Hopeless with food budgeting...

Octagon

Hi everyone,

I am a longtime lurker on here, and thought I'd ask a question. I'm so lacking in confidence in the kitchen, that
I live off Pret (fairly expensive cafe chain) and ready meals.

This is horrific for my financial state, and I really need some help!

I want to only spend £90 on food a month (all I can afford with everything else, if I want to save any money).

I cannot make anything, really, apart from omelettes, and have zero confidence in the kitchen!

I do have access to a freezer, and a microwave at work.

I get free fruit (2 pieces) on four days a week at work, and there is always free bread and coffee there too (I work 5 days per week).

One of my major issues, is my job tires me out a large amount, and so I struggle to face more than 15-20mins, or so, in the kitchen after work (it needs to be easy, so I don't give in, and go to M&S!)

I don't mind eating the same thing repeatedly.

As well as a little general support, I'd like some tips of very basic, but quite tasty meals I could make, if you wouldn't mind.

Also, please may I have a list of the basic things I need like plastic food boxes, types of herbs and spices, etc?

I'd be able to spend a bit of time on a Saturday or Sunday to pre-prepare some food too (not tons and tons of time, if possible).

Thank you very much,

A time-poor, and fairly monetarily poor, single, London girl.

krlyr

You might find it worth looking at student recipe books/sites to begin with - these will be aimed at beginner cooks on a low budget.

How much freezer space do you have at home? Batch cooking definitely helps with saving on both budget (can buy in bulk = cheaper prices) and time (just as easy to make 5 meals as 1 - and you can microwave the other 4 instead of cook from scratch)

Octagon

Hi Krylyr,

Thank you for your message.

I'll have a look at some of those student sites.

I live in a shared house, but other people don't really use the freezer much, so quite a lot of space.

If I worked out how to make, for instance, a gigantic shepherds pie, and put it into 5 plastic boxes in the freezer - then could I just microwave a bit each day? Do you cook it first, and then just warm it from frozen each day?

Does that also work for some kind of tomatoey chicken casserole with potato chunks, etc. Always cook it first, before freezing, and then just shove it in the microwave? Or is thawing better first?

Could I do that sort of thing for a tenner for 5 large portions? (I have to have quite large amounts - I'm quite slight, and have to eat quite a bit.)

Many thanks!

PasturesNew

There are many things that are easy .... but everybody has access to different foods and eats different foods and expects different foods... so it's hard to "start from nowhere" in making suggestions as it might simply not be the sort of food you head for.

One starting point might be to ditch the Pret by telling us what you buy there (I've never been in one/never seen one) ...

Cheap is one thing..... healthy can be another .... fads and fancies are what keeps you on the intended path though.

There's a thread here called "Cooking for One" which you might care to read.... although we're a bad example to follow because we do tend to pick up on the bad food eaten by others and then all crave it.

e.g. crumpets are a single person's backbone freezer filler. You can do so many things with crumpets

Slow cookers can be good - you don't have to do it in the morning, you could just shove something in when you get in, intending to hook it out by the time you go to bed and box it up. You don't have to prepare a lot of stuff either .... just chuck raw meat/veggies in and magic comes out in 4-6 hours. e.g. curry, chilli, casserole, meatballs.... just don't try to get fancy with it all or you'll go off the idea as you try to find ingredients you never use again.

I keep a ready supply of what I call "meals in a tin" in the cupboard.... tins I can quickly grab and eat.... e.g. rice pudding, tinned pineapple, beans (for toast), chunky soups and meatballs/tomato sauce. The sort of thing you can grab, nuke, scoff..... tins never go off.... so they're great.

JIL

You could do some batch cooking at the weekend. I have a collection of takeaway plastic boxes, they are sold in Asda for about £1.50 for 5. The reason I use these is they are perfect one person portions, the lids always for the tubs, and they fit in the freezer easily.

I would suggest if you are not much of a cook you could use jars, if you have an aldi I recommend their curry sauce with the spices in the lid. One jar, a pack of chicken and some added veg easily makes 4 portions of curry. You can freeze in the dishes, take out of freezer and pull the lid of slightly and microwave from frozen. Serve with nan bread, rice or a jacket potato. Aldi even do frozen jacket potatoes and rice.
Chilli con carne, you can buy a packet mix for 30p, with mince, onions, red beans and extra veg and a tin of tomatoes it's a cheap meal and freezes brilliantly.
You could make a Bolognese sauce freeze in individual portions, you can have it with spaghetti or mix it with cooked pasta and top with cheese for a pasta bake.
Mince can be made into the base of a shepherds pie, but if you freeze individually, you can defrost, top with mash and make into shepherds pie (you can even buy frozen mash or freeze portions of mashed potatoes) however you could also use the mince base with different veg or topped with pastry. ( My tip here is buy fresh ready rolled pastry and cut it and freeze it in the shape of the dish your pie will be in, that way it can go on frozen)
Another good way to eat the mince dish is with Yorkshire puddings.
A couple of bags of frozen veg and you will have some decent meals.
Another dish I make often and freeze is Dahl, very healthy and economical. I often add a tin of chick peas to add interest.
Fish cakes, these can be made with tinned tuna or salmon. 2 fit nicely in a container and just need a quick 3 mins in the microwave and then get crisped up in the oven.

