Grocery budget and school holidays

thriftlady_2

pollys wrote:

Thanks for the reply Tine, unfortunately one of my children has allergies so I have to be really careful what I give them to eat, we go through home baking at the speed of light. I have to watch out for additives and colourings so buy organic, which I prefer.

Think I'll just have to cook at lunch.

Allergies? Don't talk to me about allergies :rotfl: We have those too.Are yours allergic to additives and colourings etc or real food?My Dd is allergic to peanuts and eggs.I sometimes think avoiding additives would be easier as I don't buy anything with them in,but every damn thing has a 'may contain nuts'warning on.

I think having your main meal at lunchtime is a good way of cutting down the snacking.I find I eat a lot less in the afternoon and evening if we've had a big lunch.Trouble is OH has sandwiches for lunch and wouldn't appreciate more of the same for tea and I only do one meal at a time.

tesuhoha

For a reasonably nutritious snack that the kids love, have you tried microwave popcorn. Its about £1 for a pack of three and one pack makes a large bowl that everyone can dip into while watching dvds, tv etc.

Skintmama

So know how you feel Pollys!

If I prepare sandwiches then it is deemed a snack in our house those were the days when I could get away with that!

I cannot bear to prepare two full cooked meals a day. The way I cope is to have something hot, soup and sandwiches, or the other usual toast things. I then find that if I serve a hot pudding, anything with an ocean of custard goes down well here, it does keep them going for a while.

That gives me a clear 2 hours after they finish scoffing before they are on the raid again. I encourage them to have a banana (real) milkshake or hot chocolate made with milk with their afternoon snack of maybe a sandwich or cake if there is any left (!) or a bowl of cereal. Then it is fruit time until tea or they will eat veg sticks if there is no fruit left. After tea the it will just be a light pudding of yoghourt or fruit and rarely, icecream.

We do get through the milk rather

I only ever buy crisps and biscuits for partytimes or picnics. DS and DD must buy these with their own pocket money if they want them. They rarely do buy them although they would happily eat them daily if I have bought them. Exception is made that when I do the weekly grocery shop I buy a pack of cookies and they are eaten straightaway.

If they are out and about with their friends they eat less during the day but make up for it later.

At least you know we mums are mostly in the same boat
I must join the April challenge for groceries but am cringing as the thought of setting the budget!

Sweet_Pea_2

I find my two are the opposite. During term time they hardly eat anything at school, their lunchboxes tend to be untouched and they are absolutely starved the minute they come out of the school gate. During school holidays they eat their lunch and a bigger breakfast (usually later too) and very rarely snack. If they do snack I can persuade them to eat something healthier more easily than when they are at school. I have been shopping today and have bought hardly any chocolate, biscuits or crisps, but have bought extra fruit juice and fruit for snacks.
I have decided to try them with some filling and healthier muffins, when they go back to school as their after school snack. They usually will not touch fruit then, and hopefully this will be more filling and better for them than biscuits etc.

nearlyrich

Bananas make great snacks, you can get the value ones from Tesco or whatever the other supermarkets call their reasonably priced lines.

You can also get value low fat yoghurt which is exactly the same as the expensive stuff, put your own fruit in...

Jacket potatoes are easy just pop them in the oven about an hour before they are needed, add a tin of beans and a little cheese, perfect easy lunchtime snack.

pollys

Thanks for the replies everyone, it seems like just about everyones in the same boat. I do a lot of the mentioned already healthy snacks, flapjacks, fruit etc, I don't buy sweets on a regular basis and crisps are very rare treats. I will cook more for lunch and see if that helps and also try swopping the evening meal and lunch around when activities allow.

Thriftlady, my son has an epipen, he is allergic to nuts and dairy intolerant, we also suspect he has other intolerances with more subtle symptoms. Cooking from scratch removes a lot of the worry.

Off to the shops tomorrow morning, so we'll have a family meeting and plan the lunchtime menu together, I've done the evening meal menu already, so will swop the two around for certain days.

Thanks again for your replies, they have been very helpful.