Help please folks! How do you organise yourselves with shopping/cooking?

Lizbetty

I'm quite new to the Money saving Old Stylie thread, but I'm really hoping to get as good as you lot! I have a toddler and another on the way, I just don't seem to be able to organise myself at all with anything and the cooking/shopping has gone out of the window.

I've just been reading the thread about the meal planners for the week and I'm really envious that you all are so good at this stuff!!! I'm rubbish at it.:o

If anyone has any tips on how to get started, I'd really appreciate it.

I know it sounds crackers, but I used to be a vegetarian for quite a few years, I'm on to chicken and fish but have no idea what to do with it. I tried cooking a chicken once and it took a matter of days, it ended up in the bin. I'm not very good with bones and scales, etc. I can do quorn stuff though, but it's quite dear to buy it. My mum thinks that's why it's costing me more, as your Sunday roast can go into all sorts of other stuff during the week.

All suggestions would be very much welcomed, esp on how to get started (common sense is with the fairies at present.)

Thanks everyone!

Lucy

lofty_cherrytree

Hi there Lucy, I too am a bit on the feeble side with the meal planning and budget keeping. I have bursts of effort then get seduced into blowing the budget on some expensive ingredient or other! There are some fantastic people here who can be so helpful in this dept. Perhaps go back to basics with the chicken and fish cooking - start with simple recipes which are step-by-step and not too complicated. Once you have gained some confidence I'm sure you will find cooking easier. As for the shopping....I look out for the reduced to clear stuff in our local supermarkets, or special offers and batch cook where possible.

Lizbetty

Thanks for that, I think you're right about going back to basics. One of the problems I have is that I buy all the ingredients to start baking/making curries, etc, then make them once (if I get chance) and my flour ends up with weevils, and the spices go off (even though they last years, I always seem to buy em them never use them again!). What with that and a loss of confidence in the kitchen (my husband has taken over cooking, he does it while I settle the little un as she won't let him put her to bed at the mo...) it's hard to see where to get started. I'm sure lots of folk on here will be able to help me out, everyone seems so much more capable than me!

We're going to try batch baking at the weekend. Not sure what yet, all suggestions welcomed!!! I'm hell bent on making things for people for Christmas this year too (truffles and stuff) as we're so skint, so I need to get back into the kitchen soon to make sure I can do that properly, too!!

luckylukey

I do a very basic menu plan - pies, bakes, simple meat dishes like cottage pie etc and then I buy it from Mr T online. That way I can do a v strict budget and if there is any money left over from the fortnightly budget I buy myself yum things or luxuries !!

My advice would be to write the days of the week down , then list against the days , things that you like or know how to cook. Also remembering to include lunch ( I often eat the leftovers from the night before!)
Then plan your shopping around the list. It took me a while to learn properly but practice makes perfect! :;)

angela110660

ALWAYS check through your cupboards, fridge and freezer before you start making any lists coz I'll bet there are bits in there you forgot you still had.
I usually do a couple of old favourites each week and then I use my New Classic 1000 recipes, my River Cottage Family Cookbook, my Delia or Delia online - to get some other ideas which can work around the family's commitments for the week ahead. Then the shopping list is pretty well sorted and everything will get eaten and not wasted.

shell2001

I've been using the boards for a few months now and I started by doing a meal plan (I do monthly but if you feel happier doing a week at a time then start small). From this I work out all the ingredients i need to cook the food. Have a look through the cupboards/freezer and work out what I need to buy.

Not only does this stop you buying things you dont need it means there is no more of that "oh what shall I do for tea tonight". I dont stick to the days all the time and may swop them around if something comes up so they can be flexible (if anything more so because you know whats available).

Maybe try doing a week first and see how it goes. Make sure you think about breakfast and lunches too and maybe do some bakings. Take small steps and it will soon become second nature.

laughing_cow

I live on my own so when I make my dinner eg a chilli, I make about 4-5 portions. One to eat now, one for a packed lunch the next day, and the rest for the freezer. I do some meal planning, but on a fairly loose arrangement because my work commitments sometimes muck it up. Freezing extra meals is great for nights when I just can't be bothered to cook (like tonight!), and I'd end up ordering a takeaway.

Oh, and don't buy too much. It's easy to get carried away with being o/s and buying lots of basics to make everything from scratch. It's nice having a well stocked fridge but sometimes mines had enough veg to feed a family for a week! Inevitably I end up feeling resentful that I have to cook because I've got a tonne of stuff that needs using up, when I'd rather just have beans on toast or something out of the freezer.

JillD_2

Hi,
I haver two small children aged 2 and 3 :eek:
I must say I am organised now but wouldnt have been nearly so organised when I was pregnant with number 2 asw I was permanently knackered!

That aside I will share what I used toi do with you and what I do now.
I used to wait until we had run out of everything and then do one massive shop for everything, with maybe one top up shop ion the week, or more, if I needed milk, bread etc. This was mega stressful because a big shop would take ages, the trolley would be hideously full and the kids would be grabbing everything in sight out of the trolley. I would be in the shops several times a week and of course for each expedition I woudl ave to get the kids out of the car and negotiate the sweetsa tthe checkout and then load them back in etc.

