Budget ideas for feeding kids for next week....

[1000yellowdaisies]

I know these threads have been done before but I do find the ideas useful.....
Im a single parent to a 2yo and 7yo and i have £105 left to last until payday on the 15th (8 days)
All my direct debits have gone out for the month so have no bills left, I have nappies and toiletries to last and my car is full ish of petrol so I'm literally talking about our food.
Have cupboard basics like pasta, tinned toms and rice and a few bits in the freezer but no fresh fruit, veg, cheese or meat. I will be shopping tomorrow and would be grateful for some cheap but nutritious meal ideas. I have a slow cooker and have googled a few recipes using cheaper cuts of meat but im dubious about whether the kids will eat them!

Not entirely sure I see the issue here if it's just food to buy. Should be really easy if you have the full £100 and a good stick of store cupboard stuff.

Do they eat chickpeas? A chickpea curry is cheap and easy.
Roasted veg (courgette, peppers, onions, tomatoes) with pesto pasta.
Jacket potato with tuna salad.
Vegetable soup and dippy bread.
Lentil and sweet potato cottage pie.

(I find veggie meals can be very nutritious and much cheaper)

Honestly... I spend less than that per week anyway. Feeding myself and 2 teens (who eat adult portions), 1 is pescetarian.

Fish pie.
Last night we had cottage pie with a cauliflower mash topping (I low carb for health reasons)
Chicken fajitas with lettuce, cucumber, sweetcorn/whatever they'll eat. Chicken can be as spicy as you like.
Risotto.
Egg fried rice.
Bbq gammon in the slow cooker.
Fish and chips.
Sausage and mash.
Beef stew and dumplings (DS2s fav)

Teens have wraps, crisps, frube, fruit and a penguin or similar for lunch.

Always have apples, pears and satsumas in the fruit bowl.

Seasonal veg is cheaper (and tastier)

£105 for 8 days is a decent budget esp with store cupboard supplies. What do you normally cook?

I haven't really done an analysis of what is a cheap meal, so I'm interested in replies to this thread too.

Without any evidence I feel like this is a relatively cheap recipe - www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/mushroom-lentil-pappardelle-bolognese/

it's one of our standbys and it is tasty.

lentils, relatively basic veg unless mushrooms are pricey (I just use normal mushrooms in it though), tinned Tom's and pasta

Is £105 a typo?

£105 for a wk of food- you don’t need budget ideas !

I find fish pie to be a pricey meal - fish seems relatively expensive to me

Sausage, chips and beans (Lidl do a packet of 20 chipolata sausages that are lovely and only a few quick)
Omlette/scrambled egg on toast
Pesto pasta with peas
Fried rice with veggies
Sandwiches crisps and fruit for weekend lunches

£100 shouldn’t be too tricky so long as you’re not shopping somewhere super expensive, last weeks shop for us (DH, 4yo DD and me) was £77 in Lidl

Two tins of beans, one of hotdogs, packet of cheese, loaf of bread, milk, butter, jam, onions, packet of chicken thighs, potatoes, ham, tomatoes, nuggets or fishfingers, tomato puree, bag of peas, bag of sweetcorn, petits filous, packet of mince - all sorted.

Using frozen quorn mince could be a way to make a cheap meal eg a pasta bake.

105 feels tight to feed us 3 for over a week when i have no fresh food in or expensive stuff like dairy, meat juice etc. I will admit i am a worrier as I have no family to fall back on so perhaps i am overly worrying...

That's plenty. More than the average shop isn't it?

Yes you are overly worrying! £13 a day when you already have cupboard supplies is plenty. I’m sure you will get some nice meal recommendations though.

But you have been shopping right OP? How much do you spend on the weekly food shop?

I think you’ll be ok. Jacket potatoes with cheese and beans, pasta and pesto, sausages and mash, tuna wraps, tuna pasta.
those meals you need some pasta, cheese, couple tins of tuna, potatoes, sausages, wraps and some cucumber then get some frozen sweetcorn.
Then get some yoghurts/crisps/ get bananas and apples/oranges and avoid berries; they’re pricey and go off quickly.
tpu can manage all of that on 30/40 easily.

Do you know what you normally spend on your shopping? It might just be that you need to cut out a few extras/treats, like juice and crisps.

Also if you run out of some stuff towards the end of the week you’ll probably still be able to cobble something together given you’ve got decent stores - cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and pasta for tea or something of that ilk.

That's more than I spend a week to feed 2 adults 1 dc age 12 and a dog. Plenty IMO and that usually is without scrimping.

No offence OP but I can’t work out if tonight is bs night on the chat/ taking the mic out of cost of living crisis. Have another post where a mum only has £700 a month spare money and you can’t fathom a weekly food shop for less than £200 without resorting to lentils

£105 you’ll be fine for the week, especially if you have store cupboard bits already! That’s more than we spend on a normal weekly shop (2 adults 2dc and baby). Where do you shop? Maybe try somewhere like Lidl if you’re finding that’s not going far.

Ok. Genuinely cheap meals using the store cupboard:

Omelette
Jacket potato
Pasta with some chopped tomatoes and cheese/pesto and frozen peas
Small pasta in stock
Super noodles & frozen veg stiry fry (add finely sliced omelette strips for extra protein)
Beans on toast
Egg fried rice with frozen veg
Pizza using wraps as a base (or make your own dough if you have flour)
Tinned soup
Quiche if you have the ingredients for the pastry
Spanish potato tortillas
Quesadillas

Many of these will work for lunches as well

That's more i than spend for 6 on some weeks food. Where do you shop?

Four packs of 20% fat mince browned and then drained of fat - 1.89 a pack. Add four tins of chopped Tom's 28p two of pasettta maybe 60p each. Half a tube of tomatoe puree. Oxo, herbs. Simmer for 30 minutes and you will have enough for a chilli, spaghetti and lasagna. That's three meals relatively cheap.

Cooking bacon 75p for 500g. Chop and Brown till crispy. Make a rue, add cheese- cheesy pasta which is my cheapest meal. Much less than £1 a head.

However on your budget you add a few £10 pizza meal deals and add a cheap 12" to add your toppings.

Mind you that's not including lunches. I get the funsize fruits for snacks on a tight week

£105 is plenty for a week, surely?

That’s my weekly budget and we do skimp on anything really (dh, dd, 18 month old and dog)
even in the main supermarkets you’d be fine!

Well how much does it normally cost you to feed a toddler, a 7 year old and yourself?