Mumsnet Talk

This is one for those food horders out there who like me have over stocked freezers and cupboards. The challange is to plan up 28 evening meals based on what's there and spend £28 or less on any extras you don't have in stock This is ONLY for evening meals so you can still spend on breakfast and lunch.

I will be posting my menu plan here later on.

Can't wait to see your mealplan OP, sounds admirable, don't think i could achieve it but maybe i will be inspired by your menu plan, well done!

May join in :D

Here goes. Not surprised there aren't a surge of volunteers Wish me luck.

I'm amazed how much stuff we have in stock. I'll mainly be spending my £28 on salad, veg and potatoes. I think a trip to the market is in order.

These meals are not in the order I'm planning to eat them by the way and I may change things round if I find something different in the depths of my freezer or cupboards. I've put the things I'll need to buy underneath. I'm expecting to get at least 4 meals off the chicken as its a big one but if I don't wil substitute something for one of the chicken meals

1. Pasta bolgonaise
2. roast chicken, roast potatos, leeks in white sauce, broccoli and green beans
3. Chicken curry, rice and naan bread
4. mini pizzas (weren't used at christmas party), potato wedges and beans
5. leek, bacon and blue cheese soup with garlic bread
6. smoked salmon, tomato and creme fraiche pasta
7. chicken and veg stir fry with noodles
8. baked potatos, tuna mayo and sweetcorn
9. roast lamb from freezer, boiled potatos, mixed veg and gravy
10. ham and cheese omlettes, salad and new potatos
11. chilli con carne, rice , salad
12. mini chicken satay sticks, cous cous and salad
12. fish fingers chips and beans
13. pasta with meatballs in tomato sauce
13. chicken and veg soup with bread and cheese
14. sausage and mash, cabbage
15. shepherds pie, broccoli and carrots
16. pasta in tomato sauce with chirizo, olives and sun dried tomato
17. chick pea curry and naan bread
18. macaroni cheese
19. butternut squash soup with bread and cheese
20. tuna hash
21. lamb burgers, rolls and salad
22. meatloaf beans and mashed potatos
23. fish pie
24. baked potatos, baked beans and cheese
25. mixed bean soup
26. chicken thighs, cous cous and salad
27.spanish omlette
28. cheese and onion pie, beans

Shopping list

cucumber x 2 (£1 in market)
tomatoes (£1 market)
lettuce (?70p market)
potatoes ( 10-12 large ones) - not sure budgeting £2 in market)
6 eggs (about 95p in aldi)
broccoli (£1 in market)
tin of kidney beans (about 20p in aldi)
burger rolls (£1.50ish)

£8.35ish so far though will put in real costs when I've spent it.

Remaining budget £19.65

hope no one minds me rambling on - no one has to read rhe demented ramblins of a 30 something on an economy drive

Just discovered Aldi have broccoli in their super 6 this week for just 39p so that will be in the basket when I do my shopping on Tuesday. Also fond a tin of kidney beans in the cupboard so no need to buy those after all. Have decided to add onions to shopping list (again in the aldi super six at 39p)

Am going to keep a spreadsheet of the shopping and cost.

Today is easy - we're having meal number 13 - meatballs, sauce and pasta and I will add the garlic bread we have lurking in the fridge as its on its use by date.

DP says I'm mad

Oh yes please I would love to do this. We are in € though, I can try and keep it to 28€ but will have to see. My freezer has more than it should and I still have some veg left over from the allotment crop last year that I need to get shot of.

My plan is:

Fri: Muscle & tomato stew
Sat: been invited out
Sun: Beef casserole
Mon: Either lentil curry or turkey chilli
Tue: Bangers & mash
Wed: Pasta & tomato sauce

Hmmm our other challenge was to eat 3 vegetarian meals a week, need to improve on that one.

Shopping list

carrots
potatoes

That is my plan so far I meant to say, am doing it weekly ish!

Oh I see you have done the 28 meals and just will pick random ones depending on what you fancy. This is a good idea I think I should do this on weekend.

Rambling on.

Welcome Bejeena, good luck. I think you should have more than 28 euros as a euro is worth less than £1 - about 87p I think.

