Planning for when I am on maternity leave - food

samtoby

I am expecting a baby in May and I have been thinking due to our low income while I am off - I could batch cook things before to help with costs.

I reckon we go through a pot of jam and marmalade a week which costs me a couple of pounds a week probably. I am sure I could make that?

My partner likes chutney, salsa and that type of dressing. Surely I can make those?

I probably go though 7 tins of soup a week - its usually the expensive stuff so have been looking at making it - but how long can I freeze it for?

We have our own chickens and I cook a lot of cakes and buscuits myself and will continue to do that.

Can anyone share some ideas of things I could start to make soon that I can store to save us money while I am off? - and recipes or places to go for good ones?

Thanks in advance.

pleasedelete

It is more expensive to make jam or marmalade than to buy it. Unless you have free fruit? Chutney uses veg which is cheaper. depends if you are buying gourmet at £5 a jar or budget at £1- you wont manage to make jam cheaper than budget ranges in the winter as fruit is expensive.

How large is your family to eat 1 jar of jam and 1 of marmalade a week? If you have lots of children then bulk cooking would make sense.

tiny_courageous

tesco value jam is lovely.

Soup making is easy, there are loads of lovely recipies on here. I freeze soup in a food bag inside a tupperware, and then take the bag out of the tupperware and stack up the frozen bags of soup in the freezer.

I'm on mat leave at the moment, do as much prep as you can now to make life with baby much less stressful.

pleasedelete

tiny_courageous wrote: »

tesco value jam is lovely.

Soup making is easy, there are loads of lovely recipies on here. I freeze soup in a food bag inside a tupperware, and then take the bag out of the tupperware and stack up the frozen bags of soup in the freezer.

I'm on mat leave at the moment, do as much prep as you can now to make life with baby much less stressful.

just looked 29p a jar- you cant make jam for that even in summer and probably not even with free fruit.

Rummer

I am in the same frame of mind atm as I too have started maternity leave and am looking at ways of cutting our food bills even further.

It might be worth looking on Approved Foods for store cupboard essentials and if you have an Aldi or Lidl they are good for bargain foods too. Also pop by supermarket after 8pm to get reduced meats etc that you can make into meals and freeze.

Soup is a good cheap meal to make and you can chuck in any veg and pulses etc that you fancy. I tend not to freeze it though.

u_r

depending on the type of chutney yr husband likes!!if its the kind that u mite has seen with samosas/pakoras etc..then here is hte recipe

fresh mint, coriander, a few chillies, salt to taste, drops of lemon..blend well and keep in small tubs(like u get sauces from takeaways) in freezer..when needed take out a cpl of hrs bfore and add yoghurt.

can be used to add a bit of heat, flavour to salads, accompnied as a dip with pizza or evn on top of pasta....in other words use as u like!!!!

pigpen

Tesco value mixed fruit jam is the only jam I can bear to eat.. it is really nice.. and has no icky bits (they do bitty lumpy strawberry too if you like that sort of thing)


approved food are fabulous for stuff like salsa, sips, sauces etc.. we go through loads and I do a huge bulk order every 3-4 months and stock up.. definitely worth a look.

samtoby

Thanks everyone - that Approved foods looks good