home cooking is blowing budget

misspenny

we have been trying to cook from scratch more often dp is really getting into baking from home, but this week shopping came to £71 not inculding baby milk which was out of stock so 2 boxes of that would have added £10 to the bill, i thought cooking from scratch would save us money usual spend is £50 max.

what am i doing wrong

Uniscots97

Are you meal planning? What things are you baking each week? Maybe post a typical week's meal and we'll see where you're going astray.

boo81

I found with home cooking that to begin with the bills went up a little, herbs for example can really blow a budget. You need to remember that a packet of flour for example will last ages and might be the same rpices as a packet of biscuits which only last a week.

If you buy a lot of meat this will bump the budget up though, you might have to rethink the recipes or products you are using maybe

dronid

I think seeing what you got out of the £70 and how many you're feeding would be helpful.

Bear in mind I can make 1 Extra Large chicken last a week for 2 people properly planned. Budget about £20!

For that I'd have
2X Roast Chicken
2X Coronation Chicken sandwich
2X Chicken Supreme and rice
2X Spicy Chicken/salad Wrap
4X Chicken Pickings Chicken risotto
2X Chicken Doner style Kebabs with Tzatziki
2X Chicken & Sweetcorn Sandwich
4X Calazone with Chicken Thigh
4X Chicken Curry + vegetable curry
Which isn't too bad

rumblytum

Hi there,

I agree with the others. Let us have a list of your till receipt goods for the £71, and what you were planning to do with it.

If you also let us know what you've got in the larder/freezer/fridge too, then we may be able to help stretch that £71 even further.

rumbly x

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there Dronid
you have just made me laugh...and feel inferior in the "chicken stretching"department LOL...i thought i was doing well i get an average sized RSPCA farm assured chicken and can get -
3 roast dinners
3 chicken pasta salads
3 chicken n mushroom pies
and a large batch of chicken n sweetcorn soup out of it
there are only 2 of us, but i pack my hubby a cooked dinner every day

hubby has just peeked over my shoulder as i was chuckling so much, so i have shown him what you can do with a chicken... he has just walked away, shaking his head, laughing and declaring "why do i get the feeling you are going to see that as a challenge?" lol
i think i am going to start buying the biggest RSPCA chickens i can as i know that the meat to bone ratio is better....and thankyou for the inspiration
My sister in law only uses the chicken breasts and gives the rest to the dogs AARRGH....declaring no-one else will eat it....i think i should show her what you can do...my brother and the family always love what i cook and generally its a stick my head in the fridge and see what wants using up concoction...that they like the most....
so once again..many thanks for giving me inspiration and a laugh...
i was so impressed this is the 2nd time i have wrote this..heck knows where the first went LOL

DawnW

Can't you ask your sis-in-law to freeze the rest of the chicken for you? I am sure you and your OH would make good use of it:D
You can always say you are doing it to be more environmentally friendly!

MRSMCAWBER

Hi DawnW

Dont think i wouldnt be tempted :-).....but she is in Notts and im in suffolk...and about to move to germany for 3 years...even cheaper food and cost of living -woohoo! and now i have found out i can still be a member here when i move away im an even happier bunny!
It drives me nuts...she makes stew and if it doesnt all get used for that meal..the dogs get it :-o - even her hubby cant believe it......now i cant be the only one who thinks stews and casseroles are soooooooooo much better eaten the day after -can i?...still if they want to waste money i guess there isnt a lot we can do about it ....

cupid_s

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

My sister in law only uses the chicken breasts and gives the rest to the dogs AARRGH....declaring no-one else will eat it....i think i should show her what you can do...my brother and the family always love what i cook and generally its a stick my head in the fridge and see what wants using up concoction...that they like the most....

We use everything else and cut up the breasts for soup and other things where you can't tell it's actually breast meat cos we don't like it - and then the cat gets the rest of it (not much though).

We even freeze meat and fish in portions bigger than we need now. And then the cat gets some when we thaw it! I don't think this is wasting money as when we feed her 'proper' food it is as cheap as cat food. And I feel bad giving her all that rubbishy tinned stuff!

As others have said with cooking from scratch it can cost a lot to buy all the storecupboard ingredients initially but most of these items last for ages and then you're replacing them a couple of items at a time. Meal planning really really helps as well.

Little_Miss_Saver

I too found my first weeks shop went up when I started home cooking more but for me it was buying the initial ingredients like herbs and spices.
If i run out now it dosn't cost as much to replace.

Also look for cheaper alternatives, when I started doing my home made potato wedges I would buy a sachet of Cajun coating which would cost about 80p each time :eek: . Now I've brought a jar of cajun seasoning for about £1.50, I've used it loads and i've still got a quarter of the jar left :T .

Good Luck

LMS xx

Addiscomber

misspenny,

Are you maybe eating bigger portions of home cooked food? I enforce quite a strict control over portion sizes (mainly when the rest of the family aren't looking. Otherwise if I have, say, cooked a double quantity, with the aim of freezing one for later, the second one will just disappear.