll earn and the more chance you will have of winning!