Today we went out to lunch at friends and were fed huge amounts of stuff. Tonight I'm just going to make soup for anyone who wants it and freeze any left overs. So we're having meal 19 - butternut squash soup with bread and cheese if wanted.

Still have my £28 intact but it is only day 2

Tomorrow I'll cook the chicken

Off to pop the chicken in the oven and peel and parboil the potatos for roasting.

I have just noticed I actually have 29 meals in my list as I did number 13 twice

OK so I have been through the freezer and have a meal plan sorted I have 27 meals on mine, bearing in mind we are 2 days in and also next weekend think we are going to friends one evening. So I have some extras just in case.

Hubby and I have decided that we can do it on 50€ for the whole month but this would be including our breakfast and lunches too. Also we have a fair amount of veg in our freezer as we have an allotment and couldn't eat all of last years harvest. It might be optimistic but we'll see, the point of this isn't so much the cost anyway. My aim is to be able to defrost my chest freezer before Easter so that we can start again with a fresh lot of meals and produce to freeze from allotment this year.

I have done an excel sheet and cross referenced it so we can filter into meals that are just already in freezer and only need to be defrosted/heated up, meals that hubby can cook (am 12 weeks pregnant so not always feeling 100%), meals we need extra shopping for and also meals that double up and we take leftovers for lunch (ie bolognaise, soup etc)

Am planning on making a lot of my bread in bread machine. I think at the moment only things I need to buy are

Fruit
Yogurt
Eggs
Cheese
Potatoes
Possibly some veg for roasts (our crops are only parsnip, squash and sprouts and allotment at the moment, need to see how long they last)
Flour

will post the meal plan later, when hubby is back from allotment and can convert it to text for me, am to lazy to do it myself and get frustrated!!

Today we are having casserole, will be putting that on in a bit and also making a marrow and potato soup for tomorrow so all we have to do is warm it up after work. Then I hope to go out for a run!

oh will also be putting a loaf on for sandwiches tomorrow for lunch.

What beats me isn't the main meals I can do evening meals and could definitely feed us for the month on what's in the cupboards, it's the packed lunches that scupper me.

Wow! I'm impressed stormforce, all your meals we would eat here, sounds delicious, i shall be watcing with interest

11Plustrauma I guess I am lucky there both hubby and I can take things to be warmed up in work so usually have leftovers and I freeze things in small containers for us to take. We are lucky we can do this, I guess if you have kids or can't warm up then it is a lot harder.

I forgot to post the meals last night and now excel sheet is at home will do it later.

I think tonight will be vegetable curry that just needs to be defrosted and warmed up, it's Monday and I feel lazy!

We had number 1 (roast chicken) yesterday. Today is number 17 chick pea curry

11plustrauma - do you have food flasks? Would your children eat things like bolonaise or chilli or soup from them (ie left overs)? Guessing from your name they or at least on of them is at the tail end of primary school so possible they wouldn't be too keen. Thankfully DD's school has quite reasonable school meals so she has those but some are not worth eating

Veg curry sounds good Bejeena. I've got various things frozentoo its nice sometmes just to defrost and heat

I actually have a fridge full of slightly bendy veg and a veg curry sounds like a great idea for tomorrow

That is how my veg curry started out about a month ago! I don't think I have ever planned to make a veg curry, is always one of those using stuff up things!

Foodflasks is a great idea - I don't have any and was looking at them the other day - do they stay warm enough?

I think the good quality flasks keep food warm for about 4-5 hours but not sure as have never used them. I have got my list together, seem to be 1 meal short not sure what I have done. There are some things double as we have enough for 2 meals.

1Turkey Chilli
2Lentil Daal
3Gamon steaks, chips and peas
4Bangers and mash
5Bangers and mash
6Anchovy pasta
7Scampi & chips
8Scampi & Chips
9Vegetable curry
10Beef, chickpea & butternut curry
11Nigella meatballs
12spaghetti bolognaise
13roast lamb
14lamb leftover rice dish
15marrow potato & sage soup
16pasta & arrabiata sauce
17risotto
18roast pork & trimmings
19bubble & squeek
20fish pie
21shephards pie
22kale & chroizo broth
23spinach & sweet potato stew
24lentil & beef madras
25Veg soup followed by apple crumble
26Pizza evening friends over (homemade pizzas)
27Beef casserole

So tonight is number 9 veg curry. It was supposed to be 15 but I really don't think I can face making the soup on a Monday, so will have it tomorrow I think.

