Help please with meal planning and what to buy on the CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP!

Butterfly_Brain

I would go to the library and pick up a copy of Jamies Ministry of food it is a brilliant step by step guide to cooking and explains what reduce and simmer etc means - It will help you no end

Pink.

Hi sweettirana,

Your basic meal plan at the moment looks fine. Perhaps you could add more veg into your meals? The pasta bake, chilli, spaghetti bolognese and cottage pie are great meals for adding extra veg where you won't necessarily see or taste it but it's still there. More information on this thread: Any devious ideas for hiding veggies?

It's almost impossible for anyone to devise a meal plan and shopping list for you as we all have different circumstances/likes/dislikes/budgets/time to spend on cooking and planning etc and what will suit me wouldn't necessarily appeal to you.

My first tip would be to look at what you have in your cupboards and freezer and see what you could make from that. Then make a list of meals that you would like to make to use up what you have.

Next, decide on how many other meals you need to plan for in the coming week and decide what to make and compile a shopping list for those.

Then, look at your evening meal plan and see what leftovers could be incorporated into lunches and add them to your lunch meal plan.

After that, plan what you would like to eat and have to buy, for lunches on days when there won't be leftovers to use up.

Finally, decide on what you want for breakfast and add anything you need to your shopping list.

This thread has more advice on meal planning:

The Complete Menu Plans Collection

There are also lots of ideas for cheap meals on these threads that may give you some inspiration:

Cheapest recipes???

Meal for two for 50p. Suggestions?

The Cheapest Healthy Meal Ever!

Feed 6 for £1.62

Cheapest meal

Your Cheapest Evening Meal.

cheap, easy family meals

Also, each month on Old Style there is a Grocery challenge...this is the current one: October 2010 Grocery Challenge where you'll get lots of encouragement and support from others there trying to cut back on grocery shopping.

Regarding weaning your little daughter, it's over ten years since I weaned my youngest, but I always gave them what we were eating without the nasties (eg I fished theirs out before I added salt, spices etc),it's a moneysaving way to do it and gave them a wide range of tastes textures etc so they have never been fussy eaters. This thread may give you some ideas: Weaning inspiration! but you may be better to post on the MoneySaving in Marriages, Relationships & Families board for more up to date advice.

Finally for sound advice on grocery shopping, have a look at Martin's article on Supermarket Shopping . It's full of tips and moneysaving advice.

Sorry for all the links but hopefully they'll help. Good luck in cutting your grocery shopping bill back. I'll add your thread to the main meal planning thread once you've had some more replies.

Pink

spinkykirst

:TI love soup

Fling miscellaneous vegetables in a big pot with a little oil/butter on a low-ish heat and stick a lid on. (For example, an onion, a leek, a couple of carrots and a potato make for a nice simple combo. Chop them however you find attractive). Stir them about a bit every now and then making sure they don't stick/burn. This is called 'sweating' the veg, and it is usually a good idea to give the onion/leek a few minutes on their own first.
At this point you could also add a handful or two of lentils - rinse first - which gives a great texture to a veggie soup.
Pour in some stock - I love the powdered ones though I know many people swear by making your own. I just don't like it as much!! Try it with a litre to begin with, see how it looks and you can always add more.
Then let it bubble away on a very low heat with the lid on (bubbles just breaking the surface of the liquid, not making it jiggle about - this is simmering) until the veg is smooshy.
You can then chuck in a handful of rice (rinse first) or pasta shapes - you can get weeny ones in the supermarket, or broken spaghetti works just fine. I don't normally do this if I have added lentils earlier. Simmer until these additions are cooked.
You can then adjust the seasoning to your taste, but if you don't add salt/pepper and you use a low salt stock then it is perfect for babbies too! You can smoosh it up with a hand blender or even a potato masher if you prefer it smooth.

Honestly, you can't go wrong with soup, it's the easiest thing in the world to make and works for any meal. The ultimate comfort food

littlemissmoneypenny

Sweettirana - a few recipes for you to try. We also have young children and get stuck in a rut with what to feed everyone. The recipes below are favourites in our house and are also cheap and fairly easy to make.

