"Normal" people who cook from scratch everyday - tell me this gets cheaper

[Frequency]

By normal, I mean excluding those who can feed a small African village with one can of chickpeas, an egg, and a tomato. Normal people, who eat normal portions of normal foods.

We've canceled Hello Fresh to save money, so we've started meal planning with a recipe-building app instead, otherwise, we just cycle through the same 5/6 meals all the time.

One child is away this week. The remaining child has picked;

Cheesy broccoli pasta bake, Piri piri chicken wrap “fakeaway”, easy creamy chicken curry, penne arrabbiata with roasted peppers and pancetta, easy chicken jalfrezi curry.

£75 fecking quid.

It's not even a full shop. I'm not eating breakfast or lunch coz the price now just for evening meals is way too much. I've added a couple of yoghurts and crappy pizzas for the kids lunches and breakfasts and we already have cereal in.

I bought cat litter and cat food earlier or that would have been added too.

Admittedly, we had to buy a lot of spices because Hello Fresh used to send them in handy little packets and DD has used most of the ones we did have jazzing up her instant noodles. But, the spices only added around £10ish. That's still £65 without breakfasts or lunches.

Obviously, next week we won't need as many spices and should have some butter and oil left but still...

If this is the best we can do I am going to have to consider rehoming a child.

I can use next week in a couple of meals. DD will eat roast chicken if I pull it off the bone and throw it in a curry, so we can have a roast one day and curry the next day with it.

And you could use the carcass to make stock- and that can be used to make a soup with veggie and beans, which could be a main meal along with bread- or use it to make risotto (and throw in some mushrooms and spinach.)

Weekly shop is £130 and I cook in bulk, don't throw food away. Always use left overs... like cook curry and rice then use left over rice the next day for egg fried rice.
Everything is too expensive.

Echoing what a lot of people have already said, meal plan around what you have in or what's on offer. I also tend to do the simpler meal plan of: Monday: slow cooker meal (we have anschool activity), Tuesday: wraps, Wednesday: fish etc. as I adjust the recipe to what there is.

We don't really eat many legumes as several family members have gut issues. The slow cooker, batch cooking and chest freezer are your friends. I tend to buy good meat and fish when it's on yellow sticker offer and freeze it. We use tesco club card for offers/big shop discounts, aldi and food watehouse - we have a card for this too. I also have a big spice cupboard like the photo above, and often use local ethnic shops too.

I cook but I buy cheap frozen chicken portions and whole joints of pork/beef and portion it up. When they’re on offer half price I buy extra and freeze. I have a filleting knife that isn’t allowed in the dishwasher.

I don’t buy many brands either. Fruit is bought frozen and made into compotes, veg is all frozen, potatoes are par boiled and frozen or they sprout. Tinned stuff is all smart price.

The cat has gourmet though. When it’s on nectar price I bulk buy it for her.

Foreign veggie food with a tonne of spices is probably exactly what my 16-year-old wants to eat.

https://vikalinka.com/simplified-cauliflower-potato-curry-aloo-gobi/

Try this (we're not vegan but this recipe is). Cauliflower, potatoes, and chick peas, which are pulses and so this is a complete meal in one pot. You can use bog-standard supermarket curry powder, but if you are near an Asian grocer look for the imported curry mixes from India (it turns out that Indian people don't grind 8 different spices for every meal either).

If you start with a decent sized cauliflower this will serve 4 or 5 portions. Have some for main supper and then the next day as a side with chicken nuggets or Richmond sausages!

The key to good home-cooked curries is the ginger-garlic base. I cut root ginger into 3cm-ish cubes and keep it in the freezer, then grate it from frozen with a blade grater (don't worry about the skin) that I also used to grate the peeled garlic cloves. Having it all minced up gets the flavour spread around the sauce much better.

Our meals feed 8 people and I spend on average between £5-£7 per meal. Less once a week if it's something like jacket potatoes. £15 for four is excessive.

@samarrange Indian friend of mine spends a bit of time on a rainy weekend grating ginger and garlic and puts it in ice cube trays to freeze and then takes them out to pop in his curries. Same principle.

I agree that OP is still too reliant on individual meal recipes and lists of ingredients for an individual meal, which is delivering meals costing £15 for 3. £5 per head is a lot for something that isn’t a once a week special meal.

As you’ve had Hello afresh, you’re used to choosing a special meal that has ingredients especially for that…and are still in that mindset, even though you’re not using Hello Fresh. It’s an expensive way to shop.

I agree that £100 for a week isn’t excessive these days, but given the total price just for main meals, those main meals are costing too much. You should be able to cook meals for 3 for much less than £15.

Good suggestions have included having some cheap meals at least 2 or 3 times a week - omelette or filled baked potatoes etc. you don’t need a recipe for these or ingredient list. Educate your family to not exoect a special meal with a long list if ingredients and side dishes each day - these are special meals.
Batch cooking at least some of the time is a massive money saver. I cook a bolognaise for my family using 750g of prime steak mince which is low fat, lots of veggies and Passatta. It makes 9 portions and will cost just under £10. That will feed us 3 evenings - not all on the trot as extra portions are frozen.