Drat apologies for awful formatting making it hard to read.

11Plustrauma Mon 04-Feb-13 14:54:06

Foodflasks is a great idea - I don't have any and was looking at them the other day - do they stay warm enough?

My DH has this one.

And it keeps his food hot from 8amish to at least 3pmish when he has eaten his lunch. But it is still boiling hot at 12/1 if he eats lunch at a normal time.

Just had yummy chickpea curry. The £28 is still intact. I don't know how long that will be the case

Chicken and veg soup tomorrow night. I think I'll bulk it out with dried pulses so it may be freezable for an extra meal as well

Bejeena your menu is lovely. You've reminded me we have a bag of risotto rice. I may substitute chicken stirfry with chicken and leek risotto. Choices choices

Ah I am sure to randomly switch things around too depending on what mood I am in! :-)

Chicken stripped. There was so much meat on it I've frozen it in 3 separate lots. It should do for the curry and stirfry already planned plus an extra meal another time. All the bones and scraps of meat that wouldn't come off easily are simmering away to make a broth which I'll add to soup broth mix, carrots, parsnips and onions to make a stew / soup type thing. Once I would have thrown the parsnips out as they were bendy and even a bit black and soggy in places but they were fine underneath. I'm aiming to make enough that I'll have left overs for lunch for a couple of days. So its meal 13 tonight - chicken and veg soup, bread and cheese if wanted

I was planning omlettes tomorrow night but dd begged for mashed potatos on Sunday instead of roast and we have some left so I'm going to try my hand at making tuna fishcakes with a big salad instead. Was going to be tuna hash but thought fish cakes might be more interesting (and might still turn into hash )

11plustrauma - tk maxx often have good quailty food flasks

Still not touched my £28 really hoping to keep it intact until I do a shop on Tuesday and then I plan to be very cautious mean

Well today should be the marrow and potato soup, meal 14 but oh for the life of me I really don't think I can be bothered to make it all that peeling and chopping, am so lazy

So I was thinking of making a risotto instead although hubby will moan at that because it is 'all one thing' and there is 'no sauce' (heaven knows is this man logic) so he isn't keen.

Option 3 could be scampi & homemade chips, if hubby moans about the risotto I can tell him that that is other option and he has to cook it. Is fair enough isn't it? I mean I am busy growing the baby after all and it is tiring me out!

Not touched my 50€ yet either, am hoping to hold out on a shop until tomorrow or Thursday.

Just made the first dip into my budget. dd ate all the cherry tomatos last night so I picked up a carton in Aldi this morning and also a tin of tomatoes. £1.20 gone so £26.80 left. Damn was so hoping to last out until Tuesday and why on earth did I buy the tin of tomatoes - absolute habit that's why I put them in the basket without even thinking about it. Not too upset will need them later in month anyway.

Bejeena what did you have in the end. Did you get him to make you scampi and chips?

Going to try making my tuna cakes in a bit

we are having carbonara tonight with some reduced bacon that was in the freezer and eggs that went out of date yesterday (I am sure they will be fine)

They will be fine 11plus but if you're unsure break them into a cup first. I ofteb use eggs a week out of date theyre fine for cooking with

Just made my tuna cakes. I think they're alright. I made 8 of them so should be able to freeze 4 for another meal. No DP tonight so will only use 2 each for me and dd. (lucky he hates tuna!)

We had the scampi and chips but I did them myself as bless him my poor husband is suffering from a cold so I wanted to give him something he really liked.

I often eat eggs a day or two out of date, although I guess maybe during the pregnancy I should be more careful!

I am still fancying risotto and there are some mushrooms in the fridge that won't last much longer, so am thinking of going for bacon and mushroom risotto, hubby doesn't mind it as much if there is meat in it (fusspot).

So I still won't have had my soup, let's hope for tomorrow or maybe if I feel super energetic make it tonight ready for tomorrow!

Tuna cakes were lovely. We had them with the last of the broccoli and some leeks in cheese sauce left overs I froze a while ago. Yummy.

