How to survive on what’s in the store cupboard (plus a little money)

sKiTz-0

Ok, so an update - I went on a shop to Lidl today. Never been there before, there were a few good bargains to be had, not everything was mega cheap, but some things were. It seems that a shop to both Lidl and Aldi would have most bases covered shopping wise.

Anyway, I got 2 bags of pasta for 50p each, and 800g of minced beef for £3 to use for evening meals. For lunches, I'm getting quite bored of sandwich fillers so I decided to go for some wafer thin ham at £1.19, a block of cheese which will last for sandwiches all week and probably some cheese on toast at weekend, that was £1.89. I got a multipack of 24 crisps, they were £1.89, but there's almost a month's worth there for lunches, so only counting 50p towards this week's lunches. I also got some Mars bar style choccys, think they were around £1.60. Pushing the budget again, but there's enough there for 2 weeks, so again, counting that as 80P towards the budget. Even with the expensive loaf (Warburtons soft white, was £1.29 I think, but was the only loaf that didn't have a best before end of Monday/Tuesday - remember this has to last all week, also it looked VERY tasty - and I'd rather spend a little extra on a nicer bit of bread, because if I bought the really cheap bread and it wasn't as good, and also started going off by Thursday, I'd ditch the sandwiches and buy lunch on Friday, so really, the extra 30p-40p spent on a loaf is moneysaving.)

So that came in at just over a fiver for this week's lunches. I'll pick up some turkey on a whoopsie one night next week, which will leave me about £8 with which to buy sandwiches next week (not including crisps or mars bar things remember, so only a loaf and something to go on it) and maybe some more pasta depending how far the chilli/curry/pasta/kung po I already have stretches.

Not done too bad there I don't think

parsonswife8

Put your loaf of bread in the fridge and it wil last much longer.

sKiTz-0

Ahh, I always thought it made bread go off quicker when in the fridge?

In my experience it always seems to make it go harder at least. Although it would be another 40p off my weekly lunch shop if I can go for the cheaper loaf

freakyogre

Stick the bread in the freezer then you can just pull out what you need. I always thought it would go funny, but have been pleasantly surprised since i've been doing it. I rarely have bread, but it's handy to keep some in case I do need/want it.

HowlinWolf

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/34406249#Comment_34406249

Try this thread. Some great ideas for lunches, the whole planner will feed a family of 4 for £100, healthily, for a whole month. Hopefully there are some recipes that you can use to make your £20 stretch.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

a friend i know makes all her sandwiches/rolls on a sunday, and freezers them, and takes one lot out a day....

i think she uses ham..... beef... cheese etc, anything that you can freeze basically....as fillers

i am trying not to shop and use up what dregs we have in the freezer, and tonight we are having burger and veg curry with rice

tessie_bear

hope u get on alright....sarnie fillings i use...tuna...grated cheese...mashed eggs...peanut butter....jam...roast chicken from a chicken cooked for tea...banana but make at work...cream cheese

when u have time it might be worth getting a book out of the library to see how to make the cook in sauces u like...might work out cheaper and have less salt etc

sKiTz-0

Ok people - a little help needed here....

I'm cooking for me and a friend tonight, he has very kindly donated some smoked sausage to the cause. Which I'm thinking would be lovely with the bbq sauce and pasta in a smoked sausage and pasta bbq bake.

I have never actually done a pasta bake before - I normally cook the pasta in a pan of water, heat up the sauce in another pan, then mix them together. But I fancy doing the bake as we can have a bit of a catch up then while it's cooking.

Would I put the pasta in dry with the sauce, sausage mixed in, cheese on top and bake that? Or would it need some added water to soak into the pasta? Or would it be best to part cook the pasta first?

Ideally I'd like to be able to chuck the whole lot into an oven dish, and pull it out ready done rather than messing about with pans and what not.

Any tips/help/suggestions greatly appreciated.

EDIT - it's one of the homepride bbq sauces in a can - it's not specifically made to use as a pasta bake or anything. Just in case this makes any difference.

thenanny2die4

sKiTz-0: It's probably a bit late for you now, but I've never cooked a pasta bake with raw pasta; I can't see that working. You'll need to boil the pasta first.

sKiTz-0

No, not too late, my friend doesn't arrive back from work until around 7. Thank you