Feed A Family Of Four Only £29.99 Week All In !

Herbaholic

the_cat wrote: »

Basically poor mans mousse is made by making up as per packet instructions 1 jelly of any flavour, allowing to cool and adding a large tin of whisked evaporated milk.
Set it in fridge overnight. Makes 8 individual mousses.

Ohhh that takes me back, twas one of the first things they taught me to make in home economics at school (that gives away my age lol), I recall making one with a raspberry jelly and a chopped tin of peaches in it, when we got home we put some raspberry syrup on it and a squirt of swirly cream and it was delish! Guess I'll be making that for pudding soon, thanks for the memories Cat :T

dlb

Hiya all. Have been reading this thread with interest, thought id show you my meal plan for this week, there are 4 kids, 2 adults.

Main meals..

Monday-Pork steaks,Hm chips,Sweetcorn GravyPork bought from Lidl with 30% off, alot of their meat has 30% off.Tinned sweetcorn,bulk meal out with a bread cob (25p fro 12 Lidl)
Tuesday-Shep pie,veg and yorkshires.(£1.99 steak mince,my kids are fussy and dont like musrooms or onions in theirs, so i make individually pies, and put onions and musrooms on base of adults pies.
Wed-Hm pizza and hm chips, garlic herby mayo.My favourite,dough made in breadmaker and toppings of choice again allowing for fussy eaters.
Thursady-Mash Sausage,vegTescos value 49p sausage
Fri-Jacket spuds,cheese and pasta saladPasta salad mixed with mayo sweetcorn and onions, then leftovers taken in luchboxes next day
Sat-Spag BogAgain make 2 batches of this one with onions ect for adults one without for kids,sometimes make hm galic bread to go with this
Sun-Turkey roast with full trimmings.Turkey joint at lidl normally £4.99, but have never been in yet with out one having 30% off, and stock up when they are, these are great no bone loads of meat and have meat left for sandwiches

Lunches
Pack ups of sandwiches,1 piece of fruit,yogurt,one biscuit, one piece of hm cake.Juice and cup a soups.I only buy 2 packs of biscuits a week mainly the ones on offer, 15 for 99p, i then count out the biscuits and crisps i need to complete pack ups for week and hide them, anything thats left can be had as treats.Cup a soups 50p for 8

Extras-
Stardrops -All cleaning done with thisI wash pots, clean floors toilets windows everything, make up a spray bottle with diluited and use neat for other things about 69p a bottle last me about 2 weeks.
Toilet rollsCheapest possible

I have 4 different meal plans that i mix and match and manage most weeks to shop for £50, sometimes less sometimes more if i need store cupboard items.

I am loving everyones new cheap meal idea, and i am hoping to make 5 weekly meal plan from some of your ideas keep them coming.
Donna

Yategirl

we sometimes have a roast chicken dinner - leftover meat can then be made into a curry or eaten with bubble&squeak (so using any leftover veg) or made into a chicken and vegetable pie. The bones are then used to make soup either for lunches or for a main meal at the weekend with HM bread rolls and a pudding.

another thing.. I will buy a whole chicken rather than chicken breasts for a curry... I then take the raw meat off the chicken and I can make that into 3 meals - so meat for curry / meat for a stirfry for example, plus the legs and any extra bits can go into a stew .. i can still use the bones for soup. So a £3-4 chicken is MUCH cheaper than a pack of chicken breasts! You can freeze the meat so you don't have to eat chicken all week!

MrsBartolozzi

Well done on all your menu lists guys, it has given me lots to think about.
CTC in your price list you have 2 lots of 6 pts of milk one at the top and one at the bottom of the list. If you only had 1 pack in mind you then have £1.72 to spend on the missing lunches.

Milk is I think one of the expensive things on my list - if you have 2 kids - 1pt each per day as per guidelines ( and mine like to drink it anyway) = more than £4 on milk per week including a couple of pints for adult's cereal/tea/coffee. and £4 is a big slice of the £30 budget.
My lot are big eaters too, a chicken never does more than 2 meals and the next day's curry with leftovers usually needs more meat/ veg to thicken it out. DS1 is nearly 15 and if he doesn't get enough protein at a meal (if I bulk it out with lentils/veg/pasta/potatoes) he is hungry soon after and eats even more soon after so it seems like false economy. (He is 6'2" and still growing so maybe I shouldn't be too hard on him, poor soul!)
I am trying to compile a £70 for 2 weeks menu plan which seems to me a little more sustainable, with scope for variety. If I can get it to work I will share it here. Keep the ideas coming, I am sure we can all get our shopping budgets down.
MrsB.

Kelsi-Blu

Thanks Cathy will have to try that!

Kelsi-Blu

dlb,
I too have 4 children, one of which is extremely FUSSY!
thanks for the tips.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

hi.. mrs bartolozzi.......yes i did mean 2 lots of 6 pints of milk.....as half way through the meal plan i thought that 6 pints may not be enough for the 7 x 4 lots of breakfasts....plus there would have been scope for bread and butter pudding etc if there was spare bread and milk left....

i know for def. that i could never do a weekly shop for £29.99 as i dont use supermarkets.. plus my 2 kids age 11 and 12 eat as much as mu hubby for its more or less like fedding 4 adults in our house....and all of us are big meat eaters.......

