Meal plan with a strict budget help needed !

[EasyCheapmealideas]

£80 for the week.
4 adults
6 children

No eggs, 2 are also vegan
2 are strictly gluten free

We have some cupboard basics flour and herbs and spices etc , rice and pasta.
Are there any really cheap filling meal ideas

4-6 weeks? I think you’ll definitely struggle in that case. Food bank is a good idea, particularly if they can help with any GF stuff.

How many of the adults are earning and why so tight? I assume they must be dependants in some way?

Meal ideas

Baked potatoes, beans, cheese

Homemade soup (leek & potato, lentil & tomato, butternut squash)

Lentil bolognese (for pasta, and use again in cottage pie topped with mash)

Bean chilli (& potato wedges, or rice)

Look at Jack Monroe/bootstrap cook for really good costed-out cheap meals.

For the GF people, you def want to go to Asda as their GF pasta and flour (plus cereal I think) is price matched to normal products, so GF pasta is 59p for 500g. Their own brand bread is cheaper than other brands too.
If you have a shop with asian foods locally (even a big Tesco) then buying a really big bag of rice and of lentils is cheaper than the small bags. Dhal and rice can be varied with different veggies added depending on what is in the reduced section, or adding a spoonful of smooth peanut butter.
For pasta sauces, old school soy chunks that you soak in water are really cheap (the Holland and Barrett ones are £1.99 for a bag that goes an awfully long way as you need less than a quarter of a cup per person at most and is GF) or the soy mince similarly
Locally we have a community pantry which is designed to save food from going to waste, and you can fill a bag everyday (I think more if you let them know you have a big family) and they have all sorts of stuff coming in everyday - fresh fruit, veg, bread, eggs as well as basics so its worth looking around. Also the Olio app might work depending on where you are

@AnotherMansCause

What kitchen gadgets etc do you have? Kettle/electric toaster/pressure cooker/slow cooker/microwave, etc? Working oven & hob?

What herbs, spices, basic pantry staples do you have? Do you already have pasta, rice, dried beans etc? Are any of you a confident cook?

Yes we have cooker microwave kettle and toaster

Try searching things like Fare Share and Community Fridge in your area. Our tiny rural village has a Fare Share arrangement and the village hall is often advertising free food on facebook.

If you get sick of baked beans, jazz them up a bit with whatever dried herbs you've already got in the cupboard. If you have any HP, tabasco or mustard, you can put some of that in as well.

@Soontobe60

I’d also add, if the vegans are vegan by choice, then I wouldn’t be buying expensive vegan stuff for them! Your priority is to ensure the GFs (if they are genuinely GF as opposed to omitting gluten by choice) get a good choice of meals.

I agree. If they want specifically vegan foods they can look for them within their daily budget. I wouldn’t even buy quorn TBH, it’s too expensive on a budget of just over £1 per person per day. Lentils & beans, pasta, rice, potatoes, veg. Sorry if I missed it but if the non vegans are in fact not vegetarian at all, tinned sardines can be bought pretty cheaply. Good with pasta or on toast.

Hi OP. It sounds really tough. Just wondering if you could sign up for something like gousto. You can get a box of 4 meals for 2 adults using a discount or referral code for approx £12.50 for your first box. Wondering if that might help to stretch your budget? But I know that won't be sustainable. Sorry if that isn't feasible it is just what came in my mind first. Good luck xx

Do you have a Tesco Clubcard? If so any vouchers to redeem? Things like pack of 4 jacket potatos are 25p this week for Clubcard holders as well.

@blitzen

Do you have a Tesco Clubcard? If so any vouchers to redeem? Things like pack of 4 jacket potatos are 25p this week for Clubcard holders as well.

Yes but I’ve not been sent vouchers in ages actually it hadn’t even registered ?? I’ll have to see if I can check

If you have temporarily fallen in hard times are you able to tell grandparents, other close family who live nearby who may be supportive by having the children round for their evening meal during the week or lunch at the weekend in order to help you out?

This would take some of the stress of you and your husband and the children would be guaranteed a hot meal and the relatives would enjoy their company.

Quick soup : tinned tomatoes, handful on lentils, herbs, veg stock. Bring to the boil, simmer till lentils soften. You can multiply up to serve more people.

Ah definitely register your Clubcard. There's a separate app for it to the Tesco grocery one and you can see your points and request vouchers which usually come through by the next day xx

Asda is really cheap for GF pasta and flour. It much more than normal non GF. The pasta is lovely and we can't really tell it's GF.
There's a few websites with 'eat for £1 a day' menus.

Is everyone needing every meal each day or are some children at school and getting FSM? Do you need to make packed lunches?

Just thinking about uber eats as well. I think if you sign up to the app you get £15 off your first two orders as long as they're over £15. I think you can buy groceries on there so might be worth a try too?

£43 in Tesco vouchers!!! They hadn’t sent them by post like they used to and I’d forgotten about them completely!!!!

Result!! Hopefully that will help but still really tight for you, OP.

I haven't read through all replies so might be duplicating but I'd suggest (and this won't cover all dietary needs):

Macaroni cheese
Baked potatoes with beans
Lentil Dahl and rice
Pesto pasta
Omelettes on toast
Porridge

That's fab!

Also worth considering if you have any anti food waste projects in your area - we have one locally called The Teapot Project which does a pay as you feel option for both fresh food and store cupboard ingredients. We also have pop up shops which charge £2 for a big jute bag of shopping that you pick yourself and they include fresh stuff as well as store cupboard.

Brilliant re Tesco!!! Usually I'd suggest getting better value by converting them to partner vouchers but in this case I'd use them for groceries

I can’t believe I forgot about them I think being busy I hadn’t realised I hadn’t had any posted in a while but I’m so happy !

I use the too good to go app. There was hardly anything in my area at first but loads on there now - but will depend where you live. For between £3 and £5 you get a bundle of stuff that's close to it's sell by date. You might have to be inventive as to how you use the stuff. Morrisons and Spar do decent packs.

Great news about the Tesco vouchers
What about a food bank. Is that an option for you?
I’d be tempted to split the Tesco vouchers/eek them out if future months are going to be tight too
This might also be useful www.google.ch/amp/s/www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/couple-who-lost-15st-share-25870809.amp
Not the weight loss necessarily but the recipies

Tom Kerridge has done simple, cheap recipes with Marcus rashford. It could be worth looking them up

Is there a foodcycle project near you? Free 3 course veggie meal, no booking or criteria. Sometimes give away food too after meal (but can be random). Usually once a week but might help.