Main Meals

pollyanna24

This is where I fall down on my budget for food for the month. I like to have a bit of variety and the people I cook for like their meat. Here is what I have for main meals for next month so far. This is for 3 people by the way and I know the amount they can eat.

Mince (800g x 3) - £7.20 enough for 4 meals
Braising steak (1,500kg in total) - £8.67 - enough for 2 meals
2 Chickens - £6.08 - enough for 2 meals (I know there should be leftovers, but I know there won't be!)
4 Packets of Mini kievs - £4.00 - enough for 2 meals (they are £1 a bag at mo)
40 Frozen sausages - £2.90 - enough for 3 meals
6 Gammon Rounds - £3.96 - enough for 2 meals
Salami - £0.58 - enough for 1 meal (going on homemade pizzas)
Ham - £1.15 - enough for 2 meals (omelettes) (also used for lunches)
Brisket beef - £3.84 - enough for 1 meal
4 Boxes of Honey & mustard chicken - £5.00 - enough for 2 meals
Frozen chicken breasts - £3.95 - enough for 2 meals
Lamb of sorts (shoulder maybe) - £4.00 - enough for 1 meal
Turkey leg - £1.50 - enough for one meal

This totals approximately £52.83, but only covers 24 meals.
Lamb is expensive, so I've only got that in there once.
They have to have meat, but I try to have cheap meals interspersed with the expensive ones, i.e. omelettes with ham, pasta with ham mixed in etc.

What other meats are there that I can use that are cheap? Don't even mind ready meals (like the mini kievs) if they are cheap.

Was thinking of buying a rabbit. They sell them in my local market for £4.50. Is that good? Will it go far?

newlywed

I find that if I pad out mince with lots of veg eg mushroom, sweetcorn, peas, carrots etc then I can get a shepherd's pie or lasagne for 6 people out of 400 or 500g of mince (and we like to have a plate full of food so not scrimping on portion size). That way OH knows he's had his meat too, and I can cut down on extra pans for the accompanying veg (but will do extra veg if I think it needs it).

We usually use Pork or Turkey mince as it is cheaper, lower fat and so far no gristle bits like some cheap beef mince I've tried!!

Also pork chops or turkey breasts are cheaper than steak - though I know not nearly the same to steak loving men!!!

tawnyowls

Could you not make the kievs and the honey & mustard chicken yourself?

If you're going to put stuff in a freezer, it's often cheaper to buy ready-frozen. Not entirely sure I'd go with so many sausages - they're not very healthy, and being high in salt and fat, help keep people's tastebuds used to that, so they're less likely to eat healthier options.

Yes, why not have rabbit? Some people find it a bit 'gamey', but if your family likes it, use it! Consider having offal as well - steak and kidney pudding, stews made with oxtail or heart.

Also, if you have a slow cooker, you could use it to cook cheaper cuts of meat, such as pig hocks and scrag end of lamb. Good info on the BBC website about different cuts: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/back_to_basics/. If you make friends with your local butcher, you might be able to get bones and left-over trimmings for soup and stews.

I don't see any fish. Don't you have any?

You could pad out the mince with things like kidney beans in a chilli too. Similarly, if you're doing a roast, have filling cheap things like Yorkshire pudding. Try really cheap stuff like corned beef hash as well.

pollyanna24

Cheers for the answers.

Sausages are easy and cheap, that's why they are there. For 3 meals over a month, I don't think that's too bad.

Think I'll give the rabbit a go and will pick one up next time I go to the market.

I use the slow cooker to cook the brisket of beef and sometimes shoulder of lamb if I decide to cook it during the week.

Fish is a no go in my house. They won't eat it. Thinking of giving them some to start them off on it, but not sure what. Plus I've never cooked it really.