Feeding a family on a budget...

[Terrie]

Hey girls!

I've decided that we spend far too much money on food!

We have no butchers in my town and although we have a grocer the veg isn't always the freshest and doesn't seem to last well even in the fridge :/

So I thought maybe we could put our heads together and help eachother be more 'frugle' with food and maybe save us all some pennies!

Our cheap meals include:

Pasta bake
Sausage and mash
Ham egg and chips

What are your cheap meals and how are you more frugal with food?

 

[knopk@]

I started buying basics meat in.sainsburys since discovering it was same grade.meat just various sizes.
Pasta, tuna and sweetcorn is good too. Frozen veg you.can buy a.big bag much.cheaper than fresh, good for adding to bulk up.sauces

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[Hunnie]

I Internet shop! I've only just started but I think of my meals and then only get what we need. Last week I spent about a tenner less and actually managed to get meals for the week. I've also cut out buying anything like cake bars etc as they are actually so expensive and addictive.

My mum always used to do sticky lemon chicken using chicken thighs which are usually pretty cheap and served it with rice.

 

[Terrie]

I use chicken thighs and legs over breasts all the time... Sooo much cheaper!

 

[Asd1]

I get my veg delivered once every two weeks ( from a organic veg farm ) it's all organic and with the free gifts and bits and bobs it works out alot cheeper plus they only give you seasonal so it's all good! they also email me a week before to let me know what's coming so I can plan my menus ( came with free recipe book on my first order ) Iv tried to cut back on the amount of meat we eat so I use less of it wen I cook and store the rest in the freezer. I also keep chickens for eggs and grow some of the more expensive veg and herbs in my back garden

 

[Maru]

There's quite a nice little book on the subject: "How to Feed Your Whole Family a Healthy, Balanced Diet: With Very Little Money..." It has weekly shopping plans and compares supermarket prices.

 

[Mrs N]

ANything without meat is cheap!! We quite often have ratatouie (sp?) and that is dirt cheap as you can just buy what ever veg and a tin of value tomatos then you can have it with pasta, rice, jacket potato etc!!
xxx

 

[netty]

I like to make big batchs of something and freeze it like chilli, spag bol, stew just so i know that if we are strapped at the end of the month i have something in

also try not adding meat to some meals as mrs R says ( i cant do this as my OH is a total carnivore )

i find fish can be qute cheap, like pollock or some other random fish ( there is not much taste difference tbh ) fish and rice dishes and quick, easy and filling, throw some frozen peas into the rice to make something different out of it. Or mush some cheap fish up, mix it with some herbs and breadcrumbs and flour and shallow fry it for yummy homemade fishcakes?

Tuna pasta bake is one of my fave meals, and its fairly cheap too!

 

[CARNAT22]

Cheap and cheerful meals at home are:

Omelette (with salad and sweet potato wedges)
Jacket Spud (with cheese and beans / Greek Salad / Left over chilli or bolognese)
Pasta, sauce and garlic bread
Sausage and mash with green beans and gravy (you can get excellent deals on premuim sausages in supermarkets)

We don't have a freezer but bulk cooking and freezing is an excellent idea.

My top tips are to make a list of what you are eating all week so you can shop for what you need and also bulk up all meals with a side salad or a portion of veg - healthy and cheap

xxxxxxxxxx

 

[nikkilovegrove]

My top tips for budget recipes are
1. Buy a chest freezer if you have room, that way when you spot a good deal or cook lots of something about to go off, you can freeze it. Buying frozen meat and veg is a lot cheaper, or if you spot a load of something reduced at the supermarket (like minced beef) you can buy it all without having to live on it all the time.

2. Learn how to make the basics at home, I mean if you buy precooked rice then stop and cook it yourself, but I also mean things like tortilla wraps, chipatti, deli pasta like linguini and pappardelle. Often these things seem cheap in the supermarket as packet mixes (Old El Paso for example) but only cost pence if you can spare the time to cook it yourself. These things do take a while the first time you make them but eventually you can roll out a tortilla feast in under 10 minutes for 57p...

