Tips and Quick Questions on “How To Start Being Old Style”

fc123

Nargleblast wrote: »

You could try looking at Weezl's website, which gives a months worth of family meals (breakfasts/lunches/dinners) - a bit over the £10 a week you mentioned, but still could be good for ideas. Haven't got the link but will try to find the site address.

Love that blog.....thanks.

queen_of_string

The 50p meal thread has been resurected too, so even more ideas on there.

sarahsarah

I would say a trip to the market would be better than a delivered fruit and veg box. Even if it's a bus trip away as she has got the time it could be coupled with a trip to a bigger library or whatever for the little one. The market we go to the guys usually give my two a free apple or banana while they are waiting.

This week I only bought fruit but for £6 I got:
2 punnets of strawberries (£2.50)
large paper bag of plums (£1.50)
large paper bag of grapes (£1)
2 large paper bags of satsumas (£1)

Which is a lot more than i used to get in my riverford fruit box. If on a budget could do without the strawberries and get apples and pears instead and that would be a week of snacks for mum and toddler and some of it could be used in baked puddings as well.

If this thread is still going on Thursday I will see what I can get for £5 on the veg side and £5 on the fruit side and do another list!

sarahsarah

Oh and as for meat etc, my family is fed almost entirely on whoopsies from the co-op, co-op meat tends to be really good and I go first thing in the morning and pick up all the bargains.
Takes a bit of experimenting to find out which shops to visit and what times though!

fc123

sarahsarah wrote: »

I would say a trip to the market would be better than a delivered fruit and veg box. Even if it's a bus trip away as she has got the time it could be coupled with a trip to a bigger library or whatever for the little one. The market we go to the guys usually give my two a free apple or banana while they are waiting.

This week I only bought fruit but for £6 I got:
2 punnets of strawberries (£2.50)
large paper bag of plums (£1.50)
large paper bag of grapes (£1)
2 large paper bags of satsumas (£1)

Which is a lot more than i used to get in my riverford fruit box. If on a budget could do without the strawberries and get apples and pears instead and that would be a week of snacks for mum and toddler and some of it could be used in baked puddings as well.

If this thread is still going on Thursday I will see what I can get for £5 on the veg side and £5 on the fruit side and do another list!

Thanks for replying. I used to get Riverford but I always ended up getting too many red cabbages or squash and then, they would go to waste *the shame*:o but I am moving next week and will use them when I am home in London. Brighton has a lot more choice than a SE London suburb.:(

It's hard to get organic in the cheapy market but the farm shop I used to go to (when I had a car F/T) did organic and it was cheaper than the pesticide stuff from Tescos.

Personally, I love this board and really should post on it as we are going MFW in a weeks time and I have really really slipped recently.
I confess to having gone back to buying pots of hoummus again. *double shame*.

Gingerbiscuit_2

Im amazed if you can! How do people manage ? Shoulnt a 2y old child be having at least half pint milk a day so presuming you are using another half pint for cereal/drinks then thats least 7pints week which must be at least £3 which would be a third of your grocery shop.

fc123

Gingerbiscuit wrote: »

Im amazed if you can! How do people manage ? Shoulnt a 2y old child be having at least half pint milk a day so presuming you are using another half pint for cereal/drinks then thats least 7pints week which must be at least £3 which would be a third of your grocery shop.

Mine are big now (16 + 23) and I honestly can't remember how much milk they drank at all. Is cows milk in volume still seen as essential in a toddler diet?


I will ask her how much milk he drinks a day.

Want2BMoneySavvy

I'm still learning, but my tips are...

- never buy full price bread. If you go to a supermarket big enough, they will always have some reduced. This week I picked up 3 loaves of Seed Sensation bread for 24p each (normally around £1.20 I think). Bread freezes really well, and can be defrosted slice at a time. If she buys a couple of reduced loaves when she sees them, they should last a while.

-any farm shops/markets around? They tend to be much cheaper for fruit/veg/eggs.

-if she is only feeding herself and her toddler, consider buying most veg frozen. It will keep much longer, and you can defrost small portions, making it go further.

-A large batch of bolognese sauce frozen into small portions should do lots of teas, and work out very cost effective. Bulk out with veg to make it cheaper, and use quorn mince if cost is still an issue. One batch using 1kg of mince gives me enough for four teas (feeding four), so I'm assuming it would stretch much further with one adult and one toddler.

-Any chance she can make a regular date of eating at her parent's once a week? It would be nice for her to have some adult convo during mealtimes, they could see their grandson, she gets a free tea, win win win!

-Consider buying the bags of milk, and putting them into washable jugs when she gets home. Waitrose defo do them, they are cheaper because they cut down on packaging.

-Find out when local supermarkets reduce food, and stock up on meat and fish when they are cheap. Pop them in the freezer and meal plan around them.

Start buying some value products. Things like diluting juice, jelly, biscuits etc I find no different, but the difference in cost is dramatic.

Hope some of this helps.

Want2BMoneySavvy

Cows milk not essential as long as child is getting other sources of calcium in his diet - cheese, yougurt, fromage frais, broccoli are all good sources. Remember that milk in cooking counts too, so mashed potato, porridge etc all go towards the 'calcium in milk' quota.

My son went offf milk at around 12m, never touches the stuff now.My HV assured me his diet was more than enough to keep him healthy. Lots of other culture's place no emphasis on drinking cows milk at a young age and the children are all perfectly healthy.

Gingerbiscuit wrote: »

Im amazed if you can! How do people manage ? Shoulnt a 2y old child be having at least half pint milk a day so presuming you are using another half pint for cereal/drinks then thats least 7pints week which must be at least £3 which would be a third of your grocery shop.

Aril

Don't disregard the reduced fruit and veg in the supermarket- the fruit can be stewed and frozen and the veg made as a basis of a soup or slow cooker recipe. I chop and freeze reduced peppers because they are so pricey these days and frozen veg I think also represents good value.
I've found that by collecting and freezing up all my leftover bits of bread I've soon got enough to either add to hm burgers or to blitz up with a bit of cheese to make a gratin topping.
When buying cheese it's worth checking the fridge prices against the deli counters as they run separate offers and any going spare can be frozen along with milk at its near end date.
Poundland and others are worth keeping an eye on- I like proper coffee and when they have it in it works out much cheaper so I stock up. Their white sugar is also significantly cheaper.
If ethical issues are important to your friend even the Sainsburys basics are fairtrade for the coffee, tea etc and I find that their tinned fruit is in juice rather than the syrup like Mr T.
Aril