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 )

I've just had a quick Google and there are lots of savory bread and butter pudding recipes too, adjust with milk instead of cream, English mustard works well flavour wise to reduce the quantity of cheese, to lower the cost.

Check on Facebook for any local Food waste groups ' supermarkets/shops donate all their fresh stuff that is at best before date and these are free and you can stock up as much as you want. You may qualify for vouchers for your local food bank.

Bacon and lentil soup

Pilchards in tomatoes,tin chopped tomatoes, paprika,garlic with rice

Pasta bakes

@Jouleigh

I think there were only one or two negative people on this thread. Scaring the OP when it isn't necessary.

No one wants to be in this situation, the way things are going it could be a lot more of us.

I've bookmarked the thread for all the useful tips, hints and recipes. I'm sure others who don't post have done the same.

Unless you have a lot of savings and a very secure job then this could be anyone of us. Especially with the NI & energy and possibly inflation raises coming.

Unless you are very rich, or possibly a Tory MP it's unlikely that this won't affect you.

Can we be nice to people who for the sake of an early payday are struggling to feed their children.

Everyone else, I've enjoyed the posts and there are loads of things I'm going to try out!

I feel the same way. Good topic! Huge amounts of people struge with money unfortunately, myself included. Luckily I like pulses and cooking from scratch!

Black beans boiled over a long time so they disintegrate, add a bit of salt, garlic and cajun seasoning (available in a jar pre mixed), put it in a wrap with a sprinkling of cheddar and some tomatoes if you have them. Add some soft cream cheese and some greenery like coriander.

@me109f

Milk is a good whole food, also baked beans. Tesco sell 4 large tins for £1. Fresh veg is also good. Carrots and cabbage are easy and healthy. I watch the NHK channel on Freesat and the Japanese chef does soups with very few ingredients. A few bits of veg, a few slices of carrot and a fermented bean paste called Miso (a bit pricey) and some rice or noodles. I enhance it with leftovers from the fridge and often a packet of powdered soup and some soy sauce. I have bunged in mushrooms from the lawn and even lettuce leaves. It all works! It is thick and nutritious, and can be eaten with some bread. (I love long batons from supermarkets, often 21p from supermarkets late in the day, or discounted loaves. However, a daily 2 hour commute by car is the killer. You cannot afford that sort of commute and feed your family. You DH needs to find a regular lift or move job. Perhaps a regular contribution from a relative is the answer, or help from the Social of food bank. How much does your husband earn? £110 less other expenses for 3 weeks with a family to feed is really far too tight. I do feel for you.

Thank you for replying (and everyone else who has taken the time). Husbands job is actually a promotion within the same company he has always worked for, he is on an okay salary really, not minimum wage but isn’t enough to support us where we live in U.K.

Our rent alone is £950 for a standard 3 bed. Moving jobs would only put him further down the ladder and this months situation is temporary due to universal credit counting his monthly wage twice due to a pay day overlap in one UC assessment period.

As he works an hour away most of the staff work a lot closer so far share not an option. He is actually the manager where he is so it’s even harder to accept where in such a crap position. We are fairly good at living within our means and never been in this position before (to this extent anyway).

We have lost around £700-£800 this month in UC so not a small amount and we usually have a lot more to live on. I guess if we can survive this month we’ll be a lot more grateful in future for the benefits if nothing else.

Thanks again for the reply.

mexican rice - 1 packet aldi golden veg rice (25p) tin of mixed beans (40p) jar of mild salsa (60p?) Cook mix, top with grated cheese and serve with mini wraps. Feeds 2 adults and 2 kids.

Stovies. Fry frozen onion in small bit of butter. Add peeled chopped potatoes and carrots (large pots worth) cover with 2 stick cubes made up with boiling water. Cover and simmer until potatoes and carrots are very soft. Mix in tin of chopped corned beef until it "melts". Serve with bread and butter. Would do at least 2 meals for 2 adults & 2 kids plus prob lunch for 2 kids.

Risotto. Filling and makes a bunch and you can put whatever you have in it, a little bit of roasted/cooked pumpkin, parmesan (can even use the shelf stable kind which is much cheaper), and for stock just use those chicken stock cubes. Add frozen spinach cubes or peas, etc.

