Help!!

lizzie_b

Hello all you lovely ladies (and gents)
I've been lurking and reading (and posting a little) for a very long time but I really need your help.
How on earth can I feed myself and a very hungry mechanic for £150 a month?
A bit of background, we are both trying to lose some weight and go to the gym most evenings so we dont eat our evening meal until between 8pm and 9.30pm, we have cereal for breakfast and take lunches to work but dont really enjoy sandwiches. We like to eat salads and dont like fish or seafood, we also dont like mushrooms!
Any suggestions on where to start?

Thanks in advance
Lizzie xxx

Also I have a slow cooker, a george foreman grill, a toastie maker, a food processor, a steamer, a deep fat fryer, and a smoothie maker/blender thingy as well as the usual kitchen appliances

rinabean

I always recommend http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk. The plan is probably too bread-heavy for you if you are not a fan, but you might find ideas in the main meal recipes.

Salads are expensive. Any chance you can grow some veg towards them? Best return for space/input, especially this late in the growing year, is salad leaves. You could grow them on a windowsill if you have to. Growing herbs is nearly as easy.

Soup is cheap and filling, especially with bread or extra potatoes. Easy to do in the slow cooker, ready for when you get in.

Cereal is expensive. Toast would be cheaper, and porridge cheaper still. You can also try moving to the cheaper brands if you've not already (you might hate some and love others, don't give up too soon!)

Taking lunches to work is a good start!

Uniscots97

what about home made soup? Chilli? Spag Bol? (Pad both out with plenty of veg and drain fat from the mince).

lizzie_b

Thanks for the quick replies.
I already do the bulk of my shopping at aldi so the cost of the cereal we eat isnt too extortionate, i absolutely cant stand porridge im afraid and toast just isnt filling enough for my OH as he has such a manual job, he'd need to eat half a loaf just to last til lunchtime :rotfl:
its really the lunches and evening meals i need to think about, and meal planning i think will help but i just never know where to start!
I buy most of my household stuff from JTF so its in bulk, and I'm an Avon rep so most toiletries come from there.
I want to get all of this for as close to £150 a month as I can, I just dont know where to start
xxxx

kerrypn

OP

There is a thread called eat for £12 a week on here...I did manage to do a four week meal plan for £10.96 each a week-so £88 that included everything. I will find you a link and post back

quintwins

what about pasta or rice salads for lunch?

dinners i would suggest

stews
chilli
spag bol
soup
sheperds pie
sausage casarole
egg/beans/cheese on toast (maybe with a pudding if hubby needs more, value rice pudding is nice)
savory rice
homemade pies
quiche

kerrypn

Breakfast
Weetabix/toast

Lunches

Salad/cheese sandwich/jacket potatoes beans on toast/cheese on toast. Piece of fruit/yoghurt

Week 1 Evening meal
Roast Chicken potatoes and veg
Chicken and HM potato wedges(using some chicken off roast)
Bolognaise makes 4 portions
Chicken Soup(Home made)(From carcass of roast)makes 4 portions
Cottage pie makes 4 portions
Chicken Curry makes 4 portions
Chilli makes 4 portions

Week 2
Chilli
Cottage pie
chicken curry
chicken soup
Bolognaise
Risotto
Scrambled egg on toast

Week 3

Chilli
cottage pie
bolgnaise
chicken soup
chicken curry
jacket spuds and cheese and beans
Fried egg on toast

Week 4

Cottage pie
chilli
chicken curry
chicken soup
chilli
risotto
jacket spud and beans

Shopping list

Large Chicken £4.73
Minced Beefx3 £3.75
Tinned toms 3 tins £1
Curry sauce 23p
Sack of spuds £2
Frozen carrots £1
Frozen green beans £1
Rice 40p
Cheese £1.60
Eggs 6 for 85p
Onions £1
Beans £1.49 ( 4 tins)
8 Loaves of bread £7.20 FF offer
16 pints of milk £3.60 FF offer
Weetabix £3
Lettuce £1
Cucumber £1
Tomatoes £2
Chicken Oxo £1 (poundland)
Garlic Granules 59p
Chilli powder 63p
Margarine £1.19
Basics yoghurts 45p for 6 x2 90p
Apples £1.50
Bananas £1.19

