First time moving out... First food shop... Old Style!

Pink.

Hi Tinyboots,

Congratulations on setting up your first home! I remember how exciting and scary at it felt when we moved into our first home. Personally I think it's best to build up your storecupboard over a period of time as everyone's essential items will differ depending on their needs/wants/circumstances/cooking skills so I would buy what you need in the first week and add a couple of storecupboard items to your shopping bill each week.

These older threads might help:


Storecupboard Essentials

Help!! Basic shopping list needed

1st ever shop... And doing it OS!

OS store cupboard basics

I'll add your thread to the first link later to keep the suggestions together. Good luck!

Pink

TinyBoots_2

Thanks Pink-Winged for those links They are really helpful! It's nice to see other people are as lost as me too. I don't feel so silly anymore! x

Gigervamp

How exciting!
Don't forget the loo rolls and washing powder!

I think I'd get:
Tinned tomatoes
Tinned kidney beans
Baked Beans
Tinned chickpeas
Big bag of pasta shapes
1 packet of spaghetti
Bag of red lentils
Tinned tuna or salmon
A couple of cartons of passatta

Bag of plain flour
Bag of self raising flour
Bag of bread flour
Box of yeast sachets
Bag of sugar
Bag of value oats
Bicarbinate of soda

Coffee
Tea
Milk powder (handy for emergencies)

Frozen peas
Frozen sweetcorn

Mince (meat or veggie substitute)
Fresh carrots
Potatoes
Butter

Salt, pepper, mixed herbs, chilli powder.

These would be my very basic essentials and then I would add to the herbs and spices, baking stuff etc, each time I did some shopping.

Good luck and I wish you all the best in your new home.

Fire_Fox

TinyBoots wrote: »

Fire Fox - Yes we have a freezer My mum makes loads of batches of chili, bolognase etc, so I was hoping to do the same once I'm clued up on freezing meals. Will definitely look into a slow cooker. What sorts of meals can you slow cook? I've never understood how slow cooking works

Thank you for your help, you guys have no idea how much this is helping me calm my nerves x

Slow cooking is much the same as cooking in a casserole dish for a long time at a very low heat - as long as you add liquid at the start it is almost impossible for anything to stick or burn so GREAT for beginners. :T If you are going to batch cook and freeze you need plastic storage containers and/ or freezer bags.

I would have a look through the slow cooker thread for ideas - some people even bake in their slow cooker, but I am not sure all models will allow that. :huh: I make hearty soups, stews and casseroles, chilli con carne, curries, bolognese sauce.

From my list I could make:
Bolognese (mince, tomatoes, onions, grated carrot, red lentils, porridge oats, stock cube, herbs, garlic)
Chilli con carne (leftover bolognese plus chilli powder plus kidney beans)
Mexican mince (mince, onions, grated carrot, porridge oats, baked beans, sweetcorn, garlic, Mexican spice, lemon juice)
Sausage and lentil casserole (sausages, yellow lentils, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, celery, stock cube, herbs)
Lamb kleftiko (shoulder of lamb, rice, onion, celery, carrot, red cabbage, stock cube, garlic, herbs)
Turkey stew (Turkey drumstick, pearl barley, chick peas, onions, sweetcorn, parsnip, stock cube, garlic, herbs)
Mixed bean curry (chick peas, kidney beans, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, creamed coconut, garam masala, chilli powder)
Minestrone soup (tomatoes, baked beans, onions, celery, sweetcorn, red cabbage, garlic, herbs)
Winter vegetable soup (potatoes, carrot, parsnip, red cabbage, pearl barley, stock cube, herbs)
Lentil soup (red lentils, onions, carrot, celery, creamed coconut, garam masala, stock cube, garlic)

Apologies I added lemon juice and creamed coconut!!

If you have a freezer consider the following from the freezer section as they are cheaper than buying fresh: value chicken portions, garlic, brocolli, cauliflower, spinach, fine green beans, sweetcorn, peas, summer fruits. It is also possible to freeze bread, milk, quite a few different fresh fruit and veg if they are going off.

WelshWoofer

Hi,
Just adding my two-penneth on budgets...
I shop for 2 adults and a small but greedy dog and spend about £40-£50 a week depending on which week it is - some weeks we need laundry stuff, cleaning stuff, more toiletries etc and others we're OK.
I try to stick to about a £45 a week average but I do buy a lot of fresh fruit and veg (and meat for the OH) and it gets quite expensive.
I guess we could spend less if we absolutely had to but for the time being that suits us - I tend to cook a lot from fresh but do use things like curry sauces, shop bought bread, crisps and squash etc

Hope that helps a bit?

PS - that budget covers all evening meals and breakfasts and most lunches for work (but not wine!)

molthedoll

i think that one of the best things to do is to shop around for the best bargains

Wilkos is always great for initial setting up home stuff, as is TK Maxx for the hardware

asian shops are good for spices and vegetables

shops like aldi, lidl and netto have great bargains - store cupboard as well as fresh fruit/ veg and meat

i would make a meal plan for the first week and buy what you need - double up the amounts and freeze for the following week

the time of day when you shop is important - towards the end of the day is better as you pick bargains at the main supermarkets

and look out for bogofs/ special offers on the staples you would use eg tinned tomatoes etc

another way of saving money is to make sure you take your own lunches to work - it will save you an arm and a leg

enjo it - its the best when you first move away from your parents !!:j