Prue Leith in the Daily Mail - £50 a week menu

Popperwell

QT,
I am eating better and a larger variety of foods but it is time I started eating porridge and rice again;)oh and custard too... You know it has been ages since I ate a dessert or ice cream after my main course...

I know who to contact if my supplies run short:)

I think that I could adapt quite a lot of Prue's recipes for myself too Hunters. I'm pleased that cooking has never been a problem as a single bloke. Whether cooking from scratch or adapting ingredients so they make a meal. To me there are basic rules that don't change that much.

I don't remember being taught to cook or knowingly being observant but I guess it did get into my brain. In the end I seemed to take over the kitchen.

Patchwork_Quilt

This was an interesting read. However, I cannot imagine giving soup to children for lunch. Just soup. What are they supposed to live on? I'm glad her tester added a bread roll. What I did like was the lack of crisps/biscuits/yoghurts that are so easy to bung into a lunch box - I've done it myself. I think Leith has been quite brave and offered a starting point to inspire people who cannot see how it is possible.

ash28

Popperwell wrote: »

One company said on average we spend an extra £27 to what we originally intend but then it turns out they deliver boxes of ingredients and a recipe plan and a box of 3 meals for two comes to...£36.

I went to the supermarket twice this weekend.

Once for bread, milk, rolls and ham - cost at the checkout £22!

Yesterday I wanted to make chilli jam - needed a red pepper, a bottle of cider vinegar, a couple of red chillis and some jam sugar - cost at the check out £16!

The best of it is I can't even remember what it was I bought extra on Saturday and yesterday I bought reduced custard tarts, reduced rocky road desserts, a pack of reduced price ham, a pack of stringless beans and milk- and obviously some other stuff, the names of which escapes me at the moment....

The bits and pieces I wanted over the 2 days should probably have come to no more than £11 or £12 not the £38 I ended up spending.

And before you say take a list - I took a list both days......and don't ask me how far away the supermarket is ........

Popperwell

Ash,
I often look at what I come home with and cannot believe how little I seem to have. If I had to add the cost of travel to the SM even less. That includes using a bus, a taxi or running a car.

katieowl_2

meritaten wrote: »

I buy Aldi tuna - and it definately isnt 'mush'! unless you are buying Tuna 'flakes'? Even my nitpicking OH likes Aldi Tuna as it is so 'meaty'!

OK I'll check it out again! Thanks. Maybe I picked the flakes up???

Kate

quintwins

Pops it's a family joke if the world ended everyone would come here for food lol, saying that my kids can get threw stuff rightly, if we're all having pudding thats 2 tins of custard/rice and some fruit. Btw i always thought you were female, it's only recently you've started pointing out your male sorry


I do think this article is good, however i do spend £50 and i get alot more food and alot more fruit and milk into our diets, however i do think it's a good platform for sayings "look you can feed your family for less without living on burgers and chips, heres how, now try it yourself" her meal's won't suit everyone like many people have said a bowl of soup isn't enough for lunch (unless it's minestrone or you throw some rice or noddles into it and even then it's not really enough)

Even sticking to her meal plan there are ways to get it down, like a bag bag of frozen chicken portions (ok dearer the first week but will save money longer term) value custard powder, value honey ect, Saying that we'd never manage a week on 2 loaves of bread, value baps might have been a good idea for with the soup as they are 12 for 35p.

I buy my tuna from poundland, they do 3 tins for £1 (stock is hit and miss so i stock up when i see it) it's in brine so i pop it in the seive and run water threw it before mixing it with mayo and sweetcorn or popping into fishcakes. works out at 33p a tin.

Butterfly_Brain

I thought that the menu was pretty good, but I would have difficulty in my house regarding fish, DD is vegetarian and DH is not to keen on fish, but saying that he will eat my HM tuna fishcakes, but won't touch any shop bought ones.
Only me and DS are fish lovers, so it would defeat the object of a cheap meal. I do buy the Aldi Tuna Chunks at 57p a tin and they are great especially in sandwiches for DS and me.
I only shop weekly in Aldi, with a once a month visit to Asda or Tesco which is 4 miles away. I rarely use Sainsbury because they are too expensive and our nearest Waitrose is 8 miles away as is our nearest Marks and Spencer and again they are too expensive, so I rarely go to the last three.
I do use the market or our local greengrocer for fruit and veg and we have found a good local butcher, who is really helpful and you can get more varied cuts than in the supermarket.
I think that as in all menu plans you have to pick out what is suitable for your family, because only you know what they will and will not eat.
As for Rice pudding I make it on the hob and then pop in the oven with a couple of dobs of butter and plenty of nutmeg for 20 minutes. In fact I made one yesterday and it was wolfed down.

TattyG

Just made the fish pie as had fish in the freezer (freebie from grandparents who live in a fishing village!) I did add the teaspoon of mustard and I also added sweetcorn and it seems to have made plenty for 5 of us and it tastes yummy !! Think I will be doing this again.

I also use Aldi Tuna and the kids love it. I do a version of the fish pie with Tuna sometimes and the kids love that too.

As with anything like this, I pick and choose ideas and base them around my family - my shopping budget is still a quarter of my friends budget and I have an extra child too, so I guess I am doing ok x

quintwins

Ash have you tried working out the cost of what you need online before you go and only bringing cash? works well for me when i'm just topping up. Or i send hubby if it's just things like milk and bread and not a huge list, he does have a habit of buying expensive bread tho.

Justamum

hunters wrote: »

My mums home made rice pudding is horrible but don't tell her

My mum's is fantastic - mine is just not in her league