Grand Total £43.85 or £10.97 per week

Or the whole thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/152900

lizzie_b

Thankyou so much kerry
that looks fab and alot im sure we could manage
off to read the whole thread now for some inspiration
xxxx

GreyQueen

Would it be possible to change the order of your meals so that you could eat a cooked breakfast? I'm thinking that with the eating pattern that you describe, running for a full day inc the gym on very few calories, then eating late at night, you might well be working against yourself in terms of healthy weight loss and energy management.

Do you like omelettes? They're fast and easy and not expensive and you can add all sorts of veggies into them. This gives you a good foundation of protein and some fats to metabolise when you and your OH are working.

There has been a saying about how to eat healthily which has been around for centuries but which science is just beginning to catch up with; Breakfast like a king, lunch like knave and supper like a pauper (with some variants, it's a very old saying). The gist is meals in descending size.........

I can recall from when I worked out in the evening at the gym, I found it to be an appetite suppressant and I didn't feel like eating afterwards.

If you eat late in the evening, you risk gaining weight as your body will be inactive and have time to store those calories. Which is why in survival situations, people are advised to eat and tuck up in their sleeping bags, to sleep warm and pack those calories into the fat supplies.

Anyway, whatever you do, all the best with your regime.

Linda32

lizzie_b wrote: »

:rotfl:
its really the lunches and evening meals i need to think about, and meal planning i think will help but i just never know where to start!

Hi, Meal planning is really really easy, if I can do it, it must be Simply write down the days of the week which you need meals for, so say weekday lunches and evening meals, then have a look in the fridge/freezer/cupboard to see what you already have in - thats the secrect I have found.

I know alot of people talk about spreadsheets and receipe books and if that works for them then thats great and whilst I do do some cooking and batch cooking, basic meal plans work this way for me.

How about wraps instead of bread for your lunchboxes. I do like them. They would work out more expensive than bread though as you get around 8-10 wraps in a packet. Mind you, thinking about it you would need 16 to 20 round of bread to get the same to maybe not!!!

Fill with cooked meat/Tuna and sweetcorn/cheese etc

When you go to the supermarket make sure you buy enough for the week to avoid "nipping in" and buying extras. It feels good when your shopping is less than you thought it would be, but then you find you havn't enough to last the week. :mad:

Evening meals, again, check what you have in first then work with that. Perhaps, if you are willing you could write down a list and post it here, then maybe others could come up with ideas, or perhaps you would see them yourself. Its a case of use up what you already have rather than keep on buying more.

I surpose you want a decent meal when you get in so late at night (I take my hat off to you there, it would do me in!) So if you fancy slow cooker food at this time of year then I feel thats the way forward. Supermarkets usually do the three meat items for £10 but I must admit I havn't seen that offer for a while. Personally we havn't had a hot dinner since around Mid April. Unless you count packet pasta or jacket spuds. Its salads and sandwiches for us now.

lizzie_b

GQ- I have also heard that about meals getting smaller through the day, and i do dislike eating so late but its the only time we can fit in going to the gym and needs must, have managed to find some recipes for post workout shakes or smoothies but the ingredients seem to be so expensive
I wish we had time in the morning for a cooked breakfast, but we both leave the house to head in opposite directions at 7.30am, i dont think i could face getting up any earlier.
Linda- going to look into getting more use out of my slow cooker, starting to wonder about preparing things that we can then reheat in the microwaves at work so we're having our main meal in the middle of the day and not an hour before we're going to bed.

I'm beginning to wonder if I need more direction with managing my time, as funnily enough our house quite often looks like a tornado has been through it, and that's without any children!! How on earth do you parents do it all???
xxxx