Broth - gently fry 1 onion, add chopped up carrot or turnip, a few pints of stock and a cup of broth mix (you need to soak the broth mix overnight). Bring to the boil and then simmer for an hour with the lid on. You can also add some chicken if you have some left over or you could add some chicken thighs or legs and chop up the meat once the soup is ready then add it back in.

Veggie Enchilladas - gently fry one onion, 2 grated carrots, a pepper, some chilli powder (as much as you like), a tin of mixed beans, add a squirt of tomato puree and either a tin of chopped tomatoes or passata. Heat through. Divide between 3 tortilla wraps and roll up. Place in an oven proof dish side by side. Cover with some creme fraiche and grated cheese. Cook in the oven at 180c until the cheese is golden. We keep the tortilla wraps in the freezer and only take out as many as we need for the recipe. You could also try this with left over chilli.

Pea soup - fry one chopped leek, add two medium potatoes (chopped), and a couple of pints of stock. Simmer until the potatoes are cooked, then add a couple of cups of frozen peas, simmer for another few minutes until the peas are cooked, then blend with a hand blender. This soup is delicious with a spoon of creme fraiche and with some black pepper stirred in - so cheap!

Eve's pudding - put 2 chopped cooking apples in the bottom of an oven proof dish. Sprinkle on a couple of tablespoons of soft brown sugar. In a bowl, beat together 4oz butter or marg with 4 oz caster sugar. Add in 2 whisked eggs and 4oz self raising flour, fold together. Pour over the apples and cook at 180c for about 30-35 mins. Delicious with cream, custard or ice cream. Quite a cheap pudding to make, and really easy.

Fresh fruit and veg can be expensive but if you have an aldi nearby check their weekly offers for cheap fruit and veg. Making your own purees for baby works out much cheaper than jars and pureed fruit can be served with some natural yoghurt. A large pot of natural yoghurt with some pureed fruit is cheaper and probably more nutritious than baby yoghurts.

Bitsy_Beans

sweettirana wrote: »

• There are 2 adults in the house, one who works so takes a packed lunch and a 6 month old weaning baby.

• My OH currently takes a sandwich to work with him (value bread, cheap cheese and value ham), a packet of value crisps (he can't resist a "treat" so this is where he gets it!), a value range cereal bar and a small amount of porridge in case he gets the mid afternoon munchies!

• In the morning we eat value Weetabix/Cornflakes/Porridge with UHT milk.

• For my lunch I eat a Jacket Potato (currently about 70p for 4 in Tesco) with a smidge of butter and a bit of grated cheese.

• If I cook a spag bol or anything similar OH takes some of that to work with him instead of a sandwich and if there is enough I normally have what is left for my lunch the next day.

• Baby is weaning at the moment and to my shame it is all on shop bought goodies - although, I was giving LOADS of vouchers that got lots of money off things and my Mum bought her quite a lot of food so we could get an idea of what she likes - fortunately she eats everything!

• We never eat fruit, which is a shame as I don't mind most fruit (except bananas) but it always seems to expensive to buy.

• We hardly eat vegetables either, which I really need to start upping my intake of, for my own sake and for Little Miss's sake!

• I'm not a very good cook unfortunately - I have no idea how to make pastry or anything like that and I don't know what what terms like "reduce" mean - but once I'm explained it, I soon learn!

Its dead easy if you have a food processor - 8oz flour with 4oz of fat (I use mix of 2oz marg and 2oz veg fat. Rub fat into the flour until it resembles bread crumbs and then add a little of cold water to form a dough. Roll out onto a floured board and you can make a pasty, line a pie dish whatever.

Reduced just means the sauce reduces and gets thicker. Cornflour or even plain flour can be used to thicken sauces. Learning how to make a tomato sauce and a white sauce are good basics to know as you can then use these sauces in other meals etc add cheese and mustard to the white for a cheesy sauce for lasagne or macaroni and cheese.

