menu planning and shopping and.. losing hope!

kethry

BarmyCow wrote:

Apologies if this has been mentioned elsewhere but do you have a canning factory anywhere near you ? I know they don't tend to advertise but it is possible that friendly B&B's might be able to point you in the general direction of their suppliers. Our can factory has a small shop attached which is open to the public and we can get tins of soup at 10p each, fruit at @15p each and big 5kg bags of pasta for £1.50. I also tend to hit the market pie stalls as they have some fantastic bargains, especially at the moment where 20 large sausage rolls are £1 !:D

Good luck with the meal planning - you are much more organised than I am and I hope this helps.

hmmmmm.... i hadn't thought about this. there might be, i suppose. I'll have a look around, see what i can find - thanks for the heads up!!!

as for the meal planning: not really. i broke it already - last night was left over chilli and rice (so broke it in a good way), and this morning OH was *supposed* to have ham and cheese toasties for breakfast.. only i hadn't made any bread.. ooooooops!!

bang goes my oh-so-organised image!!

keth
xx

newlywed

My goals of meal planning are to always have something in for tea and not to waste any food or chuck any away because it hasn't been used in time.

If I "adapt" my meal plan during the week, as long as I'm not wasting food or buying extra, then I don't view it as a problem or a disaster. Using up leftovers is not really breaking it - just stretching it out to last another day!!!

cjabingham

Buy smartprice oats (48p a kilo) at Asda. Asda cheap oats are very nutty as they are less milled than Tesco value ones even though they are the same price. They were 35p a kilo once and then 38 and then 43 and then 48! Smartprice/Value uht skimmed milk (35p litre). Also get food reduced near closing time. Get tinned sardines at Asda for 18p a tin or tinned pilchards as oily fish is healthy. Or get the oily fish when it is reduced. Fresh fish is cheaper at Tesco and oily fish is cheapest - herrings, mackerel and sardines - the latter 2.99 a kilo at Tesco! Avoid smoked fish such as kippers as they are laiden with salt as is smoked mackerel and smoked salmon. Get smartprice onions, carrots, potatoes, vacuum packed beetroot as these are the cheapest veg. I spend about £10-£15 a week on food for myself! I could do £10 or under with reduced stuff!

Basically avoid all added value food and junk and processed food. Just live on veg, oats, milk and fish!

Christopher.