Help please, food shop...

carlymummy

Morning all OS'ers
Me and my family are trying to pay off a large bill at the moment and so have only a very limited amount to spend on food/household shopping for the next fortnight. I have put petrol in my car so if I'm frugal and a only make essential trips like work I should be ok. I have a voucher for Sburys £6 off £40 and also there is £15 on the Nectar card, I would like to try and stick to spending only £40 on the shop if possible. In our household there is 5 of us myself, hubby and 3 growing lads, 2 kittens, 1 dog and 2 fish. Just checked and toiletry wise will just need toothpaste I think and loo roll 9 pack. Dog food should last us, washing powder will last as will cleaning products. I thought I'd be better doing a mealplan for the fortnight do one big shop and make it last.
Breakfasts will be toast for all of us.
Lunches - youngest gets his free at school, other 2 take a sandwich, I don't get a break 3 days a week, hubby will take a sandwich.
Teas - now this is where I'm struggling a bit, we don't eat a lot of meat anyway, often have pasta based meals with a cheapie garlic bread to pad it out a bit, puddings are usually yoghurts or fruit. Can anyone offer any meal ideas cheap enough for us for the fortnight please? I'd be very grateful.

lisa110rry

I posted this on another thread, but I don't know how to do the "linky" thing, so here it is again:

1. Vegetable casserole
Select vegetables yoou like from these: swede, potato, leek, onion parsnip, carrot. Peel thinly and chop, but keep separate. Fry off in a little oil in separate batches, and transfer to casserole. When all done, put a little flour in the pan mix together and try to get all the "burnt" bits out of the frying pan - plenty of flavour there! slowly add hot veg stock until all mixed, add this to casserole, add more veg stock to cover, add a good squirt of tomato puree and season. Leave it to bubble in the oven (covered), about gas mark 4 ish for a few hours until cooked and the taste is heavenly. Serve with bread to mop up the gravy. You could add dumplings made from suet, flour and water. Dumplings should be added to the last 30 minutes and the cover left off so they can rise. Bet your child would love to make the dumplings for you!

2. Home made pizzas
In a small saucepan, place a tin of chopped tomoatoes, any herbs you like - there's a mixture called "Italian Herbs", that would be good. Salt and pepper, tomato puree and a scant teaspoon of sugar. Let this simmer uncovered until it becomes thick.
Use a scone recipe to make the dough, and spread it out in the (oiled and floured) roasting pan - it doesn't have to be round!
Swirl the tomato mixture on the dough, top with grated cheese. Bake until cooked through.
Big hit with children and a good source of vitamins I should think, as I believe tinned veg can keep their constituents better than fresh, if allowed to get old.

This post was originally written for a member with a seven year old child.

Ash_McCloud

Sainsbury's is quite expensive, even with the £6 off voucher it'll probably be cheaper to shop around, especially if you have Aldi or Lidl close by.

If you've got freezer space then you can get bread really cheap in the supermarkets, I get a fresh loaf or two from Morrison's instore bakery on a Sunday at closing time for 9p.

Morrison's also have a 12.5kg sack of spuds for £2 at the moment.

Ash_McCloud

Might be an idea to post the contents of your fridge and store cupboards too, so people can plan meals using some of the things you've already got in to save you spending unnecessarily.

carlymummy

Thanks for those recipes I'll give those a try, the boys love pizza, I stopped making them when I returned to work just short on time but I'll try to be more organised.
Yes I know Sburys can be more expensive but I work near to one and I would be able to knock off my £15 nectar points too. I do shop at Aldi/Lidl/Farmfoods too. You'd be surprised at the quality of the basics stuff too I will only have their teabags


Good idea Ash -
Fridge - cheese full block
half tub stork
eggs x5
milk 4 pints (got one this morning) but we go through A LOT!
1 leek
3 carrots
cherry tomatoes full pack
half pack of trex (I use it for pastry)
Ketchup/mayo
Freezer - 6 pack wraps
4 breakfast muffins (the boys love these with egg)
half pack frozen peas
6 slice bacon
Cupboard -
1 tin potatoes
1/3 bag strong white flour
2 sachets of yeast
1 carton passatta
choc spread/peanut butter both almost empty
half bag pasta
self raising flour almost full bag
cocoa powder


Have a herb and spice rack too which is not too badly stocked.
Yes I know how little we have in but we have been short for a few weeks now

carlymummy

Oh yes have cat food for tomorrow and enough litter for then, dog food should last the fortnight, fish food have plenty for the month or more. Def. need toilet rolls and toothpaste.

RAS

Check that you can use your £6 off voucher and nectar points on the same purchase; a lot of these promos are "no other promotion."

The other thing is that even with those you may well be paying more than you would if you stocked up on YS goods.

What stores can you get to at discount time?

If you cannot them the two mains items are going to be budget/basics pasta at less than 30p per 500g (6+ portions) and some basics sliced bread for sandwiches.

For the older boys; would they eat pasta salad once or twice a week? Pasta, mayo (you already have) and a tin of basics sweetcorn.

Pasta bakes:

Basic tomato (with some grated veggies) and cheese
Tomato, tuna and a little cheese.
"Macaroni" cheese.
White sauce (flavour with nutmeg and black pepper), peas and bacon.

Get a bottle of budget/basics rape seed oil at 90p-£100 and add a little to all the above - Vits A & D and calories.

Try and get a large white cabbage and make slaw regularly for some vitamin C.

Buy a bag of split peas (half a cost of lentils) and make soup.

liney

Porridge would be cheaper then toast for breakfast. Can the other two children have their free school meals just for these two weeks?

http://agirlcalledjack.com/ has a lot of vegan and veggie recipes. I would be tempted to produce a large batch of vegetable curry and a vat of thick soup.


I would also be buying a large bag of spuds for jackets and chips, and a huge bag of pasta to serve with a basic tomato sauce - tinned toms, onion and garlic.

caffinated_geek

For cheap meals I like:
Tuna pasta bake: Pasta, a can of tuna and a white sauce or cheese sauce
Egg and chips with a couple of slices of bread and butter
Sausage pasta bake (pasta, passata (or value sauce in a jar if you prefer), an onion and a pack of sausages chopped finely served with Aldi's cheapest garlic bread to fill you up
Jacket potatoes
Aldi's Carlos frozen pizza is very cheap and quick to make
Sausage and mash
Beans on toast
Omlets
Pancakes filled with rice, beans and any left over veg or meat
Noodle soup: noodles in broth (made of chicken stock, chilli, garlic ginger and a little tomato puree) with veg and any meat you might have left over

Anne_Marie_2

Another cheap protein meal idea is dhal, you can add some veggies if you like, and serve with rice and/or pitta bread. I'm a vegetarian and this is one of my staple quick foods. You don't have to use lentils, you could use split peas, as RAS has said that they are cheaper.
I quite often throw a handful of lentils into a veggie casserole or even home made tomato sauce to serve with pasta. It's more filling, but the main thing is the protein aspect.

SailorSam

caffinated_geek wrote: »

Aldi's Carlos frozen pizza is very cheap and quick to make

Heron do two pizza for £1