Feed a family of four for £20 a week challenge

~Chameleon~

How do you manage to get 12 portions from a single pack of mince? I can just about stretch it to 8 portions if I add plenty of veggies, e.g. onions, peppers, mushrooms, beans in spag bol/chilli type meals and onions, carrots, peas & swede in shepherds pies, to bulk it out.

I don't see any of those on your list, apart from a single(?) onion plus a tin of beans and a tin of sweetcorn. I assume these are to be shared across the 3x4 portion meals too?

Any veg to go with toad-in-hole?

Apologies if I sound critical but I really don't think there's enough food to feed people adequately in that list. I'm not talking from a health perspective either (it's clearly not a healthy diet) but I think it would even struggle to satisfy basic hunger

debtmess

Great ideas am pinching some for an online shop in a few weeks
Thank you for the meal plan ideas

sophlowe45

£56.25 JSA a week for under 25s.

£71 a week for over 25s.

£90 approx a week for accommodation for under 35s based upon looking at the rate for a few different London boroughs. Also based upon a person living in a property where they can claim housing benefit.

Editing to add i realise the rules are different for families on benefits, which i have never looked into. Personally, i only have single friends who receive the amounts stated above. Also, additional problems with getting temporary jobs, signing off and having to sign back on again. It all takes time to get the benefits back in place again.

quintwins

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

How do you manage to get 12 portions from a single pack of mince? I can just about stretch it to 8 portions if I add plenty of veggies, e.g. onions, peppers, mushrooms, beans in spag bol/chilli type meals and onions, carrots, peas & swede in shepherds pies, to bulk it out.

I don't see any of those on your list, apart from a single(?) onion plus a tin of beans and a tin of sweetcorn. I assume these are to be shared across the 3x4 portion meals too?

Any veg to go with toad-in-hole?

Apologies if I sound critical but I really don't think there's enough food to feed people adequately in that list. I'm not talking from a health perspective either (it's clearly not a healthy diet) but I think it would even struggle to satisfy basic hunger

You bulk all the mince out with mixed veg which i added in at the end (because i forgot it when i was costing and didn't wanna have to go back :rotfl:)

I use 750g packs of mince, there are 5 of us and the kids eat well so i'd say 4 adult portions, i do sheperds pie with half the mince and bulk with the veg, this feeds us all plus usually a lunch for me and the youngest the next day (i'm doing this tonight) then for the other half gets turned into spag bol, hubbys not keen on tomatoes to i only use one carrot aswell but if you really need to stretch you could use 2, then i take less than half and mix it threw the pasta like you could with a pasta bake, it means you need very little but no-one feels hard done by because there so no meat in there tea, the rest gets bulked out with beans and sweetcorn and some chilli, i am aware that for people who are used to large portions of meat this doesn't seem like alot but i can vouch that it is more than enough as i've done it countless times myself

Towser

Shop online, that way you can swap your shopping about, until you are on budget (whatever level you choose for each product) then check out.

You will not be tempted then.

Save a little for bread and milk and then buy them when you are not hungry. But make sure you buy, when you can go and check out the YS whoopsies at the same time. Or when you buy your Aldi Super Six or when you buy the Lidl half price weekend offers.

My meals are: Shep pie, Spag bolognaise, casserole, curry, omelettes, eggs, chips and beans, Most of these you can pad out with vegetables. I do, much healthier and veggies readily disguised for the kids. Make use of all Aldi Super Six offers chop and freeze if need to and then just as and when stuff needs padding out.

Good luck with it. It is hard but once you have seen a few strategies work, you will be hooked and looking for more ways of saving money. Lol,

ash28

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

How do you manage to get 12 portions from a single pack of mince? I can just about stretch it to 8 portions if I add plenty of veggies, e.g. onions, peppers, mushrooms, beans in spag bol/chilli type meals and onions, carrots, peas & swede in shepherds pies, to bulk it out.

I don't see any of those on your list, apart from a single(?) onion plus a tin of beans and a tin of sweetcorn. I assume these are to be shared across the 3x4 portion meals too?

Any veg to go with toad-in-hole?

Apologies if I sound critical but I really don't think there's enough food to feed people adequately in that list. I'm not talking from a health perspective either (it's clearly not a healthy diet) but I think it would even struggle to satisfy basic hunger

With a bolognese or rich ragu sauce you should cook your pasta, drain it, put the pasta back into the pan and put the sauce into the pasta - the pasta ideally wouldn't be spaghetti - but a ribbon pasta or tagliatelle - the sauce should stick to the pasta. You shouldn't overload the pasta with sauce.

Don't forget in Italy a lot of pasta dishes are budget dishes and not served with huge amounts of meaty sauce.

500gms meat should comfortably serve 5/6 adults and for each adult you would use 100 to 150gms pasta - depending on their appetite.

debtmess

Just having a play about on Mr T.
Will update my ideas at a later point (hopefully today) of our plan for 15th Feb-14th March! Admittedly I will have some bits n bibs left in but this will be all but a complete Ida's for my household of 5

~Chameleon~

ash28 wrote: »

With a bolognese or rich ragu sauce you should cook your pasta, drain it, put the pasta back into the pan and put the sauce into the pasta - the pasta ideally wouldn't be spaghetti - but a ribbon pasta or tagliatelle - the sauce should stick to the pasta. You shouldn't overload the pasta with sauce.

Don't forget in Italy a lot of pasta dishes are budget dishes and not served with huge amounts of meaty sauce.

500gms meat should comfortably serve 5/6 adults and for each adult you would use 100 to 150gms pasta - depending on their appetite.

I completely agree with this and it's how I make my own ragu/pasta dishes and I do manage to make 8 comfortable adult sized portions from a (750g) pack. But the OP is claiming to get 12 portions from a pack of mince which makes it a little over 60g per portion, just half that which you recommend

karren

i never ever buy ragu etc now i use passata as its 29p and so far no complaints, and no added extras by manufactures ie oil and addatives x

~Chameleon~

karren wrote: »

i never ever buy ragu etc now i use passata as its 29p and so far no complaints, and no added extras by manufactures ie oil and addatives x

Ragu is the name of a meat-based pasta sauce