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

What have you got in your store cupboard or freezer that could be used? Use that up first. Very cheap meals I used to make were….
mixed bean & vegetable casserole, add sausages if you can afford them,
layers of potatoes & onions with chopped up bacon scattered through cooked with stock of some sort, top with grated cheese towards end of cooking if available.
pasta with a basic tomato sauce stirred through, you could add things like chopped sardines, herbs, fried onions, for a bit more flavour.

OP:

Sounds fancy but try a barley stew.

Carrot, onion, leek, soup veg chopped into small chunks, cook off (sweat) until soft - if you have garlic/garlic powder herbs etc put them in too, veg stock (I use from a cube am assuming you can get GF/Vegan ones?) add pearl barley cook for 25 mins.

It will thicken and become stew like, filling. 500g barley is about 60p but you would need something different for the GF x

I’m assuming this is just food, no toiletries, pet food, cleaning things?
Do you have to provide lunch for all the children every day? How many people would have access to a microwave at lunchtime? What supermarkets (other than Tesco) do you have access to?

Would you use food banks? There's lots of places that give away food near to me. All just about to go out of date. Or, could you try going to shops when they are reducing stuff. My M&S reduces things to 10% of the price around 4pm every day. I see lots of people going round with trollies full of reduced yellow label items! My local co-op reduces stuff in the morning and then reduces whatever's left around 5pm again down to pence! I've had loaves of bread for 10p! You can freeze most of it too! Maybe worth a try?

Also, don't suppose any of you would be eligible for a blue light card? ASDA and Morrisons are currently offering 10% off in store until end of Jan.

Keep your eye on Lidl. They often have extremely cheap veg.

I don’t think £8 pp/pw is doable without folk going hungry.

I’d honestly see about a referral to a foodbank, most can supply a couple days with of food/toiletries etc, then use the £80 to top up with fresh fruit and veg and so on.

Tesco have currently got jacket potato’s on 25p for a pack of 4 - so that would be 50p for all of you to have a meal plus some baked beans on top?

Do the kids get free school meals?

I’d think about approaching a food bank as they might be able to help with pasta etc and then you could buy the extra bits from your budget.

Hello OP. How are you getting on? I have a voucher for a free Hello Fresh box which I can gift to someone and I thought of you. If interested please PM me. X