£7.00 per week - menu ideas

lawrie28

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but if you can get it, Tesco Cooking bacon at 75p for 500g is a very cheap way of buying meat. Some packs are just shredded bacon, only good for a casserole but I look at it every time I shop and see if there are any packs that have good rashers in them, and pick them up as they usually have a long date.

quintwins

i once got a packet of cooking bacon that only had 2 huge steaks in it, i was very surprised since i'd opened it to make bacon sandwichs lol, i ahve to say cooking bacon is acually ok i used to buy it and i found mine was mostly long think bits of streaky bacon, but i've strated buying butchers bacon and you can't beat it as a result i use less yesterday i had 2 bacon bags using one rasher cut in half.


I don't have an asda yet but when it opens in sep i'll def try the chilli one, tesco do a garlic and herb one i buy it if i know i'm making pasta sauce other than that i tend to keep a plain one in the fridge for on crackers anyway.


hmm i acually just checked asda online and it's showing at 62p, not much but would be ona £7 budget.

[Deleted User]

Just a quick reminder for anyone needing/wanting one, Superscrimpers is on at 8pm C4

Quintwins Thanks, I use that cream cheese, but only for the kids as its much higher in fat than their other one, and im dieting, but a good buy.

Meg I will try the chilli one next time i shop Asda, p.s. hope your diets going well

bundly

debbym wrote: »

Assumptions

• £7 only for the whole week; precludes buying cheaper (larger) value packs at the beginning of the challenge

Going to titivate it a bit once the kids are in bed:)

Deb this posting of yours was a work of genius!

milliemonster

There are some fantastic ideas on this thread and having read through the majority of the pages I am totally inspired so thank you to everyone who has posted all your amazing tips and recipes, one thing I would add though is that some of the recipes for main meals including those on the link to the recipes for under £1 a head don't include side dishes, I know many meals don't need them (pasta dishes for instance) but as an example, if I just served an omelette or lentil loaf to my kids and husband with no side salad/veg etc they would look at me as if I had gone mad and would be wondering what the next course was!

We're not a greedy family, but I do find a lot of these cheaper recipes (not picking on the ones on here, I'm talking in general) tend to be just for the main item only and don't include the extras we like to have whether thats rice, veg, salad etc, I do appreciate though that on a budget of £7 a week it's a tough call.

quintwins

not so much a lentil loaf but an omlette is a meal in it's self if your having it for breakfast, i team most of my meals with veg as my hubby isn't keen on salad and i do think i included that in each recipe, things liek stew and shepers pie don't need a side dish or sometimes only a slice of bread.

[Deleted User]

Sardines with Couscous

1. Dice up some onion, pepper, carrot and courgette and cook in a tablespoon of olive oil in a medium frying pan.

2. Add the tomato juice from a cheap (Lidl?) tin of sardines and augment with 200ml of water/stock mixed with some tomato puree.

3. Season with pepper, garlic powder (and salt, if you absolutely must).

4. Simmer for 30 seconds, then remove from heat and stir in 200 gm couscous and the chopped up sardines. Cover and allow the couscous to absorb the flavour.
very cheap meal that can be streeetched a bit with some bread and butter


Inexpensive salad
2 x shelled hard-boiled eggs, sliced in two. 2 dollops of mayonnaise. Surround by sliced cucumber, sliced cooked/pickled beetroot and lettuce. Maybe 2/4 slices of wafer-thin ham mixture.
This is gorgeous when the weather is hot and you are fed up with ordinary salads In the mayo I mix some paprika or cayenne pepper,bit of grated cheese on the top.Its suprisingly filling(colourful as well)

BAGGY

Alien Pasta
Basic pasta, Frozen or fresh broccoli, philadlepia alike cheese, basic bacon or smoked salmon.
cook pasta, add broccoli to same water so that the broc slightly overcooks without going smushy. Meanwhile fry bacon lardons(bits) with other floppy fridge veg (FFV:rotfl:). Drain pasta pot leaving a bit of water in bottom of pan. Chop broc and add 1/2 cream cheese and fried bits. If you are using s/salmon add now without cooking.

Butterfly_Brain

I just found a gluten free recipe for tortillas
http://www.celiactravel.com/blog/deceptively-easy-gluten-free-tortilla-recipe/

cazmcd2000

Yes. I throw out food.:( I am aware, after reading this thread, what a waste that is. You guys are really making me think. I am going to make a real effort to sort myself out.