to ask you for your best skint meal ideas please? And what to buy at lidl to help this?

[Margaritte]

I did ask for lovely, budget, impressive looking meals last week.

However, the shit hit fan for us, financially, for the next month or two. So now I really need to know what I can buy & cook. Now it just needs to be healthy & dirt cheap and less impressive . Taste buds haven't died in this shit situation, so if its fairly yummy will help too, although I realise that's not the main priority.

I have to figure out breakfasts, lunches and dinners. My dc & dh take packed lunch with them, & dd & I eat at home. I have a bit in already, which I'm so grateful for, as it gives me a 'head start'.

I have got advice from StepChange today and they were great, so that bits sorted.

Just a bit of back ground ( so I'm not drip feeding) I am recovering from PND (mostly good days for a while) However, during having it, cooking / meal planning etc would cause me a lot of distress. I'm starting to get back into cooking now, and sometimes enjoy it. I don't want to slip back into the upset & frustration I used to have around the weeks meals, so as easy as possible would be helpful too.

I would start with one of each of the above recipes cause they all sound lush!

Seriously, try to have one meat that will then last for leftovers e.g. a boiled gammon joint or a whole chicken or a pork joint from the butchers. Process the leftovers immediately after you have plated up to avoid everyone sneaking extra mouthfuls.

Then work out when you are really busy and when you are knackered and when you can cadge off family... I then also work it out so we have two red meat, two white meat, two fish and one mostly vegetarian day. I also find if we have puddings we don't go back for leftovers - aldi do a nice frozen strudel or get some big tubs of yoghurt to have with fruit and meringues Other favourites are tinned pineapple or peaches, rice pudding, crumble with whatever fruit is cheap served with custard. If you can face making chocolate brownies etc Aldi do really nice chocolate 100g for 30p. Have a ore exciting puddings on days when the main course is less exciting and vice versa.

Something like this:

Day 1 Roast chicken, potatoes, veg, yorkshire puddings

Day 2 Omelettes, potato wedges, salad

Day 3 Leftover chicken as curry with rice (add any leftover veg and potatoes from roast)

Day 4 Pasta bake with tuna and sweetcorn and whatever veg you like - grate a 49p ball of mozarella over the top and it will instantly feel more satisfying

Day 5 Jacket potatoes with whatever fillings the family like - baked beans, cheese, egg mayo, tuna mayo etc

Day 6 Meatballs made with sausages (skin them and roll in to balls) serve with spaghetti, garlic bread and green salad

Day 7 Fish fingers, oven chips and peas - feels like a bit of a treat!

My DS2 has real food issues too. I feel your pain!

Have a look at the website 'feed your family for £20 a week'. They have a facebook page with recipes added daily and have loads of ideas for eating on a budget. They are all women with young families and so tend to do lots of big family meals, ideas to stretch ingredients, plus bulk buying offers. I have followed them for about a year and found it really useful. Jack Monroe also has a facebook page and blog with some great budget recipes that are pretty healthy and easy.

Sausage gnocchi. Skin the sausages cut them up cook them up with onions and any other veg you can get your hands on cheap then chuck in passata cook the gnocchi then throw that in as well. Costs about 3.50 for those ingredients from Aldi and will feed 2 adults and 2 young children.

The Aldi curry sauces are among the best, and among the cheapest too.

Here are some old threads with ideas which may help : )

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/food_and_recipes/2122710-What-is-the-absolute-cheapest-meal-you-can-make

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/food_and_recipes/2133991-Help-need-quick-cheap-nutritious-meals

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/food_and_recipes/1956734-Looking-for-ideas-for-really-cheap-meals

you coild do a rough plan like Sunday roast, Monday roast leftovers, Tuesday mince, weds pasta, thurs rice, Friday pizza/fake away, Saturday eggs. Then write a few suggestions under each title then pick one a week to do. I used to do when on a diet but saved a lot of thinking. I also have lists on back of cupboard doors of meals I have in. So you could do lunches beans on toast, scrambled egg, baked potato- saves thinking. Build in cheap treats - my dd loves popcorn- the microwave stuff at lidl is very cheap but feels indulgent having popcorn watching s film on TV.

Sausage casserole. Sausages are 99p for 8 in aldi. Tin of beans, red lentils if you have them, carrot, mushrooms, onions. Brown the sausages chuck them in an ovenproof dish with the beans and assorted veg, add half a pint of stock made using a cube. Bung in the oven. If you have garlic and herbs that makes it tastier but fine without. Serve with jacket spuds or wedges make the potatoes go further.

Pasta bake and add tuna, chicken, bacon to it and peas/sweetcorn or mixed frozen veg. Feels more filling then and seve with garlic bread.

I find aldi much cheaper than lidl or anywhere else.

Lidl hummus is excellent and cheap (and filling). On toast it's good for breakfast or, with veg of choice - cucumber, tomato, leaves, raw pepper, grated carror, celery - whatever's on offer - it's also good for lunch.

Don't forget farmfoods for meals, something frozen in breadcrumbs with potatoes and veg will keep you going.

They do a pack of 12 burger buns for £1 and get some cheapo burgers and cheese slices with chips, thats Saturday dinner in my house anyway.

And I think the asda nappies are better than the aldis

We lived off soup and crumble pretty much for 3 months in a similar situation. I am veggie anyway, and DH and DS cut down on meat dramatically.

We ate a lot of lentil hotpot and chickpea stew type meals.