I expect to rotate the same maybe 12 meals most of the time. I don’t feel we need to have new and exciting meals all the time. One new meal a week is pretty good.

Def expect that your cooking will create extra portions and that people won’t have seconds or just keep eating until it’s all gone. Don’t put a dish with 5 portions out for 3, who will keep on taking second helpings until it’s all gone. Allow good sized portions to start with and serve that. Expect to put a couple of portions in the fridge or freezer for another night when only 2 people are around. Def no need to cook every night. Eating a meal cooked the day before ir last week and frozen is still a proper home cooked meal.

I don't know but then our meals are sometimes £20 just for two of us - but we are fortunate. The menu plan for the next days (until we go on holiday) are:

Friday - Gammon, jacket spuds, pineapple and sweetcorn followed by cheesecake and cream

Saturday - Koji steaks with Teriyaki sauce, mushroom ketchup, rice puffs, salad and chips followed by home made meringue, fruit and cream

Sunday - Lamb shanks (will cook 4), mash potato, carrots and left ove meringues

Monday - Something from the freezer in terms of meat, dauphinoise, peas and tinned fruit/ice cream

Tuesday - Left over lamb shanks from the 2 we didn't eat) turned into a spicy pie with filo pastry and tinned fruit/ice cream or a frozen dessert

Wednesday - cheesy sausage and bean pasties made with puff pastry and canned beans and sausages

I have a lot of the store cupboard spices and tins in etc but fully expect to spend north of £100 on the rest

I buy it already prepared (just garlic or ginger, no weird stuff) from the Asian freezer section in the supermarket because it's cheaper and lifes too short to do it yourself.

I keep root ginger in the freezer and grate it from frozen directly into the pan.

I have herbs in the garden and in summer some on the kitchen window sill, often basil or coriander that need milder climates than the garden. My rosemary, thyme, oregano, mint and chives are all very hardy and come up each year. The oregano and mint were supermarket ones that I repotted.

I’m veggie but my children aren’t. I buy frozen veg for casseroles etc like peppers, onions that keeps the cost down a bit. I cook from scratch but have a couple of lazy dinner days where I don’t. Omelette and chips, jacket and sausage, etc. I freeze half a pack of mince for another day. I would say meat is pushing the price up try veggie stir fry, macaroni cheese etc for cheaper alternatives.

It’s the meat. We’re a family of 7 (3 children only here half the time) and out food shop averages at £100 a week for everything, but we’re vegetarian and shop at Aldi with an Asda delivery every other month and sainsburys for things like cat food and washing powder.

honestly, you need some simpler dinners (like pasta with sauce, vegetables and garlic bread). Stir fry is usually a very cheap meal and toad in the hole with roast potatoes and veg is too (excepting any expensive sausages) or mash potatoes or jacket potatoes. Soup is extremely cheap and our kids love it plus you can freeze it after making it in bulk. We also love to make our own pizzas (we buy the pizza base from Aldi or use pittas as the kids love mini-pita pizzas), make a kid friendly peanut curry with naan and rice, or risotto is another cheap and easy meal with some garlic bread.

Looking at your list, you've got quite a few things in there that I can't imagine you'd need to be regularly - ready-made sauces, garlic mayo, spices, jars of roast peppers etc are not like to be frequent purchases. If you're going to be using spices regularly, the Asian food aisle usually has cheaper ones in larger quantities - in bags, which is less convenient than jars, but you can just clip them shut with a bulldog clip or decant them into containers.

Also, aren't all those individual Muller yogurts about a quid each or something?

I don't think you need to follow recipes quite as rigidly, either. You can adapt things, swap ingredients or just use a recipe for inspiration rather than actually following it to the letter. That can definitely help with costs. For example, you could make the chicken curry with root veg instead of chicken.

I find it cheaper (and easier to be honest) to see what's reasonably priced and then think what I might be able to cook with it, rather than picking recipes and buying each ingredient listed.

This is us as well. I sympathise as I'd love to prep and eat beautiful plant-based and quality meat dishes every night, but I don't have the time and the cost is extortionate. These days at least 3 weeknights are pasta-based or something very straightforward like sausages and mash, jacket potato with cheese and beans, fish fingers, beans on toast etc.

Tillievanilly
I'm also vegetarian but my children aren't, but they eat vegetarian at home, evil mother that I am 😆. Can't be arsed with shopping for and cooking meat. They can have their meat at school/ with XP, or I'll get them a battered sausage when we go to the chip shop.

Sorry to harp on about it, but the Sorted Food app runs over a week rather than shopping for individual meals. The intention is to use all the fresh ingredients by the end of the week-no waste. It's too rigid for m because I love cooking, but both my adult children use it and love it.

I'll download it and give it a go @CurlewKate, thanks.

