No idea how to get through the next month

~Chameleon~

crispycreme wrote: »

Pie, do I fry off meat then what? Cook veg, make a sauce from what?

Cook the steak and vegetables in stock as you would if making a casserole then place in a pie dish and cover with the puff pastry to make a pie crust before popping in the oven for 20-25mins. The filling can go a long way when used in a pie. Serve with mash potato and peas/mixed veg etc.

patchwork_cat

chop the steak, coat in seasoned flour and brown in a frying pan with some oil?, add onions, carrots to fry off a bit then add sufficient stock to make a gravy and cook down a bit. put in pie dish top with puff pastry serve with mash and more veg. Could potentially add some pulses with the stock, barley other fillers with the stock.

patchwork_cat

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

You have potatoes and flour. How about making gnocchi to add to a tomato sauce based dish rather than rice or pasta? It's very easy and cheap to make.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Gnocchi

or potato cakes http://www.irishamericanmom.com/2012/10/20/irish-potato-cakes/

crispycreme_2

Ok these are great, thankyou! Will ssit down later and have a reread ofthis thread, and thelinks.
Then come up with some sort of meal plan and shopping list.

Does anyone know the best sort of times for whoopsies? Forgot to say we also have a co op near us.

~Chameleon~

crispycreme wrote: »

Does anyone know the best sort of times for whoopsies? Forgot to say we also have a co op near us.

Our local Co-op starts reducing items around tea-time but the best bargains are to be had from 8pm onwards (closes at 10pm) where many items are reduced to 10p.

Broomstick

Make more mashed potato than you need for a meal, add a tin of tuna and some fresh herbs if you have access to them and/or a bit of diced onion, and season. Make them into fishcakes - they freeze well. Useful for a main meal with veg or cooked breakfast/brunch with baked beans and grilled tomatoes. Staple food in our house.

B x

Honey_Bear

My suggestion would be to avoid spending your money for as long as humanely possible. As long as everyone is fed and happy, you can keep going from that well stocked store cupboard for a long time, far longer than you probably realise. To menu plan from it, I'd be thinking about what protein is needed at each meal (including packed lunches), then which carbohydrate complements that like rice with a curry, or mash with sausages, and to bulk the meal out. Then I'd want to ensure that each member of the family has their five fruit and veg a day, I'd be looking at things like crumbles and custard, really filling puddings that everyone loves. Frozen fruit and veg can be a lot cheaper than fresh, even when whoopsied. Homemade veggie soups, as a starter, are a great way to start a main meal. I find porridge far more filling for breakfast with a dollop of yoghurt than a boiled egg, which surprises me, but maybe the Scots know what's good for them!

Fresh things like milk, eggs and bread are the obvious things that will need restocking and no amount of stretching can be applied to disposable nappies. That's where the bulk of your cash might have to be targetted.

In addition to the fourm threads on this site like the brilliant Grocery Challenge and blogs like A Girl called Jack, there is also one by Elaine Collier, called Mortgage Free in Three. Her budget for food is eyewateringly tight and her receipes feed herself, her teenager and a five year old. You might find reading some of her recipes helpful. And there's also Frugal Queen, who recently posted a meal plan for four people for £40 a week.

You might also find that buying frozen veg is cheaper than whoopsies, and trawling the supermarkets late in the evening can be viscious and demoralising.

Good luck with it, and well done for having such a well stocked store cupboard and freezer already. It would be lovely, if at the end of March you could let us know how sucessful you were.

patchwork_cat

Hadn't come across those Honey Bear - links http://www.frugalqueen.co.uk/p/frugal-food.html and http://mortgagefreeinthree.com/

Honey_Bear

Sorry - I should have put the links up myself. Thanks Patchwork Cat.

E2006

Just an idea re packed lunches (and how to keep the cost down).....I buy a large pack of ham or large block of cheese (which I grate on the small size grater). I then make up enough sandwiches for the week (more if the bread/filling will stretch further) then I freeze them. DH and DS just need to lift one out on the morning and its defrosted in time for lunch. Apparently they taste as good as fresh. This saves money as you benefit from buying a larger pack of filling and there is no waste. Its even cheaper of you can get some YS bread too, and I don't put loads of filling in tbh.

As a packed lunch treat I buy smart price sponge cake mix which is about 26p (this is because I'm rubbish at baking so don't have a bakery store cupboard) I then make fairy cakes with it and freeze these individually which again are lifted out on a morning.

I put in a couple of pieces of fruit (usually a banana (68p for 1kg in Aldi) and whatever else is on offer in aldi) . I also put in a yogurt - to save money you could use smart price yogurts (33p for 4) or chocolate mousses (I think around 18p ish for 4).

Its enough to keep them going, with a bit of variety for not too much money.

HTH,