Missy’s family of 4, paying off debts, saving for a house and just trying to survive!

missymoo81

Tomorrow’s tasks
make slow cooker stew
shower children 
train
washing
Strip children’s beds 
finish FB page
empty dishwasher 

missymoo81

Thanks @joedenise I have quite a bit in my freezer. I know I need some more chicken then I have lots of meals to make with the stuff I have. OH only likes meaty things, but I’m going to try and beef some things out with potatoes, like the curry etc. 

joedenise

I would do things like savoury mince where you add 500g mince, add plenty of onion and garlic for flavour, couple of tins of tomatoes, loads of chopped or grated veg like courgette, carrots, celery etc (as much as you can get into it) and then split it into several meal sized portions.  I would also add some red lentils but make sure you add enough stock as they will absorb quite a bit.  You can then use it as base for a cottage pie, add it to a pie, use it for spaghetti bolognaise or add some tinned beans and some chilli powder for a chilli.  With 500g of mince should easily be able to make at least 3 or 4  family sized meals and if you add enough veg.

You can make a pack of sausages go a very long way by making a sausage casserole in much the same way but I would also add some beans to the casserole in the slow cooker.  Again could make 3 or 4 meals for the freezer and then just need to do some potatoes to go with it.

missymoo81

Thanks @joedenise you’re always so great with advice about stretching the food budget. Savoury mince is a great idea. I think I’ll stock up on some mince as 500g, even super packed out with veg only does us 2 meals for 4 of us. Me and OH are very big eaters because of the work we do. 

Just going to have a look at a click and collect or similar with sainsburys to see if I can get some bits. Don’t really want to spend £40 minimum but don’t really want to wander around the shop and spend more as per normal. So might do a big shop and see if I can make it last 10 days.

missymoo81

So meals I can make with stuff from the freezer and the bits from sainsburys.
shep pie 
spaghetti bolognese x2
chilli x 2
fajita
curry x 2
Tuna pasta x 2
chicken and pasta x2
sausage hotpot x 2
chicken stew x 2
thai green curry x 2

joedenise

You've got over 2 weeks worth of meals there @missymoo81 so that should help with the budget.  I went to the butchers this morning and got some lovely meaty oxtail so picked up some stew veg so will get that into the SC this after and then freeze tomorrow so I've got some more "ready" meals in the freezer.

Have also made the base for minestrone soup and put half into the freezer.  Will finish off the minestrone once the dried canellini beans are cooked (currently pressure cooking as we speak) and small pasta and some spinach which will be lunch today.

Cooking 800g of dried beans so the extra beans will be frozen in 200g bags so can be used whenever needed!

missymoo81

That all sounds lovely! I wish we ate more soups. Just not really something we do. I have never cooked dried beans. I don’t have a pressure cooker. The only beans we eat are baked beans and kidney beans in chilli. Mind you I LOVE butter beans!

missymoo81

Ok. So I have made my dinner menu this now to keep costs down.

spaghetti/pasta bolognese x2

chilli x 2

fajitas

Chicken & butternut curry x 2

Tuna sweet corn pasta x 2

chicken and broccoli pasta x2

sausage & bean hotpot & bread  x 2

chicken stew x 2

Jacket and beans x 2

Carbonara

I’ve put an order in to Tesco as they actually had a slot and the prices were slightly cheaper than sainsburys despite the £1.50 delivery charge. It’s come to £50.50. I have at least 17 dinners there. I’ve got some fruit and bread etc but obviously that will need topping up in between. I wonder if I can do 2 shops this month. And I wonder if I can keep it under £120. I doubt it, but I’d like to try. It will be hard as I had a lot of stuff in the freezer which I’m using up so we’ll see what I can come up with for week beginning 18th January.

Haven’t done much today, just the class and made breakfast. Have put a wash load on and showered. But I don’t think we’ll be doing much. I’ll try and get some jobs done. Just not really feeling overly motivated right now! 

missymoo81

Ahh forgot cat food and A couple of bits! So have rejigged and it is now £59.50. What I’m going to try and do is only spend cash money on top up shops, and no more than £60 on the next big shop and see how we do. We have lots of change from the coffee machine at work so it makes sense to use that.

Going to sit and budget later. 

I need to put some things on eBay. Going to try and be purchase neutral as much as possible this year. I need some boots and the children both need PE trainers. I will try to purchase on eBay and sell stuff to compensate. Think I have a few decent bits. I probably need around £40-£50. Will see what Ican come up with.

missymoo81

With regards to my list. I  haven’t done much off of it today.
I have:
unloaded and reloaded dishwasher
2 x washing in machine
hung up one load so far. 

Sorted clean washing just need to put away

Not making stew today we’ll Have it tomorrow, so beans and jackets tonight instead.

Still tinkering around with the Tesco order. Really need to sort some more washing but really struggling with motivation today. Am quite hungry so I think I might make dinner soon!