Meal Planning - how do you do it?

quintwins

If only you knew someone who does this sorta thing all the time who could help you

my first bit of advice would be to stop buying the dearest pasta sauce on the market.

sapanga

Thanks that website looks quite good might try a few things from that.
I usually dont buy expensive toliteries and usually buy the cheapest cleaning products.

My biggest spend is on coke/pepsi he drinks 2lt+ a day and likes a lot of crisps so I try and get value ones when I can.

I once make spag bol with value tinned tomatoes to which is stated he didnt like them and wouldnt eat it, hes a bit of a snob when it comes to food, which makes it difficult to stick to a budget. He'd rather go to the chippy than cook.

rolymo_2

sapanga wrote: »

Thanks that website looks quite good might try a few things from that.
I usually dont buy expensive toliteries and usually buy the cheapest cleaning products.

My biggest spend is on coke/pepsi he drinks 2lt+ a day and likes a lot of crisps so I try and get value ones when I can.

I once make spag bol with value tinned tomatoes to which is stated he didnt like them and wouldnt eat it, hes a bit of a snob when it comes to food, which makes it difficult to stick to a budget. He'd rather go to the chippy than cook.

well, i'd give him £50 for the month and see how long that lasts him on coke, crisps and takeaway chips -spend your £50 on lovely homemade grub and watch him starve for 3 weeks !!!!:rotfl:

Thrillho

If you were talking about children not eating their veg we'd all say sneak it into food i.e in pasta sauce or lasagne. Not sure if you would try this out on him? It is easy to bulk out lasagne with veg or lentils. I think your main problem here is his fussiness, not eating reheated (at home) food is just barmy.

If he eats lots of crisps why not make your own or make popcorn instead it costs pennies.

Pork chops are quite cheap and really nice done in the oven with a marinade.

You'd save a fortune if he switched from coke to tea.

spike7451

I feed myself on about £60 a month,including my cat as well.Shop around & don't be afraid to use shops like Iceland.Bin bags of oven chips as they're a false economy,buy a bag of spuds & use them for chips,mash ect.I buy a 4 pack of Iceland Jock (Scotch) pies for a quid,I get 4 meals from that at 25p each.Add a dollop of beans & some mash & I've a meal for about 40p.
Save the plastic tubs that butter,cottage cheese comes in & use these to freeze leftover baked beans,spaghetti ect.Same with Milk,I buy a large 2l bottle but I keep a couple of the smaller pint bottles that I split the larger one of into & these I freeze & use once what's left in the 2l one is gone.Same for bottled water,I buy Asda basic fizzy water for 17p each & decant these into smaller empty bottles for work.
If your hubs likes cola so much,then try him on Asda's basics,it's what I drink & it's good enough.(I also find the 'proper' cola too sickly)

BitterAndTwisted

TWO LITRES OF COLA A DAY? Crikey, I hope you buy supermarket own-brand cola.

I suspect an awful lot of us would prefer to pop out to the chippy rather than standing in the kitchen preparing home-made meals day-in and day-out but that won't help you keep to that £100 a month's budget. Something probably has to go and in my house it would be the cola, crisps and visits to the chippy.

Oh, and a real food-snob wouldn't be seen dead in a chippy. He's a lazy-@rse and fussy with it. I have a feeling that you won't get where you want to go until he changes his mind, or has it changed for him where food is concerned

sapanga

Thanks for all the fab advice.

I dont usually let him go to the chippy all the time, I have tried buying own brand fizzy juice and dilute but he wont drink it, I usually end up drinking it. I try to look out for deals fizzy juice but its still usually £1 a day.

Can anyone reccommend an own brand fizzy orange juice I could try?

I have thought about maybe making my own pasta/chilli sauce and blending it down so its not so obvious its homemade. He doesnt eat mash only cubes with garlic butter or roast potatoes, so if anyone has any ideas on alternatives way to do potatoes I'd be really grateful.

I do make my own pie, lasange, soups and stews and if theres any left over I'll take it to work for lunch the next day.

Thrillho could u point me in the direction for some marinades for pork chops, I usually make them with just a bit of pepper and sea salt thanks

Kitchenbunny

Hi sapanga - sounds like you've got quite the challenge on your hands. Why not try buying a carton of passata instead of a tin of tomatoes? Mr T have them for about 28p each and it is just pureed tomatoes. End result if you put it in a pasta sauce or chilli base is that the sauce goes really smooth - very much like a "shop bought" jar

Have you thought of making a sweet & sour to have with pork? I use 4tbsp vinegar, 3tbsp soy sauce, 1oz sugar and 1 tbsp tomato puree. Then you add about 1/2 pint water mixed with 2 tbsp cornflour and cook all together until a thick reddy-orange sauce. Then you just use it like a cook-in sauce for pork and veggies and add a tin of pineapple chunks in juice. Serve with instant noodles or rice. I love doing fake-takeaway style dishes as it seems really indulgent and I can smile every time I'm eating it knowing it tastes nicer!

I wish you all the best with it - you've come to the right place for advice. Small steps and small changes are probably going to give the best results.

HTH

K xx

Penny-Pincher!!

The 2 litres of coke/fizzy should be vastly reduced down just on the health implications.

sapanga

thanks kitchen bunny never thought of sweet and sour pork before sounds yum. The passata sounds like a good alternative will give it a try for sure.

As for the health implication of drinking so much fizzy juice I dont think thats really a concern for him, I have tried to point that out.

I am trying to create a more healthy meal plan for me at least because what he likes isnt that healthy and I hate eating rubbish and actually enjoy making my own hm meals.