Chilli con carne tomorrow night. We've got some frozen but not sure its enough for us all so going to add some soya mince to bulk it out. So that will be meal 11. I've discovered we've run out of tortillas which is odd as I know we had a packet but someone must have eaten them when i wasn't looking so we'll have it with rice instead.

Hope you enjoyed carbonara 11plus and risotto sounds lovely bejeena - make that soup tomorrow or you'll be stuck with it at the end of month

Hmm tuna cakes do sound good might have to give them a go.

We had the risotto last night. Hubby is off work sick with the flu and has asked if we can have pasta tonight so we'll be having meal 16. Meaning I still have the marrow and not made the soup drat drat drat! However I'll probably make it on the weekend and use the leftover to make courgette chocolate cake, just to cheer the hubster up since he is feeling so rotten. I am not too bothered it will still be fine in a few days, we got it up from the garden just before Christmas so has been around for a while. Maybe I should give him a name? Haha!

I think we might have turkey chilli tomorrow night yum yum. Weekend plan is probably been invited to friends on Saturday and Sunday will be either roast pork or lamb. Yummy!

I can already see the space in the freezer increasing and it is a pretty good feeling!

Not much to report.

Chilli con carne defrosting. Will make salad in a bit to save time later.

Meal 16 tomorrow night - pasta in tomato sauce with chirizo, olives and sun dried tomatoes.

Should get through the day without touching the budget again all being well.

Its great to see the space isn't it Bejeena? Its crazy how much money I must have spent on all this food we are just storing.

Damn dp announced he won't be in for dinner until 9pm. I've decided ot eat with him and given dd pasta, cheese and tomatoes in front of TV as a treat. DS can have a jar of baby food and we'll have the chilli con carne later.

Sigh

Ah how annoying.

Yesterday's shopping bill was 9.18€ for the bits I needed.

Surprise surpise I have changed my mind again about tonight. We are having bangers and mash now! I noticed we really should use up some potatoes that are sprouting!

Tomorrow we are invited to friends in the evening she is doing fingerfood so I said I'll take a quiche. So I just need to get eggs, cream and cheese for that (didn't get eggs when I shopped yesterday as was on my bike and the basket was already quite full!). Plus chocolate, hazelnuts and coco powder for the cake for my poorly hubby.

Well the chilli was lovely. I found an avocado I'd left to ripen in fruit bowl and it was perfect so we had that with it too

Pasta and chirizo bake type thing with salad and some garlic bread from freezer tonight. DD has brownies and does not finish until 7.30 so I aim to have it ready to eat as soon as she walks through the door. That will be meal 16

Oh this is our last bag of pasta but noticed hte pound shop have 3 bags for £1 - think they're 500g each so will be getting that offer next time I'm in there

Looks like we'll be away visting family for 2 nights over half term. Chances are we'll eat out one of those nights. I'm going to give myself a break from this for those 2 nights BUT in the spirit of 28 nights, 28 meals will extend my challange to 2nd of March so only sort of cheating.

I've just planned for Monday to Friday next week

Monday cheese omlette, new potatoes and salad
Tuesdayleek, potato and bacon soup, garlic bread
Wednesdaypasta, smoked salmon, crème fraiche, sun dried tomatoes, olives
Thursdaysausage and mash, onions, cabbage, gravy
Friday shepherds pie, mixed veg

Next weeks shopping list to cover all meals (with stuff from £28 budget in bold)

Orange juice
6 pints milk
garlic bread baguette
loaf of bread
big bag potatoes
pasta
cucumber
lettuce
butter
black currant squash
eggs

I've estimated rather than checked prices and think that will leave me about £18.80 in my budget to cover the last 2 weeks of the challenge

Ok so plan changed a bit I made a quiche yesterday to take to friends and we had some left over so had that with veg instead of roast pork which I will save for another Sunday.

Too tired to think much about tomorrow and will probably change my mind anyway but I do fancy gammon steaks.

We have been sorting out spare room for the baby it is a never ending task

Off to bed in a bit, put clean sheets on earlier, bliss :-)

I love gammon bejeena but none in the freezer so won't be having it this month.

