Totally OOF but maybe useful for those saving for new lenses and on a budget.

[I @ M]

Having, visitors, friends or relatives for dinner and trying desperately to afford a new lens whilst feeding the masses?

My hints for the week are --

#1. Buy all the ingredients at Aldi in one trip and save a fortune.
#2 Serve with a healthy salad.
#3 A very inexpensive way to feed 6 people.

Lasagne

1kg beef mince
2 onions, 1 red, 1 white
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 tbs olive oil
1 cup red wine (#1)
Black pepper to taste
Combine above by thorough hand mixing and marinate for at least 1 hr or more, preferably sealed and refrigerated overnight.
500 ml water, 3-4 tsps gravox mixed
250g tomato paste
3 pinches mixed herbs.
Cook marinated ingredients till liquid is reduced then add gravox mix, tomato paste and herbs and cook till reduced again.
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Bechamel sauce.
3 tbs plain flour – in saucepan
3 cups milk – added slowly to flour over a low heat till cooked smoothly whilst stirring consistently
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Thinly sliced ( 2mm ) cheddar cheese to almost cover each layer
Sliced mushrooms ( ½ brown paper mushroom bag full )
Lasagne sheets
Layer a lasagne dish (approx 350x250mm) with lasagne sheets, add mince mixture ( approx 1/3 ), some mushrooms, béchamel sauce and cheddar in one layer.
Repeat with lasagne sheets, béchamel sauce, mince mixture + mushrooms and cheddar twice more.
Finish with a layer of lasagne sheets on top
Cook for about 1hr @ 180c
Top with 300ml thickened cream, shredded mozzarella cheese and grated parmesan cheese and heat under grill till cheese turns golden.
Serve and scoff. (#1) Most vital ingredient to consume while preparing, cooking and eating.

[flashc]

Having, visitors, friends or relatives for dinner and trying desperately to afford a new lens whilst feeding the masses?

How many dinner parties will it take to buy a new 400mm lens??

[arthurking83]

OK.. you got the facts down pat .. but without conclusive and accurate figures your facts will fall on deaf ears and become all OOF(albeit rendered nicely with well rounded and complimentary bokeh )

Oh!.... and, if I were you, I'd make the dinner party BYO gold rimmed lenses.

[fess67]

How about buying a bottle of wine and going to your friends to eat what they have cooked Total cost $10 (cleanskin)

[WhoDo]

How about buying a bottle of wine and going to your friends to eat what they have cooked Total cost $10 (cleanskin)

I happen to know that Andrew prefers a good Chateau du Cardborde to bottles with clean skins or otherwise.

[I @ M]

How many dinner parties will it take to buy a new 400mm lens??

Here is one situation where less is definitely more.

0 dinner parties = 0 expenditure = more money for lens(es). And of course the savings are multiplied even faster if you fail to invite the in laws to dinner for a whole year.

OK.. you got the facts down pat .. but without conclusive and accurate figures your facts will fall on deaf ears and become all OOF(albeit rendered nicely with well rounded and complimentary bokeh )

Oh!.... and, if I were you, I'd make the dinner party BYO gold rimmed lenses.

I like your theory.

How about buying a bottle of wine and going to your friends to eat what they have cooked Total cost $10 (cleanskin)

Gold!!!! ----- But, you must be a lot wealthier than me cos at Aldi you can buy a bottle of red for $6.00 or 4 litres in a box for $8.00.

This is an exercise in eating well and saving money, not frittering away $4.00 at a time on wine.

- - - Updated - - -

The above recipe came about because I had an urge to eat lasagne and after a few searches for suitable recipes on http://www.taste.com.au/ I modified a few to suit the ingredients that were in the house at the time ( the nearest Aldi store is 100 klm away and where we usually go for grocery shopping ) and it turned out that all the ingredients came from Aldi.

The above quantities should comfortably feed 6 people, 8 if you are a good scrooge.

[Mark L]

"..but maybe useful for those saving for new lenses and on a budget.'
Let them eat soup and hope they don't come back for more!

[FallingHorse]

We don't even have an Aldi ... sames me having guest over I suppose

[flashc]

We don't even have an Aldi ... sames me having guest over I suppose

You'll just have to catch some Barramundi down in the river and feed them with that poor quality fish...