Living out of my store cupboard & freezer, how little can I spend to feed my family?

missymoo81

Helloooo,

Ok this thread is going to be exactly what it says on the tin. Money is short and my store cupboard is bursting as is my freezer, desperately need to pay off the Credit card, as OH's job is hanging on by a mere thread at the moment.... and attacking the food budget is the only thing I know i can sort and its the only thing with any leeway in it. I didn't realise quite how bad things were so was just buying stuff willy nilly, and had a bit of a reality check last night. Now feel sick about all the 'nice' ingredients i last bought in my tesco order. As in: I decided I would diet so bought shed loads of salad, which has sat uneaten, coriander, hummus, almond milk, all stupidly expensive, unneeded luxuries!!! And now i'm looking at the credit card and its almost full...... so practically no food money! How stupid?! I could go on berating myself, but I guess its not going to do any good, my best bet is to do something about it.

At the moment it is just me, a 2 year old and a 4 year old, OH works away and will be away for around 8 weeks, so for the moment its just us to feed. My children eat more than I do, and I eat a lot, they just have hollow legs and live for fruit, which is great, but 5 pieces of fruit a day is not cheap!! I need to find a way so that they still get their 5 a day, without spending a fortune. I will obviously have to buy fresh things, such as milk, cheese, bread, and fruit, but this will all be shopped around for. But everything else I will try my absolute best to shop out of my freezer and store. Contrary to this though...I do want to try and feed us the best I can, and as healthily as I can... So it's going to have to be old style, filling hearty meals made from scratch. I work part time, and failure to prepare is usually my downfall, so I think maybe spending one day a week preparing for the week ahead, should help, here's hoping!

This is going to be one hell of a challenge, if anyone wants to join me?

I will keep a rolling list of what I've bought, and will post a list of the gist of the stuff I have hoarded in my cupboards!!!!

Will start a meal plan too

Would love any tips ideas or encouragement.

thanks for reading lovelies,

Much love

Missy x

missymoo81

Space saved for:
List of stuff in my cupboards and freezer, seriously it could feed a small village for a month?! So ashamed:

cupboards:
0.75l sunflower oil
1/2 bag sugar
2 bags desiccated coconut!? Why OH doesn't even like it
half tin coco
box ginger bread mix (from 2 christmases ago!!)
1 jar of honey
bag of goji berries!!!????
bag of cacao nibs???!!!
Bag of coconut flour???!!!
1/4 bag of flax seed??!!
huge bag of banana protein powder???!!!
1/4 pot of bicarb
1/4 pot of baking powder
pot of cream of tartar
bag of gram flour
10 bags of white bread flour?! That are waaaaay past their use by!!
1 bag mixed seeds
5 x instant yeast sachets
box icing sugar
big tub of almond butter
handful of cream crackers
handful of rice cakes
lemon juice

2.5 bags of quinoa
1kg of white rice
2 mugs of brown rice
2/3rds pack of arborio rice
3 jars of coconut oil
bag of lentils
2/3rds of yellow split peas
6 chicken stock cubes
3 beef stock cubes
6 veg stock cubes
box lasagne sheets
1/2 pack of spaghetti
1/2 box cannelloni
1/2 bag of tagliatelle
4 tins plum tomatoes
8 tins of tuna???!!!!
1 quart of passatta
lots of herbs and spices
8 packs of sugar free jelly (the sachet type you add hot water to)
4 noodle blocks
1/2 tub turkey gravy granules
lots of salt and pepper
1 tin baked beans
1 tin chick peas
1 tin pineapple
2 sachets chowmein sauce
1 jar rogan josh (i have no idea why this is here, I always make my own curry sauces?!)
1 x sweet chilli and red pepper sauce
2 x sachets creamed coconut
1 and half packets of penne pasta
minced chilli
minced garlic
packet of rich tea biscuits
haribo
box celebrations from christmas

1 large jar of sweet mincemeat
1 and 1/2 box of malt wheats
1/2 pack muesli
1/2 box cornflakes
bag of oats

lots of condiments and sauces including, soy, fish, tomato, brown, worcester, vinegar etc etc

copious amounts of tea and coffee

OH’s stuff
6 kitkats
4 bags of crisps
2 bags of sports mix
minstrels

fridge
1 x 4pt milk
1 1/2 cartons of almond milk?!
2/3rds red pepper
1/2 tub cream cheese
7 onions
5 bendy carrots
2 slowly going off courgettes!
11 fromage frais
1 small tub clover
1/2 tub grapes
2/3rds punnet of strawberries
1/4 punnet of blueberries
400g cheese
1 x natural you 500g
3 x large cauliflower, why???!!!
1 x broccoli
2/3rds punnet of mushrooms
1 x butternut squash
5 x avocado, again, why, as if I can eat them that quickly?!
6 x kiwi
6 satsumas
2/3rds punnet cherry tomatoes
3 slices ham
4 sticks celery
1/4 tub hummus
1/2 jar mayo
bit of old parmesan ?!
1 1/2 bags of spinach
beer and cider
bottles of wine
random bolognaise made earlier in the week
coriander


