February 2014 Grocery Challenge

FrugalLina

Hi BMG, my sympathies with the illness and depression, it is horrible, but I hope you fee a wee bit better soon.

Do you have any potatoes in and what sort of casserole packets do you have?

I can see a sweet&sour chicken with rice, pork chops in one of the casserole sauces if suitable, again with rice. (or you could make pork schnitzel, served with rice)

If you have potatoes, you can have bangers and mash and beans.

If the casserole sauces are suitable, you could use half the lamb mince in them with some onion and any other vegetable you might be able to garner from somewhere. Again, that might be nice with rice, but a jacket spud would be tasty too.

The other half of the lamb could go into a moussaka, but leave out the expensive aubergine and just use tomato and potato slices and a simple white sauce.

The tuna, tinned tomatoes and pasta would make a nice pasta bake with some onion and garlic, topped with cheese if you have some.

The mince can be stretched to a shepherds pie with grated carrot, tomatoes, baked beans etc and another dish like spag bol with the pasta.

If you have flour and marge/butter in, you could make some pies/pasties too with the mince.

This should cover you for a week or so, maybe more if you are good at padding out your meat dishes.

I bet there will be loads more fabulous suggestions from the clever OSers on here, so watch this space!

ikesmummy

Trying frozen corn on the cobs for the first time today (with LO Pizza from Saturday). Never really done much frozen veg before apart from peas and sweetcorn but will be nice if I can have a slightly larger selection on frozen veg which can be tucked away for emergencies a well as planned meals. Which frozen veg would you all recommend??

Will need milk tomorrow and some Veg bits for Friday's valentines meal but that should be it this week, my budget certainly could do with a low spend week!!

Boys are having an early tea, they both seem tiered so may fool them into an early night as well Hubby wants a quick run when he gets in and then I am out with the running club so we won't be eating until late but may get on and make some flapjacks as last weeks batch went down so well, was going to make them earlier with DS2 but he opted for playing pay doh instead, he did help me put a loaf on though.

fingersxed

Been out n another £9 spent again! Sig updated

Ladyluck1

£6.20 spent in lidl today, didnt make it to Mr M so will have to go tomorrow... Sigh!

BMG

These are the quantities of meat items I have in the freezer at present



16 sausages
700g minced beef
500g minced lamb/mutton

2 lamb steaks

5 chicken breasts
8 thin pork chops


Thanks for the help you are giving me. I would like to not have to shop next week if possible

dogmom_3

Sorry you're not feeling well BMG. Depression is not nice.

Sausages and pork chops are delicious with a little apple on the side - you can slice an apple without peeling and microwave it for a couple of minutes to make a tasty accompaniment. Serve with potatoes or rice and veg.

lushlifesaver

Based on my portion sizes, and presuming its just you and OH, I would say you have the following meals worth of meat:
Sausages : 4 meals for 2 (2ea per meal)
Beef mince : stretch to 3 meals for 2 (125g ea roughly per meal)
Lamb mince: stretch to 2 meals for 2 (125g ea per meal)
Lamb steaks: 1 meal for 2
Chicken: stretch to 2 meals for 2 plus 1 portion left overs (1 ea per meal)
Pork chops : 2 meals for 2 (2 ea per meal as you say they are thin)


Meals you could make from that:
Sausage casserole - make 4 portions (2 separate meals each) served with bread if you have any or alone (my in laws always have casserole on its own, I have it with bread or perhaps mash)
chicken casserole using 3 breasts = 1 evening meal plus 1 portion left overs. again served as above
sweet and sour chicken using 2 breasts and 1/2 the sweet and sour sauce served with rice
sweet and sour pork, 4 steaks and 1/2 jar of sauce, served with rice (nice to mix up the protein a little)


Tuna: you say you're alergic to fish so is this just for oh? if so he could have either of the following on a nice when you eat left overs/ he could have them for his lunch (cold): tuna pasta bake - half tin tuna, 2 portions pasta plus 1/2 tin of tomatoes and 1/2 tin of beans = 1 evening meal OR whole tin of tuna, 4 portions pasta and 1 tin tomatoes = 2 evening meals or 1 plus lunch each/leftovers for another day


Sausage pasta - 4 sausages cooked and cut up, tin of tomatoes and 2 portions pasta
pork casserole - using 4 steaks
pasta with mince beef and either beans or tomatoes
pork chops with tomatoes or beans and rice
sausage and beans with mash or toast (depending on what you have)




If I haven't specified portions used then its just enough for one each. Obviously if you have anything else lurking in the cupboards - herbs/spices etc you can use those to zing things up a little.


If you don't have anything else at all in then I would spend £1 on some frozen veg, £1 on some potatoes and £1 on a small block of cheese just to add a bit more flavour to dishes so you're not too bored. Some of the dishes may seem a tad bare or bland is all! Oh and as someone else has said adding apple can lift a pork dish. You can find them reasonably inexpensively I would cut a couple up and put in the pork casserole or pan fry/grill them slightly to go with pork and rice - yum!

craigywv

BMG, I cant add to any thing other posters have written great recipes to be had on here. I would cut up the thin pork chops marinade in honey and soy sauce and do maybe stir fry or egg fried rice,could possibly get 2 servings each out of 8 chops. also maybe a big pot of chicken soup made with whatever you have in fridge also snap in some long spaghetti to make noodles and 1 or 2 chicken breasts shredded into soup. many things can be done.make some crusty bread,buns,flapjacks to fill up the kids . will add on as I think.

[Deleted User]

BMG I can't top the ideas that others have already posted. I just wanted to say you have done the right thing coming on here for support and help. I hope the depression eases up soon. Hugs being sent.

meg72

BMG wrote: »

I have just had some bad news that I am going to have to find £1000+ from somewhere.
I need to cut my budget on everything as far as I can as quick as I can.


I am struggling to make cheap hearty meals. I have never been one for preparing a meal plan for a week ahead and I am struggling to come up with meals.


Breakfast and lunch are the same most days just with different fillings on the sandwich


Dinners I have problems with. I am allergic to fish and shell fish. OH is allergic to curry of any description. Neither of us eat many vegetables apart from cauliflower, broccoli, peas and sweetcorn


In the freezer I have the following:
sausages
minced beef
minced lamb/mutton
lamb steaks
chicken
pork chops


In the cupboard I have the following:
tinned tomatoes
baked beans
sweet and sour sauce
pasta
rice
tuna
various casserole mixes
and not much else


Can you help me work out a menu plan for evening meals please. I am not coping too well and my illness and depression is beginning to take over.

The evening dinner always has to be a cooked meal.

Really pleased to see you have your internet back, and that you have come to the grocery challenge, I think this is one of nicest threads on here so friendy and helpful best thing I ever did.