What are you making for dinner?

klew356

Chilli, also needed a bowl of warmth!

wheelygreat

Hi there

i have asked to join the grocery challenge.  We spend about £900 a month on supermarket shopping plus we have takeaways and we waste a lot of food. Is the likes of the boxed meats or ingredients meals good to look at?

if we only buy what we need from these “boxes” would it cut out waste and be more cost effective? They seem quite expensive. 

Any food budgeting planning advice would be good. 

Islandmaid

wheelygreat said:

Hi there

i have asked to join the grocery challenge.  We spend about £900 a month on supermarket shopping plus we have takeaways and we waste a lot of food. Is the likes of the boxed meats or ingredients meals good to look at?

if we only buy what we need from these “boxes” would it cut out waste and be more cost effective? They seem quite expensive. 

Any food budgeting planning advice would be good. 

A lot of this depends on your own circumstances, how many of you are their, kids? Adults? Your work patterns, how much you enjoy cooking or are able to cook from scratch - don’t put too much pressure on yourself, cut out one takeaway at a time one shop bought lunch at a time and you’ll still be saving x 

My advice would be, give yourself a good morning or afternoon to make a list of what you already have ‘in stock’ fridge/freezer, cupboards.  That’s your starting point.

Then sit down, write out, diary style a basic meal plan, I only plan the Main meal each day, but you might want to to breakfast/lunch/dinner, there are no set rules. 

Using you ‘stock list’ write your meals for each day in, and another list for things you actually NEED from the shops to make those meals, ie you might be short of a tin of tomatoes or need fresh veg to add to a meal.

Be inventive too, if you are having roast chicken on a Sunday, buy a whole chicken, roast it off, then any leftovers, strip off the chicken, pop into the fridge in a sealed box or bag, then use the meat for a curry or pie the next day etc

Always try and have a CBA meal in stock, whether that’s a basic pasta dish, or frozen fish and chips, we all have those days where it’s easier to dial for a takeaway or having something you can shove in the oven will curb that impulse. 

goldfinches

Hello @wheelygreat and welcome to GC. I definitely agree with what @Islandmaid has suggested above and have a few other possible things you might like to do.

Try calculating how much you spend per day and then trying to reduce that e.g. £900 per month is £30 per day for June and then work out how long your household had to work to earn that amount of disposable income. I find thinking of my daily spend like this is a great motivation for reducing it.

Challenge yourself to use up everything you have currently in the fridge, freezer, cupboards, larder etc. before buying anything else. I'm trying to do this at the moment and it's surprising how full my fridge is still and how long you can spin things out for.

Use scoops, spoons, jugs and so on to measure things out when you use them e.g. measuring the milk for my coffees has made that last the number of days I expect it to and not run out early. This sounds pernickety but works brilliantly for all the things you use frequently and normally measure by eye like washing up liquid, loo roll, coffee, tea and so on plus you get the benefit of making things taste exactly the way you like them best.

There are a lot of threads here on Old Style which deal with ways to cut down your expenditure and it's very much pick what works best for you so do have a look down the board and click on anything that catches your eye, people are always welcoming and helpful to anyone new.

rachsecret

Made moussaka for tea today and made 7 other portions to go in the freezer. 

@wheelygreat I batch cook to help out with keeping the cost down and I also do a lot fo shopping of BBE items online using a range fo different companies eg cut price barry's, approved food. I made moussaka today and mince is super cheap. 

We also have a food waste organisation in my town which has lots of things available and you pay a small annual charge and then each shopping basket is £3 and they often have other special items available in addition as they need to shift them. It  is primarily an environmental charity, but it also helps money wise.

kerri_gt

Tonight was a lentil cottage pie from the feeezer store and petit pois.

OH had chill. 

Welcome @wheelygreat
You'll pick up lots of good tips on here. Batch cooking is handy if you have the room and although I don't plan religiously, having an idea of some possible meals is helpful when planning.
I also use Food on the Go app (where places sell off 'bags' of food at their use by or daily best before dates in the local area) and Olio where people give away food either privately (that random jar of xyz that you will never use) or as Food Heroes where they volunteer to collect surplus that would otherwise go to waste from local supermarkets and offer that for free. 
In my area there's often a lot of bakery items so currently I'm well stocked in the freezer with rolls and pastries.

wheelygreat

I like the idea of a meal plan. What do people use? Is there an app or website? Or just good old pen and paper?

Islandmaid

@wheelygreat I just use a notepad which I carry in my bag 

very messy, but it’s only for me 😉



HM Lamb Kofta tonight, with HM coleslaw and lettuce wraps for me, bread wraps for DH

rachsecret

Shepherd's pie with celeriac topping and HM red cabbage

JIL

We had jacket potatoes, I had tuna and cheese topping and husband had husband had chilli con carne on his. 

Quick and easy.