Hopeless with food budgeting...

RHemmings

Octagon wrote: »

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.

Given what you say, I would first try to start making food that doesn't really require a recipe. Sandwiches would be a good start. Or if that's too stodgy, then wraps. My advice will be a bit too veggie as that's what I know, but if you go to any major supermarket you can pick up wrapping bread, hummous, bagged salad, falafel, and perhaps some tomatoes. Throw a bit of each in the wrap to taste, roll them up, and put them in a plastic box to take to work. You'll have to learn to use up the food rather than let too much of it go to waste, but not being concerned about eating the same thing repeatedly (I'm the same) will help a lot. It could easily turn out not only cheaper than Pret, but with efficient supermarket visits, perhaps even more efficient time-wise. Certainly once you have the ingredients in the fridge it's faster to make a lunch than to go out and buy one. I get that sometimes when I feel I should have left for work already (my job is time-flexible). I realise that I haven't made a lunch - but can't just go and buy one at work as overall that will be even more wasteful of time.

Making things from ready-made ingredients that just get bunged together like wraps would be a good step away from buying every day. Cooking everything from scratch could save even more money, but if you're time poor, then it could be best to take an easier step first, and then think of what to do next when you're more used to taking your own food in.

maddiemay

We used to camp a lot in our folding camper and only had 2 gas rings and a grill, Friday night suppers needed to be quick and easy. A couple of favourites which I often use now for quick store cupboard meals involved:-

Sliced cooked or tinned potatoes, chopped up ham/smoked mackerel/sliced sausage. Saute pots in a little oil or butter, add sliced tinned mushrooms, sweetcorn niblets, some frozen peas, add a pinch or two of Italian seasoning, a sprinkle of veggie stock powder and stir in the meat/fish element, so tasty.

Another quick supper here is some cooked pasta (just 2 of us so done in microwave steamer), fry some chopped onion (freezer pack), garlic (dry from a jar or from a tube), a good dollop of own brand cream cheese, shake of herbs, milk or water to thin it down if needed, meat/chicken/fish of choice and the drained pasta, heat well and serve with side salad,fresh or frozen veg etc Great boxed up for work lunch too either hot or cold.

I always have in Marigold veggie stock powder and a touch of this added to almost anything really adds flavour.

Doom_and_Gloom

Argos are selling a 5.5L cooksworks slow cooker on clearance right now for £13.99 very useful though large. Get loads of the plastic containers that people have said about though and use your free days to cook. I use my slow cooker overnight a lot add we have cheap rate then; I have a 6.5l for just me, OH had a small one he uses for himself. When I wake up I turn it off, portion out into containers and place in freezer.

Curry, chilli, stew, soup etc. Just bung everything in and it does it all for you. OH has made meatballs in sauce in his with great success. Just boiled spaghetti to go with it. Simple.

Maybe get a rice cooker, wouldn't be without mine now. Should be able to get one for £15-£20 range. Perfect rice every time. You can cook lentils in with the rice along with mixed frozen veg, 20 mins later all done. Serve with some sweet chilli sauce, soya sauce or simular and all good. I don't eat animal products but if you do while that is in the rice cooker you could make an omelette or fry some meat etc. Very quick, easy and cheap.

For lunch do sandwiches, wraps, pasta salad or potato salad. None of these are very hard to make.

Have a look on https://www.cheap-family-recipes.org the prices don't match to prices now but they are still cheap and many are quick and/or can be made and frozen for later. I'm a big fan of the bean curry and the saag aloo.

PasturesNew

I swear by part-baked baguettes - they have a long cupboard life (1-2 months) and I've cooked/eaten them way after that date on occasion .... the packet starts to get a bit tight, but they're fine.

Open the packet, slice them down the middle as if you're going to fill them.... then slice them in half lengthways and you get four half baguettes. 10-12 minutes in the oven and they're done.

I find that if you cut them neatly they will just fit inside those plastic takeaway boxes a treat. Once cooked, they're fine for a couple of days if kept airtight.

At ~40p or so in, say, L1dl, that's 10p for each half a baguette. Can be filled for lunch - or served (toasted or not) with a soup for an evening meal. And/or, use them as DIY pizza bases.

You need some "longer life" stuff in the cupboards ... that you don't need to buy/eat within the week. For those "grab it and scoff" moments. Or "didn't go out and buy the food I thought I would" times.

.... you mentioned cheese earlier ... baguettes would make a change from wraps. Maybe wraps one week, baguettes the next, bread the following week.

krlyr

Wraps freeze - I keep a pack in the freezer at work (as I'd never get through all 8 before they went off), on a Sunday I cook a tray of chicken breasts (sometimes I'll do a few and keep them in the fridge at work, sometimes a bigger batch, and dice/freeze), a bag of spinach lasts ages (way past its best before date) and a tub of greek yoghurt will last at least 7 days. Various flavoured chicken (Holland and Barrett do a lovely Italian Herb blend, though supermarket own is cheaper and fine too), handful of spinach leaves, couple of dollops of greek yoghurt - and a pretty tasty, fairly healthy lunch You could add calories if needed by swapping to mayo or salad dressing and maybe some avocado (I find the frozen portions from Tesco/Iceland fine for wraps - I defrost and mash with a fork) or grated cheese (also freezes - rather than buy ready grated, buy a block, grate the lot and then freeze on a baking tray. Once frozen, pop in a bag and voila, stash of cheese that won't go off!) in there too.

