Aibu to ask what you eat when you are broke?

[NCsobroke]

I don’t mean feed your family for £10, I mean dinners like baked potato and beans that cost a couple of quid. None of us are v picky and no dietary issues.

The kids mostly eat a v healthy balanced diet, lots of whole foods and tons of fruit and veg, maybe frozen pizza on a Saturday, don’t really have takeaways often etc. I hate the thought of them living off cheap freezer food not enough fruit snd veg.

Also needs to include lunches as we don’t qualify for FSM despite being on UC as husband works FT.

We are so broke. We usually receive universal credit which we live off as DH wages all go on bills and rent. We won’t receive any at all this month and can’t do anything about it.

2 adults, 2 children. £110 to last for the next 3 weeks (plus toiletries and cleaning stuff and petrol for DH 2 hour commute )

Most importantly I always try to have a few nights where I literally have minimal effort in tea prep.

I find budget cooking especially draining. I couldn't do it every night.

If he is salaried would seriously think about taking more time off. 16p a mile in petrol times 60 for miles a day is close to £10. Times 5 for a week about £48.
Numbers look dire tbh but only 3 weeks. Think I would lok at claiming anything you're entitled to and using the food suggestions given.
Sounds like things were tight to begin with. Not fair that working families should have to go through this.

I love a good bowl of garlic rice. Add a few tsp of any oil to a large pan, I then add a pinch of sugar. When the sugar starts to brown I take it off the heat and add one large chopped onion. Return to heat and brown onions, then add as much chopped garlic as you like, or even garlic powder. Cook a few minutes then add as much cooked rice as you want, any kind, a bit of salt and pepper and a little parsley if you have it. Heat only briefly so rice doesn’t get sticky. Heap into bowls and serve.

I prefer it without protein but you can add beans, tofu, cooked chicken, etc. This is my comfort food! Very inexpensive and so filling!

Do you have a slow cooker OP? There are some amazing vegetarian chilli cooker recipes.

I make a huge pot using tinned tomatoes, a frozen vegetable mix I get in Tesco (carrot, onion etc), black beans & kidneys beans (added towards the end), garlic and herbs.

That does me and DH for dinner, lunches the next day and then with the last half I cook up some cheap pasta, mix the chilli in (need to add an extra tin of tomatoes and herbs) and bake it like a pasta bake with some cheese. So like a chilli pasta bake.

Agree with others regarding lentils. They can really bulk out a meal and there are lots of delicious lentil curry recipes. Cheap and filling.

Sausage pasta - you can cut up the sausages into small bits and then add a tin of tomatoes and pasta.

I also cook a meal with mince, tomatoes a tin of beans and gravy with pasta mixed in. Serves about 4/5 people.

Apologies in advance for the very long post!
I do think that some people on this thread, while well meaning, are possibly not quite grasping the budget involved.

OP, my main tip would be to give up meat. You WILL save money. Second tip is to look in your cupboards, fridge and freezer and jot down any main components you have that could be used in meals. You've said you have spices which is great.

Do you have any of these shops nearby: Heron Foods/ B&M food (not regular B&M, this is the smaller shop specifically for food and far cheaper) Home Bargains, Iceland?

Heron/B&M food have some ridiculously cheap frozen options. In particular their freezers of repackaged catering/branded stuff. Massive bag of white fish fillets £1. 2 huge packs of large fish fillet fingers for £3. Yesterday we got a huge bag of vegetable tartlets reduced to 10 pence. You can also buy very cheap bags of frozen fruit which are good for adding to porridge.

Pasta is your friend. You can get large bags of fusilli cheap in a few different shops. 5kg fusilli was £4.50 this week in Iceland, 3kg was £3 in home bargains. I also got a 10kg bag of Tilda basmati rice for £7.50 in Iceland this week, but I appreciate it depends on if your budget stretches fo this amount in one go.

I bulk out the majority of my dishes with frozen peas- they're full of protein and help keep you fuller for longer.

I do have some very cheap meal plans that use common ingredients that I can post here if you like. Or you can DM me and I can share there.

You would be better to try and batch cook and make several meals you can pop in the freezer.

Some suggestions

Chilli
Curry
Bolagnese
Pasta dishes
Mince with veg

Also things like chicken (do a roast then make a chicken fried rice or sweet n sour chicken

Jackets
Sandwiches/toasties
Poached egg on toast

Also, download an app called supercool. Type in all the ingredients you have in the house already. You'll be surprised at what meals you can make when you think you can't pull together a meal with what you have

Also to add re pasta- if you are near a Tesco, it actually works out cheaper to buy their basics pasta in smaller quantities.

500g hearty food co. Penne is 29p.
500g hearty food co. Spaghetti is even cheaper at 20p. You could get 3kg of spaghetti for £1.20. I eat far bigger portions of pasta than I should, but when it's this cheap at least you won't go hungry.

Everyone's ideas are great.

