Help! £40 to feed family for the month

donnajt

evie451 - do you have a lidl near you as i noticed that the same size bag from Mr T (i think 800g) was 20p cheaper in there, i think it was 69p

mbaz

donnajt wrote: »

evie451 - do you have a lidl near you as i noticed that the same size bag from Mr T (i think 800g) was 20p cheaper in there, i think it was 69p

ooo that's good to know. I have a lidl nearby. So that's 4 supermarkets we'll be trawling on Thursday!!! My boys are going to love me!

Guapa1

mummysaver wrote: »

For all those peeps who've asked about price reductions, Mr T generally do their's at 12, 3, 6 and final ones at about 9pm. Obviously not all stores do this, but these are the usual guide times that the stores are given. Sundays are a pretty good time to get reductions, found lots of ys stuff in Sainsbugs yesterday, and it was actually stuff that we eat, so need to meal plan around it - yes I know that's the wrong way round!

Thanks MS, I actually think it's the smart way round if it's the next weeks purchase. For example I got some reduced mince last week, and I planned this weeks menu around it, and yesterday I picked up a whole free range chicken for cheap in Asda and will be planning next weeks meal around that.

Caterina

I did not read the whole thread (it's LONNNNNNGGGGGG!!!) but would add: rather than buy too much cheap bread (a little is ok but a lot is bad for your stomach due to over-yeasting and it is pumped with air), buy flour instead and make chapattis, dumplings and tortillas.

Another very cheap meal is polenta, it is the yellow maize flour that can be found in many oriental and west indian shops, as well as some supermarket. It is very nutritious and very economical, made into a porridge with water and covered in (cheap tinned) tomato sauce with fried onions and a sprinkling of (bargain bought) cheese.

Good luck with your economies!

Caterina

mummysaver

Donna - have you tried making your own naans, there is a really nice recipe on the grocery challenge thread, have a look at the index on the first page. I tried the Hairy Bakers recipe the other day, and it wasn't as nice as our own Mrs M's version! Just remember to roll them out quite thin if you do make them, otherwise they are way too filling! When I make mine I add garlic and butter to the top just after I've cooked them, makes them go just like takeaway ones! And if you don't want to freeze the leftovers they are nice toasted and cut into strips and dipped in hummous and spicy tomato salsa - my kids love them as a snack like that. Asda also sell a packet mix for naans, usually on offer at 2 for £1, otherwise it's 75p I think, but again makes more than you get in a ready made pack, and they are nice too.

Also wanted to say well done to you, stopping throwing food away is always a good step in money saving - I have a friend who buys the same fresh stuff week in and week out, and just throws the previous weeks stuff away whether it's off or not - she thinks I'm mad but I grab it off her and throw it in a bag to bring home! Anyway your Mr T shop was great, and sounds like you found some bargains in Somerfield, so I bet your total shopping for the week is loads less than it used to be?

I shall be looking in lidl for cheap lentils too - I got dried soya mince in Mr T's for only a few pennies more that the lentils! You can use yellow split peas instead of lentils, if you want them to disappear like lentils then just boil up and mash or whizz with a stick blender, they were 39p a pack, about half the price of lentils!

Guapa - it would be a good idea if the ys stuff was for next weeks plan, but it wasn't actually on any plan! Oops! I've been so good doing meal plans, and then making lists and pretty much sticking to them, that this week is a bit of a disaster! Might just use last week's meal plan, didn't eat from it as everyone went down with a sickness bug that's doing the rounds here!

donnajt

mbaz - i noticed quite a few things where cheaper in lidl - but i was good and walked out only purchasing granulated sugar (which was also cheaper), my friend goes to lidl first and whatever she can't get buy in there she then heads to tesco for, apparently chocolate is really good and really cheap in lidl

re cheese, instead of buying from mr t/asda etc, i get from iceland, they have a huge block of 1kg extra mature cheddar it used to be £5 but i think it might be £5.50 now, i bought one of those bowl graters that has the grater bit you pop on top and then remove and swap for plastic lid, so no wastage, then when someones wants a cheese sandwich they use grated rather than slicing huge doorstep wedges of cheese, cheese lasts for ages in our house now

can you freeze grated cheese?

instead of buying expensive chocolate cakes from mr t, i try and make up a batch of fairycakes and top with chocolate frosting yummy...

slm6002

mbaz - if your off to lidl the nappies there are very good. They are the only ones i use now for both day and nights. They have just gone up a few pence but are still very good value and i find are better than pampers and tescos

donnajt

mummysaver - i have two naan recipes from OS forums that i plan to try once my supplies dry up (which could be anytime after xmas lol!), will double check which one is Mrs M's and try that first, thanks for recommendation, i sometimes use left over naan breads as speedy pizza bases for lunches

soyamince is on my wish list..am determined not to break my "only buy what i need" and mince doesn't feature on this week's menu, plus i still have two family sized portions of spag bol from last week's "padding" out experiement

will def buy the yellow lentils as i noticed how much cheaper they were and couldn't understand why everybody was shouting about RED lentils, i suppose its because they are more noticeable? but your tip to pulp them is brilliant

back to cheese, forgot to say that Cathedral 400g is either BOGOF or half price right now in Somerfield - not sure when offer ends

mummysaver

Just read my earlier post back, sounds slightly condescending, so sorry donna, was just meant to say well done!

I use naan's as pizza bases sometimes too, they are so yummy!

Think that you'll find that you end up with loads in your freezer from padding out stuff! It seems that I take one thing out and put several more back! Even the tiny curry portion I got out last week - well actually put it on the top of the freezer whilst I got other stuff out and forgot to put it back again, turned into a huge bag of samosas! Normally they'd have been eaten, but this time they had to be frozen as everyone was poorly except me and I can't eat that many, though I gave it my best shot!

Thanks for the cheese tip, need to pop into town later and will park in Somerfield's car park, so will nip in for cheese. Oh and yes you can freeze cheese, either grated and then use straight from the bag, good clonk tends to seperate it, or as a block - though it will be crumblier than normal when you defrost it. I always used to freeze it when i was a student, usually in lots of little blocks, stopped the other peeps eating it all!

Ibex

donnajt wrote: »

mbaz - i noticed quite a few things where cheaper in lidl - but i was good and walked out only purchasing granulated sugar (which was also cheaper), my friend goes to lidl first and whatever she can't get buy in there she then heads to tesco for, apparently chocolate is really good and really cheap in lidl

re cheese, instead of buying from mr t/asda etc, i get from iceland, they have a huge block of 1kg extra mature cheddar it used to be £5 but i think it might be £5.50 now, i bought one of those bowl graters that has the grater bit you pop on top and then remove and swap for plastic lid, so no wastage, then when someones wants a cheese sandwich they use grated rather than slicing huge doorstep wedges of cheese, cheese lasts for ages in our house now

can you freeze grated cheese?

instead of buying expensive chocolate cakes from mr t, i try and make up a batch of fairycakes and top with chocolate frosting yummy...

Hi Donna

I buy loads of cheese when on special offer, grate it in my food processor and put straight in the freezer in either plastic bags or plastic boxes, this works very well as you don't need to defrost because the cheese remains "loose" and you can then grab handfuls of cheese as and when needed.

Ibex