Cheapest recipies.

rinabean

There are lots of tips on here on how to split meat with half lentils, carrots, TVP and so on to reduce the strain on your health and your purse. I would also recommend dishing up your OH's food differently - only give him extra portions of the other stuff on the plate (obviously you can't do this when it's mixed in with the other food, but that's when you can cut it with other things anyway). Serve (buttered) bread on the side. It's good that your daughter will eat a variety of foods. Make sure he doesn't ruin this by conspicuously not eating veg or talking about how he doesn't like it at the table. Have a look at the CFR site for ideas on cheaper meals. You don't have to follow the plan in its entirety, of course.

But at some point you'll just have to tell him to shut up and eat what you dish up! There's plenty of food I'm "looking for" that I just plain can't afford, and I have to accept that and find other stuff I enjoy. There's a lot of thrifty magic to be worked on food but it only goes so far. (£240 is pretty good for 3, by the way! You say you don't come here much but you are doing well anyway!)

Shonagh

thanks rinabean, think im just goin to have to do my research and plan things out even more carefully for the next while

Butterfly_Brain

I find it much cheaper to buy a joint, roast it and slice it up, usually i can get 3 good meals out of one joint, if you slice it thinly it looks like there is plenty of meat on the plate. I freeze it into meal sized portions and just reheat it in gravy. My DH loves meat but I have done this for years and he has never complained.
Chop meat into smaller sized pieces, so that it looks like there is more on the plate

You don't say if they will eat fish - a tin of tuna steak in Aldi is 79p and chunks are 55p = tuna pasta, fishcakes etc

Use more offal, such as liver, kidneys, and hearts or make corned beef hash, sausage toad, sausage and mash or spam fritters etc

Bulk out stews with plenty of veg and try not to dish it all up and then make pasties or pies to stretch to another meal.

Buy streaky bacon and cut up with scissors and freeze into manageable size portions and use to sprinkle on to pizza's or add to pies, quiches, pasta, rice etc

Eggs are a good cheap source of protein and you could make frittata's, quiches etc

Pancakes can be savoury or sweet you could fill them with mince and veggies, chopped chicken and mushrooms , bolognaise mix, Tuna and sweetcorn or any filling of choice put into a dish, pour over a white, cheese, mushroom etc sauce and grill until bubbling if using a white or cheese sauce just sprinkle over some grated cheese before baking.
Sweet ones could be just with lemon juice and sugar or filled with tinned or fresh fruit and some squirty cream

I did Macaroni cheese tonight and made it meaty by adding a chopped up onion, some sliced tomatoes and some chopped streaky bacon (99p a pack), then sprinkled the top with left over grated cheese and grilled until golden and bubbly, it went down really well. You could do the same sort of meal using rice as well.

Aldi have some reasonably priced meat, a chicken is £2.69, a small joint of gammon is £2.99 etc and I picked up 4 pks of yellow sticker stir fry beef for £1.25 a pack and I used one last night to make a lovely filling stew with plenty of veg and dumplings

This may help:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=8736367#post8736367

I hope this helps x

Aarons_mummy

What about having smaller portions of meat and more things like mash/wedges or pasta with a good homemade cheesy sauce (using mature cheese means less cheese needed) and sausages/bacon pieces (75p in A*da). Can you hide veggies in sauces like you would for a fussy child? Using coloured peppers like red in a tomato sauce are easily hidden. Same with chilli and bolognaise, if you flavour it up then would he notice? Pizza with a spicy sausage is cheap but still contains meat. Chicken thighs are lovely done in the slow cooker or stuffed and roasted, cheaper than fillets as well.

Would he have one night a week where he would eat jacket potato with beans and cheese for example? Trying to get him to cut out meat for one evening meal then you could up it to 2 nights. If he's not happy with that would he reason with having less meat to allow him to have it every day? Or tuna one night? Lovely with pasta or make fishcakes, are these suitable alternatives for meat?

For lunch would things like a thinly sliced gammon joint suffice as cold meat? Or leftovers that could be heated up?

For snacks could you bake biscuits and cakes? These can be batch cooked and defrosted as needed. Pitta's are cheap to make as are wraps. Hummous is cheap to make along with crackers and cheese (just ensure you slice the cheese to make it go further ) ham slices, olives, chicken wings pasties (homemade ) or sausagerolls.

