Constantly going over on the food budget, help needed...

NikkeiPositivity

DundeeDoll you've just given me a giggle with your pizza comment. The first day of this month's food plan was homemade pizza to be made by my oh and son (he's 8) It was a disaster!! Oh didn't follow the yeast instructions, he didn't leave the dough to kneed in the mixer for long enough and then the dough didn't rise. It took over three hours to make and it was the most horrendous pizza I've ever tasted but we ate it all as we didn't want to upset my son. So definitely a no to having time to make homemade pizza I definitely think batch cooking would be a way forward, especially as my workload is set to increase as I will be taking on some of the work of a colleague who leaves in two weeks. What kind of things do you tend to batch cook?

DundeeDoll

Re pizza when my children were small i used to give them each a pitta bread. I would fill little bowls with topping things and they would make their own pizza. Especially good since dd1 doesnt eat tomato so she'd skip the tomato puree. Like i say, if you aint got the time to start from scracth, cheat :-) batch cooking - bolognaise, chilli, chicken chasseur, risotto (it's amazing what you can freeze!), curry, beef stew, sweet and sour pork, coq au vin (i do it with chicken thighs cos oh doesnt like chicken on the bone), pork in ginger beer :P Things dont always make it to the freezer though. Eg we might make bolognaise with spag, then next night add a tin of kidney beans and chilli serve with rice then add some baked beans and top with mash for cottage pie. Any left can be used next day for jacket spud topping. Or i'll cook a pound of sausages then save some for devilled sausages next night. I have also discovered from this site the wonders of freezing pesto and double cream in ice cube trays.

FairyPrincessk

We spend about £150-160/month on food for two adults. I would say there are two major differences 1) we eat far less meat. 2) we shop at Aldi with a big 5 SM order once every 3-4 months.

I would guess that if you changed those two things, even just a little--say cut down to two packs each of the meats, half the sausages and switched to Aldi or Lidl that you'd be pretty easily making your target budget--with one caveat--you don't say how old your child is. If they're still in nappies/need baby milk etc. then that will be different. The only things I see on your list that I'm not sure you can get at Aldi are the mini pancakes, corned beef and stir fry veg. I'm fairly sure they do mini pancakes or something similar and they definitely have all of the stir fry veg--they just may not do them pre-packed.

If meat-free days aren't going to go down well, then I'd suggest you divide your packs of mince into smaller bags and freeze--use only half a bag for spag bol, chilli etc. add extra vegetables. You have enough protein in this list that you won't be causing problems by using less meat.

I'd also suggest, if you have time, try Aldi early on a weekend morning. It is calmer than other supermarkets, and I suspect Lidl may be the same. Once you've been a couple of times, you'll be in and out pretty quickly as they don't re-arrange things and their tills move fast.

Good luck!

scaredy_cat

perhaps try to do a food menu for 3 days at a time rather than a week. that way you don;'t get to the end and don't really fancy what you've put on the menu.

when i make a homemade pizza, i do a scone base.

sooty&sweep

Hi

Chicken breasts are very expensive. Could you try other bits of chicken or turkey breast ?

7_week_wonder

Hi Nikkei,

I posted this on another thread a few days ago - it's about how/what I batch cook. It might give you some ideas:

I batch cook pasta sauces (bolognaise, tomato and sausage, spicy tomato and bacon), stews, chicken tagine, veg curries etc and freeze them in two person portions (there’s just OH and me). PM me if you want any of the "recipes". I also make batches of mashed potato and freeze that in two person portions, but all the other sides/carbohydrates (rice, pasta, couscous, bulgar wheat) can cook in 10 minutes as soon as I get in. On a work day morning I decide what I’d like as my main and take that out of the freezer (that’s the hardest bit – remembering to take it out of the freezer!) if we want mash I get that out too. As soon as I get in at night the kettle goes on and I transfer the main to a saucepan and put it on the hob to heat through. Only then do I take my coat off! By the time the kettle has come to the boil I have weighed out the pasta/rice etc and I can give the main a stir. Boiling water goes into a pan, comes back to the boil and then I add the pasta or rice, put the lid on, bring it back to the boil turn the heat off and then let it cook in its own heat for 10 minutes. If I’m doing bulgar wheat or couscous I have it in a heat proof bowl, add a crumbled stock cube plus enough water to cover it, put a lid on the bowl (a side plate fits exactly!) and then let it stand for 10 minutes. Extra veggies can also be cooked in 10 minutes, but I usually have plenty already in the main. In those 10 minutes I check the main is thoroughly heated, set the table, warm the plates and (sometimes) pour a couple of glasses of wine!