Just noticed that Tuesday is Shrove Tuesday so will have to make pancakes. Thankfully I think we have enough eggs and flour but will use extra milk so many need to take out of my budget. Plenty of lemons,sugar and jam . We'll move the soup to tomorrow night and forget the omlette (as we'll need eggs for pancakes). DD will be happy she loves pancakes

Also not sure why I've put cucumber and lettuce on shopping list, we won't be needing them looking at the meal plan.

Oh no my plan has gone out the window again. Got a message from a friend last night inviting us to a last minute birthday bash tonight. So there will be fingerfood for us to eat there, gammon postponed to Wednesday night, as also just remembered Shrove Tuesday and we'll be going to another friend's house for pancakes, perhaps we'll have the veg soup beforehand.

On the marrow front, we had half of it in a cake and hubby was so delighted with it that I might be convinced to make another cake this week with the other half. That means no soup but at least marrow used up!

I have also decided to extend, possibly up until when we go back to UK for Easter so I can defrost the chest freezer on weekend of 23rd/24th March. I should be able to find more meals in there if I try and can redo the menu. I'll set another budget for extras when March comes, depending on our stocks.

Wow Bejeena you are determined to sort out your stockpile. You will no doubt be eating some very odd meals by the end of it all. I look forward to seeing March's menu plan.

DP wants us to go and stay with MIL for a couple of days over half term so I will have to extend my challenge to 4th March. I'm determined to get 28 meals. I feel like having set myself the challenge I have to find out whether I really can do it for £28.

We've just had leek and potato soup with some part baked walnut bread I found in the cupboard. Might have been a bit out of date but it was lovely.

Wonder if anyone other than us is actually reading this and marvelling at our madness?

I don't know but I am determined to get my freezer sorted ;-)

Pancakes tonight as planned at friends and tomorrow we will have the gammon steaks. I will do a meal plan for the rest of the week today and see if there is anything I need to get from shops.

Sigh nothing ever stays the same. Should stop planning ahead so far

Definately pancakes tonight. Off to make a big thing of batter in a bit. I went to Aldi this morning and spent £21.80. I got extra butter as it was on offer, some washing powder as we've nearly run out, porridge oats, a jar of nutella as dd is mourning it, quite a lot of fruit and various other bits. Of that the following was for main meals:

2.5kg bag potatoes1.99
part baked rolls0.39
eggs1.10
Pasta 2 bags0.98
cucumber0.59
lettuce0.89
milk for pancakes0.25

Actually I got a box of 15 eggs for £2.15 but they usually get used for breakfasts and baking so have just allowed for half of them for main meals and we probably won't even use that unless we end up having the omlettes that keep getting shifted down my list.

Price of potatoes seems to have become massive all of a sudden

£20.61 left of the budget and 17 meals left to do including tonights so still on target I hope.

My total spend for this month for everything so far is £93.88. Not bad given that includes a taxi fare of £18 (don't ask!!) and a train ticket to London. Bet it shoots up during half term though

Stormforce I am marvelling at your madness inspiring frugality!

Just checking in :-)

So plan for next few days is something like:

Wed: Gammon Steak, chips (or maybe mash dunno) & veg (meal 3)
Thu: Anchovy pasta (meal 6)
Fri: Turkey chilli (meal 1)
Sat: Having friends over for pizzas & finger food (meal 26, need to get some cheese & pizza toppings)
Sun: Been invited to neighbours for Sunday lunch so in the evening probably just have a bit of leftover finger food from Saturday

Shopping list:

Cheese for pizzas
Tinned toms for pizza sauce
toppings for pizzas (not determined yet)
puff pastry
flour
eggs
milk
bread

Sounds like you're doing well bejeena. I'm in awe at you making your own pizzas.

Our pancakes were lovely last night. We went through a huge jug of batter though. Tonight is meal 6 - smoked salmon and creme fraiche pasta.

After tomorrow we'll be half way though though thankfully I've still got more than half my budget left.

Oh well I must confess, the hubby makes the pizza dough and does all the rolling etc!

Slight spanner in the works again there were 3 slices of gammon in the pack I had defrosted last night. Of course I could have given my greedy husband 2 and he would have polished them both off before wasting, but instead decided to save the last piece and thought we could have a risotto with it tonight.

However I am in a bit of a quiche mood so was thinking I could make a quiche with it for tonight instead if my energy levels allow after work. I'll just need to get some cream and cheese for it, but need to pop to the shops anyway for milk and my other bits I listed above.

