£12.50 per week - healthy menu ideas for 2 + 1 please :-)

lizzyshep

Hi everyone. I'm looking for some advice please.

I had a baby last year and am no longer receiving maternity pay, so we are surviving on one salary until I go back to work in June (even then I will only be doing 2 days a week, so money is still tight). We stupidly weren't careful before now, so we have found ourselves in a situation where we have very little money at all!

I have started to read the £7 per week menu ideas and was inspired to ask for help here. I was really impressed at the effort forum members went to for help, but I don't think we can use some of the menus because we really need something healthier, i.e. that uses a lot more fresh fruit and veg. It also needs to be something our baby can eat - though he eats pretty much everything, just no salt, shellfish, liver etc.

Ideally we would spend a maximum of £50 a month on food, i.e. £12.50 a week. I don't have much time to cook, so am looking for quick meals/easy meals that I can bung in the oven and forget about. I have a slow cooker which I never use because I haven't managed to make anything that tastes nice, and a breadmaker which I do use when I get round to it. I also like to bake biscuits, cakes etc when I have time. We have a well stocked larder and freezer, and we are more than happy to eat veggie food regularly. Ethics are important to us, so we only eat free range eggs, and we get our poultry and pork delivered from Ocado (we get the cheapest Essentials range, and always go for the cheaper cuts). We have local Halal butchers for beef and lamb, and an Asda or Lidl for other food (we love Lidl!).

Apologies if menu plans etc have already been given elsewhere, I will browse the site further but it's difficult when you have a 9 month old following you everywhere

Oh, and I know there was some doubt about whether the OP was genuine in the thread I have mentioned - I promise I am genuine and very grateful for any help!

HappyMJ

You can't do cheap and be healthy. You need to find more money.....especially if you only want to buy free range eggs and chicken...in fact any meat will exceed your budget in one go. If you assume £7 a kilo for ethical free range organic meat (not free range and not organic can be purchased for about £5 a kilo) and 100 grams of meat per person per day then you'll need 6kg per month between 2 people which is £42 a month just for meat.

Rainbow82

Does the 12.50 need to include formula or nappies?

Peggybabcot

Hello we've been in the same situation as you a long time ago now but remember how hard it was. What about things like homemade soup (in the slow cooker) and bread, jacket potatoes, beans on toast, vegetable pasta bakes, homemade pizzas and salad, a whole roast chicken in this house (family of 4) will do two lots of soup and three dinners (a roast, a pie and then a chicken fried rice) we also stretch 500g of mince to 8 portions with adding veg, veg and more veg and serve with things like dumplings to pad it out further. Batch cooking would help you too time wise but also make it go further because if like us once we cook it we usually ate it or threw it away any leftovers but now I specifically aim to make double quantities and freeze half. I'm still a novice at this but someone more experienced will be along to offer more advice soon no doubt. Good luck x

babyblooz

If you have a garden then stick a few spuds in, the ones that have started to go sprouty, then in a few months you should have a few nice big spuds that will go towards a meal or two. It doesnt take much more than sticking them in the ground and chucking the soil around them as they grow. Google frugal living and see what comes up.

Green bean plants grow really well and gardeners often have spare seedlings to give away. Might be worth a try. Lettuce will grow really easily and can be grown in the throw away plastic boxes that mushrooms come in, so you don't need to shell out for special pots.

Mung beans can be sprouted on the windowsill and are very nutritious and littlies like to watch them develop. You only need jam jars for that.

Good luck with it all!

teagan1966

hi
i just wondered if you are getting any extra help , like tax credits as i like to budget , but 12,50 is not much at all just a thought ,mite help you a little bit ?
teagan

lizzyshep

Thanks everyone for the speedy replies!

HappyMJ, I don't know if you misread my post, but we don't buy free range organic meat, as much as we would love to :-) We buy free range eggs, but our meat is the Waitrose Essentials range which we bulk buy from Ocado. I just can't bring myself to buy the very cheap stuff, I would rather not eat it at all. The Essentials range is reasonably priced, especially if you get the cheaper cuts, and I'm happy with the welfare standards - not as high as free range organic, but not cruel IMO. Also, we don't eat meat every day, just once or twice a week.

Rainbow, we breastfeed and use cloth nappies, so no expenses there fortunately.

Peggy, some good ideas, thank you. It's good to know someone else has been in a similar situation and found ways to manage.

Babyblooz, we do have a garden and funnily enough, have recently been thinking about growing our own - it's something I've always wanted to do. We only moved here in April last year (a month before the baby came!), and I was going to wait until we had time to do it properly - I didn't realise it would be as easy as you said! I will give it a go.

Teagan, we get child benefit but no tax credits at the moment, because I was working full time before I went on maternity leave. I think they review it in April, so I might get some then, when I tell them my new hours, I'm not sure though.

I do realise £12.50 is very little to budget, especially with food prices as they are - it was the £7 a week thread that made me wonder if it could be done. I know we're not poor, we are lucky that we have some money, it's just that things are tighter than usual at the moment and we need to find ways to cut back.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, very helpful so far. I look forward to reading any more that people have time to post :-)

Rowan9

Home made soup as another poster suggested
look in M0rrisons at their reduced veg and fruit basket as they often have bags of apples for 60p or so, not huge reductions but their stuff usually lasts. They also have 2nds or something like that, of bags of carrots, potatoes sometimes in the same bit.
Frozen fruit in Tesco - basics range - think someone here suggested that before. Good to add to porridge or muesli
Lidl is good for food. Read reviews. I know you prefer free range meat - their FR chickens are about £6 so you could buy one occasionally and get lots of meals from it.
Pasta and sauces.
Sprout beans for nutrition - there's a thread somewhere about it. One of the posters, kittie, has loads of knowledge of sprouting technique.
Buy what's in season, fruit and veg-wise.
Good luck
W

frosty

I think you need to make a list of what's in your cupboards and freezer,then you can see what meals can be made.The £12 could then be used to buy fruit,veg,bread and milk ect.I know its hard to find the time with a little one.if you post it on here I am sure lots of people would love to help you.

SailorSam

Op i wondered why if you're still not due to go back to work until the Summer, you're finding it hard to find the time to prepare meals. You really need to dig out the slowcooker and breadmaker you're going to save lots and get economical and nutritious meals with only a few hours work.

lizzyshep

Thanks all :-)

WMF, some more good ideas. Unfortunately we don't have a Morrisons or Tesco nearby, but Lidl and Asda are pretty cheap. I'll check out the value range and stuff in season.

Frosty, we have the usual stores (flour, eggs, pulses etc), I'll try to find time to make a list

SailorSam, the reason I have trouble finding time to prepare meals is because I'm taking care of a baby :-)