Meal planning/ideas please!

[Sundayspilot]

I’ve recently been informed by my doctor that I need to lose a fair amount of weight. I’m supposed to be following a low carb diet. I’ve always done all my own scratch cooking, so that’s not the problem. It’s the cost.

Our grocery bills have shot up now that cheaper staples like rice, beans and pasta are off the table. I’ve read a lot of other threads, but they all wind up a bit “MN magic chicken”. This is not the Hunger Games. I don’t want to share a chicken thigh with three other people.

Any reasonable suggestions would be much appreciated I am also allergic to soy, so our options for cheap protein are reduced.

Vegetable soup!
I know, it sounds boring, but it doesn't have to be, and a big bowl of hot soup if comforting.
Just use LOTS of seasoning so it has actual flavour.
Also, if you have a Farm Foods nearby, they sell vegan protein that is affordable. When DD was at home we bought vegan mince, "chicken" pieces and nuggets, sausages and burgers, and our flood budget is £75 a month for 2 adults and 3 teens.

Eggs - make frittata, omelettes, egg fried cauliflower rice, crustless quiche

@PomBearWithoutHerOFRS £75 a month? Surely you mean a week

For 5 adults

Nope, a month. We do a main shop on payday and spend a maximum of £75 then we buy bread and milk as we go for about £20 for the month.
Food is the only "give" in our budget so it just gets less and less as other things go up.

We're two adults, a 16 yr old and a 14 yr old now DD is at uni.
The boys get free school meals, and we have had £30 a week vouchers for a while, but they stopped 2 weeks ago. We aren't sure if everyone's stopped then or we've had a glitch, but we got them until then. They're back to school next week so they get £2.25 a day each (Which buys them a sarnie and a drink)

I'm in awe of £75 a month! We spend that a week on 2 of us (plus the dog)!

@HollyBollyBooBoo don't be. It's a bit shit tbh !
The bit that really pisses me off though, is that I'm still fat

I follow a low carb diet (type 2) my family still have pasta or rice, I have alternatives courgetti & cauliflower rice.
I usually make a frittata for my lunches for the week using the veg & spinach left in the fridge. I also make a large pan of butternut squash soup that freezes well & again I have that for lunch.
One of the plus sides I’ve found to low carb is that my portions are smaller as I can’t eat half of what I used too, so we often have leftovers which I freeze for another day.
Basa fillets are cheap and they are full of protein and absorb flavour well, I buy them frozen in Aldi.

Have a look on the low carb thread, there's lots of recipes there. I'm doing a keto diet at the moment and my daily food is generally two boiled eggs for breakfast, lunch is salad with either a tin of smoked mackerel and half an avocado on top, or tuna mayo, or goats cheese, then in the evening I either have a piece of roast chicken (I cook a tray of legs/thighs at the start of the week) or fish (either salmon or cod from the freezer section is often cheaper) with vegetables on the side. If I snack then it's a piece of cheese or a handful of nuts (I weigh them out though as it's easy to end up eating a lot).

I should really do more soups. That’s a great idea

Shakshuka is pretty cheap and low carb.