advice to cut down on food budget?

PipneyJane

purpleivy wrote: »

I've just been scanning through the replies as eggs seemed to be missing.
we try to have egg beans and toast once a week. Every Sunday I make an 8 portion fritatta with loads and loads of veg. No cheese as I'm off dairy. I just use whatever is left over after preparing salads and other meals. Leeks, onions, courgettes, celery, spinach (frozen is fine) mushrooms (don't need to be first quality), peppers if you have them. It really can help avoid waste. YOu can slice a half dead tomato onto the top as well! If you have scrag ends of cheese, use them. End of yogurt or cream can go in with the eggs. ( I use 10 if they are Large or 12 if smaller).

Once it's cooled, I cut into slices and put into separate little boxes. I microwave mine for 1:30 no idea what hub does! I like a spot of something with it, so ketchup is nice. They really don't seem to vary much in taste considering how each batch is so very different.

This would be great for lunch too. Better than pasta, as it's low carb and won't spike your blood sugar, so will keep you full till dinner.

Excellent idea. If I recall correctly, the Eat Well For Less people did something similar for breakfast.

- Pip

trailingspouse

Fusspot wrote: »

Sorry to jump in here but I live on my own too and love chicken, I also need to eat more fish (lack of iron). How do you use the whole chicken for the full week, does it mean you are eating chicken every night, do you freeze it or reheat it?

One chicken will do 7 meals. It goes like this -

Day 1 - roast chicken with potatoes, veg and home made stuffing and gravy for dinner

Day 2 - chicken sandwiches for lunch, then use the remainder of the 'easily accessible' chicken meat for a curry or pasta dish for dinner - make enough to eat one portion and freeze a second portion.
Day 3 - make stock - pick all the remaining meat off the bones, and boil the bones for an hour. Chicken salad for lunch, and chunky chicken soup for dinner - make more soup than is needed.
Day 4 - blitz the leftover chicken soup until smooth, and have a mug for lunch (or take a flask to work).



So yes, I'm having chicken on 4 our of 7 days in the week (the rest of the week I have fish one lunch and one dinner, red meat one meal, pizza one meal and maybe something cheap like sausages or something meat free for another meal). But - it's nutritious, cheap and tasty. Yes there are times when I want to kick over the traces and live on champagne and caviar - but I get over the boredom by remembering that I currently can't afford to do anything different.



My weekly food budget (shopping at Aldi, not buying any alcohol, but with a takeaway once a month and an occasional coffee with friends etc) averages at just over £17 a week (one adult). And I've been living like this since February, so it's perfectly doable. In fact, I just got paid today (started a new job earlier in the month), so I bought a bottle of wine to celebrate.

Beate

Download the Olio food app. It's absolutely amazing the food that people offer up for free, whether fresh, dry or frozen. The only thing is that you need to be fairly flexible and quick when it comes to requesting and collecting, but you can save so much on your own grocery bill!

ceb1995

MandM90 wrote: »

I've just re-read your original post and one massive thing stands out for me, which I don't think has been mentioned: how are you managing to cook a full meal every night, and also make separate lunches for the next day?

Your life would be much easier if you took in leftovers! Or, if not possible to reheat at work, could you freeze half for another time?

If there's just the two of you are you definitely eating the right amount? Struggling to imagine how one could make enchiladas or a roast chicken dinner in amounts suitable for 2 and only 2!

I realised that i didn't make it clear on the lunches front, i cook 3 days worth of something on sunday morning like veggie pasta and then on wednesday i ll make two days worth of something for the rest of the week. A whole chicken for a roast I use the next day and enchiladas I use half a pack of chicken and freeze the rest. I'm on the smaller side weight wise but i suppose i have a fast metabolism so perhaps our portions are a little bigger.

Fire_Fox

Fusspot wrote: »

Sorry to jump in here but I live on my own too and love chicken, I also need to eat more fish (lack of iron). How do you use the whole chicken for the full week, does it mean you are eating chicken every night, do you freeze it or reheat it?

Check out the Self Nutrition Data website for the content of micronutrients (minerals/ vitamins/ essential fatty acids) in different wholefoods. There is a selector for different serving sizes.

The foods richest in haem iron are visibly 'bloody': organ meats like liver especially, to a much lesser extent red muscle meat, not most fish or chicken though.

Other micronutrients are important in different forms of anaemia, for example vitamin B12. You likely know vitamin B12 is in animal products, but they are not all created equal. Chicken breast is shockingly low in every micronutrient, including B12 and iron.

Oily fish is essential because it is our only rich dietary source of bioavailable vitamin D and of long chain omega-3s.

HTH.

falcieri

ceb1995 wrote: »

I've not bought branded foods in months, DH does sometimes but I try to discourage him from it. Unfortunately, we're stuck to an aldi and asda it's a bit of a drive to the nearest aldi and morrisons. I meal plan and keep a track of spending weekly but i ll give monthly a go to see if it helps.

Most of the own brands tend to be comparable between stores. You can't view it all on the websites (they often remove them) but where you can compare you'll probably find Asda is on par with Morrisons. How they are for reduced shelf items I'm not sure. Different stores and different locations cna produce very different results.

tanny05

Go out during Happy Hours. You can save a lot on your food bills.