October 2008 Grocery Challenge. Please read first two posts.

got-it-spend-it

I absolutely ditto what has been said about bulking out mince meals. I don't eat meat but do cook with Quorn mince. One packet of Quorn mince (300g) does four different meals, each serving 3-4 people.

I tend to make a base of half a packet of mince, chopped onion, a couple of grated carrots, a chopped pepper, a handful of red lentils and a tin of value tomatoes with a pinch of mixed herbs. Once this is cooked I serve it for one meal with pasta (ala spaghetti bolognese, but sometimes with penne or fusilli). The next day I then add a tin of beans or kidney beans, some chilli powder, heat it up and that makes a delicious chilli.

A tin of baked beans, a handful of sweetcorn and peas help bulk out mince for shepherds pie.

Jacket potato with beans and cheese or tuna and sweetcorn is a good cheap meal once a week. Tuna pasta bake is another good cheapy. Hubby loves eggs on toast or fish finger sandwiches every now and then

It's amazing how much you can save by having a couple of cheapy meals a week, and they can be delicious.

cazspatch

thanks everyone i am just starting to put the advice to use!

i have just done a massive calendar for November to Meal Plan for the month - putting in all busy nights.
Can see what we are spending that way.

going to look at the recipes on here and online at Tescos for prices.

never used lentils so that will be interesting LOL

right gotta keep going

mumzyof2

May I have some advice please?

I would like to make a meal planner for the next 2 weeks with what I have in, but i just dont know how to do it. Im sickof having the same meals too like spag bol etc etc. I am sick of having mince,potatoes,veg with gravy done in the slow cooker but dont know what else to make.

Thanks

angelatgraceland

Popped into Mr M today-not a place I normally shop. Got some of their Mc Cain roast posts for 40p and Birdseye peas also 40p/ They had hot cooked chickens for £3.49 each or 2 for £5 so I had 2 of those. One for tea and one for sarnies and snacks tomorrow. Got a bag of coxs apples for 89p and you get a free reusable bag worth 29p with them. Oh-mini donuts are bogof and so are Xmas puddings so I got those also. Spent £12.68 on food:
2 chickens
2 bags roasts
2 bags peas
2 pks donuts
2 pks crackers
1 pk toms
1 cucumber
2 xmas puds
1 bag apples
1 reusable bag
I think I did well today!
Total so far for food this week is £49.31
If I manage a NSD tomorrw it will be another amazing week!
Im now putting together a small box of goodies as Im taking dd13 to Blackpool in halfterm and I will be selfcatering. Taking plenty of quick easy stuff-especially cereals. couldnt bear the thought of too many takeaways-even just for 5 days! Doubt I will spend a lot more than usual and with these low weeks now my monthly total should still be within budget.
Got some keys cut for £2 each-our local shop charges £3.99 each! Saw some nice shoes but resisted-I really do not need them.

cw18

My mince dishes do tend to get repeated, but the things I've used it for in the last 4.5 months are...

mince and mash
mince and dumplings
chille con carne
spag bol
lasagne
meatballs (I got some Whoopsied lean mince for these) with spaghetti and tomato & mascarpone sauce
macaroni casserole

of this lot, DS is always happy to see the Chille or the Macaroni Casserole -- and was probably least pleased with the meatballs

princess_leia_3

mumzyof2 wrote: »

May I have some advice please?

I would like to make a meal planner for the next 2 weeks with what I have in, but i just dont know how to do it. Im sickof having the same meals too like spag bol etc etc. I am sick of having mince,potatoes,veg with gravy done in the slow cooker but dont know what else to make.

Thanks

Have a look here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1224597&highlight=meal+plan

I have posted here once but I failed miserably, I find it hard to think of lots of different meals too, but a typical week for us would include; value chicken curry or just add mushrooms to the sauce, jacket pots with various fillings, salad with egg/ham etc, one chips meal, meat/sausage & veg, mushroom pasta.

EDIT; Sorry if you just meant about using mince? But a great one I love is make it into meatballs and fry off til brown and then chuck into a pasta bake - yummy

Today we had jacket pot with cottage cheese and salad and I also made 2 x chicken cottage pies with the chick left over from roast, these have gone in the freezer as I have a huge amount of mushrooms to either cook and eat or freeze this week!

I have been inspired by Raymond and his restaurant and I am off to actually write my recipe book of fave foods

fizzel81

sorry to do this, can i b taken off the challenge, got home tuesday and around 7pm found a warm fridge and a defroasted freezer, the damm thing was making all the right noises but its 6 months old broken and awaiting someone to come and look at the ruddy thing to see whats broken if its reparable or if i get a replacement

i have no idea what were going to do till its fixed, im so cheesed off as i cannot even keep milk cold

gtx

hi everyone

i'm feeling really lousy - i've managed to catch a really bad cold from somewhere and didn't get in from work til 9 tonight.:(

had to go into m&s today for stuff for work and i bought a couple of boxes of chocs that were half price (i'm xmas shopping for everyone but the kids from grocery budget - not an issue as i start in august and have a strict limit on amount per person) and i bought some red lentils - mr a hasn't had any in for weeks! total spend £8.45 sig updated

take care, see you all tomorrow

angelatgraceland

Lentils-yes-is there a shortage? I went into Holland and Barrett today for some and they had none-neither red or green! Unbelievable! Are all these lentil eaters on MSE by any chance? ;+)

rosieben

fizzel81 wrote: »

sorry to do this, can i b taken off the challenge, got home tuesday and around 7pm found a warm fridge and a defroasted freezer, the damm thing was making all the right noises but its 6 months old broken and awaiting someone to come and look at the ruddy thing to see whats broken if its reparable or if i get a replacement

i have no idea what were going to do till its fixed, im so cheesed off as i cannot even keep milk cold

fizzel, so sorry to hear about your problem. If its 6 months old is it not still under guarantee? Hope you get it sorted very quickly.