Now its a lot calmer. I have a notepad stuck to the fridge with a magnet, and when we run out of stuff we write it on the list. Even my hubby does this. At the start if each month I make a list of all the dinners we like and then slot them into a meal planner for the month. I used one off Mumsnet but I can't find it. It just had 4 week and a box for each day.
Every Thursday I check the meal planner for the coming week. I compare that with whats in the cupboard/freezer and add to the friedge list. I always get stuff like mli, cheese, eggs, ham, fruit and veg etc so we have the basics for lunches etc.

Then on a Friday we go and do a shopping. The shopping isn;t a full shopping, the trolley is fulll but not stupid full, the kids stay a bit calmer as the shopping doesnt take quite so long and we dont run out of stuff like we used to.

The plan ends up being very flexible! I chnage a lot of nights in the week but thats fine and I try not be too anal about it! So long as we eat a balanced diet and stay within budet I am not bothered.

Actually, this would prbably help you even during the knackeredness of pregnancy. Depending on your finances you could buy stuff to cook easy meals. You can also batch cook and freeze. For me the two biggest benefits are spending less money, and also I don't get home at night and think "what will we have tonight" - now I just consult the sheet!! Much less stressful and tiring.

Hope you get on with planning and good luck with the pregnancy
Jill

weegie_2

Like you Lucyeff I never had a clue what to do! In the last year though, and especially since I've had my second child I've come on leaps and bounds with the help of this forum. You'll find it a great source of expertise and knowledge.

I'm practically making all my meals from scratch now and hate the thought of buying processed frozen meals - and it's taken me a year to get to that stage. I'm now getting into the menu planning stage a bit more and keeping more lists.

As everyone has said to me when I've had occassion to moan on this forum it's all about taking tiny baby steps. one step at a time (can't believe I'm now dishing out that advice!).

Good luck - you will get there! You've taken the first step :-)

tawnyowls

I second what everyone else says. Step by step, I would say:

1) Get yourself a wipeable notice board for doing a week's plan - good time of the year to get them now, as you should be able to come across them in pound shops, usually attached to calendars. Permanent marker for doing the days of the week, and then non-permanent one for writing the meals.

2) Also notepad like JillD uses - again, can usually find these in the pound shops, or if not, then a magnetic clip to hold a normal small notebook would do.

2) Stock up on takeaway-type cartons (10 for a pound in Poundland), ice-cream tubs, and other storage containers, and make use of your freezer. Always cook as much stuff as you can if you're using the oven - don't waste energy. For instance, a lasagne and a shepherd's pie use similar ingredients, so you can usually start them off cooking in the same big pan, divide in two once you need to add the different ingredients, bung them in two dishes, and cook. You should then be able to get the food for that night, stick portions of the other in the fridge for the following day, and put portions of both in the freezer for the following week.

4) As said above, check your cupboards (and if you're really organised, get another few whiteboards and make a list of what's in each cupboard). For anyone having problems with weevils etc, invest in airtight plastic containers and don't buy massive amounts of spices. It's usually more economical to buy spices from Indian/Chinese shops - if you can buy them whole, so much the better, as you can then grind them yourself using a mortar & pestle.

5) For other ingredients, such as garlic, ginger, lemon grass, chillies, I find the most economical way of buying them is in jars - as these usually only last a month after opening, I freeze them in ice-cube trays, then store in boxes in the freezer. Poundland do baby food containers that are great for storing things like leftover wine, passata and coconut milk, where you need a larger quantity.

6) Delia's good for basic cooking, or try the charity shops for old cookery books - they often went really back to basics. Some of the supermarkets and also Matalan & TK Maxx and cheap bookshops like The Works often stock cheap cookbooks with easy recipes - the Family Circle ones I find particularly good and use them all the time. There are also loads of easy recipes on this board.

newlywed

I started off by writing a list of the meals I felt comfortable cooking. Then worked out how long they take and how much time I have each day (work full time). Allocated each dish to a day and then worked out what extra bits I needed to do the whole week's worth.

Then gradually I've added to it by cooking double and freezing some (only do that on a few meals though, eg lasagne/shepherds pie mentioned above). That way I have a ready meal and get an easy night each week!!

Then gradually, I've looked at recipes on here and added easy ones that I fancy into my list for the following week - usually not more than one or two new ones a week though or I get a bit stressed!!

Start with the easy stuff you know you can do and then when you get more confident, pick out a new recipe for the following week. I find it helps to know that a) I have everything for that recipe before I'm due to start it and b) I know exactly which day I'm going to try and cook something new so I'm mentally prepared and can read the instructions and get it in mind beforehand!!


~Edit: If you can't face cooking a whole chicken, why not look at turkey breasts or turkey mince as an alternative to chicken breasts? It can be much cheaper and I use turkey mince to make shepherd's pie, pasta, lasagne anything where mince is listed.