Feed a family of four for £20 a week challenge

Butterfly_Brain

I am another who has a really good stock cupboard especially with the Tories and their cuts.
I do need to run down my stock a little, because I want to replace a lot of it with new, but I go into a cold sweat just thinking about it.
Building up a stock cupboard can be as cheap or expensive as you like.

£2 a week would get you

12.5 kgs potatoes in Morrisons

or

a bag rice 40p
a pck of spaghetti 20p
a box tea bags 27p
a tin tuna chunks in brine 62p
a tin chopped tomatoes 31p

£1.80
or
1 bag sr flour 45p
1 bag plain flour 45p
1 bag sugar 59p
1 pack stock cubes 39p
£1.88

So in two weeks you have spent £3.68 and have the making of a stock cupboard

You can get 100g Lyons coffee in poundland
Plus tins beef, ham, Princes pies but be careful and see if they are cheaper elsewhere first.

happy35

I eat quite a few vegan things, am not a vegan but I like this type of food

However if you are not eating pulses are you eating nuts for protein? Although I love nuts they are much more expensive than pulses - I tend to stick to lentils and chickpeas as find these the easiest to put in everything

I like pasta, olives cucumber, tomatoes and onion all mixed together with a splash of oil and basil (grown on window sill).

Veggie curry, 1 sweet potato could be ordinary potato, 1 carrot, onion, frozen green beans and peas with half a tin of tomatoes, I use a mix of spices but could use just curry powder or garam masala to cut costs. I also sometimes change this into a biryani by adding the rice and some sultanas and cooking all together

I like Ainsley Harriott couscous padded out wiht either salad or veg and chickpeas although know you wnated no pulses but they provide protein- I find this is enough for twice for me and the couscous was only 50p at Asda.

I like the a girl called jack beanburgers and are very cheap

I also make a lot of soups, carrot and coriander, spicy parsnip, tomato and lentil soup using 1 tin of tomatoes

Also a tomato sauce with pasta using onion, garlic tomato puree, tin of tomatoes and dried/fresh herbs

Mushroom risotto is also nice and cheap and you could use basics rice

If you are havng a delivery Asda are quite good for frozen veg, offers on fruit and veg at the moment and they had lots of offers on when I was instore.

I lived this way for quite a long time about 17 years ago, I used to base all my meals around cheap rice, cheap pasta, potatoes and mostly frozen veg unless they were basics like onions and carrots etc. I only bought the basics of fruit as veg is usually cheaper. Yes is can be repetitve but we did survive, i think I had about 10 or 12 things I could make with a fairly basic shop and just used to rotate them.

happy35

I would maybe rethink the try being vegan until you have a bigger budget, you could still be a vegetarian and at least you would then be able to get cheap youghurt, milk and quorn if you like it on offer so would be getting protein.

Although I like bread and jam it is not healthy long term, you need things from the other food groups to stay healthy

skintmum2012

happy35 wrote: »

I eat quite a few vegan things, am not a vegan but I like this type of food

However if you are not eating pulses are you eating nuts for protein? Although I love nuts they are much more expensive than pulses - I tend to stick to lentils and chickpeas as find these the easiest to put in everything

I like pasta, olives cucumber, tomatoes and onion all mixed together with a splash of oil and basil (grown on window sill).

Veggie curry, 1 sweet potato could be ordinary potato, 1 carrot, onion, frozen green beans and peas with half a tin of tomatoes, I use a mix of spices but could use just curry powder or garam masala to cut costs. I also sometimes change this into a biryani by adding the rice and some sultanas and cooking all together

I like Ainsley Harriott couscous padded out wiht either salad or veg and chickpeas although know you wnated no pulses but they provide protein- I find this is enough for twice for me and the couscous was only 50p at Asda.

I like the a girl called jack beanburgers and are very cheap

I also make a lot of soups, carrot and coriander, spicy parsnip, tomato and lentil soup using 1 tin of tomatoes

Also a tomato sauce with pasta using onion, garlic tomato puree, tin of tomatoes and dried/fresh herbs

Mushroom risotto is also nice and cheap and you could use basics rice

If you are havng a delivery Asda are quite good for frozen veg, offers on fruit and veg at the moment and they had lots of offers on when I was instore.

I lived this way for quite a long time about 17 years ago, I used to base all my meals around cheap rice, cheap pasta, potatoes and mostly frozen veg unless they were basics like onions and carrots etc. I only bought the basics of fruit as veg is usually cheaper. Yes is can be repetitve but we did survive, i think I had about 10 or 12 things I could make with a fairly basic shop and just used to rotate them.

How do you make mushroom risotto please I have mushrooms I need to use up

Bobarella

New Shadow - I suppose I have never seen the point to stores. Before. I live within walking distance of food 24/7 pretty much. And I just never saw the point in keeping an abundance at home. It is only now that we are trying to pay down debt that I have embraced a tighter budget & pushed my food bill down by £60 a month since we began. Now spending £200 per month instead of £260.
If I lived in the countryside or not as close to facilities I could see the point more but as things stand I shop as and when use what I have then buy more.

NewShadow

Correct me if i'm wrong, but the chilli I posted is vegan if you omit or sub the beef stock powder?

Or do you not like dried soy mince either?