• I was brought up by Dad, who bless his heart, had a tough manual job and was disabled, so dinners consisted of "something" and chips slung in the oven, so I've never really known what to do with vegetables or even how to cook them or even what half of them look or taste like! (No excuse I know, I'm old enough and ugly enough to have tried to have learnt by now!)

When I first lived with my husband I hadn't got a clue how to cook (this coming from a mum who cooked EVERYTHING) it just wasn't something I was interested :o. Had kids and everything's changed - this site is a wealth of information and help.

• I don't mind vegetables when they are in soups or stews, but I hate things like just eating carrots on a plate!

• I have absolutely no problem with buying value range items, however I do find that with some items like mince that if you buy the really really cheap stuff it mainly consists of fat and you lose a lot of it, so I normally buy the next range up - unless someone can tell me if I'm doing something wrong??!

I bulk buy my meat from Costco. If you don't already have membership you would still be able to join I suspect as Accountants would fall under the "Professional" banner. Their meat is far superior to that of the supermarkets and cheaper than the butcher.

• Its very rare that we can get to the supermarket late at night for bargains, as once OH has finished his 11 hour day and we have put baby to bed he is exhausted (and the only driver in the house!)

My basic plan at the moment is as follows:

• Breaskfast: Weetabix/Cornflakes/Porridge - am happy with this as it is!
• Lunch: Hopefully leftovers from the night before!
• Dinners:
• Chilli
• Spag bol
• Toad in the Hole
• Pasta Tuna Bake
• Cottage Pie
• Dessert (once a week treat): Rice Pudding with a bit of jam
• Snacks/Other: A fruit salad (maybe from apples/oranges/grapes and some juice?) and a value range yoghurt (plus crisps for OH who can't bear to go without!)

As you can see the dinner menu isn't very inspiring - I would love to have some more ideas of things to cook that are cheap but healthy-ish. I have no idea how to cook soup and would love to know what to do with lentils!
I add lentils to things like sausage casserole, lasagne etc. I use either red split ones or the green puy ones. The green ones hold together better so are ideal for casseroles. They do need soaking in water overnight first though. Red split ones soften well and disintergrate quite a lot and as such can help bulk out meals without being too obvious.

I also have no idea about what to make for the baby! I have looked on websites and have some ideas of putting some veg together and some fruit together for her but I don't know how to puree something and aside from that have no other ideas
Puree just means it's been whizzed in a blender until it's smooth. I bought a hand held stick on for less than a tenner in Argos - 5 years on I am still using it for liquidising soups and tinned toms to make home made tomato soup.

Sorry for such a loooooooooong post and I know I am asking for a lot, but I just have absolutely no idea where to start and would love to hit the supermarket with a definitive list rather than just buying whatever frozen ready meals are on offer Things are really really tight at the moment and this will help us out no end

Thank you guys!

If you want I can post a list of some of the meals I cook or check out the Recipe index that Pink posted.
And remember there is no such thing as a stupid question

Do you have a slow cooker? Worth getting one for soups, stews, casseroles, chilli etc even cooking the mince and veg for a cottage pie. It's economical on electricity and can be left unattended in the house (a big bonus for me!).

As far as fruit goes yes it can be expensive but Sainsbury's Basics loose apples are the cheapest per kg that I know (less than 70p normally) and are perfectly nice to eat. Buy stuff in season and I highly recommend Aldi's Super 6 for fruit and veg.

Going off to think of some more - I'll be back

sewprettymoo

I'm not sure if anyone has suggested this yet, but i use frozen veg rather than fresh. it has the same nutrients from what i've read and it means that i don't waste any because it wont go bad like fresh veg does. Also a bag of veg is generally only a pound or two and i then add some kind of veg to all my recipes just to get them in my diet!

Veggie curries are quite good. I just make mine by boiling up some lentils for ten minutes and then adding things like peas, potatos, frozen spinach, onions, different beans like butter beans, chopped tomatos and then chucking in a load of curry spices (something like garam masala is good). Serve it up with rice and its really filling and low fat!

sewprettymoo

anguk wrote: »

Have a look at our very own Weezl's website "Cheap Family recipes", it's all about feeding a family of 4 for £100 a month. There's menu plans and easy simple to follow recipes with all the costing and nutritional information:
http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/

does anyone know if the calories and fat shown on weezl's recipes are for the recipe or the portion?

