Fed up of spending £80 plus on shopping.

samanthaneww2d

cafelady wrote: »

Samanthaneww2d - what's your recipe for your potato based pizza please?

the base is

• 400g (14oz) potatoes, peeled
• 175g (6oz) self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp mixed dried herbs
• 150 ml (¼pt) milk

Cut the potatoes into even size pieces and boil for 15 minutes in lightly salted water until tender drain well allow to cool, then mash Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl, add the potato and herbs and stir to combine. Add the milk and mix to form a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly to form into a smooth ball Place on a greased baking sheet. Press out evenly to a 23cm/9” round. Put into the oven 225c/425f/Gas 7 to bake for 10 minutes. Remove the pizza base and lower the temperature of the oven to 200c/400f/Gas 6.add tomato puree and whatever toppings you want top with cheese and cook for a further 8-10 minutes until the cheese has melted and the edge of the base is crisp. serves four ( ish) if you have a fan oven cook at slightly lower temps

macpep1

merlin68 wrote: »

Please could I see your meal plans and a list of what you buy as I can never get my shopping under £80 a week and it is all homemade and value. I do not believe that anyone can feed their family healthily for less than this. But I would like to know how and try and do it. We are 2 adults, two children and a cat and a dog.

I was like you, but I spent at least £100-£125 a week on shopping, I got a brilliant spreadsheet on here which you pick your meals for the week and it creates your shopping list for you. I put my own recipes in which did take a bit of time but it was worth it in the end. I done my first monthly batch cooking, including lunches and breakfasts (froze sandwiches, soups ets for lunches) and I have had a panny BM for years but am gettting more mileage out of it now

We are a family of 2 adults, 2 kids and a cat so kind of the same (minus the dog)but am sure my DS of almost 3 would eat the dogs share :rotfl: I think it was originally squeaky that created it and it is superb as I do my plannner then do my shop online, sticking to the list and adding any personals ie toiletries, cleaning products etc and of course using discount codes so delivery is basically free

macpep1

samanthaneww2d wrote: »

There are 5 of us two adults and a 13 / 15 / 17 year old and my son is back from uni sometimes the £160 does not include cleaning materials or toiletries as we use paraben free products which i buy online in bulk and bio d for cleaning
the others eat meat but get it three or four times a week in various guises but I cook a lot of lentil soup ( in bulk and freeze ) we eat a lot of pasta with different sauces currys /pizza ( i make this sometimes with a potato base) pakoras and onion bhajis

I would love your recipe for veg pakora and onion bhajis, we are not vegetarian and my dh has made great chicken pakora but I actually prefer the veg (he will not put anything remotely good for you in his mouth):rotfl:

Butterfly_Brain

Have a look at this site it may help
http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/266969/Credit-crunch-weekly-meal-planner

candygirl

Gigervamp wrote: »

Here's an alternative to quorn turkey style sandwich!

Cheese and bean wraps.

Drain and rinse a can of kidney beans and put in a bowl.
Grate some cheddar (not sure how much, I go by eye/taste!)
and add to the beans.
Finely slice a spring onion (or you can finely chop an ordinary onion, red would be good) and add to the beans and cheese.
Mix in a dollop of mayo. You want enough for the mix to hold together, but not swimming in it.
Add pepper if you like and you could also add a bit of cumin or fajita seasoning.

Get a wrap, warm it slightly so that when it's folded, it doesn't crack. Lay some shredded lettuce on the wrap and add some of the bean mix. Roll up and wrap in foil or clingfilm.
Continue until all the bean mix and wraps are used up.

These are really lovely!

That sounds yummy:p:pI also do lentil pate and crackers, or lentil n salad sandwiches for mega protein as i'm veggie , or spicy lentil and tomato soup :p

Genuisscuffy

Oh thank you someone else with the same problems - really impressed with this site - was doing really well sticking to £40 (down from £100) a week then my son came shopping with me!!! Gulp apparently I've not got anything interesting in the house he added - doritos, chipolatas (ready cooked), nachos and philly, salami, cheeselets.... the list goes on.... how can I buy these sort of things for two teenagers who are constantly hungry!!!!

maman

Genuisscuffy wrote: »

Oh thank you someone else with the same problems - really impressed with this site - was doing really well sticking to £40 (down from £100) a week then my son came shopping with me!!! Gulp apparently I've not got anything interesting in the house he added - doritos, chipolatas (ready cooked), nachos and philly, salami, cheeselets.... the list goes on.... how can I buy these sort of things for two teenagers who are constantly hungry!!!!

I'd be inclined to stick to your guns and your shopping list!! What about giving your teenagers a small allowance to buy nibbles themselves? Or perhaps you could buy just a little cheaply (Philly is often reduced, sausages can be cheap enough or crisps from cheap shops) and when it's gone it's gone!!

sandiep

Don't buy any of the following;
- fizzy pop
- crisps and snacks
- more than 2 packets of biscuits
- sweets and chocolates

Buy individual packet sizes of these items when you need them. 9 times out of 10 you talk yourself out of buying it at the time because you know that it's crap and you shouldn't be eating it. And if you do buy it you are only buying the one portion that you need. If you have 15 packets of crisps in the cupboard you and your family will eat 15 packets. And give the kids some dosh to buy what they need each day at the school (school prices are rarely that much more than supermarket prices).

And just buy bread, fruit, fruit juice and (cheap) sparkling water, diluting juices, and have the stuff in the house for some proper sandwiches. Again, you'll probably find that the stuff that they eat because they're "starving", is really just stuff they're eating from habit, or for the sake of eating, and if they have to make a bit of effort to make something decent they're suddenly not that hungary.

cafelady

the base is

* 400g (14oz) potatoes, peeled
* 175g (6oz) self-raising flour
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 2 tsp mixed dried herbs
* 150 ml (¼pt) milk

Thanks for this samanthaneww2d. I will try it out at the weekend.

irishwexford

Hi Macpep
I would love a link to the meal planner but I do not know how to pm.
Thanks