MrsBartolozzi

As I mentioned in a previous post, I had a go at making a menu to feed four people for £35 a week. I found it easier, and to avoid too much repetition to work on a £70 budget for 2 weeks, and I have hopefully achieved this. I have assumed that you would have herbs and spices, some soy sauce etc in the storecupboard, and there is a little left over for, albeit minimal, restocking of these. My family like varied and spiced food, so this may not please everyone, and is aimed to give ideas rather than be firm and fast.
I have used both Tesco and Lidl for the shopping list, but I am aware that the local greengrocers will offer cheaper and fresher fruit and veg, and there may be greater savings to be made there too. To avoid this becoming too much of an essay here is the menu:

MENU
Numbers refer to recipes posted later if anyone would like me to.

1 MON – Roast chicken breasts, potatoes, veg, Yorkshires
2TUES - Spaghetti Bolognaise and salad
3WED - Galette
4THURS – sausages, egg, beans, hm chips/wedges and veg
5FRI – chicken and veg curry, rice, nan, raita
6SAT, lunch – HM veg soup and sandwiches
7 Dinner – chicken fajitas and nachos
8SUN lunch bacon and egg rolls with salad
9Dinner – beef roast/stew, potatoes, veg, Yorkshires
10MON – Tuna and cheese pasta bake, crusty bread, salad
11TUES – chilli con carne and rice and veg
12WED – Thai coconut fish, rice, salad/veg
13THURS – Baked potatoes and cheese/tuna/leftover portions curry/chilli/bolog
14FRI - chicken breasts roasted with lemon, garlic and stirfry veg and noodles
15SAT – lunch HM soup, sandwiches
16Dinner HM Pizza with pepperoni, peppers, mushrooms, onion and garlic bread, salad
17SUN – omelette/ scrambled eggs with ham cheese/ salad
18Dinner cottage pie, veg

Lunches through the week are packed lunches consisting of
Ham or cheese or corned beef and salad sandwiches (or other fillings eg egg if left over)
Yoghurt
HM cake – flapjack/bun/scone etc
2 pieces of fruit – your choice
Drink diluted squash

Breakfast
Toast and spread/Tesco weetabix and milk/Porridge and dried fruit
And small glass orange juice

MrsBartolozzi

SHOPPING LIST
Tesco 4 Homebake Half Baguettes 1.05

1 Sharwoods Fine Egg Thread Noodles 375g 0.99
1 Tesco Romaine Lettuce Each 0.44
2 Tesco Value Baked Beans In Tomt/Sauce 420g 0.34
1 Brisket Slow Roast Medium 3.00
2 Tesco Pasteurised Semi-Skimmed Milk 2.272 Ltr 2.30
2 Tesco Healthy Eating Semi- Skimmed Milk 3.408ltr/6 Pints 3.36
1 Cucumber Whole Each 0.62
1 Tesco Value Cherry Tomatoes 250g 0.55
1 Tesco Value Tomatoes 500g 0.59
1 Tesco No Added Sugar Apple Blackcurrant Squash 3 Ltr 1.48
2 Satsumas Pack 2.88
1 Value Pears Pack 0.99
2 Value Bananas 1.25kg 1.68
3 Value Apple Bag 2.58
1 Tesco Mozzarella Grated 250g 0.98
1 Tesco Value Mild White Cheese Medium 2.00
1 Tesco Value Tortilla Chips 100g 0.19
1 Tesco Value Pasta Quills 500g 0.19
1 Tesco Value Back Bacon 250g 0.93
1 Tesco Value Spaghetti 500g 0.16
1 Great Scot Vegetable Broth Mix 500g 0.39
1 Tesco Carrots Value Pack 1.5kgclass 2 0.89
1 Tesco Value Corned Beef 250g 0.71
2 Tesco Value Tuna Chunks In Brine 185g 0.58
10 Tesco Value Low Fat Yogurt 4x125g 2.90
1 Tesco Healthy Living Wheat Biscuits 48's 1.77
4 Tesco Value Orange Juice 1 Litre Carton 2.32
6 Tesco Value Sliced White Bread 800g 1.68
1 Tesco Value Plain Flour 1.5kg 0.31
1 Tesco Broccoli Florets 1kg 0.98
1 Tesco Garden Peas 1.2kg 1.10
1 Tesco Value Eggs Minimum Weight Box Of 15 1.00
1 Tesco Value Natural Yogurt 500g 0.38
1 Tesco Value Long Grain Rice 1kg 0.49
250g Loose Closed Cup Mushrooms 0.68
1 Tesco Value Peppers 700g 1.48
1 Tesco Value Onions 2 Kg 0.80
1 Loose Garlic Each Class 1 0.20
1 Tesco Tomato Puree Tube 200g 0.24
5 Tesco Value Plum Tomatoes 400g 0.95
1 Tesco Minced Beef 1.75kg 3.13
1 Tesco Healthy Living Skinless Chicken Breast Fillets 1kg 3.97
pepperoni from deli counter sliced thinly 0.50
1 Tesco cabbage white 0.60
Guide price £54.86

Lidl
Bread flour 0.49
Wraps 0.59
8x frozen chick breasts 3.99
salsa 0.49
frozen fish fillets approx 3.50
lidl total £9.06
combined total 63.94

leaving about £6 for extra veggies/fruit as needed, also biscuits, choc, and replenishing of tea/coffee/herbs etc
There will also be some flour, rice, noodles left over for the following week. My lot are not really pudding people but there is scope within the menu for jelly and fruit, pancakes, and other home baking. Any extra fruit could be made into a crumble for instance.
Hopefully I have not missed anything out, and I would be happy to hear your comments.

MrsB.

Hardup_Hester

Hi
This sounds great Mrs Bartolozzi, I'll try your plan the first week in June, we have half term next week, so the lodger won't be here. I'll let you know how I get on