I will try and update my spreadsheet today, adding the extra meals. :-)

stormforce10 I have just come across your thread and i am loving it!!
I too have a large freezer which is jam packed with heaven knows what, and there is only myself and little girl (7). Why can I not stop buying food?

As I have to pay a large chunk off of my credit card this month, I will be following this with interest.

I'm reading and you're making me very hungry! Wish I could so this I have 2 freezers one half and half and one upright they're both full I have serious issues with the idea of going hungry as does DH and I have panic attacks if I run the freezer and cupboard down but could probably feed us easily for 3 months or more on what's in the house.

Hello nice to know other people are reading. bloodymary my little girl is 7 too, I think she's the reason I can't stop buying as she slings stuff in the basket as we go rund the shop!! peachactivaminge try using some of it up. The trouble with a totally full freezer is you can't buy any of those lovely reduced bargains that come up in the supermarket from time to time and sling them in the freezer so you're stuck buying full price. Its worth a try, I am amazed how little I'm spending over all so far this month. Obviously the usual direct debits have gone out but my controllable spending has been very low and we've all been eating really well.

We've just had lamb, leeks in cheese sauce, mashed potato and green beans. I've frozen half the cheese sauce for macaroni cheese later on and did double mash as we'll be having shepherds pie tomorrow night.

I'll be having a few days off after that as we're off to London then from there will go to stay with DPs mum so 4 days of ignoring my budget coming up (even though I'll do the meals at the start of March instead so not getting away with it still going to do 28 meals)

yes me too - good thread. I meal plan for a week beforw doing the shopping list - but this has inspired me. I am going to do a 31 day list for March!! I intend to get invited by kind parents once a week and may wangle a meal at dmil's once too - that's 5 meals sorted already!

Hope you have enjoyed/are enjoying your few days off stormforce

Stuck to the plan over the weekend, made the quiche on Friday night and our pizzas on Saturday. Last night we had one pizza leftover so had that and tonight we will be having leftover quiche.

Tomorrow I might do the lentil curry/daal depending on energy levels although now I am 14 weeks am starting to feel better, although I still have to sleep a lot :-( I'll try and do a rough plan sometime today or tomorrow.

We haven't got long left now!

Marking place- fabulous thread for people like me (like you) who have a cupboard & freezer full of stuff that I should really be using up but no idea what to do with the odds & sods- some great food ideas here. Thank you

I was planning on joining in but knowing we had a holiday booked I'd left it until our return, when OH went shopping while I had a lie in. Of course he didn't check before, either with me or in the cupboards, freezer etc. He meant well though, bless his little cotton socks. If you do this again in March Storm I'll give it a go.

I will be doing it again in March right up until Easter. In an ideal world I want to be able to defrost by chest freezer on Sunday 24th March so I need to get cracking.

Menu plan for this week to follow. I think tonight will be lentil and beef curry, meal 24.

op, can you give us an idea of what you spent for the month including breakfasts & staples. Tell me to get lost if you think I am being nosey, but I have found this thread so inspiring, want to be amazed some more!

hello back from our break. We spent a bit on meals out but nothing more than I'd budgeted for. As we've been away 5 nights I will be carrying on the challenge until 5th March.

We had meal 1 last night- pasta bolognaise and tonight we're having meal 24 - baked potato, baked beans and cheese.

I did a shop yesterday for various bits and spent some more of the budget on eggs, ham and a cucumber. I have £16.12 left to last 12 meals including tonights.

Ohhelpohoitsa I have spent £247.91 so far this month which includes a couple of lunches out with dd, a £18 taxi fare and £40 to cancel my insurance (still better of by a couple of hundred a year though). Obviously does not include usual bills and housing costs which I can't really avoid

Of that £73.25 in total was on groceries including cleang stuff, nappies and having 7 people to lunch today

Here is my meal plan until next Friday. I think the only things we need are tomatoes and bread rolls. I may swop the order round a bit as well

Saturdaylamb burgers rolls and salad
Sundaychicken curry rice naan salad
Mondaymini pizzas potato wedges and beans
Tuesdaychicken risotto
Wednesdaymeat loaf mash and mixed veg
Thursdaymacaroni cheese
Fridaysausage and mash, onions, peas, gravy

Not sure what I'll be doing for the rest of March though sa I've set myself a savings target of £200 a month I'm sure I'll be doing something.