Bitsy_Beans

OK at the risk of boring you here are some of the meals I cook - hope it will inspire you

Creamy chicken and pepper cous cous (basically left over chicken, cooked with a small tin of mushroom soup, with peppers,onion or any veg you fancy served with cous cous).

Bacon and leek/courgette pasta bake (bacon, veg of your choice, onion, cooked pasta, creme fraiche, garlic and you can bung under a grill with grated cheese if you wish)

Somerset Sausage casserole (sausages, leeks, carrots, celery (yuk! I leave that out LOL), tinned toms, apple juice or cider, mushrooms, sage - served with mashed spuds)

Chicken in red wine (left over chicken cooked with red wine, chicken stock, mushrooms, onions or shallots, bay leaf - served with mashed spuds)

Chicken arrabbaita (chicken, tinned toms made into a smooth tomato sauce, onions, peppers (if in season - I bulk buy in season, chop them up and freeze them), half a teaspoon of crushed chilli flakes, any other veg you can bung in, say courgettes etc - served over cooked pasta)

Cajun chicken (I do normally buy the jar (fo' shame I know ) but I have made it with natural unsweetened yoghurt and cajun seasoning, you could use creme fraiche instead too. Bung in any extra veg, onions etc, make some flour tortilla's recipe is on MSE and have fahita's or serve with rice or both if you're a greedy pig like we are :rotfl:)

Ham and lentil ragout (posh name for ham and lentil stew ham, green lentils, lots of Worcestershire sauce, stock, onions carrots)

Sausage and lentil hot pot (the same really as ham and lentil ragout only with sausage instead)

Chicken and chorizo stew (Not the cheapest but it's soooooo lush - chicken, bit of chorizo (doesn't have to be shedloads), potato diced, onion, tinned toms made into tomato sauce, garlic - delish, my favourite )

Chicken in BBQ sauce (I don't buy the sauce I make it from balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, mustard powder, brown sugar, tomato puree, bit of ginger (I don't use this so never add it ), garlic, pour over chicken and cook).

Then there are basic dishes such as pasta and tomato sauce to which you can add anything - left over ham, bacon, chicken, tinned tuna and then any veg such as broccoli - just get creative and bung it in. Worst thing you can do is make the tomato sauce and then blitz in the cooked veg with it - easier to hide it that way.

Hope that's given you some ideas.

I also use frozen veg (when I've not been in a postion to grow it) and also stuff like peppers, mushrooms, fresh cauli and broccoli can be frozen from fresh (blanch (which means to immerse it in boiling water for a minute or so) the cauli and broccoli first before freezing), cook the mushrooms before freezing as they are mega soggy when defrosted.
I do buy chicken breasts but they are expensive. Before having kids I'd never cooked a whole chicken in my life I do it nearly every week now since we are big chicken eaters. Strip all the meat off the carcass, save the breast meat for meals such as roast dinners and use the "dark" meat for stuff in a sauce if you aren't as keen. then use the bones and the carcass to make a chicken stock which is great for adding flavour to soups, stews, gravy etc.

OK I think I've waffled on for long enough now. Good luck and you've found the best place to get into cooking.


Edited to add:

We don't eat enough fish I confess. I like tinned tuna and cod and that's about it. The kids will eat steamed salamon though so they have that at least once a week. Sainsburys have basics white fish fillets which I think is Coley? Anyway it tastes like cod to me (am I a phillistine LOL) and if we have it I normally cook it with thinly sliced carrots, courgettes, onion, peppers with perhaps a tomato sauce or squeeze of lemon juice. Not very adventerous with fish I am afraid. Perhaps some one else on here is and can point you to some recipes.

jackieglasgow

Great post Bitsy, and I'm glad bitty beans is back

Allegra

sewprettymoo wrote: »

does anyone know if the calories and fat shown on weezl's recipes are for the recipe or the portion?

They are for the person's meal including the side dish - so per portion rather than the whole recipe.