£63 to feed myself and child in October

jbkmum

Well we got through the month, I think I ended up spending £55.

We had a lot of pasta in sauce, found a looooad of frozen meatballs so he's had that at least twice a week. He had porridge every day and still have loads of oats left.

I bought a few butternut squashes and used up the rest of my flour making cake for his lunch box.

Biggest expense was cheese (thats all he will eat in sandwiches). Smartprice petit filou, also got rid of the cheese strings.

Been working out way through one of the freezers and so far he's only turned his nose up at the balsamic and honey chicken. I've had more food waste than I'd like, but luckily my boyfriend took all the leftovers home (I keep rudding cooking for four people when I only need to cook for one small person).

I ate what was left of DS's plate at the end of dinner and was full up. (gastric sleeve)

Now to look to November where I want to manage to get by on £75.

My list so far has

Toilet and Kitchen Roll
Plain Flour and Self Raising Flour
Tesco Chunky Vegetable sauce (64p a jar and it stretches far for us)
Mozz cheese for pizzas (have 00 flour left)
Bolognese sauce which also doubles as pizza topping
Cheese (probably 4 blocks!)
Bread, going to see if I can get it reduced and freeze
Frozen Peppers and Onions (saves me money as I use what I need)
Shampoo
More Butternut squashs
Some Mince
Yoghurts
Crisps
Milk
Butter
Eggs
Potatoes


I've got loads left in the freezer, making some chicken and rice pilaf (its kinda that, but not really)
I'll make a chicken and roast potato and carrot tray bake
Bolognese, which I make from scratch, the above sauce I use for pizzas
Making pulled pork tonight, so we can have that with chips or in sandwiches.

He's away from saturday for a week so I will just have lentil and carrot soup for the week

jbkmum

I forgot fresh fruit but thats bananas and sweet clems.
Will get extra bananas to make banana flapjack for his lunch box

bertiewhite

jbkmum wrote: »

Well we got through the month, I think I ended up spending £55.

Well done jbk. I do get quite angry when I hear people (like my neighbours) complaining that they can't afford to eat properly when most of what they buy is ready or frozen stuff. I reckon most of our food is 95% cooked from scratch (we even make our own pasta sauces) - it just needs a bit of planning & prep, that's all.

D_M_E

Where do you get the 00 flour from?

For making pizza dough, try using the strong plain bread flour from Lidl, we find it works well.

300g strong flour
165ml water
1 level teaspoon salt
1 level teaspoon dried yeast or 10-12g fresh yeast
20ml olive oil or cooking oil

Stick everything in a large bowl and mix it up as best you can by hand and finish off with a mixer if you have one.

Leave for half hour then shape the dough to fit your pizza base(s) and add your toppings.

Leave for about 10 minutes then cook as desired.

Toppings - experiment with what you have - cheese, tomato, other veg (may need to be cooked or softened before adding), whatever you have.
Get your son to join in - he has to eat it too so he should have some input on the toppings and he may surprise you with what he comes up with.

jbkmum

D_M_E wrote: »

Where do you get the 00 flour from?

For making pizza dough, try using the strong plain bread flour from Lidl, we find it works well.

300g strong flour
165ml water
1 level teaspoon salt
1 level teaspoon dried yeast or 10-12g fresh yeast
20ml olive oil or cooking oil

Stick everything in a large bowl and mix it up as best you can by hand and finish off with a mixer if you have one.

Leave for half hour then shape the dough to fit your pizza base(s) and add your toppings.

Leave for about 10 minutes then cook as desired.

Toppings - experiment with what you have - cheese, tomato, other veg (may need to be cooked or softened before adding), whatever you have.
Get your son to join in - he has to eat it too so he should have some input on the toppings and he may surprise you with what he comes up with.

I got it when it was being sold at Aldi so it was quite cheap, although I think I don't have enough for another batch of Pizza

Strong flour, sounds silly but thats just the strong white bread flour? I have some of that. I tried to make bread in my pullman loaf tin and it was a disaster! Could I mix it with the 00 flour to use it up?

He wanted to join in on making the pizza and then changed his mind. I think he'll join in next time as he's very fond of my boyfriend and wants to do stuff with him!