I've just transfererred this months £200

stormforce that is fabulous! You have become quite a hero - overheard people at softplay discussing this thread!! well done to you & good luck for March. I started Miserly March planning thread - do join us and bring your experience over!

ohhelpohnoitsa I'm blushing now

Good thing I got the ham. DP decided he wanted some with his baked potatoes last night. I've decided to swap today and tomorrows meals round as I really feel like eating curry today.

I need today to be a NSD so in aid of that I've not got dressed yet

As for March, my plan is to carry this challenge on until the 5th March then review the contents of freezer and cupboards. I am likely to do a 14 meal £14 effort in March but it depends what I find when I make my list. There are a few things that I had that I've not included in the plan for these 28 days including.... a big piece of duck which I got yellow stickered at the start of January and a packet of meat balls. Hopefully the duck should do for a roast, a stir fry and a soup. However I am sure I'll need to do a proper shop at some point in March

Chicken curry last night and lamb burgers and salad tonight. dd has asked for omlettes tomorrow night which is fine the mini pizzas will just have to wait until another time

Ok so my update

On Wednesday I improvised a bit and had a meal out of the freezer but not on the list, pasta with tomato sauce. Thursday was fish pie, meal 20. Friday was meal 11, nigella meatballs (also have 4 portions in freezer ready to take to lunches to work), today was roast pork, tomorrow will be bubble and squeek. I haven't planned from Tuesday onwards yet.

I have saved my receipts so can also give all our household spend for this month.

I made a list of everything I have left in my freezer today and after this week I will make a new meal plan bringing me hopefully all the way up to end of march/Easter as I said I want to be able to defrost my chest freezer by then to allow for this years garden produce when it starts coming up.

Finally we had meal 10 ham and cheese omlettes which has been planned and shifted many times and very nice they were too.

I thought I'd post my evening meal shopping so far sorry for the rubbish formatting.

cherry tomatos0.7527.25
tinned tomatos0.4526.8
big bag potatoes1.9924.81
eggs1.123.71
Pasta 2 bags0.9822.73
cucumbers x 21.1821.55
lettuce0.8920.66
milk for pancakes0.2520.41
box 15 eggs2.1518.26
cibattabread 0.6917.57
ham1.7515.82
bag potatoes1.9913.83
butternut squash1.512.33
onions0.711.63
garlic bread0.411.23

I've actually not yet brought the last three items on the list but I've budgetted for them anyway as I know I need them. As you can see I've got 11.23 left and 8 meals still to go. I'll do the shopping tomorrow and probably buy those and various salad bits. I didnt make asda today so will go to aldi after the school run. I've just looked and their super six includes cabbage, carrots, celery and little gem lettuces for 49p a pack so may well get those

Tomorrow I think we're going to have mixed bean soup and garlic bread (meal 25). I don't know why I bother posting lists days in advance. the beauty of this challenge is I have most of the ingredients in stock so I can have what I like from the list

Bejeena did you make your freezer list? I'm leaving mine until next Monday. I think its going to be a much shorter list than I had at the start of this month. T he cupboard looks emptier, the freezer drawers are no longer jammed full but there is still meat to be had and I can forsee a few vegeterian meals in March too. I wasn't going to do the full month but on reflection I might give it a go. Its complicated by a visit from my mum who irritatingly always tries to take over my kitchen and meal planning (but wants me to pay) and the fact the Easter holidays start towards the end of the month. Its still worth a try though

marking my place

Yes I have made my freezer list, but not planned all the meals based on the list yet though. My freezer/cupboards are also a lot emptier and it feels pretty darn good. I too still have lots of meat as well.

The Easter holidays work well for me as we will be away back to the UK and I always stock up on my joints of meat back there as it is so much cheaper. This is why I tend to have this problem. So my aim is to have it as empty as possible for Easter to be able to stock up on the meats again and then once allotment starts producing I can freeze all my veg up too.

I think tonight will be an easy one, the kale and chorizo stew probably, can't remember which meal number that is....

