How much does a regular evening meal cost you?

[shylatte]

This year money is tighter and I need to cut back. We are fairly frugal, but good quality food is very important to us - our shop (for 5 of us) is approx £200 per week. I cook everything from scratch, buy value products where I can. Our main problem is that the two eldest are really into sport/fitness and protein is a big thing for them. Heavy carb meals don't satisfy them at all, and dc1 wants chicken breasts and cooked salmon fillets as snacks.
On a Thursday we have fish, usually salmon or cod, which costs about £12 for the meal (this is from Lidl, not a gourmet fishmonger). That is before veg and a carb side. As part of my 'cutting back' I bought 750g of prawns on offer for £5. We've just finished a stir fry, to which all of the dc have declared is more like a snack rather than a meal On Sundays the dc like a lamb leg roast, and that alone is nearly £20.
My question is, is this normal? What would be the average price of a meal and what size is your family? DH thinks this is fine but I feel it is too much, but don't know how we can cut back.

Oh my goodness that's a lot but easy to see how it mounts with growing men. I'm my day a big pot of spuds was on the menu.

I've two small dc and dh. We've pasta and pesto one night a week. Friday homemade pizza. Steak one night. Chicken meals a lot of the other nights so it's probably 4 per person average???

Have you tried a cheaper protein source like beans and lentils? Meat is expensive protein. If I make a chilli or cottage pie I'll whack in loads of lentils as well as the minced meat to make the whole thing go much, much further. Lentils are high in iron too so are really good for growing people. They're often used as a meat substitute.

I mean, the first thing that stands out to me is ' the children like a leg of lamb on a Sunday and that's £20.' Does this have to be EVERY Sunday?

I'm not good with suggestions though really as we have 2 adults here and 1 adult appetite and I spend £200 ish a week.

I'd go for chicken as snacks over salmon which is very expensive. I'd buy in bulk from the butcher - they do flavoured chicken trays on offer usually.

How old are the DC? If they’re old enough I would be asking them to contribute given their expensive tastes!

How much salmon are you getting for £12? Are you doing 2 fillets each or something?

How old are the oldest?
There are much cheaper protein sources than chicken breasts and salmon. As a PP says pulses are excellent as are eggs,, but even if you want meat then chicken thighs/ drumsticks are great- frozen is very cheap.
Turkey and pork are inexpensive, pollock, hake or basa are cheaper than salmon.
Unless the protein eaters are competing I don't see why they need such a large amount of protein.
Are they working?

I am sure my family would like a £20 roat of lamb ever week- it ain't gonna happen!

Should have said in my OP that they don't consider vegetarian food as 'proper' food. When they were very young I could have got away with lentil soup and lots of bread for a meal but not now. I make a white bean casserole but it has 1kg of red meat in it. Only one of them will eat potatoes.

shylatte

How old are they? Pretty crucial information.

Can you mix chicken with chickpeas and lentils if for example you make a curry?

Maybe things like a huge casserole with jacket potatoes?

I do think food is very expensive now you're not alone

OP- ages?

My partner used to be of the "if there's no meat it's not a real meal" now he does enjoy more vegetarian food - it's just been a case of getting used to

Morrisons fish is great value, especially when on special offer.

I think you do need to compromise on protein sources and use beans and lentils more.

How much freezer space do you have? It would save you a lot to buy your meat direct from a local producer. We sell our lamb as half or whole lambs, pigs as quarter pigs and have friends who sell beef in bundles from 10kg up with a mix of cuts. It works out a lot cheaper than buying individual joints (and the meat is likely to be better).

What you've described isn't remotely frugal, its a treat, even a pretty lavish treat for a lot of people.
If you want to cut back, speak to your kids!

I have a family of 4 adults and midweek dinners cost about £12 to £15 and weekend dinners £20.

Have you tried bulk sources of proteins, we have butchers 8n town that sell trays of pork chops or chicken breasts on offers like 3 trays for £12 with each tray having 6-8 portions of meat.

Muscle food website sells big packs of meat cheaply and have good reviews regarding quality. www.musclefood.com/bundles/butchers-boxes.html

The other thing I would suggest is to have cheap foods like boiled eggs in the fridge rather than chicken breasts or salmon fillets for snacks.

Well if they don't see vegetarian as a proper meal, tell them to buy and cook their own food. Seriously don't indulge it OP , they will have a huge shock when leave home.

Oldest is 18, youngest 14. I'm glad others have said this is a lot, because this is my thinking too. Its totally our dhs fault though. I just can't see how we are going to cut back though. I buy all meat/chicken in the butcher in bulk to save money, so I get a 5kg tray of chicken breasts at a time.

This sounds like one of those 'only on MN' threads, but apart from food we are really frugal. I'm really angry at myself for enabling this, at dinner yesterday dc3 said she needed some specific food for school for the food bank and that lead to a conversation about food poverty. They were shocked that for some people they would eat pasta with a jar of sauce as a meal.

You could make so many meals out of a pack of lentils. Look a the bbc food website. Lots of ideas. Cut back on the meat, that is the expensive part. And lamb once a month if they really need it

Is the eldest working or at college?

Also, would they eat cheaper cuts in low and slow recipes like casserole, stew, chilli. Braising steak is delicious, high protein, tasty, filling and so tender when cooked in a slow cooker or low oven with gravy and vegetables.

There's a lot of what your DCs 'want'!

But good that you are having conversations about food banks etc.

Maybe it's time to get them involved in menu planning and budgeting, especially the 18 year old.

The 'Lean in 15' cookbooks by Joe Wicks might be good Christmas presents for them.

Eggs are good protein and be cheaper. Snacking etc

You just cut back, end of. Provide a nutritionally balanced meal, they can eat toast and fruit if still hungry. It really won't kill anyone to have a huge omelette with baked beans for example as an evening meal. You are confusing wants with needs.
If you don't eat out or have takeaways though I wouldn't find £50 per week to feed an adult too horrific, but if you can't afford it you need to cut back.