How much do you spend on the food shop?

[GinCoffeeRepeat]

And can you show me your meal plans?

I feel like we’re stuck in a rut of the same meals every week.

Would love some ideas of family friendly meals.

£30 - £50 per week including all lunch & cleaning bits but not alcohol
2 adults

Aim for 2-3 veggie meals per week as this keeps costs down
Usually 2-3 rice or pasta based meals as they're cheap

This week:
Chicken Kievs & baby jackets
Mac & Cheese
Salmon fillets, rice & veg
Soup & crusty bread
Enchildas & mexican rice
Lidl sourdough pizza

Regular meals:
Veggie fajitas
Quorn chilli
Pasta bake/lasagne
Fish cakes
Homemade satay pork burgers
Risottos
Mushroom stroganoff
Stuffed chicken breasts
White fish wrapped in prosciouto
Filo fish pie
Cottage pie
Greek chick kebabs w/ couscous and tzatziki
Jacket Potatoes

About £100 a week for everything for family of 6.

• Chicken and leek on rice
• sweet potato soup and sourdough with avocado and bacon
• cod wrapped in prosciutto with spinach and mash
• Halloumi and veg cous cous, Siracha yogurt dressing
• Fish tacos
• Dinner out
• pasta with mascarpone tomato sauce
• fried rice with pork, spinach and kimchi

£150-£200 percent, two adults, two kids, one toddler. Includes nappies and wine

Per week that should say

F

£130 a week including cleaning stuff/ toiletries/ cat stuff
So maybe just under £100 on food for family of six including three teenagers and a toddler. Try and cool from scratch every day sort from one “freezer day” a week.
Have just got a slow cooker so all considering meal planning again again again. I’ve tried so many times it never works for me :/
Am stuck in cycle of same seven or eight meals so need to branch out.

Average £70 a week, 2 adults 1 child. (Incl. toiletries, cleaning stuff and wine)

What we do is work on a pick and mix kind of thing so we have list of things we like of carbs, vegetables, seasonings, sauces and fish or chicken. Choose about 5 meals and make the shopping list based on that - for example this week:

-jerk chicken rice and broccoli, (will last 2 days)
-Cajun salmon wraps with salad etc. Frozen fish is a good one.
-chicken and veg noodles with coconut, garlic, and soy sauce (can be very quick to make)
-fish fingers, beans, broccoli, mash.

• chicken + veg soup and bread rolls (will last 2 days also)

1 pot meals will always cut costs as they work best with cheaper cuts of meat and minimise time in kitchen.

Me and partner are both rosette chefs, I hope this list helps in some way

Interesting spread. We spend £100 per week for 2 adults, 2 children. Includes nappies, toiletries and cleaning stuff plus lunches (except for DS who gets free school lunch for another year). Includes a small amount of alcohol. Meals over the last week:

Homemade meatballs, spaghetti and sauce with corn on the cob
Roast chicken dinner
Chicken curry, rice, naan
Steak, chips, veg
Home baked ham, mash, veg
Beef stir fry with noodles

We eat out around once a week and that's not included. Shop at Tesco. Could reduce if we needed to.

Family of 5, (dcs are 4,10,12) plus cat.
£120 pw, with a few top ups for fruit and bread.
This weeks meals
Chicken veg curry with rice
Turkey dinner
Salmon roasted veg and couscous
Sea bass with noodles and stir fry veg
Gammon jkt pot salad
Spaghetti bolognese
Roasted veg tomato pasta

£200ish a week, but we all take lunches everyday as well as breakfast, and that's 4 adults plus 2 DDs BFs at weekends.

Veggie pasta with wholewheat parpadelle & pan fried chicken
Butternut squash and coconut soup with lentils
Toad in the hole, roasted new potatoes, swede and broccoli
Stir fry with homemade satay sauce and wholewheat noodles
Thai green curry - veg and chicken
Roasted salmon, baked potatoes, tenderstem broccoli and carrots
Linguine with prawns, chilli, lime and garlic
Home made fish pie with filo topping and lots of veggies
Leek and potato soup (family favourite)
Cottage pie with sweet potato topping and green veg
Sweet potato and kale curry with rice and salad

I never buy anything ready made, we cook from scratch every day and everything cooks in under an hour.

About £175 a week for two adults, a four year old and a baby. Includes all alcohol, nappies, wipes, formula, cleaning products and toiletries. Main shop either Sainsbury's or Ocado with a top up from M&S.

My husband is coeliac and gluten free stuff costs a fortune, he takes sandwiches to work and we spend £6 a week on his bread alone.

We have quite a few dishes we make regularly. My H does most of the cooking as he enjoys it. We spend around £60pw for two adults, two kids, one on packed lunches. My parents seem to have empty nest syndrome though so they are always dropping food shopping off for us which probably adds up to £25pw.

Our regular meals are...
Chicken tray bake, chicken pieces, chorizo, peppers, onions and whatever veg you have lying around chucked in a tray with honey and fresh tomatoes to make its own sauce

Gordon Ramsay lemon chicken, it’s lush believe me

Homemade pizzas with tons of veg and pepperoni for toppings

Delia’s chicken satay recipe, serve with sweet potato wedges and stir fry veg

Crispy peking duck from the supermarket served with prawn toast and stir fry veg

Beef casserole with cheese cobbler and mash

Burritos

My eldest eats my homemade pasta sauce on repeat. It’s basically loads of veg cooked off with herbs with a tin of tomatoes added. He’ll have it with Tesco arancini too.