Ramen, use instant noodles, the flavour package to make soup, dress it up with a fried egg on top, and throw in some frozen broccoli or something?

The tuna pasta I used to make was just brown onions fried in butter and oil, and then you add a large can of tuna, cooked spaghetti and lemon juice. That's actually a delicious meal. And you can scale it by adding more pasta and eek out the tuna.

There’s a new app called TooGoodToGo and you get bags of unused food. Apparently the Morrison’s ones are £3.20 and are amazing. Restaurants and take aways also put things on.

@LitCrit

Garlic and chilli spaghetti Put spaghetti on to boil with more salt than you think. Peel and chop a whole bulb of and warm it slowly through in olive oil, then add chilli flakes. Cook for 4-5 mins on low heat then mix into just cooked spaghetti and sprinkle with parmesan. If you can stretch to a bunch of parsley chop it in. Also, because this is so cheap, it's worth splashing out on the 'luxury' spaghetti which really is nicer.

Puttanesca
Fry one onion, add 5 cloves garlic, add a good squeeze of anchovy paste, cook off, add tin of toms and simmer for 30 mins, crush a handful of (cheap) pitted black olives in your palm and throw in at last minutes. Serve with spag or pasta.

Amazing Tarka Dahl, at least 8 good portions:
Cover 400g -ish red lentils with water plus an inch. When boiling, spoon off the froth and add 4 big teaspoons turmeric.
In another pan fry 4 tsp cumin seeds till they turn dark in 2 tabllespoon oil + 2 tablespoons butter.
Add 2 chopped onions and 2 tsp salt, fry till they start to darken at edges.
Add 16 cloves of garlic (or 4 tablespoons of the cheap Asian food aisle garlic in a jar, very useful and less vinegary than others) and fry for anohter minute.

Add 8 teaspoons ground coriander (again, from the Asian food aisle not the herbs section) and 2 teaspoons chilli and cook briefly (add water if pan too hot)
Then add 1.5 tins of chopped tomatoes. Add more salt if necessary and cook until the tomatoes soften and the whole thing reduces into a paste and releases oil back into the pan, around 15 minutes.
Add the masala to the lentils, cook 6-8 mins more.
Add juice of 1 lemon (or Jif), and a bunch of chopped coriander. Serve with bit. of yoghurt and rice and/or naan .
It sounds complicated but isn't, it's actually really relaxign to cook.

4 tablespoons is more than a full jar of Asian chopped garlic! Do you mean dessertspoons?! What you drink soup or eat cereal with?

So many people seem to get confused with what an actual tablespoon is! They're huuge!

Baked beans on toast with a bit of grated cheese and then a poached egg on top

Cook pasta, add peas towards end, then drain and add chopped up ham and grated cheddar.

Not sure if it's available in your area op & only.a short term thing but on Uber Eats atm it's £15 off of your first two orders including their grocery delivery options. I only found out about it because of the fuel issues in the South East meaning I couldn't get any groceries in and ended up with £30 quids worth from two orders in Asda & Co Op. Might be an idea just to fill up the freezer etc. Another good idea is homemade gnocchi! It's ingredients that.are pennies, can be frozen, is actually quite nice and filling and a bit different x

@NCsobroke If you contact your local county council and ask for your Local Assistance Fund, they can sign post you to a service which will give you a £40 voucher for a supermarket of your choice

Oh and I can't believe I missed my best tip but my local Asda ( & I imagine yours too ) do amazing yellow tickets between 6 & 7 pm. Got a tray of teriyaki chicken for 20p! Was going out of date that day but freezing it does the trick x

Depending on where you live. There will be food banks. There may be a City Mission. Try freecycle too. Someone there once asked for tins of soup as he had been in hospital and couldnt get out. Is there a "community fridge" near you? Pasta with tomato sauce! Rice with frozen veg. I am thinking back to student days. Chop a few veg( soft veg.like leeks courgettes peppers broccoli) and bacon and sprinkle cheese over...put in oven for 25mins...roasted veg is super sweet.....sweet potato red onion butternut squash and carrot...with a few little tomatoes and some thyme and garlic.....
Cam you start growing your own potatoes? Ask the Salvation Army for help. I know I am rambling but I really feel for you guys. This is not fair! This is UK 2021? People should not go hungry in this day and age. Try cutting back on bills on by one. I recently cut my sky bill in half as I cut out my home phone. I cut 15 off my car insurance too. If you ring the council and tell them they might be able to give you more information about where to go to get food for free. Have you heard about "Too good to go"? You will have to do a bit of googling here. Let us know how you get on.

