to spend £280 a week to feed a family of 5?

[TempleOfBlooms]

I spend about £280 a week on food. This includes my work lunches which tend to be salads from places like Leon plus coffees etc. The rest is food eaten at home.

Breakfast for all five of us tends to be things like Bircher muesli or chia based stuff with fruits and nuts. Fresh juice too.

Lunches in summer are usually a selection of dips and cheese and meats and salads.

Dinner is usually fish or chicken with a selection of salads and grilled veg.

So fresh food but not caviar or ridiculous indulgences.

It seems like everyone else on here can feed a family of four on tiny amounts. How? We certainly could eat more cheaply but that would mean fewer veg, fewer fruits, less fish etc.

Is it really so unusual to spend so much on food? I never see anyone else admit to it.

CantankerousCamel
I reapeat it because you are repeating what you say and you refuse to admit fault.
No one cares that you think a salad needs to be added to a meal every time. Fact not every meal requires a salad and do not try to pretend that yours do please.
Your clearly a very ignorant woman.
I just don't have the patience that these other nice people seem to have for your arrogant shit!

And trust me i have not screamed anything, put a few words in capitals make certain points stand out!

No Camel, all you said isn't add a salad.
You said: that is a very carb heavy, veggie poor meal.
Maybe you think it needs fewer carbs or more veg. That's you.
But to say it was carb HEAVY and veggie POOR is ridiculous, sorry.

I missed this gem!

"Er, yes, a meal that is majoritively meat and spaghetti needs a salad. To make that meal nutritionally balanced you need to spend another £2 on a salad."

Max 360g meat between four people majoritively (sic) meat?

I can honestly say I've never eaten meatballs without pasta. If that's carb heavy then I've clearly been living life wrong all these years.

And while I am on a roll ...
Salad: Lettuce 30p (we would use 2/3 for one meal), Half a cucumber 35p, celery 10p, tomatoes 25p
So about £1 all in, not £2.
Now, I am of course aware that more interesting (and expensive) salads could be made using fancier leaves, avocado etc.
BUT, I am not sure how much more nutritious they would be? And your point is that you cannot provide a nutritionally-balanced diet on a low budget. I disagree.

A Leon chicken salad is about £5.75, add ons a few £££ more, drinks £2.50+
Great as a treat every now and then, or daily if you can afford it I suppose. But to begin a post asking if it's ok is a bit odd.

It might be helpful, if those who find it easy to feed a family of 4 for under £80 a week, post their very cheap meals. We've had pasta and tomato sauce with meatballs, without a doubt it's a cheap meal but what else are you having for evening meals?
I make spicy chickpea stew, a root veg and lentil stew, Middle Eastern rice and brown lentils and a chopped salad, shakshuka, lemon beans with rosemary mash, dirty rice, Black eyed pea mexican salad, quinoa and chickpea salad, veggie bean chilli and rice. Broccoli and chilli pasta. These are all vegan or vegan with eggs....

Known I posted a weeks meal plan but I suppose we also have -
Spinach and ricotta stuffed pasta
Kedegree
Jollof rice and jerk chicken
Chilli
Halloumi salad
Green thai curry
Corned beef hash
Thai chilli basil chicken
turkey stuffed with spinach and mozerella
roast vegetable tart
home made pies
chicken and chorizo jambalaya
philly cheese steak sandwiches
salmon with roast vegetables and polenta
lots of stir fries and chinese food which is very light on meat and heavy on the vegetables.

Here's my meal plan for this week. I will don my hard hat because I am laying myself open to the food police.
Disclaimer: I have the inlaws staying, which only happens for one week a year, so there is a pudding every day. This is the only week of the year I do this.

Tonight: Home-boiled ham and pease pudding (it's a Northern thing!), salad - tick from Camel there - Jersey potatoes. Pudding: Summer fruits set in jelly and some ice cream.

Friday: Chicken tagine, veg couscous. Pudding: Banana custard

Sat: Paella. Pudding: Rhubarb crumble and custard

Sun: Lasagne and salad. Pudding: Lime and cherry cheesecake

Mon: Shepherd's Pie and carrots/peas. Pudding: Banoffee pie

Tues: Cod in tomato sauce, roasted potatoes, veg. Pudding: Fruit salad

Wed: No idea. Inlaws out. Maybe Indian takeway !!!!!

@LadyDeadpool what's your recipe for Corn beef hash? I need to convert dh - who is unusually negative about it.

CARBS ARE NOT UNHEALTHY.

Why are people saying "carb heavy" like that's a bad thing? We NEED carbs in our diet. If I ate low carb I'd be fucking starving all the time.

Wholewheat spaghetti is best.

knownunknowns it's this one - www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/304609/corned-beef-hash-cheap-meal looks and sounds like absolute trash tastes amazing great comfort food and I know the kids will eat it.

I now really want banoffee pie thanks Cath My kids would love your house with dessert every day in fact so would I.

Why are people saying "carb heavy" like that's a bad thing? We NEED carbs in our diet. If I ate low carb I'd be fucking starving all the time.

I agree!

Salad can fuck right off too, I don't like it much and there's hardly much nutrition in a few leaves. I'd rather have roasted veggies. Carrots, parsnips, broccoli. All cheap and more filling.

dh definitely would not eat that - baked beans are evil as far as he's concerned - a childhood hang up...I might be able to make it with a can of pulses instead.

Huevos Rotos is amazing especially sprinkled with some black pudding - just don't tell the kids what it is - not a veg in sight, so maybe start with a salad.