I would always cook first before freezing and then I very rarely defrost, I tend to microwave from frozen. I do ensure its thoroughly reheated.
Hope this helps.
Good luck.

PS I love pret.

[Deleted User]

You can make a large sheps pie or a lasagne ,cook it and when cold portion it up and freeze in those take away plastic boxes you get from the chinese restaurants (you can buy them for about 8 for a quid in the poundshop) these can be used to freeze portions and then you only have to take a portion out in the morning and put in the fridge and zap it when you get home for a quick cheap evening meal ,add half a tin of bean or some fresh veg to it which doesn't take long to cook in the m'wave or a steamer 500 gms of mince,a couple of carrots and a diced up onion with gravy added will make a large sheps pie and you should be able to buy all the ingredients for under a fiver and you should get around 5-6 meals out of it.If you have a slow cooker (about £12-15 in the shops ) you can make a large pot of chicken casserole again some diced veg onion,carrots some mushrooms perhaps and a packet of chicken thighs about £2.50 for the chicken if you get 6 thighs then you will have, once cooked ,cooled and frozen 3 meals at least with two thighs per meal If you make some mashed spuds and top the portions you have instant dinners for a fraction of the ones the supermarkets sell
Do have a look in the library and ask for the Student cook book they will either have a copy or will get one for you and copy out some inexpensive recipes from the book I found one in a C/shop which I gave to my DGS when he went off to uni,it cost me 25p He is in his third year and so far has survived and is quite good at cooking for himself .Use your library as much as possible and the librarians are pretty good and helping you out if you get stuck.Or google a cheap cookery recipes to find a book title then order it from the library. Ask on here ,no one will laugh or mock you as no one is born with a wooden spoon and we all had to start somewhere ourselves If you get stuck just shout,don't go for those fancy cook books you just want a basic one to get you going.

JackieO xx

Octagon

I sometimes wish I didn't need to eat large portions, as I'd just have the half size sandwiches in Pret for £1.75, and be done with it! He he!

In Pret I eat the hot wraps (chicken with cheese, tomatos, oninions peppers, etc. in a seedy wrap) the crayfish and avocado salads, ham and cheese toasties with the glorious mustard mayo, the very yummy soups like Thai chicken... Oh Pret, I might have died for lack of nutrients, without you!

I think I will just start with taking cheese into work to make sandwiches, as that's lunch sorted. I will think of other fillings, once I am bored of cheese!

I will get those takeaway boxes, thanks for the tip!

And, I must go join the library. That would be useful. I have been meaning to.

Chilli con carne, with a mix, I'm sure I might manage too, as well as Shepherds Pie.

That can be a start.

For this week, I have two ready meals left in the fridge, and will eat out on Monday, and I'm visiting my parents on Sunday, (who will kindly feed me).

I also have a pack of cheese left, and yogurts. I might be able to survive on only another five pounds for food this week (eating out is from the fun budget).

I'm house sitting on Friday to Monday, so no batch cooking next weekend, either. I will have to have beans on toast and omelettes for dinners the following week, and then I will try the gigantic shepherds pie!

Thank you everyone. I will keep looking back at your tips, as I practice each thing.

It's quite inspiring to get it down in writing.

I vow not to go into Pret... ��

I'll let you know how I get on in a few weeks.

The truth is, that I eat posh food, to bouy my spirits, but I will have to find other ways to keep chirpy, or I will have to house share forever! Even when I'm 90!

lessonlearned

Hi......first of all why not eat "posh food". I do. I love my grub and I won't compromise on quality. I will not eat cheap junk, it's not good for us. We need to eat for optimum nutrition for the sake of our health.

The trick is......to do it on a budget...this is why it so important to learn how to cook. I have champagne tastes and a lemonade budget but despite having limited means I eat and live like a queen.

How......because, although I say so myself.....I am an ace cook. :rotfl:

Never be afraid to ask questions or feel embarrassed at your lack of skills or knowledge. None of us were born knowing how to cook, we all had to learn. I have served up many a burnt offering in my time to my poor long suffering family in the early days. But if you practice then you acquire knowledge and skills.