We have lost around £700-£800 this month in UC so not a small amount and we usually have a lot more to live on

Jeez that's harsh, no wonder you were panicking, who can find anywhere near that, suddenly! The system is bonkers. It should be able to recognise a fixed annual salary that doesn't get paid in 12 equal payments.

I used to work term time only in a school, paid monthly for work done that month, and had need to claim housing benefit, you can imagine how that went. Constantly suspending my payments while they recalculated. Eventually I got a senior person with a brain on the phone, who checked my file and accepted the employer letter stating my annual salary and set up regular housing benefit payments. But it took months before that happened and I was terrified of being evicted for missed rent payments in the meantime. After life's bare essentials I had literally nothing left for rent so no option but to miss payment if housing benefit suspended. Luckily I only had to live that situation for a short while. I can see why landlords don't accept benefits tenants a lot of the time.

For the people saying he shouldn't work so far away. People are forced to. If you have a car the job centre expect you to take any job even if it's miles away, even if wages versus fuel costs would leave you with insufficient funds for food, rent and utilities, and nothing spare for car repairs/new car fund. It's ridiculous.

Soup and bread with humous
Beans and potato or toast
Eggs - eg omelette and salad
Sardines, tin tomatoes toast
Pasta with tomato/garlic sauce
Like many sometimes it’s been nothing and children fed.

Poach whole chicken in vegetable stock gentle heat couple of hours and the meat tenderising literally falls off and we get so many servings.

Where I live there is an app called Olio where they advertise free food given to them by supermarkets. Could you try something like that? I’ve seen bread advertised.

Bless you, we've all been there - we still are right now, so more than happy to share what we do.
Weekly shop;
Boneless chicken thighs £2
Carrots 40p
Whatever veg is on offer at Aldi/Lidl/Tesco 50p
Potatoes 2.5kg £1
12 FR Eggs £2
Savoury rice x 2 40p
Plain flour 45p
SR flour 45p
Veg oil for cooking £1
Pittas 30p
Frozen peppers £1
Frozen onions £1
Pasta x 2 60p
Frozen brocoli 60p
Tinned tomatoes x 2 60p
Beans 25p
Milk 6pint £2
Stock cubes 50p
Bread x 2 £1.20
Tinned mandarins 50p
Tinned pears 50p
Angel delight 50p
Value ice cream 75p
Margarine £1
Corned beef tin £1.50
Tomatoes 50p
Cheap pizza x 2 £1.50
Raisins £1
Frozen mince £1.20
Cordial 40p
Multipack Savers crisps 60p
Nachos 40p
Soft cheese 60p
Grated cheese x 2 £2
Cereal £1
Jam 25p
Sugar 60p

Kids are allowed £2 each to buy snacky treats
Comes to just over £36. Then visit b&m/home bargains for any cleaning stuff we need.
Meals are;
1, Omelette with onion, cheese and tomatoes.
2, Broccoli pasta bake with cheese (using stock and topped with a crunched up bag of crisps sprinkled on top for a bit of crunch).
3, Chicken stew with carrots, potatoes and onion served with bread.
4, Mince, pepper and onion (cooked in tinned toms with spice added) in warm pittas with savoury rice.
5, Jacket potatoes with beans.
6, Nachos topped with fried peppers, corned beef and onion, a little bit of tinned tom juice left over from day before and sprinkled with cheese. Bake till gooey. Serve with savoury rice.
7, Pizza night with homemade chips baked in oven oven (sprinked with oil and a stock cube).

Kids puddings are jammy pancakes, tinned fruit and ice cream, homemade easy bake cakes, angel delight etc.

Breakfasts are cereal, toast, scrambled eggs on toast or pancakes.

May not be the most nutritional food but for short periods of time, you do what you need to.

