Lots of repeats in this week’s meal plan as Isabel has been tiring me out and I’ve had lots to do around the house and with work-y type stuff…
Monday: Spaghetti Bolognese
Found an even cheaper mince today; Tesco’s Everyday Value one for £1.56! I imagine the cow it came from was probably reared in a dark shed with nowt to eat but it’s friends, but sometimes my bank balance wins over my morals. Everything else we had in.
Tuesday: Tomato & sausage pasta
Bargain on-offer sausages for £1, everything else in stock.
Wednesday: Veggie curry
Veggies from the garden, spices etc in stock. No cost.
Thursday: Toad in the hole
More bargain on-offer sausages at £1, other bits in stock.
Friday: Homemade pizza
Everything in the cupboards.
Saturday: Cheeseburgers with sweet potato chips
Will fetch the burgers from the butchers on Friday but I don’t expect to pay more than £3 for enough for all of us. I am hoping to make the burger buns if I can find a quick and easy recipe. Sweet potatoes left over from Sainsbury’s big shop (quite surprised to discover these are still in great condition?)
Sunday: Lamb shoulder
Most expensive meal of the week but I fancied something other than chicken. £4.10 for the lamb. Will probably roast and serve with spuds and veggies from the garden/veg box.
Total cost this week including veg box: £22.61 — another good one (if I can stick to it)
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It goes without saying that the total cost quoted at the end of my meal plans is not the full bill for the week. I have to buy bread, stuff for Karl’s lunchboxes, cereal, biscuits (Karl!), bananas etc. I do try to keep my weekly shop to around £30 + £16.73 for the veg box (& milk) we’re currently on. We then do the 4-6 weekly big shop for around £60-£80. This brings my monthly expenditure on food to anything up to around £235. I think this is quite a lot for 2 adults and a toddler, so if you have any other food budgeting tips that don’t include Karl giving up his bourbon biscuits, please do share.
06 Aug at 8:33 pm
When we were in our grotty expensive flat in london we did quite well on a budget.
Eggs/Carrots/Potatos/Cauli/Brocolli/Eggs etc were supplied to us in big bags from the OH’s farm so we saved a lot there. but the magic ingredient?
beans beans beans beans beans. And Quinoa (WHY I had never tried this stuff before I dont know!) Fried Quinoa and fried eggs and a load of veg = tasty dinner!
Soak enough beans on a sunday night and you have dinners/lunches for how ever many meals you can think of! (weekends was soup, I make en epic spicy butterbean soup.)
Also asian super markets do cheap tofu. Once you start to use it you’ll wonder how you ever did with out it. Its worth trying out silken tofu too!
Freeze dried soya mince, the stuff from the foreign food aisle (£2 for 500g) not the health food isle in tescos (4.99 for 250g!!) Soak it in warm water for 5 minutes and fry like normal mince. You wont even notice the difference. Also cut down the amount you use and bulk it up with BEANS.
Shepherds Pie, Enchiladas, Lasagne even Chillie fries if you like them! So many meals you can make with beans and soya mince (the manfriend is a sort of veggie except he likes mince, and I hate it so we compromised on soya mince – except I didn’t tell him that was what it was until he found my secret stash in the cupboard – he never noticed the difference)
hm, it seems the easiest way to save money is not to buy meat! At least with veggie meals its more challenging, Stuffed peppers, cheese flan etc
also carbonara! bacon, basics cream cheese and an egg.
oh and homemade pizzas, I would make up the dough in big batches at the weekends and put it in the freezer for the next few weeks.
and that trick about making BIG batches of chilie and freezing it in flat bags is genius. saves so much space and theres always something for dinner if you dont feel like cooking!
I used to read a lot of blogs about saving time and cooking tips! :P
06 Aug at 8:42 pm
Corned beef hash: Boil a pan of potatoes, chop an onion finely and squares of corned beef and add those to the pan once the potatoes have been mashed with a little butter, wham it around, grate some cheese and pop it under the grill to brown the cheese.
Quiche: make pastry flan base and line heatproof flan tin with it, use either baking beans or some other means of holding the pastry down while the base cooks for 10 mins. Whisk 3 eggs, 4oz cheese, bacon and even mushroom can be added to the flan case then pop it back into the oven and bake on medium heat til nicely browned.
Baked potatoes in the oven until nicely cooked, open a tin of tuna and strain/drain it the add a couple of spoonfuls of mayo and some sweetcorn. Pop that in a bowl and mush a decent sized spoonful of the cooked potato with it then put it back in each potato and serve.
Wrap chicken breasts with bacon, pour half a jar of Reggae reggae (or similar) sauce and grate some cheese over the top. Bung into the oven for about 25 mins until the chicken is thoroughly cooked then serve with roasted veggies of your choice.
07 Aug at 8:13 pm
I know this is O/T, but that is the best line I’ve read in weeks. XD
13 Aug at 7:17 pm
Bourbon’s are always a justifiable expense. Does he still get through a packet a day?
13 Aug at 7:20 pm
I’ve got him down to 3 packs a week now.