Rather than cook and assemble a shepherds pie, what I tend to do is cook mince in a few ways (so just with gravy/carrots, as a bolognese, as a chilli, as taco seasoned mince, etc) and freeze in single portions. I could then serve with mash potato if I wanted, or with rice, pasta, spaghetti, on a baked potato, in a wrap or a taco...saves eating the exact same meal every time. When I first moved out, I must have had bolognese practically ever other meal until my cooking repertoire expanded!

krlyr

Also, I wonder if you may find more energy from a change in diet - I would reckon homemade portions are going to be more generous than Pret's, for starters, but I wonder if perhaps switching up a bit may help with both energy levels and food costs.

I personally have found my appetite and energy much more favourable (as in smaller appetite but more energy) going down the clean eating route - more whole grains rather than processed foods, more protein, less sugars. I have something like greek yoghurt for breakfast, the protein is great for filling you up and giving you energy to start the day. Swapped breads for wholewheat wraps, and if I do have something like a shepherds pie, I try to swap out white potato for something like a sweet potato mash instead. Brown rice, or even cauliflower rice as a lower carb option, filling up on veggies rather than chips/potatoes/pasta etc - though clean eating is less strict on carbs so you are allowed some, but I just try to limit quantities (so I'll bulk out something like a chicken pasta dish with chunky veg like courgette slices, strips of bell pepper, broccoli florets, etc.)

I use lots of frozen veg to bring costs down, and the stuff like brown rice I'll buy a large bag of and then cook in a batch and freeze single portions. Greek yoghurt is always just own brand, as are the wraps. I buy chicken in 5kg packs cheaper than supermarket cheaper (sites like Muscle Foods may be worth checking out).


Perhaps a little too extreme until you're more confident in cooking - but it's not too hard to cook clean, lots of the recipes are one-tray type meals (e.g. dice a chicken breast, a sweet potato, a red onion and a courgette into pieces, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with spices, chuck in oven for half an hour and voila!) or things you could batch-cook like a curry (I make a lovely clean eating butter chicken recipe that I have with cauliflower rice - which is made simply by throwing a cauliflower in a food processor).

jackyann

Make your own cook book up as you go along - saving on your computer or writing in a notebook.
And don't dismiss omelettes - they are fantastic food that you can dress up or down as you like, and great for evenings when you are tired.
Here's the recipe i often post on threads like this:
Make a basic 'piperade' by chopping an onion and frying gently in any oil (although cheap olive oil is the traditional one - not 'extra virgin'). Add chopped pepper (any colour you like) and fry gently until soft. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes and boil until you have a lovely mush and no liquid. Now turn down low, add salt & pepper, and pour in 2 eggs, scramble them all together.
Whilst this is going on, you can assemble some bread or toast, grill a bit of bacon or sausage, chop a bit of ham, or just have it plain.
it is nutritious and tasty - and if the amount given is too much for you, take some out before adding the egg, and put in the fridge for a tasty vege addition to tomorrow's meal.
There are endless variations on this on this comforting and easily prepared dish.

Small steps! Good luck

kboss2010

Just on the cheese topic, you can freeze cheese to make it last longer!

Grate it, pop it in a sealed freezer bag, lie it flat with the grated cheese spread across the bag evenly-ish (but not squashed down) & stick it in the freezer. Voila! You always have non-mouldy cheese for making sandwich fillings, sprinkling onto hot food/beans & making a cheese sauce for macaroni cheese.

I take wraps to work for lunches & make my own filling with a can of drained tuna (in water not brine/oil), a handful of chopped cherry/baby plum tomatoes, a handful of sweetcorn (u can use frozen too) & several heaped tablespoons of mayo. (1 tin's-worth lasts me two days/4 wraps-worth of filling)

My partner takes 'bento boxes' - basically a lunch box with a few tablespoons of cheese & chive cottage cheese in a small container, a packet of oatcakes, a handful of grapes, a heaped tablespoon each of salted cashews/pistachios, an apple or peach or plum or banana, a small yoghurt & a chocolate bar. The protein in the cheese & nuts will fill you up and if you have the same things for a week, from Aldi it will cost you around £12.

That said, you can put whatever & however much you like into a bento-style lunch - Google is your friend & the Japanese are crazy about their bento boxes - cheese, crackers, carrot/cucumber/pepper sticks & houmous, cold meats, cakes, crisps, mixed berries... they never get boring & make you look forward to them because you have a variety of things instead of just a sandwich.