Weezl and Friends CFR 26 May 2011 at 11:38AM in How much have you saved? 4 replies 1.3K views

mum2many

really need to cut down on the monthly spend, in all areas, due to spending so much on fuel per month and was lucky enough to find the CFR website, then searched and found that it was a fab MSE forum teams idea.

well anyway, have you got any tips etc for upping it to a family of 6 with large appitites and managing the batch cooking (when to do, how much to do, what to do???)

i work 5 days a week but do not have set days off :-( and work earlies and lates that vary per week.

tried going through the threads but they are so long i wont have time to go through them all.

sorry if this is posted in the wrong place

Allegra

If I was you, I'd be tempted just to buy the quantities specified for the first week and see how you get on - we are tall people with large appetites, and we found that the food actually stretched far further than it was supposed to, so you might well be alright. Unless, that is, you live with five tall teenagers, in which case it might be more prudent to buy double and freeze the surplus !

As for batch cooking, I'm afraid that you really are the only one who knows how you can work it in your particular situation ! This post could give you some idea about how I would work it for Option 1 - I would suggest that the best approach is to sit down with a notebook and pencil and work out when you're going to cook what, how long dishes take (so you can cook them in advance if necessary), how much freezer space you got, etc., and then work out how much time you have spare on each particular day and slot any batch cooking you intend to do into the time slots available.

Personally, I'd say that making sure you bake sufficient bread in time is crucial, as well as having at least one load of snacks on the go - the rest can be chopped and changed around as time allows.

Good luck and let us know how you get on !

mum2many

thank you, thats a great help

there is my husband and myself(although i am trying to lose weight so will have smaller portions) 18 yr DD, 14yr DS (huge appetite) 12yr DS and 8 yr DD so do you think the plan will feed us all?

also when i've gone throught the recipes i notice there is oil in the porridge, why :-)

Allegra

mum2many wrote: »

thank you, thats a great help

there is my husband and myself(although i am trying to lose weight so will have smaller portions) 18 yr DD, 14yr DS (huge appetite) 12yr DS and 8 yr DD so do you think the plan will feed us all?

I know someone on the team fed 5/6 quite happily on the planner as is, just adding a bit of carbs to make things go further on occasion - so if you buy an extra bag of pasta and rice, and a few extra spuds, you ought to be just fine. If you are not, feel free to curse me and buy extra next week

also when i've gone throught the recipes i notice there is oil in the porridge, why :-)

Primarily so you'd get essential nutrients, such as Vitamin E, but it also does give a better texture/mouthfeel to it. Again, feel free to omit it if it doesn't work for you, but do make sure you get your fats and vitamin E from somewhere - i know dieters are often scared of fats, but without them our brains will not work, our skin will wrinkle and shrivel, and oh, all sorts of horrible things will happen :rotfl: Fat in moderation can be a dieter's friend, to, as it keeps you fuller for longer so you take in less calories on balance

mum2many

going to follow it 100% and then make changes if needed. i think the biggest problem will be the amount of meat and the "is that all there is" comments from the family.
will also have to factor in goats milk for DD as cows gives her migraines, free range chicken (but have own chicks to give us eggs so no spending there) and coffee( i need that :-) )

thanks again