Cheapest recipies.

patchwork_cat

HI
Are the boys with you 5 days a week, so you need breakfast, lunch and tea for you for 7, tea for the boys 6 and lunch and breakfast for the boys 5?How old are they? Do they get milk and fruit at school? Sammy - kaye do you buy the frozen chicken fillets at all?

Tracey04

yes patchwork cat my mum looks after them when I work so she makes their tea etc. They are 8 and 6 so youngest gets fruit at school, but not the milk. They are not overkeen on it, as I struggle with it on cereal. They have a yoghurt per day. Are the cheap ones ok to give to children or should they stay on mullers etc.

juliapenguin

Hi Tracey

Cheap brands really are ok - sometimes I don't like the Sainsbury's Basics of one item but love the Tescos Value, so I experiment. Yoghurt is yoghurt - although I

juliapenguin

Hi Tracey

Cheap brands really are ok - sometimes I don't like the Sainsbury's Basics of one item but love the Tescos Value, so I experiment. Yoghurt is yoghurt - although I personally would never give a child anything with aspartame in it! Some of the cheaper brands are lovely, and I actually have less irritation problems with some of the cheaper toiletries, surprisingly. I spend very little on cleaning products these day too, since I discovered OS..

Good luck.

Julia xx

juliapenguin

Oops. What happened there???

lightisfading

Tracey04 wrote: »

Thanks for answering so far I have a mix of products like we have value, tomatoes , whips,flour, but then heinz beans, cornflakes, margarine, bread,yorkshire tea, andrex toilet rolls(thinking about it most stuff is this expensive range)
mid range, can consist of other cereals, rice, pasta, crisps/biscuits, most canned things,
bold WP is mixed with very cheap one
Buy most of expensive range when on BOGOF.

There's a start then, do you really need to spend extra on something you wipe your bum on?!

Margarine - supermarket 'its not butter!' type stuff tastes the same as branded. Same for many many things!!!

Washing powder wise use half the recommended amount, loads of people do this, no difference in cleaning, saves lots of money. Personally I use an 'eco wash ball' (bought off ebay for £7 for two, with refills, enough for YEARS) for less dirty items and half dose cheapest brand non bio tablets for my work whites etc - I can't see or smell the difference!

kazmeister

Hi tracey04

I cant say I'm an expert as I couldnt budget for food to save my life, but I do have some quick easy and cheap recipes. The first I can think of is sausage pasta. Whatever pasta you have cook until nearly done then add a tin of hot dog sausages cut into chunks into cooking water (so they heat through) drain and put back into saucepan with one of the little Dolmio pots(ok thats the expensive part about a pound I think) but it makes loads. Serve when sauce heated through (about a minute) on its own or with crusty bread and salad.

I swear by Easy cook magazine as well which has sections on feeding kids, feeding from the store cupboard etc and each recipe is priced per portion. New one comes out on 2 Aug, usually found in WHSmith and supermarkets.

Also if you like named brands for certain things take a look at Netto if you have one nearby. They're very good for names on special offer. This week they have Muller corner yoghurts 6 pack for £1 - its the only time my kids are allowed them otherwise they have Mr T value fromage frais.

Lorraine Kelly's healthy eating plan book for kids is very good for information as it lists all the fat/sugar content etc and explains what is high per portion and what is not. We stopped buying overpriced and full of sugar cereals after seeing it.

Will look out some more recipes for later.

Tracey04

thanks look forward to some more ideas and recipes.
you made me laugh when its only paper for my bum - so very true, that is literally throwing money down the drain!
when you say you give your children value stuff do you mean the yoghurts that are about 10p each?
thanks again for the help, keep the ideas coming. Im beggining to see light at the end of the tunnel
Tracey

Gingernutmeg

It takes a bit of trial and error but honestly you won't notice the difference with most cheaper products - there were some threads on here a while back on value stuff that was great and stuff to avoid which would be handy for you. Sometimes the value stuff has less rubbish in it that the normal stuff - value plain yogurt is fine, and can be sweetened up with some jam or frozen fruit. I'd personally rather eat this than Muller Lights which have gelatine and sweeteners in them.

Expensive toiletries ARE a nice treat but quite honestly, I've used cheap stuff and expensive stuff and there's not much difference between them. At the moment I'm using Tesco's own coconut shampoo and conditioner, which costs just under £1 for a big bottle of both. It's fine, smells lovely and we've had no problems with it (and the boyfriend is a fussy so and so lol!). We've also both started using 'own brand' deodorants etc, again they're so much cheaper than the brands and they work just as well. Pound shops are also great for toiletries (and loo roll!). Some of the stuff is 'branded' but is a lot cheaper than the supermarkets.

Lidl is great for dry stuff, like pasta, rice, flour etc etc. Their breakfast cereals are good too - it's well worth visiting a local one and having a look. Tesco do a HUGE bag of pasta for £1, which is brilliant - I try to have a pasta night at least once a week, along with a jacket potato night. Tuna is a great favourite of ours and it seems to be something that's always on a BOGOF or a special offer at the moment.

Also, try bulking mince out with veggies, like grated carrot or courgette, and even try adding a couple of spoonfuls of lentils. It'll make things like spag bol and chilli go a lot further. I use half a 'pack' of mince and lots of veggies and I get at least four portions from doing this.

kazmeister

Back again. Have found a collection of recipes but would take to long to type them all. The prices per portion are as per the mag so dont know where they shopped but value type products are usually quite good. If you like any of the ideas post or PM and I will put recipes on.

Before I go into them other ideas I had that my kids like :-

Toasted sandwiches - if you havent a sandwich maker then toast the bread make sandwich wrap in a peice of kitchen paper and zap in micro for few secs. Kids like cheese/ham, cheese/tom, choc spread for a treat or a real treat choc spread and peanut butter!

Pizza toast - Slice of thick bread toasted, spread with chopped tom or spread tom puree, add topping, ham/pineapple, cheese/tom, ham/mushroom, veggies etc

Jacket potatoes with salad, fillings include precooked bacon & onion, cheese & tomato, smoked salmon (Mr T value bits about £1) with cream cheese, Tuna & sweetcorn etc. remove centre of cooked jackets into bowl, mash with butter and add fillings, refill and grill til crispy on top.

Also swear by a roast on Sundays becos altho' chicken or joint is £3 - 5, theres 4 of us, 2 ad, 15yrs and 8 yrs and roast always makes a meal another day which means 8 portions at 38 - 63p per portion. I know you have the time and veggies etc on top but actually still a cheap meal. Compare with size and price of a happy meal.


All following recipes are for 4 people price per portion. I admit I havent tried them all and timings I would underestimate to be on safe side.

Tuna/Lemon pasta ready 15 mins ppp 56p

Cheese/Bacon pudding 10 mins to make + 35 - 45 in oven ppp 52p

Pea/Bacon risotto takes 40 mins ppp 45p

Spaghetti with Broccoli/ham ready 209 mins ppp 61p

Sausage casserole ready 25 mins ppp 60p

Veggie biriyani ready 20 mins ppp 39p

Bread & Cheddar pudding 15 mins + 40 in oven ppp 45p

Veggie Bolognese ready 40 mins ppp 70p

Cheesy Muffins ready 35 mins ppp 23p

Potato cakes ready 20 mins ppp 20- 30p

Quick Fish risotto ready 20 mins ppp 71p

Macaroni Cheese ready 40 mins ppp 55p

Sausage and Lentil pasties 30 mins plus 15mins chill 15 mins cook Recipe makes 20 price each 18p


Let me know what you fancy
Kaz