3. Bulk buy - I'm not talking couponning, unless you want to, but if you see tinned tomatoes for 4p a tin (ASDA are good for that) then buy two trays and keep them in the shed. Anything you can store is good.

4. Go to an Indian or Chinese supermarket once a month or whenever your're near a city, if you like curries or stir frys. You'll be able to pick up spices and speciality ingredients at a fraction of the cost and can always look up cooking methods - try YouTube.

5. Don't give leftovers to the dog, save it to help towards tomorrow's dinner and give the dog dog food! My mother in law spends a fortune on nice meat joints, gives a massive chunk of meat to the dog, and complains food is expensive!

If there's anything I can help with (recipes etc) anyone can feel free to PM me, I have a recipe website (won't post link unless mods say it's ok as don't want to advertise lol). I'm in my 7th week and will eventually be posting really awesome baby food recipes (planning on asking mum for a blender/juicer/chopper thing when I tell her I'm pregnant in 2 weeks).

PS The organic veg box might be a good idea if you know how to preserve either by freezing, canning, dehydrating etc but when I had one I found lots of it went off by the end of the week unless I cooked it. Some people recommend storing root veg in dry compost in boxes in the garage but I admit I didn't try that.

 

[VikkiR]

The price of food is really starting the grate me. My DH is a type 1 diabetic and a fussy eater, he's a friggin nightmare, for example he won't eat fish or cheese at ALL and I struggle to get veg into him. I mostly end up cooking 2 different meals as I like non processed proper food and he likes junk, although I make it and try to make it as healthy as possible. Our supermarket bill is about £150/week for 2 of us, 3 dogs and lo, a few years ago it would've been £80 max. We buy fruit and veg from the market and don't buy expensive joints, it's ridiculous xx

 

[nikkilovegrove]

...for example he won't eat fish or cheese at ALL and I struggle to get veg into him.

What kinds of things will he eat? Maybe I could help you with some alternatives, hidden veg options etc. For example, it's amazing how many veg you can sneak into a REALLY unhealthy looking curry armed with a liquidiser and a good recipe. Maybe you can roast some butternut squash and celeriac (fairly mild flavours), then add them with to some curry sauce, liqudise, then add some defrosted boneless chicken thigh pieces which are really cheap. He might think it's a very expensive chicken breast passanda but you'll know the difference and see it in the cost.

Do you buy him a lot of ready-made stuff like waffles? You can make healthy versions of them for example with some mash. Does he eat burgers? You can add finely chopped spinach to minced beef, garlic and an oxo and make burgers.

Another good way to budget is to buy own brand stuff and jazz them up... if you don't like the packaging (I'm shallow like that) then you can have a look at some ways of organising a larder and repackaging kitchen items on Pinterest for example putting cereals in airtight containers with printed sillouettes of the grain on the side, or go to a carboot and get some really retro biscuit tins for sweets.

My favourite tip is to harness Google. Say you're looking for a stirfry recipe. Type "Stirfry" in Google then on the left you'll see a list of options, Web/Images/Maps/Videos/News/Shopping/Recipes/Books and click on recipes. You then get the option of choosing the ingredients you do and don't have underneath. Also if you want a cottage pie recipe without cheese, for example, you can type "cottage pie -cheese".

Good luck, feel free to PM me and I'll send you some recipes x

 

[Humesy]

some FAB tips there nikki! thanks!!!!! x

 

[VikkiR]

I don't buy any ready made sauces, I make them. I rarely make Indian food as I'm not a fan and I can't cook something I can't taste whilst I'm cooking I add thin strips of bacon and onion to cabbage so it's tastes 'nice', basically anything that masks the flavour of veg unless it's peas. Cauliflower and broccoli he flatly refuses, even if it's spiced up. If he knows it's chicken thighs he wont eat it personally I think there's more flavour in thighs, ok when hes at work, but if hes hovering when im cooking he sees lol. Ive got a goose, 3 pheasant and some freshly caught trout in the freezer, will he eat it? Will he buggery lol. I blame his mother for allowing it when he was a child. I could eat cheaply and buy fresh stuff at the end of the day, when I looked at my grocery bill, the bulk of the expense was his foods.....he's high maintenance x

 

[nikkilovegrove]

...personally I think there's more flavour in thighs, ok when hes at work, but if hes hovering when im cooking he sees lol. x

Poor you, it does sound like a nightmare and it just goes show how important it is for our LO's that we give them a balanced diet and encourage them to try new things.

