Anyone got a nice spaghetti and meatballs recipe?

rtw123

Hi Egon & Sunnyday

Thanks for your support. I will def have to see what I have in the cupboards and start to make shopping list/food planner for the week as this is something I don't do at the moment.

I do own a slow cooker and use this occasionally for Chilli/Spag bol, but not really sure of any other things to put in so may have to hunt around for some recipies.

I do also own a breakmaker but stuck in the cupboard collecting dust! Will make an effort to buy the flour and make my own - thanks for the tip

Sunnyday

rtw123 wrote: »

Hi Egon & Sunnyday

Thanks for your support. I will def have to see what I have in the cupboards and start to make shopping list/food planner for the week as this is something I don't do at the moment.

I do own a slow cooker and use this occasionally for Chilli/Spag bol, but not really sure of any other things to put in so may have to hunt around for some recipies.

I do also own a breakmaker but stuck in the cupboard collecting dust! Will make an effort to buy the flour and make my own - thanks for the tip

There are lots of recipies and ideas for the slow cooker here, be warned you will spend hours reading it and be starving after reading the first few

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=4273

SD

egon

Please can someone point me in the direction of the hob nobs???

I remember reading about them, but can't find the recipe. The search function, for some reason, I am struggeling with......

Found it.... :mad:

MERFE

Gonna be a tough month, have a budget of 140 pounds and can not go over, we may be eating out 2 nights courtesy of the entertainment budget as its dd birthday and we made commitments for it months ago, which we shouldn't cause it is turning out to be rather expensive with train fares etc. However I am gonna make her birthday cake, chocolate this year decorated with the smarties the kids got for christmas, got everything I need for this in the cupboard already so thats a bonus. Tesco came last night and with no vouchers off shopping it came to 79.12. Obviously a large chunk of the budget gone but that includes all the dinner meals and enought breakfast cereals for the kids and oh, plenty of nappies and wipes, so should just need to get bread, milk, fruit, veg. Will keep reminding oh to check at work for bread and milk, he came home yesterday with 2 loaves of hovis so one has gone int he freezer. Its all the milk that i find crippling, i thought about making a bread and butter pudding with the extra bread oh bought home but decided against it because of the milk, OH uses the same amount as the 2 kids that have a drink of milk morning and night and milk on their breakfast. Think I might ban tea and make him drink black coffee.

JemimaP_3

Did my shop at the supermarket last night and spent another £34.93.

This is all my food for the week, laundry stuff for the month and some store items. Quite pleased as i stuck completely to the list:D

Not much left for this month though - £13 a week, but that will be for fruit etc.

WelshWoofer

Hi all,
I have decided that my experiment last month of trying to do a mammoth shop at the beginning of the month and just buying fresh stuff as I go along just doesn't work for me.
I can't get my head around the meal planning for a month - its just easier for me to do it by the week.

So, the plan for this month (starting on Friday 1st) is to try to use up what's in at the moment and then buy weekly.
I have to try to be more disciplined this month - I was great up until Xmas and then January all went a bit wrong. I also have a lot of expenditure on the house this month so need to claw back some dosh from somewhere.

Where would I be without you all? Thanks to everyone for their support!:T

belfastgirl23

rtw123 wrote: »

Hi Bobbykins

Thanks for the advice. We spend a lot of money on fruit/veg/smoothies etc as do like to try and eat healthy so as these run out quicker, end up in Tescos every few days buying more!!!

I will keep a note of everything I spend in Feb as you say and will get used to keeping my receipts and totalling it all up at the end of each week. However, I do need to cut down my spending as it is just ridiculous that I spend £600 in Tescos each month!!!

Next food shop will be at the weekend so will give it a whirl and see how I get on.

Thanks again.

I agree with bobbykins. It's a good idea to set a quite generous target and then be pleased with yourself when you come in under it.:) Another possibility is to set yourself a target of say between £400-£500, with the lower figure being your ideal and the higher figure being the absolutely can't go over figure...esp for the first few challenges.

It is amazing where the £ goes. Eg if you are buying ready made smoothies :eek: or even frozen smoothie packs they really mount up. I tend to buy and prep my own fruit for this and then freeze it, esp when mangoes and pineapple are cheap since they are my favourite smoothie fruits If you use blackcurrants it's worth trying to find a local farmer who grows them and freezing a load when they're fresh (my dad did this this year and he's still finishing them off).

Anyway welcome and good luck!

PS having a breadmaker has also made a big difference for me. No popping to the shops for bread and spending extra £. I also really liked expensive bread (M&S ciabatta) but the HM is better than even this

mhe

Thanks for the advice Mrs Monnetpenny. I have stopped taking my card out with me - it didnt seem like real money i was spending when i used my card. When we get paid i put money into all sorts of pots and envelopes - food, petrol, childrens swimming ..etc pay everything straight away and then see what if anything is left! As im trying to snowball my debts im afraid that whilst it might be tough halving my food bill is essential. It wasnt toooo bad this week - made my list but I found i altered some of it when i went to ASDA as some things were on special offer so bought BOGOF where i could and we will be having a lot of veggie based meals. Bought some smartprice things eg nappysacks for toddler a bargain 300 for 62p why did i waste money on the better quality ones before - they go straight in the bin after all!!

Im trying to work out if i should buy a bread maker - the children and DH can demolish a loaf very quickly. Wd it help in cost cutting as they seem quite expensive i need to be sure it would be worth my while to buy it.

Frugalmum_2

I'll join in starting 1st Feb, budget is £100 for myself and my son. I've got quite a bit in the pantry/freezer so I don't see needing to spend much.

I'm already on the living on £4,000 challenge but this will help me watch the food budget more closely.

Good luck to you all.

mrs-moneypenny

mhe, heres another little tip for 'free' nappy sacks i learned from one of my friends. when she was buying her fruit and veg in the supermarket she would pull about 20 or so bags off the first dispenser she came to, walk round using them as she went and leave the rest in the bottom of her trolley. when she loaded the conveyor belt at the till she just left them in the trolley and put her bags of paid for shopping back on top of them when she got out she just bunged them in a carrier instead of leaving them in the trolley. ive seen trolleys outside with bags in so i think a lot of people take more bags than they need but not for the reason my friend was.
As long as you dont take a silly amount and empty the racks i dont even think anyone would notice. you can even use the bags you used for friut and veg if you dont knot them so you have to rip them open. I've used all sorts of things as nappy sacks i remember the health visitor giving me a bit of a funny look once when i whipped an old bread bag out of my baby bag to put a nappy in at the clinic once.