All these things are easy to make and can be frozen and defrosted as and when needed. It's also cheaper than buying pre-prepared in the shops. Means that you can dish up less and control the snacks that are on offer and if he complains then cn you set him with a list of how much a meal cost for you and the little one and how much his costs? If his portions are double the size that's double the cost which can make you see how costly it is.

Lots of questions and thoughts there, sorry I think of you can take the reigns and control then you can cut down on the meat content without him noticing too much nor compromising on the taste. Good luck, £240 is definitely do-able, I am around £100 (for everything) for me and my son but I also cook for his dad twice a week and make ready meals for my mum to defrost and cook from that. Just practice and stick at it and it'll become second nature to you .

ticklepenny_2

A few things I have found helpful:

Check out your local market for meat parcels, as well as fruit and veg. The first time I went I took a printout of my shopping list (courtesy of mysupermarket.co.uk). I can get 30 chicken fillets for £20! No supermarket comes close to that (macro or costco might).

Oxtail stew (my new favourite) I slice the veg small so that OH and DD dont complain also it cooks well in our slow cooker so I can just pop it on in the morning and then tea time its just falling apart Cornbeef hash is always popular here aswell.

Pork/turkey schnitzel, bash out the meat till it is thin, dip in seasoned flour, then in an egg milk bath, then coat in bread crumbs mixed with parmesan and italian herbs. Fry or spray with a little oil then oven bake, serve with mash and veg.

Toad in the hole we use cheap sausages and cook it in a large tin so there is more yorkshire pud (nom).

Side dishes, we have rediscovered colcannon made with a couple of tbsp of sourcream (lowfat), milk, butter as well as potatoes and spinach/greens/kale/cabbage.

Bolognaise - mix al dente pasta in with the meat for the last few minutes of cooking as it helps the pasta absorb some of the flavours but also you can skimp slightly on the meat as you cant really tell exactly how much meat there is. My mum used to always dollop the meat on top so we could tell when she was trying to spread the dish over more meals as the dollop of meat would be smaller which always made us Same with all other pasta dishes

Could DD help you meal plan? I try to involve my DD in food prep as much as possible as she is a fussy eater (2yrs old and fussy already ) Oh and with the meal plan try to make sure you use up any perishable ingredients IYKWIM.

Hope thats some help x

squeaky

Hi

It's well worth just browsing through Old Style because there are all sorts of ideas and help available. Some starting points are...

Help please with meal planning and what to buy on the CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP!

cheap, easy family meals

Shopping wisely can help too: Reducing my weekly shop cost - possible? and Food budget reducing tips

Not forgetting switching to HM lunch for school and work: Exciting Sandwich fillings on a budget!! and Packed Lunch for work and Lunch ideas for DD (5) at school please

And then... Quick food ideas for young children on a tight budget needed please? and a "fussy" thread Very fussy 4 yr old won't eat much!

Lots of inspiration and ideas in this thread:- 6000 meals under 50p in 2010; feeding your family on a low budget


And finally....

It is well worth taking control of your budget and shopping so join our regular Grocery Challenge which is a sticky at the top of the Old Style listing. The current one is:-

January 2012 Grocery Challenge

And while you are at it - it's a bit pointless buying food only to end up wasting it.... Don't Throw Food Away Challenge 2012

skintmum2012

Hi I have just used up a pack of oppsie mince it's lasted 3 dinners and 1 lunch and all for £1.89p

the first day I did spag bowl
Second day I did a kind of inside out pizza found recipe of here it was so yummy
for Lunch the first day had left overs from dinner the last night
then on the 3rd day I made Lassanya and still got some left

We are a family of 4 me and hubby and 2 kids.

Shonagh

thanks guys, lots for me to read over here and hopefully make lots of savings on!
Unfortunately fish and offal are a definate no go in this house hold im afraid!!
Made a good start today with a large batch of a really rich tomato sauce that im going to freeze in smaller amounts, made it really thick and flavoursome with the plan that when i go to use it all i need to do is add an extra tin of chopped tomatos to thin it out a little, just got to hope the end result tastes good.

Thanks for all your help everyone :T:T

totallybored

You don't say where you shop but if you don't already use them try Aldi and Lidl. I've recently started doing most of my shopping there and there are some excellent bargains and the quality is very good (I used to do most of my shopping at Waitrose!). Pop over to the grocery challenge thread as there is loads of inspiration on budgeting.

Shonagh

I mostly shop in l!dl, with a few trips yo asda as its so close by. occasionally go to ald! if I happen to be passing