Family of 5 £60 a week. Could be less if we are trying. We are veggie so if we are trying to keep costs down we swap quorn mince for lentils ect.

Mon- spag bol made with red lentil and garlic bread
Tues- stew
Wed- fresh pasta and salad
Thurs - chilli made with lentils and served with tortillas
Fri - sausage chips and peas
Sat - tacos
Sun - thai curry.

£80 a week ish. Sometimes more if we're cooking something fancy on a weekend.
This week's meal plan:
Beef stew and dumplings
Cajun salmon with rice and avocado, cherry, tomato, spring onion, coriander and lime salad
Veg tostatas
Liver and bacon
Tandoori chicken
Chinese pork
Pizza and salad (not homemade)
A favourite for a weekend is burger topped fries. Mince beef mixed with onion and garlic granules, salt and pepper and made into mini burgers, then fried. Frozen fries, then mozzarella, burgers, gherkins, red onion and burger sauce. Salad on the side.

Family of 4 - DC are primary aged. Plus an ancient and very fussy cat.

My budget is £100 per week, but I usually come in between £70 and £90. Do an online shop, usually with Tesco or Morrisons and then go to ASDA for a couple of things I can only get there and the reduced bread products for packed lunches (I stick them in the freezer.)

I buy a lot of frozen veg, fruit and fish portions as they work out better value and don't go bad like fresh ones do.

We eat veggie a few days a week. I plan for leftovers and pick up reduced veg / meat etc that I can freeze.

Meals on my next couple of weeks plan are:

Mustard & herb crusted haddock, rice, salad
Bean chilli
Naan pizza (got some very reduced price naans - got the other ingredients in already - simples)
Tuna enchiladas
Butternut squash curry (packet of bns chunks picked up cheap & frozen)
Polenta and cheesey mushrooms
Roast lamb, peas, cauliflower, roast potatoes
There will be enough lamb left over to have in sandwiches & salads, maybe with some couscous from the cupboard & olives etc
Hot and sour aubergines
Roast chicken, cabbage & leeks, mash
Chicken filo pie with leftover chicken
There should be some chicken leftover for sandwiches etc as well

£40 asda "big shop" per week plus probably £10 top ups during the week, for 2 adults and 1 toddler (who doesnt eat much!) including non-food items.

Last week our meals were
Pinch of Nom Cajun Dirty Rice
Tuna Pasta Bake
Paella with Prawns and Chorizo
Pinch of Nom Campfire Stew and mash
Salmon Stir Fry and noodles
Hairy Dieters Chicken and Leek Tangle Pie

£70 a week on average
This week is
Jerk pork Caesar salad
chicken curry
Thai turkey lettuce cups
Spice roasted salmon with cauliflower & garlic & chilli kale
Sausages & cauliflower cheese
omelette
roast chicken, carrots & broccoli
DH is off carbs atm 🤔

I save a lot on meat by raising the coop chilled when they do the final reductions and buying things at 50-75% off. Also buying in bulk, like a kilo of chicken breasts and then portioning it up into smaller bags in the freezer, rather than buying packs of 2 chicken breasts per week. Bulking out curries, stews, mince dishes with lentils and veg - 500g mince can make 6-8 portions of shepherds pie, or 6-8 portions of chilli by adding a tin of baked beans and a tin of kidney beans

@Span1elsRock.. your meals sound delicious! Wish i could come up with these ideas. Mine are so boring and DH gets angry. I'm sure h'd love to move in with you if he could!!

£200 p wk, two adults two late teen DS’.

We don’t particularly meal plan, but DH cooks all our family meals from scratch.

@BooseysMom thanks - I've got far too many recipe books and like to try new ideas. The BBC Good Food website is a great source, and all of the TV chefs have their own websites with recipes. I don't normally like Jamie Oliver but his meat free meals are great for speed and taste. Same with deliciously Ella - this was amazing for tea at the weekend deliciouslyella.com/recipes/coconut-lentil-dahl/

2 adults, 3 DC and several pets who cost a fortune in vegetables. I spend £50/60 on a weekly food delivery and £30 on a top up shop. (to be fair we could probably miss the top up and not starve, and we end up buying crap thanks to the kids tagging along. Swimming lessons unfortunately share a car park with tesco.)
Sunday - roast dinner or bbq (seasonal)
Monday - pasta based
Tuesday - jacket potato, toppings different each week
Wednesday - rice based
Thursday - hectic and something chucked in a slow cooker
Fridays - shit and chips
Saturday- either a take away or I will try a new recipe

Wow there's a huge range in cost from £60-£200 for a family even in the last few posts!

I would like to veer towards the lower end!

About £100 but hopefully less now a Lidl has opened nearby

We have a huge roast chicken on Sunday with cauliflower and broccoli cheese.
Monday usually pasta
Tuesday Salmon with Asian sauce, rice noodles and stir fry veggies
Weds fish fingers chips and veggies
Thurs curry of some description
Friday often take away or pizzas, something easy
Saturday I will cook or dp will cook something a bit more interesting or I'll do some baking. Sometimes we go out,

@Span1elsRock.. thanks for the link. That does sound and look delicious! We are eating less meat generally so this one will be added to the list.
I'm so disorganised when it comes to recipes. I too have lots of books including 2 Hairy Bikers ones which were signed by the Bikers, and I only ever make the chili con carne out of the one book! It's ridiculous really. I love collecting recipes from mags but then lose them in my cupboard and forget about them!