£7.00 per week - menu ideas

Teg-Rem

I too was looking forward to getting peppers at that price, but hey tomatoes on offer here too. Quite getting fed up with them now, they have been on offer EVERY week for the last 7 or 8, cheap they might be and eat them a lot we do, but why can't we have what is supposed to be on offer instead of substitutes all the time, Aldi are getting a lot worse for this these days me thinks. If it wasn't so expensive these days would go back to Lidl again, but they have discontinued a lot of stuff I used to buy there and I do think that on the whole Aldi comes out a lot cheaper, plus we have a Sainsburys on the same site so anything I can't get there is from their basics range therefore cutting down on costs AND shopping time. deal. I HATE food shopping.

[Deleted User]

I love this thread. It has become my go-to thread for inspiration and ideas. Thanks to everyone who posts menu plans and recipies. It does take alot of work to keep my head in the game when shopping frugally and working full time too but I am getting there.

Downsizing__for_sanity

Ooh, I'll have to look in our Aldi as I just picked up some rhubarb yesterday and didn't look for anything else. On another note, does anyone know how to best freeze rhubarb? Should I blanch it first? Not got the space to freeze a pie or crumble made up.

Thanks to all who keep the thread up to date.

DFS

D&DD

Have you got any jars downsizing?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/gallery/2009/feb/24/rhubarb-bottling-preserve#/?picture=343103488&index=0

This is a great guide to bottling rhubarb very handy for when the freezer is bulging

ThriftyFelicity

D&DD wrote: »

Have you got any jars downsizing?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/gallery/2009/feb/24/rhubarb-bottling-preserve#/?picture=343103488&index=0

This is a great guide to bottling rhubarb very handy for when the freezer is bulging

Thanks for the link; great to have all the steps illustrated!

D&DD

Its not as awkward as it sounds is it Felicity ? I do a lot of canning/bottling and most Oldstylers have an empty jar or two so its a handy skill to have I think.

Pears also bottle really well and when prepping them I peel them first then use one of those apple corer segmenter things to chop them.Gets through them in no time.

Savvy_sewing

Due to many problems my daughter has ended up with empty cupboards. Last week I had to do a shopping for her, but this week we had a meeting with the Debt Councillor at the council, and he gave her a voucher for the foodbank. While I was there with her to collect her "shopping" I had mentioned that I would go home and do a menu plan for her around what she had, and possibly a small spend. They asked me if I could do some Menu Plans for them to help suggestions for the other users.
I have given them this website to refer too, but said that I will draw up some plans, based on here. So I hope that you all feel the love, and don't mind that I will be copying some of these ideas out, and seeing what we can do to help those less fortunate then us.

RAS

Mooloo

That is wonderful. Because so often people do not know how to make basic meals.

Butterfly_Brain

Good idea Mooloo
Let us know what she had in her bags and maybe we could help with a few ideas

Savvy_sewing

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

Good idea Mooloo
Let us know what she had in her bags and maybe we could help with a few ideas

There was the following in the bags.
Packet Malties cereal
one Packet of cereal bars
1 1/2 ltr of UHT Milk
1kg Sugar
40 tea bags
I ltr carton fruit juice
3 tins soup
1 pasta sauce mix jar
tin pineapple
2 tins rice pudding
1 tin peaches
1 tin tomatoes
1 tin kidney beans
1 tin baked beans
1 small tin tuna
1 small tin mackerel
1 small tin salmon
1 tin corned beef
1 tin steak & Kidney freybentos pie
small jar coffee
1kg long grain rice
500g pasta
1 packet spaghetti
two tins sweetcorn
1 tin peas
1 jar jam
1 packet custard creams
1 tin chicken curry
1 tin meatballs and spaghetti
1 tin potatoes
1 packet mash

although she didn't like the mackerel or salmon so she gave them to me. I will take her something she likes in return. Thought I would possibly buy her some sausages and butter and bread.

My menu ideas so far
Breakfasts would have to be cereal with milk
Lunch would have to be the soups.

1. Pasta bolognaise with half the jar of sauce mix, possibly add some tinned beans to thicken up.
2. S & K pie, potatoes, tinned sweetcorn
3. Tuna pasta bake
4. Tinned curry and rice
5. meatballs and spaghetti
6. spaghetti Neapolitan. - tin tomatoes and mixed herbs ((I know she has some of them still)
7. Corned beef hash using the instant mash
8. Savoury rice, using tinned peas/sweetcorn, and 1/2 the pasta sauce mix
(taken form a post earlier on here of course).

That's where I have got so far.

I really feel that the lack of bread, or flour is a hinderance. But at least it would get her through the next week and then hopefully we can get a little money out of the debt mess to enhance it all next week.