Cooking is something we have to do......unless we are very rich .....so turn what could be a boring montonous chore into a hobby and an art form.

Just a few tips off the top of my head to get you started.

Build up a good selection of herbs and spices. You don't have to always buy fresh although if you have a kitchen windowcill it's nice to have a few fresh herbs.....the cheap easy ones, mint, basil, thyme, Parsley.

But dried herbs are perfectly ok. You don't need to buy the posh branded ones either, supermarket own labels are just as good.

Start with "mixes". So instead of loads of individual herbs, you could buy say Italian or Mediterranean herbs, Chinese 5 spice, a decent curry blend rather than all the individual spices.

Garlic and ginger.......you don't always have to buy fresh...you can buy them in pur!e form, minced in jars, or in granules or powders.

Sauces......a sauce can lift a dish from bland and Boring to sensational. Eventually you will be able to learn to do your own but start with jars or packets until you get the hang of how to use them.

Alcholol..... a dash of alcholol can transform the most uninspiring boring casserole into a sophisticated dish worthy of the best French bistros. Instead of buying red wine I buy a bottle of cheap red port and add a slug to dishes like bologonese, shepherds pie, stews etc. Cooked in the slow cooker it adds richness and flavour. Unlike wine port will not go off once opened and will last almost indefinitely.

Make cooking pleasant. Play some music whilst cooking and make it an enjoyable experience rather than just another chore.

Finally relax, you will make mistakes, there will be burnt offerings and not all of your early efforts will be edible. But just keep at it and you will quickly become adept. Have fun......food is meant to enjoyed not just endured. It's more than "just fuel", eating well is part and parcel of living well.

Do your housemates cook......perhaps you could practice on each other, taking it turns to give a iittle dinner party. Or a pot luck supper, where each of you contributes one dish.

I used to do this when I lived in bedsit land.....we would all squeeze in together, sit down to a home prepared feast washed down with a couple of bottles of wine. Great fun and we got to try out our new dishes on each other before "going public" or trying to impress the men we were dating......:rotfl:

PasturesNew

Octagon wrote: »

In Pret I eat the hot wraps (chicken with cheese, tomatos, oninions peppers, etc. in a seedy wrap) the crayfish and avocado salads, ham and cheese toasties with the glorious mustard mayo, the very yummy soups like Thai chicken... Oh Pret, I might have died for lack of nutrients, without you!

If you want to start by small adjustments, small steps, building it up over time so it's sustainable....

Just looking at that list .... you can buy wraps in packs cheaply enough at the supermarkets, including the budget supermarkets.

You can buy most/all of the ingredients ready made .... between the chiller and the freezer sections. Later on you can cook your own chicken starting from raw chicken.

Chicken: they sell that in all manner of flavours
Cheese; they sell all sorts of cheese
Tomatoes, onions, peppers; Yep, they sell those

Just be £/100g aware and ensure that what you're making is a huge saving over buying it. Cheese costs under £5/Kg .... more attractively packaged cheese costs £15/Kg. READ THE LABELS... check. Don't get sucked in by pretty packages, read the prices.

Just lay the wrap down, spread with something "wet" like a flavoured mayo or smear of hummus, then add your fillings, roll it up, cut in half... wrap in cheapo foil/cling film.

Think in terms of your weekly spend and see how much buying the ingredients yourself costs.

Octagon wrote: »

I think I will just start with taking cheese into work to make sandwiches, as that's lunch sorted. I will think of other fillings, once I am bored of cheese!

Cheese.
Cheese & pickle
Cheese & tomato
Cheese & egg
Cheese & salad
Cheese & ham
Three cheese
Cheese & onion
Cheese & spring onion
Cheese, crisps and mayo/salad cream.

There's no need to get bored of cheese

Octagon wrote: »

.... I will have to house share forever! Even when I'm 90!

That's called a care home... and by then you'll be past caring -AND- they feed you!

splishsplash

There are some excellent sites showing how to prep a week's worth of relatively healthy dinners in one go without spending too much time or effort on them.
Hopefully or Tasty are a couple of suggestions to start you off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_9bjux2FEg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfR_LdA3fPI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHn-LGxW8Sw

A slow cooker is a good idea, don't be discouraged, the main thing is to start building up a store others and spicrs and staples. Once you have a good store cupboard, you can make anything you like.

ETA: I tried to add some youtube links but I'm on my phone so I don't know if they are showing. Apologies if they're not.

curlywurly82

There are a few Facebook groups I am part of, cooking for one and feed yourself for a pound a day. Lots of ideas and people are happy to help with suggestions and recipes.