Half the amount of chicken and add more veggies or lentils and beans. Taco beans are a good addition to spicy things and chickpeas, butternut squash mushrooms are great for curry. Lose the pancetta and just make a really tasty spicy tomato sauce and add lots of cheese. Once you stop using chicken breast you realise quite how boring and tasteless they are!

I keep things cheap by roasting a full large chicken then splitting it down. It does a few meals plus soup for me for lunch.

I also make a cheese sauce using a butternut squash (just cook in the microwave cut into cubes with some water) then blitz and melt cheese in.

Using freezer and splitting larger packets of meat, wonky veg boxes and using lentils in things to bulk mince out.

I also buy whole sides of salmon at easter portion up and freeze.

There are LOADS of recipes online including TESCO where there are budget recipes.

I often make a vat of veggie curry with peppers, sweet pots or squash, chick peas and spinach. I don't buy curry sauce- I make my own with dried spices, fresh ginger etc and a tin of coconut milk.

I also buy a very expensive chicken (free range) but get 6 meals out of so less than £1.50 a head (excluding veg .) Roast, left over mixed with rice and veg, then veg & bean soup or risotto, made with stock.

We buy full fat Greek yoghurt and mix in frozen berries or fruit/berry mix.

If I buy red meat I always pad it out with either Puy lentils or beans in a casserole.

Spices look at getting what you can in the 100g bags rather than the pots which are expensive. They are significantly cheaper for what you get - but obv an upfront cost - also look in the ethnic sections if you can only do supermarkets, if you can find a local asian market (ours is vietnamese but has what we view as chinese and indian spices as well)

Chicken - cheaper pieces like thighs or learn how to section a chicken as it is much cheaper to buy whole chicken and divide it down. I don't bother with that but do a roast chicken dinner then pick the chicken and do other meals from that (so there are usually now two of us so we do roast chicken, then chicken rissotto or chicken pie and if there are a few bits left I might do a noodle lunch with chicken and basic veg, alternatively its used to do the dog a meal so it doesn't go to waste)

Batch cooking helps - so usual suspects bolognaise - if you d a big pot it can be used for pasta, lasagne, baked potatoes filling, even add a few more bits and get chilli - so a big pot of basic tomato based sauce and mince (beef, pork or chicken, or quorn) and then once divided up add the extras to get the flavours you want - pop in freezer, drag out morning of eating to defrost for reheating.

We do eat too much meat - reduce the amount used and use fillers - lentils, beans, soup mixes of beans and grains etc or just plain ole veggies added into dishes - grated carrot and courgette for e.g.

Eat seasonal veg where you can, look for offers and buy extra plan your menu around that or again batch cook/prep and freeze.

Personally I have scrapped cereal - not much of it is any good nutritionally - we just about have porridge, but kids could have beans or eggs on toast, pancakes, egg and bacon, decent none fruit yoghurt plus real fruit etc.

Just don't buy biscuits/crisps/chocolate etc they really add masses to the bill - or maybe have a small budget for it.

Fruit - buy whats on offer rather than what you are used to, look at local markets if you can they are often cheaper and its also a bit of an outing for kids etc

We are not that tight on buying stuff and spend between 80 and 120 quid a week but that is for all meals as we work from home, for 2 and a dog. We buy dishwasher, washer, wash up liq and loo roll separately.

Recipe wise we do cycle through the same ones and have favourites etc.

We do bolognaise, including derivatives
Shep Pie
Curry, Naan and bajis usually
Roast meals (usually chicken but others if meat on offer etc)
Rissoto
Stew - so usually red meat and veg and pots
Casserole - eaten with sep cooked pots/rice and sometimes veg but I usually chuck it all in the casserole - generally chicken but sometimes cheap beef e.g. skirt
Sweet and sour chicken - I cheat on this with a jar but its what I call a night off meal
Steak about once a month and only small but large salad and a few chips
Baked pots and filling
Fahitas
Pasta and sauce - another cheat meal in ours
Home made chicken goujons - really easy and we oven or dry fry on a skillet type pan

We don't really do Pizza at home but that can be a cheap meal as well

That’s a lot of chicken!

If you MUST have chicken breasts, buy a whole chicken.

Take the breasts off and use them.

The another day use the legs (maybe in a casserole with beans.)

Then use the remaining carcass to make stock (water, carrots, celery, onion, a few herbs.)

Just to give a different perspective, I would consider myself a "normal" cook (albeit not British) and your menu wouldn't fall within the "normal" range for me. These are all multi-ingredients complex recipes (I don't mean complicated), I would do this 2-3 nights a week but we also do some much simpler meals like omelette+ salad, or pasta + courgettes, chicken with rice and green beans... We buy good quality ingredients (generally organic if we can) and it comes up much cheaper just because there is a lot less ingredients (and we buy anything we can in bulk).

For me, a cheap simple meal for the kid is pasta - egg - peas for instance, I don't think it would come up much more expensive than a frozen pizza.