@BitchQueen90 salad with just a few leaves sounds like that horrible crap restaurants put on the side of your burger and fries just to add colour. Salad are fantastic, make them with broccoli and carrots and roast veggies and forget about the leaves with zero nutrition.

Known I can't stand leafy salads. Lettuce, rocket etc. So bland and unsatisfying.

@BitchQueen90 So hard to get on the bloody fork - it's fine in a sandwich though...I'm taking BLT - surely you can cope with crunchy iceberg in a burger?

So yes, if you’re telling me you’re feeding a family of 4 for less than £80 a week, I’m questioning the quality of the food yours eating

I've just worked out a weekly shop of breakfasts, lunches and dinners, mostly from Lidl, but with a few bits from Aldi and Asda. It includes meat, so there's free range chicken, free range chicken breasts, outdoor reared pork chipolatas, free range eggs, organic milk, and organic butter. It's come to £60.54

Lidl
Lidl Mixed leaf salad bag £0.49, Lidl pack of 6 seeded burger buns £0.69, Lidl Cathedral City mature cheddar 350g £2.59, Lidl fresh mixed chillies £0.49, Lidl wholemeal sliced loaf X2 £0.72, Lidl tinned kidney beans £0.30, Lidl Arborio risotto rice £1.99, Lidl frozen sweetcorn 1K £0.79, Lidl Tub Greek style yoghurt 1K £1.36, Lidl wholewheat fusilli 500g £0.39, Lidl medium free range egg noodles X2 £1.10, Lidl 500ml jar mayonaise £0.59, Lidl head of brocolli £0.64, Lidl carrots 1K £0.45, Lidl celery £0.52, Lidl green beans £0.79, Lidl iceberg lettuce £0.49, Lidl onions 1K £0.42, Lidl parsnips 500g £0.58, Lidl 7.5K sack of white potatoes £2.59, Lidl red onions 750g £0.42, Lidl salad cress £0.24, Lidl meat gravy granules £0.85, Lidl 15 medium free range eggs £1.89, Lidl raisin and almond granola 1K £1.39, Lidl cucumber £0.49, Lidl 1Kilo cabbage £0.43, Lidl mixed peppers X2 £1.84, Lidl funsize easy peelers 500g £0.85, Lidl 500g nectarines £0.95, Lidl frozen mixed berries and cherries 750g £2.39, Lidl sunflower spread 500g £0.69, Lidl porridge oats 1K £0.75, Lidl radish 250g £0.59, Lidl chopped tomatoes X2 £0.58, Lidl funsize apples 550g £0.92, Lidl frozen peas 1K £0.76, Lidl funsize pears 550g £0.79, Lidl Parmigiano Reggiano 200g £2.49, Frozen spicy beanburgers pack of 4 £1.25, Lidl garlic £0.69, Lidl iK bananas £0.76, Lidl 1K sweet potatoes £0.99

Aldi
Aldi cherry tomatoes 350g X2 £1.30, Aldi 12 outdoor bred pork chipolata sausages £1.89, Aldi free range whole chicken X2 £6.58, Aldi free range chicken breast fillets 2 pack £3.79, Mushrooms 400g £0.75

Asda
Asda organic semi skimmed milk 4 pints £1.35, Asda organic full fat milk, 4 pints £1.35, Asda wholemeal tortillas 8 pack £0.75, Asda slightly salted organic butter 250g £1.70

Dinners
Roast chicken, roasted potatoes, parsnips and sweet potato, carrots, broccoli, peas, and gravy.
Pasta and sauce made with onion, garlic and tinned tomatoes.
Sausage, mash, vegetables and gravy.
Mushroom risotto, salad.
Chicken tray bake made with the other whole chicken, cut up, 1 red and 2 yellow peppers, cherry tomatoes, red onions, garlic, and half the sweet potatoes cut into wedges.
Spicy bean burgers in buns, with cheese, lettuce, mayo, served with homemade potato wedges.
Chicken stirfry (you could substitute Asda's frozen raw peeled prawns £3.50 for the chicken), carrots, cabbage, 2 green peppers, 1 red pepper, green beans, garlic, chilli, noodles.

Breakfast from
Granola, porridge, yoghurt, (serve with frozen berries)
Toast
Eggs

Lunches sandwiches and wraps
Egg and cress sandwiches
Left over roast chicken, with mayo and salad in a wrap
Cheese, bean and mayo wraps (mix grated cheese, drained kidney beans and mayo, can also add onion)
Omelettes or boiled eggs
Cheese and salad sandwiches

Selection of fruit for snacking on.

I could have got it cheaper if I hadn't stuck with free range chicken, eggs and organic milk and butter.

MOTO

So what, everyone gets 2.5 pieces of fruit a week?

For example, 2 chicken breasts for 4 people, so that's half a chicken breast per person.

For a stir fry you only need 2 breasts, because there's a lot of veg, plus noodles. We only actually need a lot of protein, 55g for an average man, and 45g for an average woman. 350g (2 breasts) of chicken breast contains 108g protein, so add that to the rest of the protein eaten in one day, it should be enough.

We only use two chicken breasts between 4 for a stir fry. We put peppers, broccoli, kale, carrot, onion, garlic, chilli, bean sprouts and baby corn in as well, so along with a portion of noodles, 1/2 a chicken breast each is plenty.

CantankerousCamel she has easy peelers, nectarines, apples, berries and pears on that list. Why would it only be 2.5 portions of fruit a week?!
Plus most of your 5 a day should come from vegetables anyway, of which she also has plenty on her list.

Oh and bananas. I’m assuming they are not packs of 1.