To ask you to help me get a weeks groceries with £30?

[Mickeybox]

Very unexpected expense has left us short this month and we have just over £30 to feed us until next Friday. I normally spend £50-70.
I have some staples like spices, flour, gravy granules, worcester sauce, soy sauce... So I know this should be easy enough but I really struggle doing meal plans!
We're a family of four. Me, DH, 4 year old and 7 month old. Both kids have CMPA so must be dairy free.
I'm okay for cleaning supplies and nappies and things so it is literally just food. Asda and Iceland are my only options.

Any help is much appreciated.

No other store cupboard items like pasta or rice? Tinned goods?

Batch cooking items? Big veggie spag bols with frozen vegetables? You can then make several dinners out of it and make it into shepherds pies etc. That's roughly £5 for 2-3 meals. Look at porridge or other cereals you can bulk out for breakfast.

Whats in your freezer? Can you combine and make things from ingredients in there? (E.g. curries, chips etc).

Look up A Girl Called Jack - she has great recipes for when you're on a shoestring budget. They are mainly veggie recipes, which is cheaper than eating meat, so things like a lentil bolognese, chickpea and peach curry (sounds weird, tastes lovely), bean burgers or falafel etc can all be made pretty much just using tinned foods, maybe with a bit of onion and garlic to help them along.

Oh yes! I have a bag of penne and half a bag of conchiglie. No rice and not really any tins as generally only buy what I need. I have 1 tin of tomatoes left, a carton of passata and a tin of mexican beans.

Swap mince meat for tinned green lentils, they are 55p a can in Asda. They taste so good in spag bol & chilli. Have jacket potatoes with whatever filling you like, so cheap & fill you up. Buy ASDA frozen meat (used to be 2 for £5) & frozen root veggie bag & make stew. Make curry with coconut milk, curry paste, chick peas & potato, or lentil curry, cheap & delicious. If you make big batches you can save money & time. Stay away from brands, Asda own label is really good quality. You can google recipes with lentils etc too, going veggie is definitely the best way to save money & using the green lentils gives you texture so you don't miss the meat.

Thank you for the suggestions so far! I just need a bit of inspiration I think. My brain panics when it's under pressure!
Looking up A Girl Called Jack now, looks fab!

£30 between now and next Friday?

Easy.

Big pack mince, make a bolognaise and also chilli
From that, have Spag bol with the penne, then make a pasta bake with the other pasta.
Have chilli with baked spuds
have chilli in wraps, baked with grated cheese on top.

Buy loads of veg, red lentils and a can of coconut milk and make soup.

Eggs for omelets etc.

Buy full fat milk, dairy etc.

Pasta, pesto, mince, chicken, frozen sausages, potatoes, beans, tuna, rice, pitta breads, bread, sausage rolls

Meals:

•Pesto pasta (with or without chicken)
•Sausage, potatoes & gravy (or bangers & mash as some may call it)
•Spicy mince in pitta breads
• Tuna pasta mayonnaise
• Sausage rolls & beans
• Toast & Beans
• Chicken with rice - you could make a sauce for this if you have spices or turn it into a chicken and rice stir fry.

I know some of these things may not be the healthiest options but I’m sure they’d be OK as a 1 off. If you have a Lidl or Aldi near you, you’ll get all of these things for much cheaper than the big supermarkets like Asda or Tesco

Four cans of tomatoes, a chopped onion and garlic - cook it down and add a splash of vinegar and a pinch of sugar. Cook for about 30 minutes - it makes the most delicious and cheap tomato sauce.

Oh yes and eggs! Eggs are a staple! Good luck 😁

I absolutely second a girl called jack. Her carrot, cumin and kidney bean burgers are pennies, really lush and the mix can be used as meatballs and even turned into a really filling soup.

Can your kids have overnight oats? They're made with water but it's like magic and they turn really creamy and lush all by themselves.

Take a look at the world foods aisle in Asda and price up pasta and rice per 100g (use a calculator if you're not sure). As an example, often the economy line 500g bags are cheaper than the 3kg "best value" bags of pasta and absolutely no different in taste etc.

Asda smart price do a nice and incredibly cheap sweet n sour sauce (I saw it recommended on here I think) that's good for a cheap meal.

If you can, try and add some eggs into rice or noodles, it will bulk up their protein and make them more filling and nutritious.

