£7.00 per week - menu ideas

Nelly11

I tried Ald! for the first time today, wow, I spent £29.73 then came home and nerdily checked each item next to what i would have bought at Mr T across the road and I saved £8.71, unbelievable, nothing was dearer, infact 4 part baked rolls in Mr T were £1.90 in Aldi the same for 39p

I'm a convert :j

GreyhoundAngel

jackel wrote: »

Hi Everyone, Hi Suki. My loaf cake is an adapted one I read somewhere. In a bowl put a 500g pkt of dried fruit (I usually used mixed because its the cheapest) add a mug full of tea(hot, cold or whatever) Leave to soak, at least 2 hours -very flexible. Stir in 1 beaten egg and 2 mugs of SR flour.Put in 2lb loaf tin.I use one of those cooking liners,saves greasing and washing up, put a greased paper on top(butter paper?)for the 1st hour. Bake at 150/180C for about 2 hours but check at 1 and a half. If it doesn't seem'liquid'
enough add a drop of water or milk when you're mixing it. When cooked wrap it in a teatowel and cool on rack. Better left a day or two before eating. - VERY economical - no sugar no fat. Store in plastic bag.jac xx.
Nearly forgot - we haven't got cauliflowers.

Jackel .... This sounds really nice - Do you know if it will freeze okay ?

Thanks
Angel xx

HappyMJ

Nelly11 wrote: »

I tried Ald! for the first time today, wow, I spent £29.73 then came home and nerdily checked each item next to what i would have bought at Mr T across the road and I saved £8.71, unbelievable, nothing was dearer, infact 4 part baked rolls in Mr T were £1.90 in Aldi the same for 39p

I'm a convert :j

You need to compare like for like. Tesco have Everyday Value part baked rolls 2 for 45p compared to Aldi's 2 for 39p. Still a saving but your saving is misleading. Both packs are 300 grams.

honeythewitch

HappyMJ wrote: »

You need to compare like for like. Tesco have Everyday Value part baked rolls 2 for 45p compared to Aldi's 2 for 39p. Still a saving but your saving is misleading. Both packs are 300 grams.

I find that very often the everyday value or smart price items are not in stock (sometimes never stocked) and it is very annoying because there is often a huge jump in price to the next one up.

HappyMJ

honeythewitch wrote: »

I find that very often the everyday value or smart price items are not in stock (sometimes never stocked) and it is very annoying because there is often a huge jump in price to the next one up.

True they are so good and cheap they sell out quickly. Get there in the morning or just as they get a delivery and you should get some.

honeythewitch

HappyMJ wrote: »

True they are so good and cheap they sell out quickly. Get there in the morning or just as they get a delivery and you should get some.

Yes. It takes a lot of discipline to leave the higher priced item on the shelf and walk to the next supermarket (and not everyone can) but I think even if I was rich I would still begrudge paying over the odds.
My theory is that if we refuse to buy the more expensive substitutes they will put more basic goods out, because a cheap sale is better than no sale at all.
I always ask them to "look in the back" for the cheaper items and they very often have them so it is well worth asking.

paulineb_2

I am on a low income and I try and cook as much as I can from scratch. I make a thai curry with tofu, but you could subsitute the tofu with chicken or prawns. Rice, depending on if you buy boil in the bag or not, will affect the cost. I tend to buy the boil in the bag, 4 bags for 99p from B and M. The jars of red or green sauce, you'll get from Morrison or Tesco from about 89p to 1.29p, you'll get more than one curry from a jar. If you use tofu, a block is about £1-£1.50 and a can of coconut milk, again from about 89p to £1.99, the price of coconut milk does vary a bit.

You can also add in other bits of veg such as mushrooms, broccoli. There are various recipes but I just put the coconut milk in with a bit of stock, add the sauce and veg and tofu if Im using it, let it all simmer and boil up the rice. A bag will serve two people and you'll get at least two portions of the curry. You might get 3 or 4 depending on how big a pot you make.

Anything leftover, if I have bought mushrooms I'll make a mushroom stir fry or stroganoff and any spare veg will go in soup along with the extra stock cubes.

Also I do look for reduced veg when Im cooking to keep the costs down. And I have managed to find packs of tofu online for as cheap as 33p a block and also coconut milk at 50p a can.

I tend to eat more veg than fruit, much more, because fruit can be expensive. Or if I do buy fruit I'll try and get it reduced.

I also make a wholewheat pasta with leek and any other veg I have around. You can buy packs of wholewheat pasta for as little as 50p in Tesco, Ive managed to get the Tesco organic wholewheat spaghetti for 50p a few times. I dont always add a jar of sauce, sometimes I'll just cook it, add whatever left over veg I have to hand and a splash of worcester sauce.

I also cook a mushroom dish, basically just put it in a wok with a stock cube, add some other veg such as onion, courgette, let it all simmer, boil up a couple of potatoes, mash them, pour the veg over the mash and add a bit of mustard if you like it. You can add a bit of sour cream or soya cream to the veg as well.

Nelly11

HappyMJ wrote: »

You need to compare like for like. Tesco have Everyday Value part baked rolls 2 for 45p compared to Aldi's 2 for 39p. Still a saving but your saving is misleading. Both packs are 300 grams.

Where I live we have a very small Tesco, the saving on the part baked bread is acurate with what my Tescos stock. I am amazed still x

jackel

Hi all - Hi Greyhound Angel. The loaf cake freezes very well. I usually make four at one go to save on fuel and freeze two. Hope you find it o.k. jac xx.

GreyhoundAngel

Oooh, thanks for that Jackel ... that's exactly what I was hoping to be able to do

Though MrT didn't help by not having ANY own brand dried fruit ... let alone the cheaper mixed bags :mad:

Angel xx