Learning to be frugal with food

Sparecashherewecome

You could make an eggless chocolate cake with the ingredients that you have. There are loads of recipes online. I made one on sat and it went by Sunday! I have two teenagers a six year old and 14month and a doh and I managed on £160 a week. You could make a cheap pasta dish with your onions bacon tomatoes and cheese. To make the sauce I would cut the onion reall small and mix with your tomatoes. If you have dried oregano or basil and any garlic I would add that along with some salt. You then need to cook off some of the liquid to thicken it up. Fry off the bacon and add then top with cheese. I often throw in a small tin of sweet corn if I have it.

You could make a fish pie with the two fillets and if you bought 400g mince you could make shepherds pie using two handfuls of lentils but made with a carrot and swede topping.

You could do your hotdogs and rolls with some homemade coleslaw and fries.

I'd use up your hash browns onion rings and your two eggs (scrambling) them perhaps with a tin of beans?

Any of the veg left over I would whack into a vegetable soup (weightwatchers have a good one that uses up cabbage and green bean) I would cook it and then blend it to a thin soup and add a good few handfuls of your pearly barley. Make a homemade loaf and you will have a fab filling dinner. That would be five dinners done and all you need to buy is a packet of mince and a tin of sweet corn.

If you fancy a treat I would roll out the puff pastry and grate some cheese over all of it, cut it into strips and twist sprinkle with salt and pop in the oven.

Hope that helps x

crispycreme_2

Thank you, the pasta dish sounds lovely. Cheese twists would be perfect for lunches.

The veg is frozen & I would never of thought to do soup with it.. Is there an easy recipe for bread anywhere?

bluebag

crispycreme wrote: »

Some great ideas, thank you. Lots of good links too.

What is a realistic amount to be spending on our family for food?

Also packed lunches have me stumped. I did buy some bits today, so they have them tomorrow instead of paying for dinners. But how do I work it out so they can all have the same (almost)

Hi,

I make all my sandwiches once a week and freeze them, most cooked meats freeze, turkey, ham, chicken, corned beef, meat loaf, as does tuna mayo and cheese. I take them out after dinner in the evening and put them in the fridge to defrost.

I find it helpful in two ways. I buy the bigger packs of ham, corned beef etc so better value, and I don't have to get packed lunches ready in the evening when I am at my most tired.

Sparecashherewecome

I'm not able to post links as I am new but check out bbc good food and Paul holo woods recipe
I haven't made it myself but it needs the ingredients that you have. For your next weeks shop I would find recipes that are based on the ingredients that you have eg veg to make vegetable cannelloni or lasagne. I still manage to buy good quality meat but we just eat about 100grams max each. You could make a really nice ham and pea risotto with any leftover ha m that you have from the pack ups
Net mums have a good recipe x
We are eating out of the freezer until Christmas Day and our meal will actually feel special because we have been just eating what's there rather than what we'd like if that makes sense. All the food I make I have fed to all my kids and although it can be slow to start they really like most things. Good luck on your journey, my Dh and I have still a way to but we are £10k off the cc this year which is amazing. I have been blessed with a mum who can make anything out of nothing x

Sapphire27

Buying mince has already been mentioned. When I buy mince I fry it off with onions, chopped carrots, and lentils, then split into two batches.

In one I add tomatoes and mushrooms for a bolognese, and either serve with spagetti or make into a lasagne with a simple white/cheese sauce (butter, flour, milk)

The other half I mix with gravy to make cottage pie, topped with a layer of cabbage/green beans (for extra veg and to bulk it out), and a mixture of potato, carrots and swede.

I am very lucky I have an OH that is understanding of my money saving goal and willing to tolerate all my experimenting and frugal attempts! It has been a long process though to convince him that the portion sizes (especially meat) that we were eating previously were HUGE and unnecessary!

[Deleted User]

Biscuits are really cheap and easy to make 'Melting Moments' are the easiest of all.these you can flavour with ginger,coconut.cocoa powder(for chocolatey ones)cinnamon or just a dash of vanilla.

Try to menu plan and build meals around what you already have in store.After all you bought it to eat, not just live in the freezer :)

I have a stash of those plastic boxes that take-away rice comes in that I have snaffled over the years, and use these to use up any left over bit for another portion for the freezer.

I made for my DD the other day and shep's pie from her left over joint which did for three of her brood, and what was left over of the meat I made into two single portions for my freezer topped with cheesey mash.That's two extra meals for my freezer.Only three of her tribe like shep's pie.Mince can easily be streeetched with a handful of oats or lentils or even grated carrots.When I make a shep's pie I stick a layer of baked beans on top before the mash as my DGS like their baked beans cooked like that (less washing up as well as one casserole dish to wash instead of a saucepan of beans seperately )

I use quite a lot of veg and often you can get lots for a fraction of the price .Where I live, if I go to Morrisons around 3.30 on a Sunday afternoon, stacks of veg are reduced, and if its a bit past its best it will make vats of soup for pennies.

