Eating Well V's Eating Cheaply??

SarahShattered

Tinned tomato ingredients comparisons :

Sainsbury's Chopped Tomatoes Carton 390g - 56p

Tomatoes (65%), Concentrated Tomato Juice, Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid.

Sainsbury's Basic chopped tomatoes 33p - 440g

Chopped Tomatoes (60%), Tomato Juice, Acidity Regulator:Citric Acid.

Napolina Chopped Tomatoes 98p - 400g

Chopped Tomatoes, Tomato Juice, Citric Acid. (there wasn't a % of tomatoes on their label)

I was a little surprised at the thought of there being salt and sugar in them.

HTH

ETA: these prices are correct for Sainsbury's today. I checked Tesco and they were comparable.

xnatalie81x

In regards to the 'hot dogs, noodles and tinned toms' dinner - there are tomatoes there as the fruit/veg....

Must say for me and 3 kids that above meal would cost 41p for value toms, 50p for hot dogs and 33p for 3 packs noodles total £1.24 - i could make a better dinner for £1.24 but i cannot see how you can focus on the one meal when you are unaware of the rest of the days food intake.

I understand where OP is coming from although it has changed from original post........ yes, we all have our own ideas about how much we are willing to sacrifice. I am slowly coming around to the idea of more home reared meat and the value meat i used to buy is losing it's appeal and i am trying to make changes BUT i would rather continue eating as cheaply as possible to clear my debts and then in 4 years i will have more leaway. I do ensure that MIL and mum do not bring choc/sweets and now bring the kids oranges, bananas etc which they actually prefer now.

squirrelchops

Actually....someone posted saying that my value tomatoes have more salt and sugar in them...well:

I have 1 tin of napolina and 1 tin of Tesco value in front of me right now!

NAPOLIONA: 70% tomato, tomato juice and citric acid

VALUE: 60% tomato, tomato juice and citric acid

10% difference for 80p maybe??? Only got napolina as on offer. Oh yes Value ones says trace salt in half a tin.

I agree that the better toms often contain more lycopene but for bunging in spag bol I am not overly botehred.

For more lycopene I will eat fresh toms!!!!

squirrelchops

Also there is a big diffrence in money between value toms and Napoloina as Sarahshattered has shown. Value ones are what 14p each now?? not sure but certainly not 98p!!!!

gailey_2

Over the last 6months we have drastically reduced our food bill.

Tesco is out and morrsions,sainsburys and lidls/aldis is in.

We cant afford organic but we do get either freedom or free range poultry, free range eggs and never cheap mince.
The result is we eat less of it and found some useful tips on how lentils can stretch meals with mince.

We buy mosty frozen fish as cheaper but tahts great value protein

Fresh vega dn fruit we started buying from greengrocers or lots from lidls and basic veg from sainsburys.

Also we buy a lot of frozen veg like peas, sweetcorn, spinach as then we never run out and can add veg to all our meals.

I think the easiest way to eat cheaply is to cook from scratch and ditch convineinace ready made meals.
That way you can ensure what exactly is in it.

I even make my own pasta sauces and freeze.

From what i see on os board people make most of what they got.
I do admit the odd thing thats on offer is in freezer for emergancies.
Oven chips are just potato.

There are some really inspirational posts on how people are broke and manage like feed family of 4 for £20 a month.

Also lots of us hate waste so we mentione something we got in cupboard and people suggest a recipie which is good.

Os board is mostly freindly supportive board on mse so I hate to see rows.

Bitsy_Beans

I think the OP has confused a meal plan with a food diary. to me meal plans are just a menu of evening meals. I tend to assume people are not listing every single thing they stuff in their mouths and that although veg or fruit is not listed it's likely to be bunged in or eaten during the day.
We are all grownups on this board. I think we are pretty capable of deciding what to feed ourselves and our family.
I am eternally grateful to the OS board who have inspired me to be more creative with my cooking. We didnt rely on ready meals but we did use more stuff from jars. I now have the confidence to try cooking things from scratch. If people want to cook noodles and hot dogs for their dinner that's up to them. Not something I'd want to eat but surely as an adult I can make that decision for myself. Just because someone lists it in their meal planner doesn't mean I am obliged to try it. Meal plans are to give inspiration, for you to pick and choose a suggestion that you fancy.
I must admit I took the OP as bit like telling OSers how to suck eggs. Just hope they are free range

star2007

Hi Leiela,

I'm with you on this one. I've read through posts before and raised my eyebrows, to say the least, at the poor nutrition content of some of the meal ideas. I do disagree with you in some respects of your diet i.e. the large amount of meat you eat (I'm almost-vegan).... but it's all good by me, as you've made an informed choice about it and you feed your children well on home cooked balanced meals. So I stand by and support your basic sentiments.

I'm trying to get my food spending down, and I'm happy to buy simple ingredient items from the 'Basics' range e.g. kidney beans, baked beans, porridge oats, flour, sweetcorn, tinned tomatoes (there's no other additives apart from a little citric acid in them), dry spaghetti, onions etc etc. I bought some 'basics' tea bags yesterday to try, although they make a passable cup of tea, I'll be buying a box of regular soon and alternating my cups.