With the chicken you could be super sneaky and buy the ready chopped thigh meat and take it out of the container soon as you get home - he may not ask! If my OH spent all that time in the kitchen I'd make him cook. Oh wait, I do...

Cauliflower is easy to add to boiling potatoes to reduce carbs, I used to have mashed cauli when I did the South Beach diet (like Atkins). Again, can't see how it'd go down if he was watching. Maybe you should make him fend for himself for a while? Sorry, I'm very mean lol.

 

[PerfectStorm]

Risotto is a really nice budget meal - just rice and whatever meat or veg you want to put in it. I make oven baked ones which saves me standing at the cooker for ages. Some of my favourites are mushroom, or bacon and tomato, or king prawn and pea (obviously prawns bump the price up.)

Homemade soups are really cheap and taste fab. I tend to have them for lunches but there is no reason you couldn't have one for dinner perhaps by either making it a chunky one or perhaps add some pasta or rice to bulk it out.

Pizza and salad is good - pizzas at Morrissons are really reasonable but nice and you can always make one go further by making some homemade wedges with it. Boil the wedges for 5 minutes first so they cook quicker, meaning less time that the oven has to be on. Alternatively you could make your own pizza which keeps the cost down even further.

 

[knopk@]

I agree re soups - for example one butternuy squash will go long way, lentils make nice soup and you can always add a bit of smoked bacon. Some toasted bread and meal.is ready. Or even cheese on toast

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[knopk@]

We used to make our own pizzas and they were lush. I would make bases, sauce, part bake bases and cover with sauce and freeze. When you want a pizza, take them out, put toppings on (whatever you have in the fridge) and bake. Really nice and actually healthy

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[PyscoFalcon]

Cut out a load of processed food and ready meals. It's amazing how much you save there and healthier too.

Also look at supermarket own brands. MUCH cheaper than named brands and most have less addatives, colour and sugar in them too. Yes they might not last as long unless tinned but you'll be saving money and eating healthier at same time.

When really struggling I lived off pasta. Can get huge bags for £3 now that last months. Pasta bakes, pasta salads, spaghetti bolangse, home made lasgne etc or even just pasta with veg and gravy.

Buy big packs of frozen veg - lasts much longer than fresh especially in this heat. Only stuff you cna't get frozen is lettuce but you can grow potatos, lettuce and carrots at home in pots (better still in the main part of garden) unfortunatly that is weather dependant and you might not get a crop like this year only our spuds have grown. Last year we also had carrots, lettuce, onions and sweetcorn which saved use about £20 a month.

For warm weather then sandwhiches, beans on toast/cheese on toast and salads are all good. Winter then bring out the stew pot! Chicken stew and dumplings (make dumplings yourself) can last 2 people 2 days if you use chicken thighs (which taste really nice when slow cooked) Soups are also nice fillers if you have homemade bread rolls with them.

For peoples OH that demand some junk food to take to work for dinner etc then bake your own cakes or get supermarket brands etc Hubby loves his mini apple pies to go with his sarnies and kept getting Mr Kipling ones at £2 a box, I swapped to sainsburys own for 49p and he likes them better and we save money

If you live on bottled water stop buying them and get a water filter jug instead. At first I would only have bottled water as we live in a very hard water area and limescale is bad. Cost us at least £20 a week as used it for pets too. Water filter cost use £20 (comes with 1 filter) and a pack of 3 filters cost £10 giving us a endless supply of fresh tap water for £30 for 4 months then £10 every 3 months after

Hope this helps hun. It's what got us out of the creek when hubby was made redundant and without a job for a few months