Look at tumbledown recipes too. This is where you make a huge pot of something on Monday and then tweak it over the next week. (Rubber chicken is one such recipe although I've never managed it!)

And if all else fails don't forget there are friends, neighbours, family and food banks that can help you if you need.

Anything in your freezer?

Buy an enormous bag of pasta from one of the supermarkets, and some tins of super cheap tomatoes so you can make sauces with the spices you have. Get lots of veggies from the market to add to the sauces, you can also make soups. Also get some lentils and to spice things up get a couple more spices from an Asian supermarket? You could also get a chicken to make a few meals (a little bit added to soups and stews can go a long way and you can also have a decent roast meal with it). Pad it out with Yorkshire puddings. Also eggs make a cheap meal - frittatas with leftover veggies and potatoes, scrambled eggs, etc. Large potatoes from the market - a couple of hours on 200 and just add either leftovers or cheap beans.

Big batch of bolognese. Packet of spaghetti.(2 days worth)
A large chicken- with potatoes n veg one day- leftovers in a jar of curry sauce the next with a big pack of rice.(2days)
Veg soup with a big baguette (1day)
Iceland do great pizzas for £1-x4(1day)
Iceland bean burgers(?£) are lovely in buns with some Iceland wedges(£1.50)

For all the bolognese asda smart price do a great a great frozen garlic bead for 30 odd pence. Tried it once when i came across the great reviews and never gone back! I shop online mostly and find i get overwhelmed and panicky if i have to do a large food shop in asda! So if i were you id do a click and collect order (free) collect it in the last slot, and nip into the store and see what breads and veg are reduced.

Oh sorry just read the dairy free, so forget the eggs!

I’d spend £1 on that on getting it delivered. That way you can take your time and put things in and out of basket until midnight the night before.

My shop every week is £34 with Asda including delivery.
I buy coffee weekly and rotate expensive stuff like the laudry liquid, loo rolls and cleaning.

Always buy 500gms of pork mince (£1.66) - will make burgers with ciabattarolls rolls (£1.50 for 8) salad and chips and a chilli with rice or tortillas (40p).
One large chicken. (£3.70) Cut of the breast and griddle for burgers, fajitas, chicken escaploes. Roast the rest and pick apart for curry’s or risottos and sandwiches.
I find cabbage lasts well and is cheap and adaptable. Carrots the same.
Otherwise frozen veg lasts better if you haven’t got money for top up shops - whole green beans are 75p for a big bag.
We have a cheap frozen pizza one a week.
Frozen stuff is a godsend on low incomes.

OK buy a bag of potatoes, packet of rice
Kilo of mince, a whole chicken, a whole chorizo ring and salad bits (bag of leaves, cucumber, tomato, 2 peppers) and some wraps. Peas and carrots if you don't already have them. 2 pizzas from Iceland. Some cheap cheese (Iceland do a small block for £1)
All that should come to around £25 if you buy the cheapest option. Not always ideal, but a week of slightly lower quality meat etc never hurt anyone.
You already have pasta, tinned toms and Mexican beans.

Chop up chorizo and dry fry, add tin of toms and season (won't need much salt, but pepper and mixed herbs will do) cook the pasta and mix it all up. Dreamy dinner for a few quid. And we always have enough left for lunch for at least one of us next day.

Jacket spuds with roast chicken and salad.

Leftover chicken for quesadillas with Mexican rice. So cook the rice, season and add half tin of Mexican beans (save the rest for tomorrow) Wrap topped with cheese, leftover chicken and chopped pepper, fold in half and dry fry or grill.

Half the mince, cooked with tinned toms, leftover Mexican beans and spices for a sort of chilli with rice.

Rest of the mince, cooked and then add some beef gravy (trust me on this), chopped carrots and peas and serve with mash.

Pizzas and salad.

That's 6 dinners.
I'm out of ideas for now, if I think of any more I'll be back

Here's Jack's website with loads of recipes - she's vegan now, so there are lots of dairy-free options, and meals without meat are usually much less costly

cookingonabootstrap.com

Oh yeah also sub the beef mince for pork mince to save a bit.

Pinkbells. Surely eggs are not dairy? They come from chickens not milk from cows!

Eggs aren't dairy.

Just seen dairy free need, leave the cheese out of the quesadillas for DC and spend a few extra £ on a dairy free pizza.