I'm going to stick my neck out here, and risk a bit of stick, but it doesn't seem to me to be 'Old Style' at all to eat tinned hot dogs, jars of value curry sauce (full of thickening agents.... surely much cheaper to use a spoon full of Garam Masala curry powder?), cheapo sausages etc.

I personally feel it's far more 'Old Style' to take our inspiration from the peasant cuisines of the world such as Italy and India rather than Mr. T's value processed range. There was a feature in the Sunday Telegraph woman's mag a couple of weeks ago about using up stale crusty bread in recipes. One of them was for a Tuscan style bean, vegetable and bread soup. I can't imagine an Italian 'nonna', for example, feeding her brood on value hot dogs, yet they eat a far better diet than us, even though (traditionally) they had a much lower standard of living. She would have eked out her 'lira' with home made bread, beans, lentils, pasta, polenta etc.... made meat & veg cassoulets that stretched through the week... adding a bit new everyday. Knew when to buy good quality eg meat, salamis, cheese, olive oil etc to maximise flavour, but made it last.

(I know there's a social issue here about long working hours in this country & the relationship with convenience foods, but it hardly takes any time or money to throw together a quick stir fry with left over chicken or tofu, chopped veg, a sprinkle of spices & soy sauce, and some noodles or rice)

*** Your health is your most important wealth, and you are what you eat ***

I know it's a cliche, but so true.

Steps off soap box, and puts helpful hat on...

Here are some of my ideas for healthy cheap meals for pence:

Stir fry noodles

1 pack value noodles (discard the sachet as there's more nutrition in the plastic wrapper!)
Left over tofu, chicken, quorn bits etc
1/2 onion
bit of chopped garlic & ginger
1 small carrot, 1/2 red pepper... any other veg of choice
Small handful of peanuts (option)
Shake of Thai Sweet Chilli sauce
Drop of veg oil

Cook noodles as per packet, fry veg in wok, toss together & voila!

Eggless spanish omelette

1 cup chick pea flour
mixture of water & soya milk
Salt & pepper
pinch of marigold bouillon powder
Pinch of tarragon (option)

Onion, sliced
c. 4 med new potatoes, cooked & sliced
Olive oil

Fry the onions & potatoes together (plus any other veg of choice such as red pepper, mushrooms, peas, chard etc)

Make up a batter from the dry ingredients, about the thickness of yorkshire pud batter, whisking well to get rid of the lumps. Pour onto veg in frying pan, turn down the hob and cook slowly until lightly browned on the bottom. Flip over with a plate & slide back into the pan - or put the pan under a preheated grill, to cook the other side. Chick pea flour is what onion bhajis are made of, and give them their slightly 'eggy' taste, so if you like bhajis, you should like this!

nb... 1 kg of chickpea flour costs < £2 in the local health food shop. A huge sack costs about a fiver in the big tesco's, so this meal really can be made for pence. 100g of c. p. flour contains 12.8 g of protein, which is a good reasonable amount, and eaten with other nuts/ seeds/ vegetables/ grains/ wholemeal rice & bread etc during the day will provide a balanced array of amino acids from the different protein sources.

Veg spag bol

Onion, chopped
Garlic, chopped
Carrot, mushrooms, peppers etc sliced
Herbs & seasoning
Stock powder, marmite etc
Tin tomatoes
Handful of soya mince
Scoop of red lentils
Olive oil
Pasta

Fry veg & seasoning, add tomatoes, then marmite, soya, lentils, bit of boiling water. Cook for c. 25 mins till lentils have mushed & serve over pasta. Don't add salt till near the end, or lentils won't cook. Add a tin of 14p kidney beans, drained & rinsed and some chilli powder for a veggie chilli.

My version of bread soup

Onion & garlic, chopped
Selection of veg to use up eg carrots, chard, collards, green beans, aubergine etc
Tin of tomatoes
Veg/ meat stock
Leftover red wine
Chunk of left over stale crusty/ artisan/ home made bread, chopped into bits
Tin of borlotti/ cannellini beans, rinsed (or dried beans, precooked, for extra economy)
Extra virgin olive oil (essential)
Herbs (e.g. thyme/ tarragon) & seasoning
Bit of pork belly (optional for meat eaters)
Grated parmesan (or sprinkling of nutrtional yeast flakes for vegans)

Fry the onions, veg, herbs & seasonings. Add tomatoes, stock, wine & beans. Allow a long slow cook (slow cooker would probbo be great). Add bread about 1/2 hr near the end. Check seasoning. Serve up in big bowl, drizzle with a nice extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with parmesan & fresh black pepper.

Penny-Pincher!!

Hi Again

I personally think you can eat healthy on a limited budget. Have just gone to mysupermarket and put in the below list of food which would cover the 3 of us for a week.