Definitely try a foodbank.
You'll get enough food to last which will take the stress off you and your DH

Really sorry about your situation…the working poor and their struggles are an absolute disgrace and sadly not going to improve any time soon. In terms of recipes, practice curries as you can curry anything and it’s a healthy and cheap meal. For example tinned kidney beans make a wonderful curry with some rice and cucumber raita on the side. Wish you all the best x

Big bag of potatos they are so versatile.

@Mimosa1

OP, if you're a reasonable cook, a veg book from ODDbox is a good option. Super healthy and you get loads for your money. They do fruit as well.

I'd love to try them but they don't deliver to my address.

I do a BBQ pork an bean thing in a crockpot/slow cooker.
Bag of dried beans, (white, great northern, pinto, whatever you like)
bottle tomato juice
chunk of really cheap scraggy pork, DO NOT try with lean pork.
couple onions and peppers and garlic cloves
molasses and brown sugar
cumin and cayenne
Soak beans in cold water over night
saute up the onions peppers and garlic then toss in the crock pot, add the beans
cover the beans with the tomato juice by a couple inches
Add molasses brown sugar till you like the flavor, then add a bit cumin and cayenne. Can use dry chili flakes if you have them, makes it hot an sweet.
Cube the pork and toss on top
cook till the beans are done to your liking
I dont have a crock pot so do it in the oven in a cast iron pan at really low, takes about 4 hours.
Its wicked good and filling and cheap

Have you got a community food larder / anti food waste place near you? Not a food bank and no referral needed.

I go a couple of times a week to the one in our village and get bread, fruit, yoghurt, veg, crisps, cakes, tins, frozen stuff . I normally put a couple of pounds in but you don't have to put anything in.....

And eggs- they always have shed loads of
Eggs.

Some are mapped here. My local one is not here so there will be loads not on here - this is just one charity

www.yourlocalpantry.co.uk

(They also have toiletries and loo roll and pet food)

Rice, beans and frozen veg with seasoning. A clear soup with cut up sausage, potatoes and vegetables. Pasta with prawns and cream cheese as a sauce. Fried eggs with chips/rice/potato. Omelette.
For every meal you need protein, carbs and veg. Cheap carbs are eggs, beans and lentils and sausages. Carbs are cheap anyways and frozen veg will never go off.

I make a vat of soup, lentils, stock cubes. Carrots and onions or one of those veg packs with a swede etc for £1.

Pasta, tuna, sweetcorn & some Mayo;
Pasta, grated cheese, tuna/tin toms
Toast with: cheese, beans, ham & cheese, boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, frittata
Jacket potatoes- cheese/beans/tuna etc
Whatever I can get with the yellow sticker, normally with pasta or potatoes!
If you do a bolognaise/chilli/cottage pie, add a tin of lentils and chop the mushrooms small and it goes a lot further.

Good luck OP. I was super skint for a few years and basically it's oats for breakfast (use water, not milk, still v healthy), and either rice or pasta for the other meals. Frozen vegetables are great, usually fresher than "fresh" produce. Proteins are eggs, tuna and beans. If you can wedge it in time wise, bake scones/biscuits/cake and freeze.

I don't use cleaning products except bar soap and supermarket own brand washing powder. White vinegar and baking soda for cleaning surfaces, sunlight soap in a soap cage for dishes. Much better environmentally too. X

Can your partner take some leave over the next 3 weeks to save on fuel costs?

Turkey mince chilli - you can really bulk this out by using red lentils and, kidney beans and diced carrots or any other veg really.

One of my favourites is spaghetti with olive oil, garlic powder and lots fresh parsley (about 40p a bag in Aldi or Lidl)

Spiced up beans on toast: add some cumin to a little oil for a few minutes, add chilli and sauté a finely diced onion, then add beans. This is lovely with any grated cheese

You will get through this op ❤️

Rice and daal is a great option, 5kg whole grain basmati rice is around £7 at asda and would feed you all for the month, more nutritious than white rice. To make daal buy dried red (actually more orange) lentils, turmeric, cumin seeds and ground coriander from world foods aisle, frozen crushed garlic (world foods frozen section) fresh onions, fresh chilli (use dried flakes if budget doesn't allow fresh) and I put in frozen green beans or peas. 1kg lentils will feed you all for a week. Another option is mixed bean chilli (dried mixed beans are cheaper but I have Aldi tinned mixed beans for convenience, one tin feeds 4) onion, carrots and celery chopped up and sautéed with some cumin and garlic from above list, add can of chopped tomatoes, can of mixed beans, some chilli (powder, flakes or fresh works), I serve with brown rice and sour cream but a bit of grated cheese, or Mayo works too. If you can run to it both dishes benefit from fresh chopped coriander. Make double chilli and serve with jacket potatoes.
Jack Monroe is a good source of seriously cheap recipe hacks.

Finally, if you are running short, the food banks will help you, some do not require a voucher, I have a database of many including independent ones due to my job, pm if you want details of one near you confidentially.