Freezer
frozen chillies
10 burgers
10 sausages
5 pork loin steaks
turkey mince
15 veggie fingers
750g beef mince
20 chicken breasts….. I honestly didn't know I had any chicken in there?! crazy
2/3rds bag frozen red onions
2/3rds bag of onion rings
handful of frozen peas and sweetcorn
bag of green beans
cheese onion quiche
handful of prawns
7 salmon fillets
1/2 bag of frozen peppers
1/4 bag frozen spinach
3 corn on the cobs
1 bag mixed mushrooms
2 slices of chicken pie
2 pitta breads
few kgs of raspberries and blackberries, picked from the garden last year
1 chilli
2 unidentifiable!!!
2 packets of stir fry mix


2 x haddock fillets
15 fish fingers
2 bags bacon
3 hm soups
1 covent garden carton
handful of cocktail sausages
handful of mini sausage rolls

10 bananas
12 pears
18 apples
lime
1 huge mango

4 cans of cola
2 bottles fizzy water
concentrated juice
hot chocolate


tons of eggs, as have chickens
and think I may be able to dig up some potatoes from the garden.....



i think there may be some popping corn, some 00 flour and some poppy seeds somewhere but I cant seem to find them.

God I know, I know, it is an awful lot of food... and shamefully I didn't realise there was anywhere near as much

Right best get on planning on how to use it!!!

missymoo81

place saved for:

Meal plans for dinners

ok, so i think I am going to stick with toast or porridge for breakfast.
Lunch will be soup and bread or sandwiches, with various fillings, and a banana and a cake or similar.

Dinner will be in order from today 18th March:

friday - burgers for littlies, left over bolognaise turned into chilli wth rice for me.
saturday - veggie egg fried rice
sunday - cocktail sausages in yorkshires, with veg and hopefully potatoes
monday - Spinach and tomato omelettes
tuesday - butternut, spinach and mushroom risotto
wednesday -butternut & spinach cannelloni in tomato sauce (jamie recipe)
Thursday - veggie pasta bake, using courgette, tomato, onion
friday - veggie/spinach and butternut curry with hm chapati
Saturday - HM veggie pizza

so thats so far....

WantToBeSE

Hi missy

I would love to join you if thats OK? I dont have loads of store cupboard stuff, but what i do have has been sat there for months and needs using up!

missymoo81

hey WanttobeSE, lovely to see you here. Yes please do join, would be glad of the company.

As I go through my cupboard I am feeling more and more ashamed,

I have 3 bags of quinoa?! I mean really?

WantToBeSE

LOL, i have 7 bags of pasta...and I'm trying to Low Carb :rotfl:

I have loads of quinoa, cous cous, pasta and rice, so don't need to buy any of that for at least a few months.

I have lots of random tins too...artichoke hearts..i have never tried them, and am clueless what to use them in? I don't even know if i like them!

missymoo81

lol wanttobese, bless you, you sound like me, the only time i have had artichoke was on a pizza.... possible idea?
I have just gone through my food stash, seriously shocked at the amount of food. Why do i spend a fortune shopping every week, when I have sooooooo much food. Am going to add it now, please don't judge! I think i may have a food buying fetish!! And this is literally everything...

WantToBeSE

No judgement here Missy.

Without wanting to get too 'deep', the need to fill my cupboards to bursting (and then some) i believe came from my very poor childhood. We never went without food but my Mum did, in order to feed us.

I think having loads and loads of food is my security blanket. But i have gotten so much better at this in the last year or so. Now i only have 1 cupboard full to bursting, instead of 3.

RAS

missymoo81 wrote: »

My children eat more than I do, and I eat a lot, they just have hollow legs and live for fruit, which is great, but 5 pieces of fruit a day is not cheap!! I need to find a way so that they still get their 5 a day, without spending a fortune.

Hi

Much as I love fruit, eating 5 pieces of fruit a day is not good for the children as fruit contains a lot of sugar. Even more so if you are giving them fruit juices or smoothies as well. They will probably be experiencing sugar spikes and crashes which make them hungry.

Their 5 a day should mainly be veggies and can include baked beans and potatoes as well. SDo carrot sticks with some of that hummus? Or just as finger food?

And if you are offering acid fruit (even apples) give them a wee bit of cheese after to neutralise the acid.

ceecee1

Watching this with interest. I live on my own-think i have enough food to see me through if there was a nuclear attack Slowly working my way through my freezer - I have frozen bits of things and I dont even know what they are so its a surprise. Then need to work my way through the tinned and dried stuff.
I think its a throwback to the days when I had nothing and was completely broke - just need to break the need to have a mountain of things 'just in case'

Siebrie

Hi Missymoo, I do hope you will enjoy your posh dinners - it's a shame to let it go to waste. Maybe you can chop and freeze the coriander?


My dds like to nibble on a carrot; you can also grate carrots or apples on bread, maybe add a little lemon juice to prevent the apple turning brown. Let them drink water; restrict juice to e.g. their midmorning snack. I know we're not allowed to give medical advice, but if they have hollow legs at their young age, I think they may need to eat slightly more fatty foods, for instance full fat yoghurt, to fill them up. But please research this before changing their diet.


Will follow this thread, because we also have limited budget for food, and quite a full larder.