£10 to feed us until 17th?

sweetpeas_2

Hi guys :hello:

I have been watching mbaz's thread with interest- how to feed a family of 4 for a month. I decided to go for it myself- as a bit of a personal challenge.

Thing is, I've not worked out that the money I thought I had for food I now need to put in the bank to cover the mortgage payment on Tuesday. I have absolutely next to nothing for food for the next two weeks until we get paid.

I could sit and cry- yesterday I was thinking I'd do a little challenge for myself just to save some money and prove to myself that I can do it, but now I have no choice- it's taken on a bit of a different meaning.

Can someone give me some pointers on what is the best thing to do? We are going to the caravan on Monday night and therefore I'll have limited freezer space to batch cook and freeze meals.
There are 4 of us- 2 big eating adults and 2 fussy eating children.

I should add at this point that my cooking ability is really limited. I can't make bread- but will be buying Mr T's value for 30p. We have been trying to eat healthily the last few months.

Things I have in at the moment- 2 fray bentos pies, some dried herbs, frozen chicken breast, packet dried cous cous. Apart from that not alot in at all.

Can anyone please offer any advice? When I have done a practise shop online on Mr T's it comes to around £20- which I don't really have.

Thanks everyone

Nog xx

guinness34

have you try my supermarket

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/

you can compare asda and tescos
it what i use if we are short
also i make a list of what i have and then see what meals i can make from them also curry sauce is 4p at t's at present very nice with chips

angchris

hiya :hello: cor things are a bit tight, im sure with ingenuity and skill you will pull through though, mainly cos when the chips are down we have to! :rolleyes:
my little tip is to go and raid your parents/family and friends cupboards of all goodies they have lurking in corners of cupboards that havent seen the light of day in yonks. also try and find a local farm that sells eggs, our local farmer gives trays of eggs away that he cant sell, either they are mishaped or too small or too big absolutely nowt wrong with them though i can vouch for that!
i know that this is really cheeky, but before i set up in business i did a scout of all the local whole sale bakeries, they were quite happy to give you one of those big plastic trays full of bread rolls and delish cakes/pastries etc for free :drool: as tasters to see what you`d like to order.
also nows the time to get the free fruit, my mum n dads apple and pear trees are laden with far too much fruit for just them. if you see a tree ask if you could possibly pick a few, or even stick a wanted ad on freecycle for windfalls or anyone kind enough to let you pick them.
good luck...angchris

Fern_Merkin

Thats a tricky one!

If theres not enough on mbaz's excellent thread then I do agree that you should raid others' freezers. (angchris) they - by that I mean anyone you know - will likely be happy to get shut of stuff they've lost the will to deal with.

When relatively affluent we all have these moments where we'd be glad to help so we can get more freezer space for what we're into now. But don't like to waste what we spent time / money sorting for freezing.

Don't be too proud, you'll be doing both parties a favour!

Best of luck Hun!

gairlochgal

A lot of folk here seem to do well by hitting their local supermarkets late-ish when the real bargains kick in. Is that worth a try?

And sorry not to be horrid but I don't think this is a time for fussy kids - assuming they don't have allergies etc. Mine have to eat what they are given and within reason I make them eat stuff they don't like. Or they have to agree that if they won't finish something, that's it till the next meal.

sweetpeas_2

Thanks everyone for your help and advice.
I will defo go round my Mum's over the weekend and nick everything what she doesn't want. Right idea!

I am going to batch up some 4p curry in a huge stew pan and then stick it in the fridge at the caravan- it should last for 2/3 nights tea in there, as long as I don't put meat in it to start with.

gairlochgal, I totally agree with the fussy eating. They get what they are given and when they fuss around it and don't eat it- they go hungary I'm affraid. DH's MUm has always made almost 4 meals each night- due to 2 fussy kids and 1 amazingly fussy husband, and I just refuse to do it. They are both in a funny not liking veg stage at the moment- I know it will pass, as it does... but until then they do have at least 3 veg on their plate every night. I just think- they will never ever get used to eating something if you allow them not to have it...!!!

I am planning on doing 1 huge pot of vegetable/lentil stew- and just adding some sausages into it each night. Together with the 4p curry- I think I will be able to stretch that over a week. Bit repetative, but tough really! Rather have a belly full of stew every night all week then a belly full of nothing!
Also, going to go for the egg idea which angchris mentioned, so that I can knock up a few omlettes in there somewhere for a bit of variety.
Feel miles better, thank you ever so much for your ideas guys

xx

Rummer

Hello

What a challenging situation. How about porridge for breakfast, filling and cheap. Buy cheap pasta and tinned chopped toms you can flavour it with the herbs that you have. Rice too can fill out your curries and with some veg and an egg you can make egg fried rice. Perfect time to collect brambles too and they are free. Couscous is also cheap and filling, cover with boiling water leave for 10 mins then eat with veg. Reduced veg could be made into vats of soup that you can eek out for a few days and freeze too. If you buy cheap plain flour you could make pastry cases for quiche and HM bread amongst others.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

missbargain

Wow, this is tough.

I think that there are places that give food away at the end of the day, worth looking into it.
Also, don't forget rice, it is a good filler, and you can just add some veggies into it, or sausages, actually anything really and make quite a nice filling meal. Pasta is also a filler, I love cheap and cheerful "aglio oglio" pasta - garlick and olive oil.
But 10 pounds for a week for 4 people is really tough. Don't you have a close relative or a friend, perhaps you can have a dinner at theirs once a week. This is a trick I do when I couldn't be bothered cooking, I call my mother in law (the best cook in the world), and she always invites us for dinner - it is never refused. And she even packs us a doggie bag after dinner, as she watches her weight, so does not want excess food lying around.

I think surplus food is everywhere. I live in London, and there are lots of farmers markets around. It is increadible to see the food (fruit, veggies) discarded after a day of trading, still perfectly good to eat or be made in the nice stew or a cooked dish. Ever thought of visiting nearby farmers markets at the end of the day? I think lots of traders give away (or sell for peanuts) their food, rather then taking it back home or throwing it away.

Toonie

If your kids eat pasta, one thing I have found works well is pasta with chopped cucumber and halved cherry tomatoes with some fish fingers or chicken nuggets. Its filling because of the pasta and has got some good crunch in it. Its also fairly cheap.

If you do get some eggs, try out eggy bread as well, a great treat for lunch and again, served with some tomatoes would make it filling.

Also, could you bake a few biscuits to take with you as snacks? Twinks hobnobs are really cheap to make and are dead simple to do.

EssexHebridean

Good luck with this - sounds like you have a few good ideas already. Remember to thoroughly go through your own cupboards too - if you have things like flour in that gives you some scope - things like muffins and sponge cakes can be made cheaply from standard storecupboard ingredients and do add some interest to the end of a meal. They also keep well over a few days in airtight tins or boxes. Go through old handbags or purses too on the off-chance that you might find odd change or even if you're lucky a note or two. (Yeah, I know, but I never give up hoping!) If worst comes to worst do the kids have money boxed you could borrow from until you're through this sticky point?

Obukit

To be honest I think the only way to do it is to get as much free food as possible. There's 20 days until the 17th - divided by four people that's a budget of 12.5p per person per day, and it's very difficult to eat anything other than plain value rice/porridge/pasta for that money.

Are you sure you can't sell stuff on eBay/your husband find a temporary cash-in-hand job or similar? Good luck otherwise .