Apples Basic x 25 (1 each daily and 4 for spare)
Bananas Basic x 16 (DD & OH 1 each daily and 2 for spare)
3 litres of pure OJ
Bag Basic Oranges (1 daily for me and 2 spare)
Peppers Basics (usually 6 so 2 meals roasted and in chilli or spagbol)
Pots 5kg Basics
Tomatoes x 6 Basic (for either a salad with egg or sarnies)
Lettuce (as above)
Cabbage Basic (will do us 3 meals)
Carrots 1.5kg (do 4 meals for 3 of us each week)
Jelly Basics x 3 (pudding with fruit)
Sweet corn Basics x 2 tin
Pineapple in juice basics x 3 (pudding or smoothie)
Cheddar (Organic 300g)
Milk Basic (UHT x 3)
Spagetti Basic (Dried Spagbol)
Rice Basic (1kg-this will do us 2 meals)
Tinned soup x 2 (lunch for OH & I for 2 days)
Tortilla Crisps Basic x 2 (muchies)
Oven Chips 1.5kg (will do us 4 meals for 3 of us)
Baked Beans x 2 Basics (1 for Shepherds Pie & other lunch for OH & I)
Weetabix x 72
Natural Yogurt 500g Basic x 2
Squash 1 litre
Fish basics 520g (enough for 2 fish pies so other half in freezer)
Butter basic
Peanuts x 2 Basic (Soak in water to remove excess salt and good protein source)
Muesli basic
Curry Sauce basic (will add frozen veg to this too)
Bread basic x 2
Ham (sarnies for lunch)
Lamb Minced 500g (not basic-will do spagbol and S/Pie) £1.90
Sausages (97%meat) £2.25
Eggs FR x15 (will only use half)
Chicken Whole (Freedom with sage/onion-will do roast and curry)
Stir fry Basic Bag (huge bag and will mix with value noodles and maybe a tin of tuna I have in)
Onions
Honey Basics
Oats


This is to cover these main meals too:

Shepherds Pie
Fishpie
Spagbol
Sausage & Mash
Roast Chicken
Stirfry
Egg & Chips

Breakfasts:
Muesli, Weetabix, Porridge, Yogurt, Egg, Fruit, Toast & Juice

Lunches:
Soup, Salad, Sarnies, Beans on Toast or Egg On Toast/Leftovers

I have probably forgotten loads of stuff...lol, but I think I have most things covered. I must note that DD does get a free lunch but TBH she takes a sarnie 2-3 days a week.

The above all comes to roughly £34.00

Does that seem ok?

I will now duck and cover whilst everyone slates it.

PP
xx

freyasmum

Another thing, and it may be quite controversial But maybe people are eating noodles and hotdogs because they actually like them? Just because you see something on a meal planner doesn't mean that's all the person eats.

I also think this little quote is good here:

breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper

MrsE wrote: »

I'm not a copy cat I promise:o

Great minds & all that:D

Fools seldom differ... :whistle:

Lois_and_CK

I used to spend £350-£400 a month on groceries for 2 adults, plus 2-3 takeaways a week. I managed to spend that princely sum by buying branded products and thinking I was eating well by buying 'Be Good to Youself', 'Finest' and M&S ready meals.

I now spend £200 a month on groceries (and no takeaways since 1 Jan - yay, well done me!). Meal planning, batch cooking and working to a budget has forced me to think about what CK and I eat and now I firmly believe my diet to be much more nutritous since I reduced my grocery spending.

For example:
My chillies used to contain the basic ingredients of mince, onions and kidney beans. Now, in order to get more out of them, they contain mince (lean), onions, mushrooms, peppers, kidney beans, aduki beans, red lentils and puy lentils. (And served with brown rice, red onions and beetroot.)

My bolognaise used to be made with a jar sauce (e.g. Lloyd Grossman) and contain just mince and onions. Now they contain mince, onions, red lentils, puy lentils, mushrooms and peppers. (And served with brown pasta.)

Similar can be said for curries and casseroles - they used to be all from jars and all contain just basic ingredients. Now, because I want to bulk out to make them go further, they all contain loads of veg and lentils, and are all cooked from scratch using my own home-made stocks. I agree with the person who said you can't get enough veg in your diet.

Packs of frozen fish are cheap - I use a lot of these and mush them up with low-fat creme fraiche, peas and sweetcorn to make fish pies. Fish pies get a topping of potato mashed together with lots of carrot and swede.

I keep costs down by buying in bulk from Costco - I've found their meat to be lean and good quality, but cheaper than supermarkets. I also buy most of my veg frozen as I think this works out cheaper; and also keeps it fresh/more nutritional than sitting wilting in my fridge.

Breakfasts include porridge (oats are cheap and last ages) with frozen berries(again bought in bulk from Costco), wholemeal toast with honey or peanut butter, or home-made muesli.

Lunches tend to be home-made soups which I make sure are packed full of vegetables, beans and lentils, or a big salad with toasted seeds.

Oh yes, and a big fat chocolate bar once or twice a week - essential for healthy hormonal balance . Joking aside, I believe a good (realistic) diet should follow the 80/20 rule - eat well 80% of the time, with a treat for the other 20% of the time.