And there you go – dinner 20 minutes after walking in!

NikkeiPositivity

sooty&sweep wrote: »

Hi

Chicken breasts are very expensive. Could you try other bits of chicken or turkey breast ?

I know it is! I remember the days I used to be able to get fresh chicken breasts in my budget, now I only ever buy frozen and only when they are half price. We tried buying the bag of mixed thighs, drumsticks and wings but I'm not a huge fan of chicken on the bone and there was barely any 'meat' on them either:(

NikkeiPositivity

7_week_wonder wrote: »

Hi Nikkei,

I posted this on another thread a few days ago - it's about how/what I batch cook. It might give you some ideas:

I batch cook pasta sauces (bolognaise, tomato and sausage, spicy tomato and bacon), stews, chicken tagine, veg curries etc and freeze them in two person portions (there’s just OH and me). PM me if you want any of the "recipes". I also make batches of mashed potato and freeze that in two person portions, but all the other sides/carbohydrates (rice, pasta, couscous, bulgar wheat) can cook in 10 minutes as soon as I get in. On a work day morning I decide what I’d like as my main and take that out of the freezer (that’s the hardest bit – remembering to take it out of the freezer!) if we want mash I get that out too. As soon as I get in at night the kettle goes on and I transfer the main to a saucepan and put it on the hob to heat through. Only then do I take my coat off! By the time the kettle has come to the boil I have weighed out the pasta/rice etc and I can give the main a stir. Boiling water goes into a pan, comes back to the boil and then I add the pasta or rice, put the lid on, bring it back to the boil turn the heat off and then let it cook in its own heat for 10 minutes. If I’m doing bulgar wheat or couscous I have it in a heat proof bowl, add a crumbled stock cube plus enough water to cover it, put a lid on the bowl (a side plate fits exactly!) and then let it stand for 10 minutes. Extra veggies can also be cooked in 10 minutes, but I usually have plenty already in the main. In those 10 minutes I check the main is thoroughly heated, set the table, warm the plates and (sometimes) pour a couple of glasses of wine!


And there you go – dinner 20 minutes after walking in!

SOLD!!!!! I would love some of your recipes if you don't mind sharing. I desperately want to get in control of this and even try and cut our budget a little more. In the words of my manager at work: don't work harder, work smarter, that's what I want our food budget to do!!!!!!

CurlyTop

I have to agree with all the other posters here in that meal planning is key.

We don't have a car anymore (not using it enough to justify it). I pull a trolley wherever I shop now. I meal plan for the month, spend a little over an hour with a cuppa tea and biccy and write out main meals for the month. Don't have to be eaten in order but at least I know when I get home I have the foodstuffs in to make what I fancy. Must explain as I have m.e. I don't always have the energy to go out and do full weekly shops, so do the main with my DH once a month and then top up as I go each week.

I tend to shop Aldi once a week for fresh and grocery stuffs, home bargains once a month for some tinned stuff, biscuits, toiletries, iceland once a month for my frozen food - they do a bag of chopped chicken ready to throw in stews, curries etc (sml £2.75 and large £5), I always half the chunks cos they are quite large. I used to go to my local butcher once a month and spend £40-50 but noticed his prices were creeping up (didn't do brisket and sold me dmc or something similar and it was £11 for a piece for 2 - felt embarrassed to refuse).

We eat fish a bit more - either twice or three times a week. I have a thing for fish counters (can't look at them, makes me baulk) so I go to Iceland and buy their frozen stuff - reasonably priced.

There are two of us and we spend about £200 per month. I keep a spreadsheet of where I've spent money and looking at it from 3 years ago when I started, we're living cheaper now than we were then. The big thing for us is Aldi. So much quicker a shop, lot gentler on the stress side - no-one wandering with a trolley like its a family day out, just bish bash bosh, in and out within 10-15mins.

Have you had a look at the grocery thread on here, some great tips to start you off: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4454261

Best of luck. Keep up the hard work, you're doing well. xx

calleyw

I live on my own and buy whole chickens and sling them in the slow cooker and then that means I have meat for a most of the week.

Cook the chicken in the evening and bung in in the fridge to use over the next few days cold with steamed veggies and gravy or salad etc.

Bulk cook mince with tomato sauce in the slow cooker. I do add herbs, red wine and balsamic vinegar and smoked paprika. Then portion it up in bags for freezer. Grab one out the freezer in the morning and leave it to defrost and then use to make spag bog or shepherds/cottage pie makes it quick and easy.

Yours

Calley