A week for one cheap as possible please!

GreenNinja

Hi All,

I need the benefit of your expertise. Am seriously poor owing to my car being very sick. I have done my shopping list for next week on mysupermarket.co.uk and it comes to around £18 and I can't really afford to spend more than that.
I am listing just the food (not toiletries etc) I have on the list and was going to make a veggie shepherds pie to do 2 days (plus small portion for lunch at work for one day cos lettuce will only do 3 days) and a moussaka to do 2 days. For lunches I am going to have salad and fruit jelly and for brekkie I have oats with couple strawberries and milk. All items are basics where available.
I need some help for the other 4 days of the week with what I have.

Carrots 40p
Red Onions 99p
Broccoli 60p
Tomatoes(b) 59p
Cucumber 35p
Lettuce 42p
Aubergine 99p
Pack 3 Peppers £1.29
Large old Potatoes £1.00
Strawberries £1.89
2 Pints Milk - 66p
Pack Pork Mince £1.08
Baked Beans(b) 17p
2 tins Tomatoes(b) 42p
Pack 4 choc mousse(b) 35p
Pack Oats 89p
(Total £12.09)

I also have tomato puree, mixed split peas/lentils/pearl barley etc in pack, rice, and few odd storecupboard items, spices etc, Philladelphia cheese, bit of butter, small piece cheddar in fridge
In freezer, few oven chips, frozen peas, 2 chicken breasts, 1pc salmon with chilli and coriander.
Thats about it really I think.

Thanking you in advance!

Bobbykins

Hi. What about using some of the rice, frozen peas, onion, some grated carrot and maybe a tiny bit of the mince (if there's any left) and some herbs/spices to make a stuffing for one of the peppers. Top with the grated cheese and you can have that with a baked potato one night.

Also, I notice you've got a couple of chicken joints.......you could make a big chicken casserole, with some of the veg and using up some of the split peas/lentils etc to thicken it (I don't jave a recipe but I bet you could find one on "cookingbynumbers.com") - that would do you for 2 nights.

Hope that helps

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there

You could defrost the salmon and mix it in with some mashed potatoes and herbs and make fancy fish cakes..with frozen chips n peas

Slice potatoes and onions layer in a dish with plenty of seaoning and pour in a bit of milk..stock or even water and bake it in the oven...lovely with a lump of bread if you have some

defrost a chicken breast and wallop it with something like a rolling pin until its nice and thin, spread a little philladelphia on it and roll it up, wrap in foil and bake in the oven...

use some butter/flour and milk to make a white sauce...add a bit of philli and mustard.... pour over cooked broccoli and grate a bit of cheese over and bake..and serve eith a jacket potato

im sure i will think of some more in a moment

GreenNinja

Thanks so much! Like the idea of the chicken casserole, also the layered potatoes and onions sounds nice, I could put some grated cheese on top and have it with carrots and broccoli. (can't eat bread it irritates my ibs sadly)
Thats also a brilliant idea with putting the philly in the chicken.

:j

moozikgal

if you took a bit of the mince, a little bit of the veg and use the pulses you have you could make a nice soup which would do for lunches.

You could also make a cheese and bean pie by adding some herbs and spices to the baked beans and any left over peppers, topping with cheesy mash and baking in the oven till golden

lightisfading

Have you already bought these items? If not I'm sure you can make some cuts to the budget to make room for other things.

ie Peppers - both asda and tesco do 'value' bags of peppers, 6 or 7 for less than the cost of 3 usually. The only difference I've found is theyre slightly smaller but if you're cooking for one that could be an advantage

Do you have a lidl nearby? Their fruit and veg are often on offer, and cheap anyway. ie the other day I got a bag of red onions for 19p, broccoli 28p, melon 50p, fairtrade bananas 60p, kiwi 8p each, peaches 18p each etc. You could save a lot of money that way the strawberries especially are very expensive, sure there's nothing you can swap them for?

How about Rice Salad? basic but quite tasty and filling. In your case rice + some chicken, peas, pepper etc, whatever you have in.

GreenNinja

lightisfading,

No this is my list ready for purchase at the weekend. Prob with the cheap bags is I hate the green peppers and there always seem to be loads in the cheaper bags.
Strawberries yes are quite dear but I make them last pretty much the week as I have them on my oats and also put a couple in with my jelly to jazz it up.
Asda, miles away same with Tesco. Lidl... there is one reasonably nearby, I don't want to sound negative but both times I have been there in the past there has been literally no fruit and veg there. Perhaps I should pop in again and see if they have improved.
Rice with the chicken etc sounds good, could maybe make a poor mans jambalya?

Blacksheep1979

Baked potatos with something? Something on toast? Or if you get some eggs and tin of tuna you could make kedgeree

lightisfading

I hate green peppers too Usually at this time of year theres plenty of red ones in the bags (more green earlier in the year), sometimes you need to hunt to the bottom of the stack of plastic crates theyre in

Lidl can be a bit hit and miss, true. It might be worth finding out their delivery day as I've found at mine they run out near the end of the week.

I have jelly for work too, tinned strawbs and mandarins work well in that as well

GreenNinja wrote: »

lightisfading,

No this is my list ready for purchase at the weekend. Prob with the cheap bags is I hate the green peppers and there always seem to be loads in the cheaper bags.
Strawberries yes are quite dear but I make them last pretty much the week as I have them on my oats and also put a couple in with my jelly to jazz it up.
Asda, miles away same with Tesco. Lidl... there is one reasonably nearby, I don't want to sound negative but both times I have been there in the past there has been literally no fruit and veg there. Perhaps I should pop in again and see if they have improved.
Rice with the chicken etc sounds good, could maybe make a poor mans jambalya?

GreenNinja

OK, thanks, will have a good rummage in the peppers then!
Tinned mandarins is a good idea. hadn't thought of that.

Found a dead pigeon in my garden this morning, maybe I should have used that as food??? done a bit of a Gordon Ramsay! hee hee
:rolleyes:

redsquirrel80

I often make a baking tray full of roasted potato wedges and veg (had it tonight actually!) - potatoes chopped up plus whatever veg you've got - it's great for using up peppers etc that have started to go a bit wrinkly. Sprinkle some spices over, and I usually add some cubes of cheese for the last few minutes, or serve with a dollop of the Philadelphia on top. Usually have half for tea then the rest cold for lunch the day after.

You've got the ingredients for a good filling soup - veg + the pulses you've got in the cupboard already. Or you could use them to make a veggie curry.

Is the 99p for onions a pack? You might find these cheaper loose. Also maybe look for turkey mince instead of pork as this is usually cheaper. Most supermarkets do a cheap pasta (eg 20p pack of spaghetti) and you've got veg and tomato puree to make a simple sauce (add some of the Philadelphia for a creamy one). And of course look out for anything reduced that you can use quickly or freeze. Finally, if I was you I think I'd forgo the strawberries this week and buy something cheaper fruit-wise.

Hope this is some help - as you can see from my signature that's a normal sort of weekly budget for me!