£8 budget

[Snoopdoggydo]

So I want your best ideas for cheap meals that aren’t miserable. £8 budget for 6 days worth of food (just for me). I have been slowly building up more seasonings and spices over the past few months adding one on each food shop so I should be ok there. I would rather have a better meal at tea time than have to factor in lunch. So skip breakfast and lunch!

This cold weather means comfort food suggestions only, I should be able to do 2 meals and split each across 3 days easily enough. So roughly £4 each meal, please share your ideas!

We've been having these this months, some great ideas, download the .pdf and adapt to what you have in the cupboard or freezer.

https://www.jamieoliver.com/1-wonders-recipe-collection/?utmsource=joocom&utmmedium=bffhub&utmcampaign=opww_collection#plan/guest-chefs

Veggie fajitas. Chuck in some mixed beans if you have any.

You could make a pork mince bolognaise. Have it with rice, pasta, jacket potato etc to change it up. Or freeze some for another week.

cottage pie

Joining a chicken is a fantastic idea. Have a roast one day, strip it & make chicken in a white sauce with boullion another, curry another, freeze some bits and make stock & soup with the bones.

Food of the gods.

£8 really isn't much for food for 6 days.
I think I'd have jacket potato with baked beans and cheese a few times, and make some soup ( roasted carrots and onion, ginger, cumin and a tin of coconut milk). Porridge for breakfast/lunch is filling.
Chickpea curry ( tin of chick peas, tin of tomatoes, onion, garlic and spices) is also filling, you'd get at least 2 meals from that, and you can add in random veg from the freezer if you've got any, like frozen spinach/peppers/cauliflower to stretch it further.
Or you could get some cheap mince and make a kind of chilli, bulk it out with beans and other veg, serve with rice.
See what's in the yellow sticker section at the supermarket and take it from there.

@Snoopdoggydo

Hi OP, I'm not fishing for personal details at all, but should you be in East Anglia, and could be available during office hours, please drop me a PM as the charity I work for can issue you with a large amount of food, from a shop within the charity premises, not like a food bank, it's literally just picking what you want x

Sausage casserole! Two packs of v. cheap sausages (8 pp) can be as little as £4.60. They won't be the best quality but it's comfort food. Onions and pepper are cheap. Chopped tomatoes are cheap. Tinned kidney beans (cannelloni beans as well) are cheap!

I do the below recipe (without the sage, parsley or Worcestershire sauce) and it makes six days worth of dinner 😊

Stays in the fridge for 2-3 days well. And freezes great!

https://www.lecreuset.co.uk/en_GB/spicy-sausage-and-bean-casserole/r0000000000283.html

I'd get a cheap loaf of bread for toast for breakfast and lunches. Many supermarkets have yellow stickered bread in the late afternoon.

I absolutely love a good home made soup but I have a very active job and it just doesn’t fill or sustain me.

I wish I could do the whole chicken idea but I can’t do bones and never have been able to so that’s a write off.

however, curry sounds delicious!

I think I’m going to go with cottage pie and chicken curry. Thank you for all your suggestions everyone! I will refer back to this thread next time I have a very tight budget

Cook a chicken - then make a pasta, a curry, a gravy bun....

Id go for what you can get yellow sticker and batch cook a meal from that for your first 3 evening meals. Then do the same again on day 3.

I would get porridge or weetabix for breakfast.

Failing that contact local food bank? Our local Morrison's offers a lot of community support, might be worth trying one near you? Or phoning.

Take care OP

Lentil & Bacon soup.

Cheese & something omelette - anything you have in - spring onions, peas, tomatoes, mushrooms, apple.

Mushroom risotto

Saag Aloo with pilau rice (potatoes and spinach)
Spinach and ricotta lasagne (using the rest of the spinach)
Frittata (using the rest of the potatoes)

You'd need eggs, a small bag of potatoes, onions, a large bag of spinach, own-brand basmati rice, and a tub of ricotta

I think you could get that for £8. I'm in Ireland, and it's doable for €8 in Tesco - just!

Go to would have to be 5 bean chili, daal and pesto pasta, could easily get all the ingredients under £8 and have enough for lunches too

I agree about beans on toast with some grated cheese on top. Lovely!

£8 really isn't much for food for 6 days.

It isn’t but it’s not that different from my usual budget of £15 for the full 7 days. I grew up poor and still am and it’s just the life I know. It really doesn’t bother me as I’ve learned how to survive on a small budget and like this thread has proved I can still get by with nice meals that don’t include all the unnecessary extras. It really doesn’t get me down, I just needed some inspiration after a tough week 😊

I also suggest yellow sticker items. My dad often goes to his local Co op at around 4pm and says that’s when they reduce a lot. He often gets fruit, meats and dairy items for pennies.

Olio is worth a look, last week I got some mince, apples, carrots and 2 loaves of bread on there x

I'd live off cheesy pasta for 6 days. Love that stuff

Spaghetti with garlic, butter and parmesan.

Lentils and chickpeas go so far

lentil bolognaise and shepherds pie

chickpea and spinach curry with chopped toms and curry spices (can have once with rice and once on a jacket)

chickpea tomato stew with chopped toms and smoked paprika

pack of 6 eggs - omelette one day, scrambled, hard boiled - lunches.

home made soup from all the oops stickered veg

Some thoughts x

Not for your £8 week, but, we buy frozen chicken breast, £5.50 fir 1kg from tesco. I whack it in the oven with a sauce, shred it. It will last ages for 1 person. You can boil it in soup too, or with noodles.

For this week, I'd get eggs, cheese, bread, beans, potatoes, bacon, pasta and do as many variations as possible.

Bonne chance

I'd make a big pot of chicken and chick pea curry, with peppers etc and just eat it for a week

Also, have a look at Thrifty Lesley. Her website has all sorts of budget meals, and meal plans from £1 per person per day.

The Super Cook app is brilliant for helping to find recipes that use the ingredients you already have.

I also second Olio. I'm a volunteer, but this week I've had mince, tomatoes, bread, carrots, shallots and orange juice, all for free.

Last week, I was able to make sure that my best friend had chicken, a pineapple, bagels and yogurt. You don't have to be a volunteer you can just request, which was how I started. Collect food before midnight, shove in the freezer or the slow cooker.

Depending where you are, quite a lot of the anti-food-waste places do a full bag of food for £2 - they call themselves "top up shops" round here. Sounds like they could be useful on a regular basis as well as helping to prevent food waste.