Mardathas meal planning thread

greenbee

Get snowed in... I couldn't get out for a week, so managed to focus on using up the out of date rice milk in the cupboard and getting stuff out of the freezer to cook. The fridge was pretty much empty by the end of the week (unless there were things defrosting in it), but I still ate a balanced diet with fruit, veg, fruit juice etc, all of which I located in the freezer. I'm pretty sure I could have survived about another 6 weeks on the food in the house without suffering unduly.

I hate shopping, but also like to have full cupboards, so its always a dilemma.

However, every so often I decide that I have to eat my way through the majority of the stuff in the freezer before I can go shopping again.

Unfortunately the fridge is now full, with the 40 cupcakes I've just iced for a cake sale at work tomorrow ... it's a good think I didn't restock or there wouldn't have been room

shoppergal

lynzpower wrote: »

one great tip I read on here once, was if you ALWAYS do your food shopping say on a monday.

So you go on a monday

Then next week, try and stretch it till wednesday.

Then week after that go down to Saturday.

This should clear your stores down and rid you of you routine!

This unfortunately didnt work for me, as I spend more now when I do go!

I've seen a similar tip to this before. Each week go shopping a day later than usual, so Monday one week, Tuesday the following week etc. It means that every 7 weeks you should have saved 1 weeks grocery budget.

fuzzyfelt_2

Sausages & Rice = Sausage Jambalaya - You can chuck different things into this, depending on what you have lurking in the fridge /freezer. Fry off an onion, some garlic and a pinch of chilli (cajun spice is nice also) until soft. I add chopped peppers, frozen sweetcorn and peas (or whatever I have that needs using). Then I add a some tinned toms and reduce down a little. Then I add some cooked rice to this and sliced up cooked sausage. A dash of worcester or tabasco, along with some S&P livens this up nicely!

Sausages & Pasta = Pasta with lovely ragu style sauce - split skins of sausage and fry off meat with plenty garlic and onion , then add a splash of red wine, some tinned toms and some herbs (thyme, rosemary or sage would be nice). Simmer until reduced, add seasoning and serve over pasta. Yum!

rach

I think lots of us understand where you're coming from. I like to know I have enough in for the week's meals plus some emergency stuff.

Something which has worked well for me (kind of back to front to what others have said) is to make a meal plan for the week then then I make a list of everything we need to make those meals, then cross off everything we already have in...

sounds time-consuming but it's not really and it works for me!

rachbc

I was a massive culprit of the pop to the shop, come back £30 poorer with a load of random stuff. Now I shop online every 3 weeks or so. I fill my virtual trolly then whittle it down over the wee before delivery. If I run out I go to the corner shop or garage - sure what I buy might cost a few pence more but cheaper in the long run than spending on stuff I don't need if I go to asda again

FrankieM

I tend to just replace what we've eaten the week before, so we generally have the same cuts of meat in the freezer at any given time bt I'm not buying them every week.
It generally works out that some weeks I spend more than others, depending on how much meat we've eaten that week or what 'leftovers' I've managed to incorporate into the meal plan.

zarazara

I think its a good idea to eat up everything you already have with only a limited amount of additions, ie allow yourself to buy bread,butter,tea,jam,fresh fruit and veg and nothing else until the freezer is empty and the cupboards too. meanwhile put the money you would have spent away in a savings account or jamjar. in about a month or so you will beable to start afresh with a shopping /menu list.

doraexplorer

mardatha wrote: »

It is mainly the husband's fault. LOL ! A stuck-in-his-comfort-zone virgo who cracks up at every teeny weeny change . If I say we dont need to go to the shops he will do the drama queen thing and throw open the fridge door and find something we havent got ! (always somethign he likes ). Then I think oh well better take the money etcetc blahblah. This is going to take willpower....... and I ran out of that 30 years ago ! LOL

OMG! thats me! :eek: i am a virgo, stuck in my comfort zone, and yes i am the drama queen of the house. if i run out of anything i go to the shops.

i really must try not too, i spent 50 pounds yesterday and all i needed was baby milk and baby wipes. i just can't stick to a budget. i will have to try harder.

same with my cupboards being full, they have to be or i feel poor.

i am going to try as of tomor, menu plan after i check all my cupboards. its really hard ...

zarazara

or you could try a very radicle [sp?] idea. empty the cupboards of all food stuffs- everything in every cupboard. ditto the freezer. put the whole lot into cardboard boxes nd take it round to family.friends/neighbours, give it all away to anyone who will take it. So, its not wasted as someone is benefiting. Now, go to supermarket and buy tea,milk,sugar,cereal,bread,butter,jam,potatoes,bit of meat,a cabbage and a bag of apples. salt and pepper and bisto gravy. go home, put away. you have dinner and brkfst for tomorrow and left overs for lunch.we all used to live like this pre supermarkets and freezers.
I challenge you to use only half the cupboards you currently do for foodstorage and to freecycle your fridge and freezer and buy a smaller one.
the less you hoard the less there is to waste and its cheaper.

jcr16

i'm a virgo also and i can't walk past a supermarket without spending. even if i don't need it. can it be so simple that i can really blame my star sign on this weekness i have to be able to resist food shopping ?