Having trouble making groceries stretch

tinktinktinkerbell

Doom_and_Gloom wrote: »

It's called buying smart price/basic/value. Mr A smart price broccoli is 86p for 907g.
Most of what we buy is the cheapest - although my partner would never buy the cheap barn eggs.
Try the downshift challenge TTTB. You will see that Iceland really isn't as cheap as you think.

nah its cool, we only have a iceland around here so will stick with that, its doing us ok lol

CH27

I think people think Iceland is cheap & therefore don't bother looking around for better value buys.

tinktinktinkerbell

CH27 wrote: »

I think people think Iceland is cheap & therefore don't bother looking around for better value buys.

that depends, iceland is cheap for us because going elsewhere means adding travel onto our food bill

CH27

tinktinktinkerbell wrote: »

that depends, iceland is cheap for us because going elsewhere means adding travel onto our food bill

Very true:)

sproggi

OP, if you can make yorkshire puddings, you could make mini toad-in-the-holes.
Lightly grill 3 sausages
cut each one into 3
heat a little oil in each of a 12 cup bun tray
place a piece of sausage in each cup and fill
with batter
These only take around 20mins to cook, are cheap even with high quality
sausages, are filling and any left over can be frozen in a tub.

A couple of other things I make when money is non-existent are:

Pan full of mash potato with a tin of corned beef and a little strong
grated cheese mixed in,
Shephards pie bulked out with baked beans and lentils,
Bacon and leek suet pudding roll,

I freeze leftovers of just about anything however small, that way, if I am
cooking a meal that one of my family do not like, there is an instant ready meal for them.

Re: problems with eating veg.
I do not know how old your children are, but tastes change with age, so something that they hate the tast of when they are 5 years old, may suddenly be quite tasty at 15.
My DS2 is 12 and has been re-trying different vegetables and finding that a lot of them are not quite as bad as he used to think.
Have you tried cooking vegetables in different ways?
My OH does not like leeks, but will eat them cooked in a bacon and leek roll or in a stew. My 2 girls will not eat them boiled, but love them sliced into a bowl with a little milk and butter and microwaved!!
The taste of vegetables change a lot when cooked in different ways and maybe if you could get your wife to try just a little, your children may be more willing to try.
If they are young, you could try getting them to help with preparing dishes containing veg, it may encourage them to try it after all their hard work.
If all else fails, pureed veg is your secret friend.

Sproggi

Doom_and_Gloom

tinktinktinkerbell wrote: »

that depends, iceland is cheap for us because going elsewhere means adding travel onto our food bill

How much does the bus/taxi cost you to go shopping? You can get delievery for as little as £3 from Mr A, £3.50 from Mr S (infact Mr S do free delievery if the order is over £100) not sure about Mr T but it is probably simular.

tinktinktinkerbell

Doom_and_Gloom wrote: »

How much does the bus/taxi cost you to ge shopping? You can get delievery for as little as £3 from Mr A, £3.50 from Mr S (infact Mr S do free delievery if the order is over £100) not sure about Mr T but it is probably simular.

to go to asda we would need a bus ticket and a metro ticket so £7 for the bus ticket, not sure on the metro

if we go to tescos then £7 for bus

but then we would have to get a taxi back

not sure on sainsburies

tbh we would still have to go to iceland as they are cheapest for eggs and tuna

and we like picking our own groceries so delivery is out

Alwaysthebusybee

That is expensive for a food shopping trip - I actually play the supermarket game and tend to have one delivery once a month of toiletries and bulky items that I don't want to pick myself .... They do the carrying and lifting I just put away :rotfl:

OP, there is the option of online shopping with money off coupons, Mr T recently did a £15 off a £50 shop, the cheapest delivery for me is £3 so still £12 free foods I tend to use for staples like flour, sugar, drinks etc.

To me shopping around makes my shops cheaper however I know this isn't always possible so you have to make the best of what you can get

cooking-mama

schmucker treat yourselves to a slow cooker,great for "Cant cook/"wont cook;s (ie my OH,who thought cooking was placing a tray of frozen processed something or other in the oven)
With slow cookers you dont even need to brown the meat before hand(tho i do),chuck in fresh mince,water onion oxo cube,set on low whilst at work and come home to cooked mince,you could even bake large potatoes in the micro if you dont want to go to the bother of boiling tatties...vary the above by skipping the oxo and adding tinned chopped tomatoes,mushrooms mixed herbs n garlic and you have bolognes...10mins boils up some pasta,another variation,lose the herbs but add chilli powder/flakes and some diced peppers,hey presto chilli con carne..10mins boils up some rice,you could even use some micro rice(in fact i bought a microwave rice cooker for around £7 in debenhams,perfect rice every time in 14mins...Add a whole chicken to the slow cooker,cook all day on high and you have a(pale)but very moist cooked chicken,the juices i leave in the slow cooker and make chicken n rice soup with..honestly i do believe the most inexperienced cook could make a lovely HM meal using a slow cooker,much healthier than a deep fat fryer too,Argos have some on special offer just now,this one is huge,but great for soup and cooking to freeze
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4236045/Trail/searchtext%3ESLOW+COOKER.htm, this smaller one would probably be big enough for 4,but dunno if it can take a whole chicken because of the shape. http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4207490/Trail/searchtext%3ESLOW+COOKER.htm#pdpFullProductInformation

There are loads of slow cooker topics on MSE,heres just one. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4273

Living_proof

ABsolutely right. A slow cooker is just what you need and you will be amazed at how little the ingredients cost and what sort of variety you can cook. My latest is goulash and dumplings. I know goulash sounds foul but call it something else like supreme of beef paprika and already it sounds much nicer. Stewing beef or whatever cheap meat you can get your hands on, find a sc recipe and add the dumplings (easy peasy packet ones even) and add a green veg and you have a delicious balanced meal. Add even more veg to the goulash and you will be halfway there to your five a day. Experiment!