Oh dear I think I was a bit profligate in aldi this morning. My old spending habits came back with a vengenance and I spent a whopping TEN POUNDS AND NINETY FIVE PENCE on evening meal ingredients. I got

big bag of potatoes, a butternut squash, onions, carrots, leeks, lettuce, celery, cababage, avocado, tomatoes and cheese. However I still have £4.73 of of my budget left (some of those things were already budgeted for in post above). I don't think I need any more evening meal food for the rest of the challenge so there is a chance I'll actally do it within budget and maybe even have some food left over for next month.

In fact I spent £30.86 in total but that included a big thing of cat food, loads of fruit, lots of fruit juice, yogurts, lemonade, meat for lunch sandwiches, pain au chocolat for me dd and various other bits. We seem to go through so much fruit its unbelievable but I'd rather dd had that than cakes and sweets all the time so let her have free access to the fruit bowl

Kale and chorizo stew sounds lovely. I wish I grew veg perhaps I should start.

Oh dear I think I was a bit profligate in aldi this morning. My old spending habits came back with a vengenance and I spent a whopping TEN POUNDS AND NINETY FIVE PENCE on evening meal ingredients. I got

big bag of potatoes, a butternut squash, onions, carrots, leeks, lettuce, celery, cababage, avocado, tomatoes and cheese. However I still have £4.73 of of my budget left (some of those things were already budgeted for in post above). I don't think I need any more evening meal food for the rest of the challenge so there is a chance I'll actally do it within budget and maybe even have some food left over for next month.

In fact I spent £30.86 in total but that included a big thing of cat food, loads of fruit, lots of fruit juice, yogurts, lemonade, meat for lunch sandwiches, pain au chocolat for me dd and various other bits. We seem to go through so much fruit its unbelievable but I'd rather dd had that than cakes and sweets all the time so let her have free access to the fruit bowl

Kale and chorizo stew sounds lovely. I wish I grew veg perhaps I should start.

I knwo the feeling on the old spending habits and can sometimes be a nightmare in Aldi as I think it is best to get this and that whilst I am there. The theory is good but sometimes I end up with stuff I need to use up.

Tonight is meal 8, scampi and chips.

Although I do still think I should maybe use up some mushrooms that I have in the fridge as I will be away this weekend and my husband won't think to cook anything with them.

I've recovered from yesterday now I went to Co-op and got some instant coffee this morning as its one of the few things I won't buy from aldi. They had dowe egberts which is my favourite at half price so got two jars so they should last for ages I hope. £8 but would have spent it any way so not stressed.

Meal 18 tonight - macaroni cheese and salad . should be easy as last time I made cheese sauce I did a double batch and froze half of it so its almost ready

I'm also soaking some soup broth mix as when I made the soup last night it was so easy just to use pre cooked and frozen beans that I thought I'd do some more batches today ready to use next month. Easiest soup ever - onion and garlic fried in oil, add the pre cooked beans, add a tin of tomatoes and half a can of water bring to boil and then simmer or 10-15 minutes while garlic bread heats in oven. Yummy

Am breastfeeding dd and he's struggling about and hit post before I'd finished rambling

meant to say all the aldi things I will use. The butternut squash will keep so will move that soup into March's meal plan and have leek and potato soup next Tuesday. Cabbage always keeps well and we needed it ayway to go with the sausage and mash on Thursday night and I can easily mealplan the rest of it into March. Carrots will go with roast lamb which I still have a couple of portions of in freezer. Avocado is not yet ripe but we like it in salad ditto tomatoes.

As for the cheese we'd run out so did need some as we use it in sandwiches, sauces, omlettes and on soup so it will certainly go.

Am starting to think about Marchs meal plans now though won't finish this challange until 5th March then will probably have a night off fish and chips and start another

Stormforce do you want to do the honours and start a new thread for clearing our freezers in March or shall I? I am away this weekend but hoping to get my list of meals together and started off for Monday.

Last night I was lazy and we just had omelette using up leftover veg.

I was going to set my total food budget for March at 100€ which I think should be realistic.

With pleasure. Its started. Sorry I meant to do this last night but was really tired and fell fast asleep at 8pm

I finished February at £4.73 under budget but technically still need to carry this challange on until 5th March. I am going to finish this thread here though and carry on everything on the March thread
Thank you to those who joined in or just posted hepful comments