No time, no money - mealplan help please!

Eels100

I've just had a baby and so we're on severely reduced income and I'm spending every waking hour (this is a lot!) breastfeeding him. I'm aiming to get down to £25-30/week all in for two adults. I'm trying to lose a bit of weight and DP is a big hungry lad who takes a packed lunch (has to be sandwiches - he thinks pasta salads etc are for girls :rolleyes: ).

I feel that if I plan meals ahead I won't overspend in the shops, I will be less likely/able to grab rubbish to eat and I'll hopefully have some sort of framework in place for when DP becomes a househusband in the new year!

If anyone can suggest a week mealplan or some recipes to include that would be great. I seem to remember Black Saturn and Gingham Ribbon were good at this. I do a big supermarket storecupboard shop roughly monthly, I have a small local shop and a good butcher and greengrocer too. I like batch cooking and have freezer space.

I know roughly what I need to be doing, but my head's mush and I have this small pink thing constantly attached to me and I just can't think where to start!

newlywed

My quick healthy meals (work full time) are:-

Omelette
Grilled pork chops with frozen veg - boneless pork chops are often on offer and I cut off the fat before grilling.
Grilled gammon rounds with veg.
Stir fry
Fish fillets (usually microwaved) with frozen veg (and bisto's parsley sauce ) - frozen salmon fillets on offer in Tesco at the moment - 8 fillets for £4.99.

If I get a quiet weekend then I will make a shep pie and a lasagna for the freezer which makes an easy meal later on - bung in the oven and no real need to watch over it.

I also bake a batch of potatoes, cool, wrap each in foil and then freeze them - just put in the fridge the night before the defrost (or leave in a room in the morning) and you can then zap them for 2 mins to reheat in microwave - we often take these to work for lunch.

Congrats on the baby!

Hope that gives you some ideas.

newlywed

If you do get a chance to make some meals that take a little longer then cook a bigger batch of them. It really doesn't take double the time to make double the amount eg:

Chilli (I made 3 batches of this the other day - extra kidney beans, some red lentil to pad out the mince). 2 batches went in the freezer for later in the month.

Making a shep pie and a lasagna at the same time is easy - I use the same meat sauce (again padded with red lentils and lots of veg, sweetcorn, sliced or grated carrots) make the lasagna up without any of the cheesey/white sauce and then cheat and when it has defrosted use a low fat condensed soup on the top with a sprinkle of cheese - saw another post that suggested using blitzed sweetcorn as a low fat sauce but i have yet to try it

Appreciate that these take a little longer to do though.

jan03

Eels100 wrote: »

I know roughly what I need to be doing, but my head's mush and I have this small pink thing constantly attached to me and I just can't think where to start!

you'll miss it when you stop!! i wish i'd carried on breastfeeding longer than 6 months.
p.s the braincells do return slowly!!!

ziggy2004

I know how you feel my youngest is 9 months and there barely seems time to stop ( am feeding him while surfing the net )

I invested in a slowcooker and it was the best thing I ever did I cook whole chickens and get 3 meals out of those, bolognese, chili, steak and kidney pie, casseroles etc. I bought the 6,5 ltr one and make a full pan and then freeze the rest.

things like fish pie and roasts where I can just stick it in the oven for a bit longer if needed are great too

X Anne

astep70uk

Congratulations!!! :j

I've just returned to work after 9 months maternity leave, and we virtually lived on pasta (good job we all like it!)
Filling and cheap!

Also jacket potatoes done in the oven was another favourite - just stick them in for a couple of hours and no need to watch.

Oh, and cheats tuna fish pie was another easy one:

Tuna Fish Pie

Mix one tin drained sweetcorn with one tin drained tuna, and one tin condensed chicken soup.

Top with mashed potato (I use Mr Mash to make it really quick) and cook in microwave until hot.

We then top this with crushed ready salted crisps. Yum!

keelykat

Hi!

We only spend £25 a week on food shopping and we're sticking to it easily. We have found that going to asda at certain times of the week/day-they have a clearance freezer/fridge part and sell fish/meat etc off quite cheaply.

We stick to fairly simple meal ideas really, meat/fish, potatoes (or cheap oven chips if in a rush) and veg (frozen veg is ok-and can get big bags cheap from freezer places). Pasta dishes-big bags of pasta are cheap at asda too. (i love pasta bakes!)

As for lunch- we see what offers are on for yoghurts, and stock up on bread on offer too and then freeze the loaves we want for later. We always buy plenty of fruit ie apples, bananas etc. I look out for big bags of crisps which work out cheaper etc too.

I go knowing what i'm going to buy, and stick to it. The only extra's are if i see more fresh fish or chicken cheap in the reduced section (i freeze them and can be kept for four weeks safely).

Don't go shopping hungry! We go shopping every other week and treat ourselves to a freshly made pizza in asda, so when we get home we chuck it in the oven whilest we are unpacking (and for me scanning everything for shop and scan!) It is something i look forward to and remember it when eying up naughty foods!

I think herbs and spices are great things to have in your cupboard too-they can make meals more interesting.

Good luck!

keely.

victoriaplum1

my sil stocks up on reduced loaves of bread and bungs it in the freezer she reckons its ideal for toast she puts the frozen bread straight into the toaster (no defrosting needed) havent tried it as not big toast eaters but itd be very quick way of doing beans on toast, egg on toast for a quick and cheap meal

cheerfulness4

One of the quickest forms of cooking, that is healthy too, was one suggested by Jamie Oliver. I seal meat and veg in parcels of tin foil with side turned up and tiny bit of steaming water in, and then cook for 20 - 30 mins in oven. I do this with chops/chicken and all manner of veg and left with no pots to clean either. It cooks beautifully with absolutely no effort.