Help! £40 to feed family for the month

fallen_angel_shelley

mbaz wrote: »

Why do things never go to plan?

Yesterday afternoon my little boy (3) was running around and fell and hit his head on the coffee tables so once again we spent hours at A&E getting him patched up. Had to cancel babysitting for my friend which I felt awful about (and also gutted as I was secretly hoping she would have some yummy food in as my cupboards are depressingly bare now!) and, yep you guessed it! didnt get my menu plan for next month done!

Ah well. Start my new job at a hotel today and lunch is provided. I am going to completely stuff my face!!!

Have a good day all

Mx

mbaz- i hope your sons head is feeling ok today and good luck with your new job.

mbaz

fallen_angel_shelley wrote: »

mbaz- i hope your sons head is feeling ok today and good luck with your new job.

Hiya. Yes he is fine. Running around again now :rolleyes: but I think he will probably have a scar for life which no doubt he will be very proud of anyway :rolleyes:

Mollymop5

Glad to hear your little ones ok.Good luck with your job and enjoy lunch lol.

Toonie

Good luck with the new job mbaz...hope it all goes well for you.

I'm trying to avoid a big shop for a couple more weeks, so dinner today is going to be jacket potatoes and sausage rolls (I have a pack in the freezer). Then on Tuesday will send BF out with a little shopping list (spuds, pasta, milk, eggs, carrots) and that should see us until the end of next weekend.

donnajt

am so fed up just typed huge reply and it's disappeared - ARGH

mbaz - hope your little un is ok, enjoy your first day and i truly hope they serve you a huge yummy lunch! Just don't eat so much that you fall asleep afterwards on the job lol!

i know i keep saying it but this thread has inspired me to really look at my shopping habits and relationship with food - i confess i am an overspending, overhoarding food-freak!

i have made a few discreet little changes, OH and DD haven't noticed, ie using veg/oats/lentils to bulk out, changing brands (refilling expensive empties with cheaper alternatives), halved the amount of washing liquid/softener (this has impressed me most as cleanliness, softness, smell etc has not been compromised in the least), stopped using tumble dryer (from at least x1 per day to only 6 times in 2 weeks!), cheaper cuts of meat (breast of lamb), these small changes alone have probably saved me approx £12 per week! amazing, if anybody has any other ideas please post...

With OH's help I have already menu-planned for the coming week, shopping list is very small as i will be using fridge/freezer/heaving cupboard stores

BACK TO LENTILS:
If anybody is interested in any of these, i will post for you, this selection is taken from Delia's Frugal Food, i am sure that most of these could be tweaked and items subbed for those you have in your cupboards
* Lentil & Veg Curry
* Haricot & Lentil Chilli
* Lentil and Split Pea Loaf
* Curried Egg and Lentil Patties
* Lentil, Bean and Anchovy Salad
* Dahl Curry
* Boston Baked Beaks
* Chilladas

Am off to Mr T (hoping to pick up a couple of breast of lamb on RTC or YS (thank you to whoever explained these abbreviations!)

enjoy what is left of your weekends :beer:

mummysaver

Hi donna, please could you post the lentil and split pea loaf and chillada recipes? Thanks!

Off to Sainsburys to see if I can find big bags of Natco lentils cheaper than Mr T's, and yes I noticed our Asda only had organic ones! oh is in Birmingham on Tues, so will be sending him to scope out Asian grocers for me, told him to phone me when he finds one and I'll give him instructions!

mbaz - good luck with your new job, hope the food is lovely! And hope your lo is okay now.

rach

have skimmed bits of this thread and am well impressed. :T I've got my shopping down somewhat, but DH has expensive tastes and I still spend about £150 per month for 2 of us, 3 meals a day(includes packed lunches - pasta & pesto for DH). Now you probably think thats a lot, we do live in London and I've managed to wean DH off his M&S lunches (he used to spend £7 at least a day when i first met him) and morning coffee & pastry (was another £4 a day!) :eek:

We eat lovely meals and I do buy quality stuff and some of it I won't compromise on, such as I buy the extra extra lean steak mince, I need to lose weight and DH's family have a lot of heart probs so its important to me to do that. Having said that I buy all value pasta, tinned toms, value white fish, own brand on lots of other things...but its stuff like innocent smoothies that hoiks the price up. Now we're ok for money really, but trying to save as much as possible. I do meal plan and might try the grocery challenge next month...

My question really is whether your DHs etc notice the bulking out? I tried using turkey mince once and DH noticed straight away, I've got a big bag of red lentils in my cupboard (used to eat load of lentil currys etc before i was married!) and I'd love to try bulking out, perhaps in a lasagne first as easier to hide...

frugalswan

Rach, I put lentils in my lasagne for the first time a few weeks ago. I made a huge batch (2 portions for that night, 4 to go in the freezer) and at the time, he complimented it and said how nice it was. We recently defrosted a couple of the portions to have for tea a couple of nights' ago. He loved it. Told me it was just as good (sometimes freezer stuff goes a little mushy, I've found) as when it was first made. He didn't notice at all and I'm not going to tell him either.

Pitlanepiglet

My DH is now aware of how I bulk out (oats & lentils) but in the beginning he didn't notice.

TBH I've always put porridge into chilli's, bol etc. as it makes it a bit thicker - I'm intolerant to corn and ex OH was wheat intolerant so the oats were the easiest way to thicken things. I find it makes the texture much better and binds it all together in the way that shop bought sauce behaves so you can always tell him you're putting oats in for that reason.

I've come clean with DH, he cooks quite a bit and I was finding it irritating that he was only getting half the amount of food from a pound of mince than I would! He thinks it's a great idea and is really enthusiastic about it! It's much easier than hiding it

slm6002

hi mbaz i think you have done really well. I am going to try to put some of yours and everyone elses tips into action as money is tight. would also love to see next months list - will miss this thread

Do you think you will tell your OH at the end of this, or keep quiet until he notices (if ever)?

well done