Having a stress about a food bill for a single mother and child

dan958

CRANKY40 wrote: »

You wouldn't believe what children can do with frubes. When the tube is twisted before opening a frube under pressure can travel a seriously long way when it bursts. The potential use as a weapon was discovered by some of the children when my own House Troll (ds aged 14) was in junior school.

How about fish cakes for the sardines? If you start off with a small ratio of mashed sardine to mashed potato you can gradually sneak more in. Is he taste fussy or texture fussy? If it's texture something easy to eat like fishcakes will probably be ok. My son is texture fussy which luckily also rules out most sweets and anything fizzy.

Yep. Back when I was at school, people would put them on the floor and stamp on them. They did reach some great heights though.

GreenQueen

May be worth keeping a food diary for a couple of weeks to see what you and DS eat. Keep a note of meals that you enjoy and the ones that aren't worth doing again.

Agree with the vegetarian a couple of times a week. Also, stretch meals with veggies and lentils - e.g. handful of lentils in a bolognaise sauce disappear into the texture during cooking.

Meal planning is also key - e.g. roast chicken at the weekend, fricassee, chicken soup; bolognaise with lasagne 2nd day, etc - depends on your tastes.

What about sardine pate: I usually buy sardines in tomato sauce - mash the sardines with soft cheese (shop's own Philadelphia-like) - about 2/3 sardines, 1/3 cheese. Cheap and lovely with oat cakes/crackers or in sandwiches.

Home made hummous is easy - drained can of chickpeas, splash of olive oil, splash of lemon juice, crushed clove of garlic, pinch of salt - blast in a food processor or with a stick blender. taste for seasoning. Can also add choice of cumin, paprika, leaf coriander, blob of tahini if you have it, cayenne... can use as dip, sandwich filling, etc. One can of chickpeas makes about 4 portions.

PipneyJane

Please join us in the Grocery Challenge thread.

£200 is a reasonable amount to budget for food, since a growing child can eat as much as an adult. My husband and I budget £200/month, split as follows:-

£120 - General Groceries, veg from the farm shop, supermarket spends (This is what I track in the Grocery Challenge.)
£ 40 - Meat Fund. We buy meat from the butcher every 3-4 months and shop to restock the freezer
£ 40 - Bulk Fund. Used for Costco, stocking up on wine/gorceries at Carefour in France, buying 10 packs of toilet paper when on 2-for-1
£10 - Gardening supplies
£10 - Christmas Food. Usually spent on a goose. Also used for chocolate for Easter

Planning is the key to eating well for less, and it isn't just planning a succession of meals. Plan for components, too. For instance, regardless of the quantity specified in a recipe, I never cook just one batch of dried pulses. I'll always cook three and freeze the other two. It takes the same effort and saves considerable time.

Do you have a slow cooker? Mondays are my frantically busy days: work then choir rehearsal in the evening. I'll routinely prepare something for the slow cooker on Sunday, switch it on as I'm leaving on Monday morning and get home with just enough time to eat, grab my music and dash off to rehearsal. Mine is large enough to take a whole chicken or even a leg of lamb - self-carving when cooked - just serve with salad.

Another thought. A friend with twins used to "cook tonight for tomorrow". On Sunday, she'd prepare Monday's dinner, so that it just needed reheating when she got home after work with two hungry young children. Once the twins were in bed, she'd cook Tuesday night's meal. On Tuesday, she'd do the same for Wednesday, etc...

HTH

- Pip