help me: food shopping too much - freezable meals

Squirrel_Nutkin · 18 October 2006 at 10:59AM

Hi
You do spend a lot

!! I manage to feed the cat, my husband and myself for about £70/80 a week including roast on Sundays and usually steak at some point but I am horrendous at finding "reduced to clear"!!!! Particularly meat which goes straight in the freezer. With steak, it actually has more taste when it is older so snap them up when R to C. Buy a chicken and a bigger one as it does for packed lunches ie sandwiches or the legs. Even R to C veg as long as you know you will eat it. I've actually found Sainsburys pretty good for R to C believe it or not but Morrisons is definately cheaper all round. Good Luck

pezza88 · 18 October 2006 at 4:59PM

laughing_cow wrote:

When you've just started cooking for one, it's really easy to overspend. When I first lived on my own I bought huge quantities of fruit and veg because I was used to seeing the fridge/cupboards packed with them, because that's what my mum had. Of course, that's because she was shopping for four, not just one

I agree, just moved to uni and bought 8 pints of milk because it was reduced. This didn't seem unreasonable until I got back and realised how long this would take me to drink (it was going off in a couple of days). I have finished 4 pints and now have 4 pints in the freezer.
I have made a bread pudding, any ideas about how I can finish it all up

lynzpower · 18 October 2006 at 5:11PM

pezza- make a rice pudding and then freeze portions of it

Or buy packet of angel delight for a lazy alternative

Deb_Williams · 18 October 2006 at 5:12PM

The most successful cheap meals to freeze usually involve minced beef. Stews and soups are great,too.

But whatever you cook, always make at least double what you want, and freeze the rest - this saves on fuel bills too!

lynzpower · 18 October 2006 at 5:17PM

Dont forget there are loads of cheapie meals that can be made without using meat! In fact meat is probably the most expensive thing in your trolley ( apart from the booze

)

Try using eggs and cheese more, and lentils, beans & other pulses. You can get huge bags for cheap in local indian/bengali traditional shops & spices are good sized bags for loess than you pay in tescos for those poxy jars

lynzpower · 18 October 2006 at 5:18PM

Oh and another thing, for stirfries, or anything where you'll use chicken if you dont fancy buying a big one and doing rubber chicken, choose turkey, its really low fat, and significantly cheaper than chicken fillets

gargoyle · 18 October 2006 at 6:41PM

This may sound stupid, but how do you freeze the meals ( straight from cooked or cooled)? and also how do you reheat - leave to defrost over the day and then reheat, or reheat from frozen? I'm working 8 - 6 every day during half term and OH is working away, so have to plan meals in advance as it's not fair for littlun to have to wait until 7:30 for a meal.

buxtonrabbitgreen · 18 October 2006 at 7:16PM

cool food before freezing. If you have auto defrost on your microwave you can defrost from frozen. Otherwise leave to defrost slowly in the fridge over the day.

Bollards · 18 October 2006 at 7:24PM

You can always make up some cheese sauce and freeze it too, using flour, milk, butter and cheese. (there are loads of recipes on the internet). If you do a big batch of it then you can use it for cauliflower cheese, or with some fish in for a fish pie. You can use other vegetables in cauliflower cheese too, like brocolli. Basically, just pour it over whatever you fancy.

CoD_2 · 18 October 2006 at 7:39PM

could also use the milk to make a white sauce for lasagne, make that up and then freeze in portions

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help me: food shopping too much - freezable meals

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