Can you have a go at making your own bread dough for pizza bases, bread rolls, garlic bread, dough balls? Instant yeast is so easy and, for pizza, plain flour is fine, you don’t need strong flour. Dough can be enriched with egg, dried fruit and sugar for sweet bread and rolls.
Sounds a lot of trouble but it’s quick and easy when you get into it.

I’m sorry about your situation, OP, I hope it can be resolved soon.

Sardines in a tin are very good for you, and very cheap. They taste like strong tuna. You can eat them bone in or fillet it out - the bones are a great source of calcium. Sardines on toast is a favourite with me and DPs. If you have any butter and mustard you can mash that in to the sardines with salt and pepper, but it’s perfectly fine just to serve the sardines whole on toast or a but mashed up by themselves.

I don’t agree with the tinned tuna recommendations unless you have some in already - it’s expensive. Try sardines instead.

If you like eating lambs liver and bacon that’s a great source of iron and so cheap for a whole pack in a supermarket. Ditto lambs kidneys. Good recipes online for devilled kidneys on toast.

Pork mince is cheap - you could buy a pack, freeze half and use the remaining half for meatballs - bulked out with breadcrumbs or onion.

Veg-wise - buy British, much cheaper. A bag of carrots, onions, cabbages, potatoes and frozen peas are all very cheap and make great soup with just a veg stock cube added to the water with salt and pepper.

Check out BBC Great British Budget Menu.

Bean chilli is good, bulked out with lots of rice (cheap for a big bag).

Pasta with a sauce made of a tin of tomatoes, drop of stock made from half a stock cube plus whatever veg you’ve got kicking around in the freezer. Macaroni cheese is cheap to make from scratch if you only use a small amount of strong cheddar.

Egg on toast, beans on toast, baked potatoes and a packet of ham. Lentil bolognaise.

Look for meat and fish in the reduced section - reduced beef stewing steak or diced lamb can be cooked for an hour and a half in either a v low oven or on one low ring of the hob with flour and a stock cube for delicious stew (though I appreciate energy use may not be ideal).

Our grandparents had the right idea - make cheap dumplings out of flour and a bit of marg to bulk up meals, or top dishes with a savoury crumble of breadcrumbs or flour and marg to fill yourselves up.

Homemade pastry is cheap - mix plain flour to equal parts marg and add a drop of water- instant pastry.

Also recommend borrowing a copy of Delia’s Frugal Food from your local library (free).

Hope some of these recommendations are helpful. All the best, OP. The way our Govt allows people to struggle so badly makes me very angry indeed.

Pasta with tinned tuna
Spag bol
Casserole in slow cooker (with carrots parsnips potatoes and cheap meat )

Universal credit advance? And food banks will help, I just had to ask for help too.. not the easiest thing to do but was necessary to make sure we could all eat for the next week

When we were really hard-up, I found mealtimes really hard as our daughter just got fussier by the day. She was later disanosed with ASD which explained it, but didn't help at the time.
I used to cut back on the 'main' bit of the meal and bulk out with carbs and veg. That way, the food was familiar and there was less chance of rejection. It's no use cooking up a batch of cheap lentil daal if it ends up being rejected.
So I would whizz carrots and onion and celery in a processor and add to mince to make 1 500g pack make cottage pie (with more potato than usual) and freeze the other half to make either another pie or have with scone top, crumble top or dumplings.
I would roast a chicken for one meal, then strip it. Make chicken noodles later that week with the thigh/leg meat and freeze what was left over.
I would cook a small gammon joint (around £3 at the time) and have it with cauli cheese and roast potatoes one meal, little bit in pasta bake later in the week, freeze the rest.
Then make te leftover meats into a leek and chicken pie bulked out with veg and topped with either pastry or mash.
When you make mash, make too much and use it to make fishcakes with frozen white fish the next day. Eat with baked beans.
Use one chicken breast and a pack of value peppers to make fajitas, but serve with wedges.
Any leftover fajita mix (even a tiny amount), frozen then used to top a value pizza for a weekend treat for the kids.
Use value rice all the time (except in risottos) and value pasta.
Paella is another good meal to make a chicken breast and some seafood (make a frozen pack last three paella) go further, as is risotto.
I would buy a chorizo cooking ring and make it last four meals by adding it to pasta sauce, risotto, paella etc.
Frozen veg all the way. Depending on season, sometimes even things like peppers, mushrooms etc