Help! £40 to feed family for the month

robpw2

well done guys this thread is brilliant and reayy helpful and inspiring ,

another thing i would sugest is to head to sainsbury abotu 6pm because they reduce all the cheap stuff even more i got 4 beef steaks for 50p and someone else was their filling their trolley so you have to fight lol

Mollymop5

Just found you all.Going back to the beginning for a good read.Feeling inspired already!!!

mummysaver

mbaz wrote: »

Wow I never throught the day would come when I would help someone learn how to cook!!!

No hubbie hasnt noticed. He thought the bol was a bit "funny" but I just said I'd added lentils to make it more healthy!

Well my workmate is well and truly impressed with the list, she was so funny, she was astounded that the pair of us who are helping teach her to cook just knew how to make all the stuff!

Quick thinking about the lentils! And very truthful too! :rotfl:

Do you think this will permanently change your food spending/cooking habits?

mbaz

mummysaver wrote: »

Well my workmate is well and truly impressed with the list, she was so funny, she was astounded that the pair of us who are helping teach her to cook just knew how to make all the stuff!

Quick thinking about the lentils! And very truthful too! :rotfl:

Do you think this will permanently change your food spending/cooking habits?

Gosh yes!! I will stop watering down milk and obviously buy more fruit and veg but I've already done my Oct budget and my food budget is £100 (used to be £200) and we will eat like kings!!!

SavvyStudent_2

Mbaz, you can definitely do it!

Don't forget toasted sandwiches (a student fav of mine lol!) - works best with economy bread and you can put anything in - leftover beans / scrambled egg / ham / cheese. If you don't have the machine, just put ham or cheese (or something not too leaky) and dry-fry the sandwich over a low heat to toast it (a tip from an american mate from halls who had never heard of a sandwich toaster??).

Soups are also ace, if you're buying a chicken make sure you boil up the carcass afterwards for broth - then just put in a few carrots / an onion etc et voila - soup!

miggy

notanothergreyhair wrote: »

I just wanted to say that I am really enjoying this thread. In fact, I'm going to nominate the first one for post of the month.

Me too! You are an absolute inspiration and I think it would be very helpful to lots of people to see how you are tackling this!
I started reading out of interest then a few days ago we got clobbered with a very big, largely unforeseen bill and suddenly are having to take a good look at finances. I have been looking through food cupboards and thankfully there is a huge amount there, so I am taking stock - literally - and working out how little we can get away with buying.
I would post my larder list for comment but it's colossal and I haven't finished yet! I don't feel too good that I had so much and it wasn't getting used, shows how easy it is to go round with my eyes shut, not only to my own situation but to the inequalities around me. This is my chance to set the balance, if not totally right, at least better.
By the way, good to see how well all your new recipes are going down! I think some of my tastiest efforts have been using leftovers. We should take note and keep up the good work. Have you seen the thread about using up leftover food?

donnajt

you are doing fantastically - and this thread is really inspiring, glad the "special ingredient" bolognese went down well - I added a small handful (emphasis on small) of lentils to my spag bol yesterday also cooked it in the slowcook (first) with loads of oats, carrot etc - cannot believe how much it made - had frozen 2 dinners worth to freeze *RESULT* and nobody noticed the lentils will add a larger handful next time

have you made your crumble yet???

mudgekin

wow I am so impressed by this thread and very inspired. November is going to he a very tight month for us, DH, my 83 year old mum (diabetic, very fussy, anything that smacks of fancy food is a no no) and myself so I am going to certainly try and follow the advice given here. Unfortunately the reduced sections of the supermarket are out as its a 15 min drive to the nearest large one.

Well done and I am awestruck by the rest of you guys on here, your advice and encouragement are tremendous and have prompted me to start posting instead of lurking :beer:

phizzimum

mbaz wrote: »

. He thought the bol was a bit "funny" but I just said I'd added lentils to make it more healthy!

I've been telling DD (10 and able to spot a lentil at 15 paces, despite being shortsighted!) that we're eating less meat and more lentils because beef cattle produce too much gas contributing to global warming. She wholeheartedly approves! The fact that it saves me money is neither here nor there...

sistercas

lentils lol:rotfl:
its becoming an obsession now. i have just made a chick and veg curry and bunged in a handful of lentils ( never would have thought of it before)
some fantastic ideas keep it up :T