Have a look at A Girl Called Jack too, budget recipe blog, started by a mum in a similar financial situation to you.

Have you seen the "Girl Called Jack" blog? Very simple, nutritious and cheap family meals. She also did a regular Guaridan column if you google that. Her recipes all come with a price per portion thing, which is handy.

Can't link, I'm afraid, as I'm on my phone.

Thank you so much lovely MNetters

Wellwellwell Thank you for the meal plan ideas.

jaxtreehorn I have liked the facebook page for what you suggested, and will have a read tonight.

Also going to have a look through my cupboards later when I feel up to it and see if I can make any of the dinners suggested, using what I have at the moment.

At a glance, I see I can make SoftSheen's potato rosti with poached egg & baked beans. And Turquiseblue Tuscan Bean Soup, using the rinsing baked beans idea 404NotFound suggested

Does anyone have any tips on making packed lunches cheap? I think it may be easier to do us all the same (then I'm making lunch only once a day, and dd & I can have one ready made in the fridge too)

Wraps are good and quick to make. My lot like ham, grated cheese, cucumber, shredded iceberg and a dollop of mayo. I've found they can be made a couple of days ahead and keep fresh if wrapped in clingfilm.

margaritte I would just do sandwiches for lunch. Wafer thin ham or chicken, cream cheese order hoummous work out cheap.
Add a few carrot sticks, a banana or a yoghurt to your sons to satisfy the lunch box 'police' at his school.
Beans /egg/cheese on toast for days you are at home.

I use passata instead of jar sauce for bolognese then add pepper, chilli powder etc to taste, about 35p and enough for 2-3 portions.

Also even the cheapest of meat tastes good if done in the slow cooker :)

We once made £60 last three weeks including food and bus fares with three children. It was completely awful. But..

38p bags of porridge from lidl make a filling breakfast.

Red lentils bulk out almost anything (we are veggie but used them to make quorn mince go further).

Tins of kidney beans, chick peas etc make decent stews and soups plus are great in chilli, bolognese and lasagne.

Cheapest ever rice, pasta etc are your staples.

Only drink tap water.

Huge buckets of natural yogurt from lidl for puddings. Crumble puddings are cheap and filling.

If you have leftover fruit, make a fruit bread.

If you have leftover chilli, bolognese, stew - use as jacket potato topping the next day.

I second just putting together a big list of meals and then you can look at it daily. There's 5 of us with a fussy child with asd too. If i had £50 a week it would be porridge/ value cereal and milk or something like value toast with value jam or peanut butter. Lunch at home value bread toast with homemade soup or value beans or leftovers. Pack lunches: value bread sandwiches with value creamcheese or peanut butter or those v cheap bags value gratedcheese, carrot sticks from value carrots, value crisps or biscuit for a treat. Tea would be totilla made with cheap or tinned potatoes, caged hen eggs, value garlicbread, frozen veg. Or curry made with dry lentils, tinned potatoes, tinned tomatoes, cheap carrots and onions,or chicken thigh tray bake, or cheap mince stretched with baked beans or lentils in shepherds pie or chilli with rice. Jacket pots, beans sndcheese, homemade pizza or valuue ones, pasta with homemade sauce, puddings are hard but a homemade banana cake is cheap if youbuy the cheap fruit on the bargain shelf or homemade scones and jam or jam sponge pudding in the microwave costs pennies.
I think a lot of suggestions for whole chickensnd the like wouldbe pushing it with a family of 5 on £50 a week.

You can freeze sandwiches in advance. Just pop them in the lunch box with a piece of fruit etc and they defrost by lunch time. Cheese or ham work well but avoid mayo or salad. If you get reduced price bread that needs using that day its a good way to get the most use out of it.

It helps take some of the stress out of pack lunches.

Lidl's half price weekends are great. We'll often plan a weekly treat with what's on offer.

Look out of frozen stock being reduced. I quite often stock up the frezer with nice bits, a quater of the price, after there theme weeks have finished.

Our lidl reduce meat at about 1.30 a couple of times a week, monday or tuesdays and on a friday. Works out perfectly for a walk out to the shop after luch with dd for us. Unlike other supermarkets they reduce in advance, so usually have a few day left on the dates if you've got no frezer space.

Mini kinder chocolates in big bags are 2 for £1.50 at the moment for a cheep treat. Their other chocolate bars, own brand mars, snicker, twix, etc are good. Dh takes one to work for his snack.

Dd loves over night oats, although it can be more complicated, I basically bung a few big spoonfuls of oats into a yoghurt, cover and leave in the fridge. In the morning she can chose a few toppings to put on it, seeds, dried fruit, chopped up bannanas, or whatever's to hand.

Lidl's bread is 40p and loaf, frezers really well. Bagles are good to, about 80p for five. Dh loves their cream crakers, around 38p for a great big pack, cheese, crackers and and an apple or some graps, is something dd loves for lunch.

Used to cook with lentils a lot from lidl but then found out I can get great big sacks in tesco for under £4.

Our local butcher is fantastic. Got chatting to him one day, we walk past multipul times, said while we'd love to buy from him budget just won't allow. He sells veg too which is the nicest. He took my number and gives me a call when he has stock his not happy to sell at full price. So will often get a tray of peppers to make into roasted veg soup for 20p. He's also been able to surgest some great bulked out meet recipies. Hopefully he'll be set up to accept healthy start vouchers soon and we can shop with him more.