Help! £40 to feed family for the month

mummysaver

mbaz wrote: »

Thankyou for telling me what YS was! Been trying to work it out too!!

I have 6 of those veggie burgers left. Do you think I could make them into spicy bean burgers by adding beans (obviously!) and coating in breadcrumbs? Just for a bit of variety? Then I'd cook in the oven?

I should think that'd work, so long as the mix is wet enough to bind together. I love spicy beanburgers!

Looking forward to seeing next months menu plan - no pressure then! :rotfl:

Culpepper - thanks for the tip about grinding up oats, I add mine to stuff in the slow cooker, so they are always fine, but good to know I can use them as a quick thickener as well for stuff on the hob or in the remoska.

Moliere - thanks for the idea about pre-cooking lentils, again, I add them to the slow cooker usually or soups done in the remoska that are going to be blended, but pre cooking them means that I could just throw them in stuff done quickly on the hob as well! Will be cooking some up and freezing in ready portions I think, will also do the yellow split peas, trialling those as they are half the price of lentils!

GrillMonkey

I've just seen on the Morrisons website that they have 1/3 off Pampers Baby Dry Carry Pack. not sure if that helps as I don't have kids so I have limited knowledge on such things. They also have half price J&J baby Wipes.

Great thread, keep up the good work. You've been an insperation

mbaz

mummysaver wrote: »

I should think that'd work, so long as the mix is wet enough to bind together. I love spicy beanburgers!

mmm so do I! I'm going to give it go. Thought I'll mix them all up together again, add the beans and add some flour if needs drying out a bit more and maybe a few more spices then coat in breadcrumbs...It's worth a shot!

I am so going to do my menu plan tonight - need to get organised before I slip back into my old ways!

Went to Playgroup this morning - and helped set up so didnt have to pay - and they had chocolate cornflake cakes as a treat for kids. My little boy went round the whole table afterwards eating all the little bits other children had missed! Normally I would have been mortified but it made me smile today as I thought he obviously doesnt like to see good food go to waste so he's a little old styler in the making! :rotfl:

ceridwen

glitterkitty wrote: »

is the tesco value curry sauce nice? and is it something i could use to make a curry with for tea one night, then heat up the leftovers for lunch the next day? or is it a bit too 'value' for that purpose?

!

I guess it depends on your taste buds...I see a lot of posters saying they like it. I personally thought it was revolting - its very thin and VERY sweet - nowt much in it apart from sugar, canned tomatoes and more sugar by the taste of it.

So - lotsa people liked it....I just thought "how unfortunate that I have several cans of it" and chucked out the rest.

chardonnay_2

don't worry if you fancy trying anything from asda & tescos cheaper ranges, incase you won't like it, as both companies will take them back even without your receipt.

tesco will take back their value range & own brand range even if you have tried some of the item (we recently tried their value sunflower spread and took it back as it was horrible)

asda are even better as they have a 200% own brand guarantee, check the label if it says "try me love me", they will refund it and replace it (or double refund) - they usually only give the double refund if you have opened the packet or they can see it's gone off.

don't be afraid to take pack an empty container as certain things such as sauces etc you will have needed to use all of it to try.

phizzimum

thanks chardonnay - that's worth knowing

raphanius

Tonight I've made a proper cheapskates pastry for a pie. 8 ounces plain flour, 2 ounces butter - all i had left in the way of hard fat - 1 egg, keeping a little back for the top of the pie and a dash of veg oil cos the pastry wasn't glutony enough with such little fat in it. Tasted fab.

patchwork_cat

Good news though, Mbaz on the concern about fruit and veg - lentils count towards your 5 a day!!!! Only 1 portion though!!

On the topic of nappies they have seriously not increased as much as lots of other things in price. 15 years ago I am sure they were £5 for an economy pack - they are only £8 now. I haven't got a receipt! obviously and am only working from memory. Perhaps that is how the government get inflation at only 4.6% . Cars as well we bought a new Citroen AX also 15 years ago £5000, the equivalent car now is £5900!!!

skintandsad

Hello Mbaz.
I've been reading through the pages of your thread, and I'm really impressed by you and the others. My mum bought me and my sister up on a limited budget and tbh I had no idea at the time that we were skint. We often ate veg stew - made from veg that the greengrocer had donated, and my favourite dinner was pasta with cheese and ketchup :T

On the subject of nappies - I don't know whether you are a member of freecycle (?) but it might be worth posting a wanted add.
When my daughter was dry, I had half a pack of pampers left over; but no-one to donate them to - so ended up binning them (criminal!) - this was before the days of freecycle. Also, think of all the people who will have used "reusable" nappies, and no longer have a need for them. Provided you have no objection to using them second hand(?) it might be a good place to try for free nappies that you can get immediately.

I wish you all the very best with your quest to feed your family, and feed them well, on the budget that you have.

If only more people had your cheery attitude, the world would be a better place.

xxx

GrillMonkey

I've got to recommend going to the supermarkets later in the day. Popped into Morrisons for some milk on the way home and picked up some green-tip New Zealand mussels for 25p (reduced from £2 bb end of today). My menu plan has been altered and I'm having a lovely tea tonight. Yum!! Also picked up some beef mince 800g for 59p for the freezer.