Where can I save money (groceries)

halia

thanks lunar

well we have a VERY well stocked cupboard of dried pulses, pasta and rice etc. Thats one reason I want to see if we can shop from the store cupboard this month.

Pitlanepiglet

I'm surprised you manage to feed a child with a dairy intolerance without cooking and baking, so many products have dairy products or their derivatives in that it's difficult to avoid them.

I'd be concerned about the salt and sugar content for children, I'd also be concerned that your aversion to cooking and your hubby's aversion to home cooked food is not setting a great example to your children.

We have some fairly straightforward rules in our house, we're skint so we have to do things in a way that saves money, if hubby doesn't like that then he can go out and earn more money (he works not much more than part time) or he can find a way of doing things better!! Saving money and living well really are a team game, best played by all members of the family pulling together, it's really hard to achieve this on your own.

halia

Pitlanepiglet wrote: »

I'm surprised you manage to feed a child with a dairy intolerance without cooking and baking, so many products have dairy products or their derivatives in that it's difficult to avoid them.

I'd be concerned about the salt and sugar content for children, I'd also be concerned that your aversion to cooking and your hubby's aversion to home cooked food is not setting a great example to your children.

We have some fairly straightforward rules in our house, we're skint so we have to do things in a way that saves money, if hubby doesn't like that then he can go out and earn more money (he works not much more than part time) or he can find a way of doing things better!! Saving money and living well really are a team game, best played by all members of the family pulling together, it's really hard to achieve this on your own.

I do cook some things and I like to bake but OH simply WON'T eat my bread - he will eat cakes but I can't feed people on cake!- I just hate faffing and spending ages.

I didn't say OH didn't cook - he loves to cook and he cooks WITH ds (aged 3) at weekends also OH will happily eat homecooked food he just wont' eat my bread!

An average weeks menu for us would be:

breakfasts: toast or porridge, fresh fruit, OJ or dried fruit cooked into a stew for on top of porridge, tea, milk

Lunches: pack up for me - sandwich, fruit, chunk of teabread/flapjack which is either bought on offer or homemade. If none to hand then fruit and nut mix.
nursery cooked dinner + fruit and dairy free biscuit or soy yogurt for DS
OH skips lunch most days

Tea: sandwich tea at nursery for DS, then a snack when he gets in - usually a fruit based bar of some kind plus some soya cheese and crackers or crisps if its a lazy day.

something from the following for us;
spanish omlette,
pasta in numerous variations,
chicken with potatoes and veg,
chicken curry or stew (made with can of stew then adding chicken and veg to bulk it out into double servings.)
rice dish like nasi goreng or kedgeree,
sausage or game casserole,
spanish chicken, (cooked in oven with can of toms, onions, peppers etc)
spanish chickpeas,
veg and chickpea curry,
bean and tuna salad with crusty bread,
chilli (with whatever carbs we've got, I often use up staleish bread for mopping up chilli),
baked potatoes,
sausage and mash
toad in the hole (OH cooks this but its a bit too fattening for my liking)
veggie burgers and buns or potato wedges
fishcakes and baked beans
liver and onions
salmon or tuna steaks (a treat maybe once a month unless they're on special offer)


I'd say 3-5 nights we have something from that list, the other nights it might be a can of soup, a sandwich etc; about 2x a month its pizza or chips.

For most casserole type things I'll chuck in a can /packet mix to get thigns falvoured. So sausage casserole might have half a jar of tom based pasta sauce thrown in. A curry will have half a jar of curry sauce or a can of curry. Guess I just found over the years that no matter how hard I try I will burn or otherwise muck up the making of most sauces from scratch. Its just not worth it for me!

Pitlanepiglet

Halia, what I have noticed is that the Tesco value soya isn't anywhere near as pure as it used to be, their pure (and organic one) is now 99p. It's now got all sorts of "gunky" stuff in it. You might want to have a look at the ingredient list. The Asda one is nasty as well but the Sainsbury one is pure and still only 65p.

I'm seriously looking at a soya milk maker.