£100 to last the whole month

[Deleted User]

Wrap the celery in tin foil it makes it last for ages ,or make soup from it Pepper will slice in strips and open freeze then bag up.Cheese will freeze OK I wrap mine in foil as I buy a big block for economy and divide it into four portions (mind there is only me to feed.bread will freeze no problem

I would use as much of the stuff in the fridge first if you can, especially the yogurt,sandwich filler.Don't go near a shop unless you really really NEED something essential.Use as much of the stuff in the freezer as and when you can .

Chicken breasts can be diced up with some peppers , tinned tomato's and any spare veg you can find a I would make a big pot of curry if you can, or a chicken lasagne using diced up chicken instead of mince.A big one padded out with veg /even tinned beans will fill empty tummys.Basically use as much as you can up before you even think about going near a shop.Then if you can make it Lidls or Aldi's.

Tuna steaks will make good fishcakes and if you chuck a few garden peas into the mashed potato it will help pad them out a bit Leeks and carrots will freeze easily and once peeled and chopped and bagged up will freeze beautifully or failing that make a vat of soup as I do at least once a week.use as a stater before your main meal to fill you up or with bread or cheese and crackers for lunches.Its suprising how inventive you can become when faced with penury ,believe me I have been there back in the 1970s when the interest rates went through the roof and we only had one wage coming in.

By Thursdays I would be making odds and sods pie which was a pastry case baked blind and then filled with a tin of beans and left over veg I could find and couple of chopped up mushrooms maybe a sausage or two cooked and chopped up, topped off with cheesy mashed spuds and sprinkled with grated cheese and finished off in the oven once the top had gone nicely brown and the cheese was melted it was delicious hot or cold, and my late OH would take a decent slice into work in his packed lunch.


Think of the next month as a challenge to your ingenuity and try to spend as little as possible by streeetching what you have first.It can be done and no one will die if they don't get the allotted 5-7 a day nonsense.

I survived WW2 and rationing and my brothers and I thought we were blooming lucky to see any fruit in a month let alone five a day :):) and if you get stuck there is always the old favourite of egg and chips one night a week

Good luck honey come on and have a rant if you must as we are all here to help if we can
JackieO xx

Anne_Marie_2

I agree with making a big pot of soup with some of your veggies. You could add in a tin of kidney beans to give some protein there, or some rice to bulk it up....I would have said lentils, but you don't seem to have any, so make do with what you have.

As JackieO said, fishcakes are a great idea, bulked out with some peas. Notice that you don't have potatoes, but you could use cooked rice instead. (Recipe to give you an idea https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=613676). You could either make breadcrumbs with what bread items you have, or you could coat with porridge (assuming that you have just plain oats, not the sweetened stuff).

Fish pie. I'd be tempted to do one with broccoli or peas with some of your fish fillets smoked or plain, or a mixture of both, some prawns if you like, and again, not having potato, you could use breadcrumbs mixed with some grated cheese for a topping, or alternatively, some cauliflower cooked and mashed up a bit and spread over the top with some grated cheese, before popping in the oven.

Other ideas for your fish..
Seafood lasagne
Salmon and peas in a creamy sauce with egg noodles or spaghetti (use veg or chicken stock if you don't have milk).

Enough from me for now, it's too early for me to be trying to use my imagination too much at this time of day!

Princess_Lou_II

OK, so looks like I have a few meal ideas there already - Thank you for them
I think I'd struggle to know how to do some of these, though will give them a good go

Princess_Lou_II

I've added a few bits that I forgot to put on yesterday - it's leftovers from our dinner yesterday - my husband was wrapping them up for the ridge when I typed the list out.

Princess_Lou_II

I do have a jar of lentils -not sure why I didn't post it, I thought I had - it's in with all the pasta & rice. I will update my list to include this too

suki1964

Left over chicken - saute a chopped onion till soft, add some mushrooms, peas, add the chicken chunks, a spoon of flour and hot stock to make a good thick gravy. Throw in a pie dish and either make a pastry lid ( 4oz flour to 2 oz fat) or use up some of your bread and make breadcrumbs and make a crumble topping (add herbs to make it really tasty)

A lot of that fish can go into a fish pie. This is my go to recipe Remember if you dont have an ingredient - just dont use it - you will learn the basics http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3174/fish-pie-in-four-steps I myself never use that amount of fish (more like 300gr ) and still feed 3 adults

Use the muffins as pizza bases

Pasta - finally chop the carrot, celery and onion, soften, add the anchovies, tinned toms, any herbs, olives, capers etc -makes a lovely thick gutsy sauce, mix with cooked pasta and top with a grating of cheese

Frying steak will be good in a stew with the frozen veg

Hope that helps some

Anne_Marie_2

Princess_Lou_II wrote: »

OK, so looks like I have a few meal ideas there already - Thank you for them
I think I'd struggle to know how to do some of these, though will give them a good go

What recipes would you struggle with? Let us know and you will have more help than you could shake a stick at.

Here's an easy one..
Macaroni & cheese, you can either make using a white sauce, or layer cooked macaroni and cheese in ovenproof dish. Whisk up an egg in approx 1/2 pint milk, add salt & pepper, I also add a teaspoon of mustard and pour over. Dot with some butter or marg. Bake for about 30 mins gas mark 5 or 180C.

MallyGirl

make stock from the chicken carcass. then use it with the Arborio rice to make risotto

Princess_Lou_II

I would struggle to make the food stretch, and with things like fish pie. I liked the link Suki - I just know that my husband doesn't like fish pie - I think its the creamy sauce, with soft mash (ie the texture) though I liked the other idea of topping it with breadcrumbs. Any other alternatives like that would be great.


Yes, 2 adults & 3 children, one of who is extremely fussy to the point of despair!


I would also struggle to do things without following a recipe. I want to be free of this anyway, so perhaps this will help.

suki1964

Princess_Lou_II wrote: »

I would struggle to make the food stretch, and with things like fish pie. I liked the link Suki - I just know that my husband doesn't like fish pie - I think its the creamy sauce, with soft mash (ie the texture) though I liked the other idea of topping it with breadcrumbs. Any other alternatives like that would be great.


Yes, 2 adults & 3 children, one of who is extremely fussy to the point of despair!


I would also struggle to do things without following a recipe. I want to be free of this anyway, so perhaps this will help.

Boil the spuds till just soft, then slice and layer over the top instead of mash. I hate mash so do that on cottage pie as well. You get nice crispy bits as well

A recipe is only a suggestion really. The idea I gave you for the pasta , that's a take on nigellas sl*t spaghetti As long as you have the basic ingredient ( ie fish for a fish pie) the rest you can make up as you go. As long as you don't over season ( add, taste, add some more if needed) it won't be a disaster, it will be edible- if perhaps never to be attempted again

How fussy is fussy?