£150 for the months food shop, possible ?

[Cussons]

Hi.

Currently going through some hard times financially. It's just me and my daughter, she's 6. I've got £150 for food shopping (the month of feb). Do you think it's possible?

I'll eat anything, I like cooking so can easily do that. My daughter is pretty fussy.
In terms of breakfast she'll eat:
Cereal
Toast

For dinners she'll eat:
Chicken
Stir fry
Spag bol
Fish fingers/ nuggets
Lasagne
Salmon
Noodles
Chips
Cucumbers

She will not eat any potatoes, rice, pasta or anything like that.
She will either just have chips, noodles or cucumbers with the other things. Will refuse anything else.

Do you think this is possible ? Also if anyone has any meal ideas that you think she may like please let me know!

I spend less than this monthly for me & my DD, it's entirely doable. I do a big shop of the essentials (meat, fruit, vegetables, passata etc), cook everything from scratch and top up with bags from Too Good to Go throughout the month. Good luck OP!

If you can buy yellow stickers food and or go to an Aldi yes.

You can definitely do this. You have the benefit of having the entire amount to hand so you can bulk buy and batch cook which saves money and is handy. There's a good Facebook group called Feed yourself for £1 a day which will give you inspiration.

I think you may need to eat different meals from her, as the really nutritious cheap stuff isn’t on the list of things she will eat. Perhaps you can give her a tiny portion of things like lentils to try together with her safe foods. Salmon might not be doable this month.

Also Iceland is doing £5 off £45 and free delivery for new customers at the minute

Definitely doable, first thing is to see what you’ve got in first and if they can be turned into a meal with just one or two more ingredients. Now and then I do a bit inventory of what we’ve got in the cupboard/freezer and I’m always surprised by the result! I would recommend making a big list then looking where each item can be joined up with something else. Don’t do one big shop at the beginning, it’ll all go off - set a weekly spend of £30 and a tenner overall for emergency basics (milk, bread).

Salmon etc is expensive would she eat canned salmon rather than fillets? DD had it for the first time a few weeks ago and liked it - I didn’t tell her it was canned (not that she would really understand that) I just mashed it in with her pasta bake.

Be caeful with toogoodtogo. Whilst you can get some good treats, it can be a bit hit and miss and not worth the risk if things are tight.

How about something like this (east enough to swap some things for what DD likes)-

groceries.asda.com/aisle/just-essentials/just-essentials/all-this-all-in-under-20/1215686354495-1215686354496-1215686355171

Are cucumbers the only vegetable/fruit she eats?

This or less is our food budget every month for 2 adults including household/toiletries and we eat well. I plan and shop carefully. Make a menu and stick to it, don't be distracted. I used to buy in bulk now just what we need for that period. Obviously reduced is good so go off menu if it works but make sure you don't buy something that needs loads of extras to make a meal. If you tend to buy more than planned/get tempted by treats in shop I do find an Asda/alternative order can be helpful as you know the cost and have plenty of time to refine it (of course you miss any reductions)

£10 is a lot for toiletries and cleaning products! The tesco value range stuff is good. I'm sure you could get that figure down too.
Exactly how big is your freezer? What's in it the moment.
For example I make a couple of lasagnes for 4 people with 750 gms of mince and freeze one. Good value and lots of carrot, onion and celery in the bolognaise, plus tinned tomatoes.

I was on the olio app but I didn't really like it so deleted it. Might have to re-download and take a look. I would love to be able to give her things like lentils, I will give it a try but I'm also 100% it will not go down well. I think it's a good idea to set a weekly limit to £30 cause I always end up over spending otherwise and sooo much food goes out of date. I'm not sure if she would eat canned salmon tbh, she eats it in a fillet. Maybe she would eat it mixed with some egg noodles. Good idea! She will eat cucumbers and sweetcorn. my freezer is pretty small, it's only got 3 small drawers. All I have it In at the moment is some frozen veggie pizza( mine), a pack of fish fingers.

If you make a vegetable soup, add some red lentils and then blitz the lot - she shouldn't be able to tell they are in there. Just makes it nice and thick.

Use a community fridge if you have one in your area - free food bring saved from landfill

Lidl do 5 family meals for £20 on their website - for 2 of you that means 10 meals (recipes are for 4) so in theory you only need to do 3 of these menus for a month of main meals = £60

And you can definitely batch cook with a small freezer if you put food in a ziploc freezer bag and flatten it out so you can stack the bags like books in the freezer

thebatchlady.com/learn/how-to-freeze-homemade-meals/

She eats spag bol and lasagne but not pasta? You just named two pastas... I think it's possible but perhaps get yourself a few books from the library to learn the basics!

If you can do a list of what you have in your cupboards, I can try and do a meal plan for you. £140 for a month is doable, I am around about that for two adults so it can work.

@Cussons Jamie oliver has launched this 4 week meal plan that's under £1 a portion based on 4 sharing. That's for 5 meals a week so £20 a week. It's all available on his website.

@Perfect28 maybe you should keep your comments to yourself if they are not helpful? Not that I have to explain myself to you but she will only eat spaghetti with mince or lasagne. She will not eat pasta twists or spaghetti with any other food! Now have you got anything helpful to say ?

Yes, have you tried other shapes and types of pasta? Have you tried to make some? Exposure is massively helpful for restrictive eaters. I think when money is tight for food then preferences can't and shouldn't always be catered for.

@Perfect28 Maybe you could get the books out for her while you're in there yourself picking up books on the basics of manners.

OP, my kids were fussy as anything when they were wee but loved chicken lasagne, if you want to change it about a bit.

It the ratio of sauce to pasta and cooked to very soft? Lasagne hides the pasta/ is smothered IYSWIM. My DD had to learn to like the bigger shapes. Still doesn't take fusilli or penne. I used very small elbow macaroni in a lazy lasagna (macaroni, bolognese, white sauce baked) then once she accepted that size and shape I moved on to cheesy sauces. It's all a long time ago but chunky textures are challenging too. Good luck

@Perfect28 no I have never tried pasta making. But I have definitely tried other pasta shapes. She will point blank refuse. If your lucky enough to have a child that's not very picky then that's great. But I would rather my child actually eat, then give her something she doesn't like. She will literally eat nothing.

Chicken lasagne sounds great actually. Im going to have a look online for a recipe. I'm really trying to introduce her to other things but it is so so hard. I'd rather she eats something then doesn't. Chicken is definitely one of her safe foods so I'm hopeful.