Mince meat is a godsend to someone on a budget as its so versatile, and is the base for so many dishes.But I also have made a veggie lasagne as well and if you add herbs and flavouring you really don't notice the lack of meat.

Morrisons also do a large pack of 'bacon bits' for about 81p which is basically chopped up tiny bits of bacon.My DGS love this cooked to a crisp in sandwiches or in with pasta.I think its around just over a lb for 81p which is a very inexpensive bacon sarnie. Morries have some great offers I managed to buy several kilos of pasta at £1.16 a kilo a few weeks ago.its long dated to 2014 so its going to keep.I bought some for my Dds as well, as their kids like pasta.Tinned tuna mixed with a dollop of mayo also makes a nice addition to pasta.My best thing that I buy which I do use a lot of is Lazy Garlic Its not cheap, but a little goes a long way and adds so much flavour to dishes.I never buy gravy granules either. I use the old fashioned way for gravy of bisto powder and an oxo cube crumbled up.

Never ever waste a scap of food if you can help it I don't and my food budget purse has £60.00 per month for me in it and I usually have some cash left over at the end of the month.I only shop for things when actually I have run out of them and never go to the shops unless I NEED 7-10 things.Otherwise you pop to the shops for a £5.00 pint of milk.:D As you will be tempted in a supermarket to buy more than just a bottle of milk.

Good luck on your new learning curve and let us know how your getting on and if you hit any snags. No question is daft and we have all been where you are honey. I grew up with my Mum during and after WW2 and the austerity of the 1950s.In the 1970s mortgage interest rates exploded to 15% and folk struggled to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table,just as they are doing today.Being broke isn't new, its as,like me, as old as the hills :)But I survived as you will too.makes you older and a darned sight wiser I do know that
Good luck
JackieO xxx

Lilyplonk

I'll echo everything that Sapphire and Jackie O have already posted.

Where milk is concerned, if you run out and need to just go for a couple of bottles midweek - think about buying in some 'longlife' that doesn't need refrigeration. Keep it in a cupboard and use as needed. OK some folks don't think it 'tastes the same' as 'fresh milk' but it will be fine for kids who like cereals - especially when they've added sugar on top. That way you can keep the 'fresh stuff' for teas/coffees. It's far better than making a trip to that 'Den of Temptation' aka The Supermarket ...................

I even still buy a tin of powdered milk and keep that in. A couple of teaspoonfuls in a mug with drinking chocolate (or coffee), mixed to a paste with cold water and then hot water poured on makes a good 'milky drink' without using up all the fresh milk.

Butterfly_Brain

There are some great recipes here

http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/recipes.html?opt=rcost

and here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/9464495#Comment_9464495

All by the MSE community.

gayleygoo

Have you looked at the List of Challenges on the DFW board? Some of them might interest you as a fun way of saving money in addition to being frugal with food.

If you go through a lot of potatoes, find out where you can buy the big sacks of them locally. Our wee fruit&veg shop does 20kg spuds for £5.99 and stored properly they last ages. Some days our dinner has just been creamy, champ with a "well" in the centre for the butter Or baked potatoes, beans and cheese - a cheap, nutritious dinner.

For packed lunches, it's mostly ham or tuna sandwiches here. Jam and cheese sandwiches sometimes if I've no meat (egg and onion is good too if your LO's will eat them, mine won't!) I buy yogurts/dessert pots when they are cheap, certainly no more than 25p per pot. Or you can buy a big pot of yogurt and spoon some into little lidded plastic pots for the lunches. Add cereal, granola, jam, fruit puree etc for extra flavour and texture. Extras could include a HM sausage roll or some cold cocktail sausages, HM cereal bar, small pot of cheerios or other cereal, HM banana or carrot cake/muffins, oaty biscuits etc. That is is your child's school allows sugary things or baked goodies, I know some don't which must be quite awkward. I always include at least one piece of fruit or some carrot sticks. I tend to spend around £1 per packed lunch which is half the price of a cooked dinner and probably more healthy!

Butterfly_Brain

Slice up the bockwurst and make a sausage stew,add to pasta with a tomato sauce or make a sausage toad

Fish pie using the salmon and white fish

Bacon and green bean risotto

Use the veg to make vegetable pasties with a little gravy, white sauce with a little curry powder or cheese sauce inside to keep the veggies moist.

How about a vegetable lasagne

Or you could make make a vegetable curry with the potatoes and any veg of choice and the green lentils, serve with rice and make some of happy crafter's bhajees

Make Flapjacks for lunch boxes or Twinks hob nobs which are legend on this forum.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/5392570#Comment_5392570

Make a sponge pudding using the jam or marmalade and serve with custard

I hope some of these recipes help x