Help! £40 to feed family for the month

JayJay14

Ffion - we are not vegie but this always goes down well-

Black eyed bean burgers,

300g black eyed bean - boil for 10 mins in plenty of water then simmer for about 1/2 hour. (they go a funny colour but don't worry)
When cooked drain off any liquid left(if you used about 2 pints there won't be much)
Mash and add a chopped onion or two and some garlic and salt and pepper.
Mix in a packet of sage and onion stuffing, it should now be nice and stiff.

Shape into burgers and fry or bake.

They go down really well with my family but I think the fact that they have a nice dark colour like a meaty burger helps with them.

The original recipe is in 'How to feed your family for £4 a day' by Bernadine Lawrence

jinny

Thanks for the recipe jay jay 14. I don't have any black eyed peas in at the mo, do you think kidney beans would work as well?

npsmama

if you mix equal quantities of cooked red lentils to a made up pack of sage and onion stuffing you can make this mixture into great veggie burgers. Just form it into burger shapes when cool and dip in egg then flour then breadcrumbs and fry off. Served with homemade bread rolls they will serve 8 hungry people for about 15p per person and you should still have half left to freeze.

these sound amazing!

This may be a wacky suggestion but if you have even a tiny garden you could consider getting 2 ex battery hens (free from rehoming centres) - they would give you plenty of free eggs. Obviously pls only consider this if you are willing to give them some love in exchange for their eggs. I know people disagree about what to feed hens - as always there's the ideal and the practical - but anything would be better for the hens than living in a battery farm.

inamess200

Well I sat up till 2 last night reading this thread - I embaressed to admit how much my family of 5 spend on food - mainly becuse I am so disorganised and never have anything defrosted to cook so end up going to the shops way too often.

So today is a new start - good thing is bought a 6.5l slowcooker from ebay for £4.21 which I collected today and have bought some red lentils to start bulking out my mince to make it go further!! So here goes a new spending and planned meals plan starting today- starting by listing the vast amounts of food crammed in my cupboards.

Thankyou for the inspiration ( even if I am a little bleary eyed this morning from lack of sleep!!):j

ksh123

inamess200 wrote: »

So today is a new start - good thing is bought a 6.5l slowcooker from ebay for £4.21 which I collected today and have bought some red lentils to start bulking out my mince to make it go further!! So here goes a new spending and planned meals plan starting today- starting by listing the vast amounts of food crammed in my cupboards.

Thankyou for the inspiration ( even if I am a little bleary eyed this morning from lack of sleep!!):j

Goodness that was lucky buy! Well done you :T

Wobbledoos

inamess200 wrote: »

Well I sat up till 2 last night reading this thread - I embaressed to admit how much my family of 5 spend on food - mainly becuse I am so disorganised and never have anything defrosted to cook so end up going to the shops way too often.

So today is a new start - good thing is bought a 6.5l slowcooker from ebay for £4.21 which I collected today and have bought some red lentils to start bulking out my mince to make it go further!! So here goes a new spending and planned meals plan starting today- starting by listing the vast amounts of food crammed in my cupboards.

Thankyou for the inspiration ( even if I am a little bleary eyed this morning from lack of sleep!!):j

just wanted to "hear hear" with the blearyeyedness from reading this thread lol... also with the embarrassment over the amount spent on food... good to know mbaz has made someone else think about it all, and good luck with your slow cooker!! i can't wait to find time to read the slow cooker recipe thread that i've seen referred to on this one!

Good Luck!!

Wobbles
x

npsmama

Mbaz, you've helped so many people by posting this thread - thank you!

cazscoob

hi all this has been such a great thread and i have been trying to stretch one weeks shopping stretch to two and baking lots to keep kids happy and stop buying rubbish:o

however i do have a long question!
i have bought 2 750g packs of mince and was planning on makin a cottage pie, lasagne, chilli and a little mince for babies dinner. this is for 2 adults & 4 children(7,6,3,8 months) is this possible and also how do i bulk out with lentils and/or oats??? i also have lots of veg to add in and was planning on making today and freezing. oh i also have a big bag of spinach i got from asda reduced and thought about adding this to the lasagne(jamie oliver recipe card from sainsburys). all help will be much appriciated as OH is a builder and we have no work so stretching food is our only option the now?

inamess200

Well yesterday in my slow cooker i put mince (£1 asda pack form freezer) 2 tins ot tomatoes (value !!) onion carrotts and a cup of lentils and cooked for ages. 4 out of 5 of us had spagetti bolagnase (value spagetti 30p) and grated cheese last night ( everyone said how lovely it tasted so lentils were a hit!! ) and then with the remainder (never heard of from a 500g pack of mince) I made a cottage pie today by just adding mash - I cannot believe that i have fed us for 2 days for a few pounds.

Thankyou for showing me i have to get my spending under control

shelf.life

the_cat wrote: »

http://supermarketspecialoffers.com/DiscountOffers.aspx

I think this is what you are looking for - HTH

thanks for reposting this