I know you don't like lentils, but you really can't tell they're lentils in this - mixed with the TVP (which is vegan to the best of my search ability), it's just the same texture as 'normal' chilli. Or you could leave them out - they just add some texture and protein. Grated carrot works as well.

The soy mince is 1.90 for 375g (and that means I mis-measured above as I use 1/5 of a packet for 5 servings).

The slow cooker full I made today will easily do 5 meals - I could bulk it to do more but my freezers full already :rotfl: - And it'll really fill you up.

Nutritionally its not bad for you. 100g cooked contains:

• Energy - 413kJ (98kcal)
• Protein - 14.9g
• Carbohydrate - 7.0g
• Sugars - 2.2g
• Fat - 0.2g
• Saturates - 0.1g
• Fibre - 4.3g
• Salt - 0.1g

And its very flexible to cook with. the packet comes with a Bolognese recipe that looks easily veganable, just need a Worcestershire substitute:

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
500g mushrooms, sliced
1½ tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp sundried tomato paste
2x400g can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
100g Tesco Soya Mince
200ml vegetable stock
freshly ground black pepper

Method:
1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, over a low heat and then add the
onion, garlic and mushrooms. Gently fry for 3-5 minutes until the onion has
softened.
2. Add the oregano, sundried tomato paste, chopped tomatoes and Worchester
sauce to the saucepan, stir well and simmer for a further 3 minutes, stirring
regularly.
3. Stir in the soya mince and vegetable stock, simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Season to taste and serve immediately.

I'd cook that (I basically did today), then turn the leftovers it into chilli (do you like baked beans?)

Then turn it into nachos the day after - Sweetchili doritos were vegan last time I checked.

And knowing me, I'd make whats left into a vegetable lasagne (not sure about vegan white sauces)

Alternatively it would make a nice cottage pie, Or you could rehydrate it and make burgers/ meatballs/ sausages.

Obviously completely disregard this post if you don't like any soy produce (not just soy milk) :cool:

NewShadow

Bobarella wrote: »

New Shadow - I suppose I have never seen the point to stores. Before. I live within walking distance of food 24/7 pretty much. And I just never saw the point in keeping an abundance at home. It is only now that we are trying to pay down debt that I have embraced a tighter budget & pushed my food bill down by £60 a month since we began. Now spending £200 per month instead of £260.
If I lived in the countryside or not as close to facilities I could see the point more but as things stand I shop as and when use what I have then buy more.

Hmm... I understand. I'm not sure how I got so hung up on having stuff in.

Partly I think it was my grandmother - always sending me away with 'red cross parcels' of staples - tins of veg, oxo, oats. And the ever present packs of custard creams

She actually taught me to 'cook' my first meal - Irish stew. It went something like this:

• 1 tin stewed steak
• 1 tin carrots
• 1 tin peas
• 1 tin potatoes
• 2 beef oxo

All in the pan, with the water from the tins, simmer for 20 minutes. Serve with sliced white bread and lurpack. :rotfl:

It could also have been supporting my ex while I was a student, or while we were both unemployed (6 months for me), or while I did my apprenticeship. I was crippling afraid of getting fired for years.

But I think it's always been a habit - I love to cook, but I hate to shop, so I need enough stuff in my freezer and stores to cook whatever I want without having to go out.

I was the friend at uni, that when your money ran out, you turned up at meal times and got fed - at one point I was regally cooking for 12

nursemaggie

Girlafraid I would give up the idea of being vegan if you can't force yourself to eat pulses. My DS won't eat pulses but you can use baked beans and you can drain them if you do not want the sauce. I find my DS will eat baked beans and peas. Both are high in Protein. I am not trying to be rude or nasty about being a fussy eater but there is fussy and really really fussy. You could be headed towards a disease usually only found in the very poorest populations in the world (beriberi) a gross shortage of b vitamins.

Please try using a vegan website where they will help you see the minimum you need. Soya in some form or another is necessary. Don't buy it in processed food . It will be a lot more expensive.

I hope you are feeling a lot better Butterfly Brain.

There is another reason for having low stocks that is a microscopic kitchen. If your whole house or flat is very, very small there is just no where to store anything. The bedroom tax had led a lot of people to be in this position.

TVP makes a lovely lasagne but not sure what you make the sauce out of.

Caterina

NewShadow wrote: »

......

And its very flexible to cook with. the packet comes with a Bolognese recipe that looks easily veganable, just need a Worcestershire substitute:

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
500g mushrooms, sliced
1½ tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp sundried tomato paste
2x400g can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
100g Tesco Soya Mince
200ml vegetable stock
freshly ground black pepper

Method:
1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, over a low heat and then add the
onion, garlic and mushrooms. Gently fry for 3-5 minutes until the onion has
softened.
2. Add the oregano, sundried tomato paste, chopped tomatoes and Worchester
sauce to the saucepan, stir well and simmer for a further 3 minutes, stirring
regularly.
3. Stir in the soya mince and vegetable stock, simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Season to taste and serve immediately.

....

Here's a vegan alternative to Worcestershire Sauce, widely available in Yorkshire but can be also ordered online:

http://www.hendersonsrelish.com/home.htm

I am visiting family in Yorkshire in February and will be stocking up!

Effyb4

Mushroom ketchup is also vegan and very similar to Worcestershire sauce. It is widely available in supermarkets.