Feed a family of four for £20 a week challenge

nursemaggie

The sauces I was talking about were things like cheese sauce and white sauce. I have never put Worcestershire sauce in Bolognese.

I would not think you would need 100g of soya protein for only two people remember it is dried.

charmed1318

Quick question...TVP stands for..?
Thanks

evie451

Love this thread but normally just lurk, charmed 1318 TVP is textured vegetable protein
I think the long name sounds a bit better than the acronym!

Girlafraid

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.

Thanks for all that advice, i do do all those things, the boyf will eat it all happily, i am too fussy, dont like spices, or onions etc, it is really frustrating cos its all the good cheap stuff. and eat nuts? are you kidding me? have you seen the price of them lately? they are a item i day dream about often. haha,
as for those that said give up veganism til you have more money, I have considered that and i'm not full vegan yet, (do have quorn occassionally if its on half price offer, and cheese) but I really really want to be, I can no longer be part of the cruelty. :-( but i do have to consider my health too. I dont get much protein as it is, most meals are usually carbs and frozen veg, no 'protein or meat replacement' item, they have to be treats nowdays.
and asda do deliver to me, but i have done basket comparisons through mysupermarket thingy (cant remember exactly what it is called) and ASda ALWAYS comes out at least £15 more and loads of items missing. I think they are good if you are buying brands, but for people right up against the wall like me, they do not cut the mustard.
just fiddling with my tesco order now actually, should not have looked at my lovely Mary Mccartney cook book, cos now i want salads and cheese. *arghh*

Girlafraid

Oh, and this sounds really mad, (possibly because it is, so feel free to laugh or tell me off) but.. I HATE tinned tomatoes, hate hot tomato full stop, its so weird, i used to like it but ive gone right off the stuff in the last few years (to the point where i will retch if its in my meal and then pick it all out in disgust) tomato puree i can take but actual tomato pieces, warm urghh NO WAY.

gayleygoo

Girlafraid, would you consider eating eggs if you could find some that come from happy hens? A friend of mine was a vegan for many years, but her health suffered due to a poor diet, and she started getting eggs from a local man who just has chickens running about his smallholding. They are free range, cruelty-free and cheap (£2 for 18 eggs). In future if you are financially able, you could consider rescuing some ex-battery hens, giving them a happy retirement and enjoying the occasional eggs they still lay!

tessie_bear

i like to have food in in the shape of a store cupboard....esp in the winter with the thought of snow and not being able to easily go out shopping...i tend to buy in the autumn and run it all down in the late spring

made marmalade today not sure it is cheaper than the shop bought but much nicer....saw somewhere that milk eggs and chicken prices have been reduced by the shops so might be worth planning a few meals around them

tessie_bear

sorry forgot to say about the stock cupboard if you are close to a lidl i buy the half price weekend offers such as cous cous/spaghetti/pasta sauce/rice to put in the cuoboard for later use

NewShadow

nursemaggie wrote: »

The sauces I was talking about were things like cheese sauce and white sauce. I have never put Worcestershire sauce in Bolognese.

I would not think you would need 100g of soya protein for only two people remember it is dried.

I think the recipie is for 4 - I've thrown the bag now so can't check, but yes - I use 1/5th of a bag (half and half with lentils) to do 5 meals and it's pleasantly 'mincey'.

For vegan white sauces you can use non-dairy milks - Soy/ Almond/ Rice.

Problem is that they tend to be more expensive unless you make your own (http://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2013/09/dairy-alternative-homemade-rice-milk-2/)

Girlafraid

gayleygoo wrote: »

Girlafraid, would you consider eating eggs if you could find some that come from happy hens? A friend of mine was a vegan for many years, but her health suffered due to a poor diet, and she started getting eggs from a local man who just has chickens running about his smallholding. They are free range, cruelty-free and cheap (£2 for 18 eggs). In future if you are financially able, you could consider rescuing some ex-battery hens, giving them a happy retirement and enjoying the occasional eggs they still lay!

Yeah, i dont have an issue with eggs, if they are as you say 'happy hens' (genuine free range ones that dont get murdered for any reason) my local bus route driver has these kind and he furnishes me with eggs in the spring/summer, they are £3 for 12, which is a bit steep but they are usually huge and delicious and i know im not contributing to cruelty, (i have l2 off him every 6 weeks or so and ration them out) those ones you know of, wow.. he is giving those away.
and yep we have pet ducks as it is, but they dont really lay much anymore, bless em. couldnt get hens, awkward living situation with inlaws, who really dont want any more animals (even though it'd be me doing all the mucking out etc) and a big fox/pole cat population round here so they would have to have a large mobile aviary, like my ducks do. just cant afford any more expenditure right now. bad enough im up for £75 for some new steel barrels with lids for feed bins as the rats are getting in that building now and i cant keep them out. *gah, long story*