"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.

Stop buying those tiny spice jars for a start. Go to a middle Eastern or local Asian store and buy the big packets of basic spices. It'll be cheaper and more cost effective. Stock up on big bag of rice too. Alternate vegetable, fish and chicken meat days. One a week for each of these is enough the rest you can do different pastas minus meat.

We are relatively “normal” and cook all meals from scratch. Or rather my husband does.

He doesn’t meal plan. I don’t know what I’m getting until it is on my plate. Every week I buy a load fresh of veg and restock the freezer with frozen meat/fish/veg (from Aldi). He just does a “ready steady cook” with what there is, and what there is is usually nothing expensive. It helps that we have also built up a large stock of dried herbs, spices, tinned pulses and tomatoes etc. We rarely eat pasta and, yes, chicken remains are always boiled up for stock.

It works for us because my husband has enough cooking experience to know how best to use what we have. I imagine a 16 year old would find this more difficult

Just buy a couple of value natural yoghurt and add frozen berries. Much healthier. Blows my mind anyone buys those branded individual yoghurts.

We don't have any Asian supermarkets, btw. We have Asda, Tesco, Aldi and Lidl. Sainsbury's is too exotic for my town never mind a Chinese supermarket. Wonky veg boxes don't deliver to my area and I'm not sure Olio works here. It didn't last time I looked but I'll re-check. We have recently gotten Too Good to Go.

I do shop online a lot if anyone knows of any online spices that are worth buying?

Go to a middle Eastern or local Asian store

Not everybody has local Middle Eastern or Asian stores. I get mine online. Even Amazon has some good deals.

I definitely feel for your money anxieties, OP. It can all feel a bit terrifying when money seems to be out of control.

Perhaps get into the groove of habitually lower spending while eating well by focusing on bulk cheap proteins and bulk cheap carbs. then doing remixes and modifications of a few base recipes with different veg each week (buying whatever veg is on sale). also suggest online grocery orders as offers easier to find- search by offers- not always obv in shop.

Say you spot a supermarket sale and get ten frozen chicken breast and a kilo of rice for cheap. That could be the basis for various chicken and rice things. Piri piri chicken with yellow rice and spring greens. Curried chicken with rice and frozen peas. Japanese katsu style chicken with carrots and sweetcorn on rice. Or Halal cart chicken rice (US recipe) ie marinated grilled chicken, yellow rice, chopped lettuce with a garlicky yoghurt based sauce. (Yoghurt is 39p in Sainsburys.) or go Mexican with fajita spiced chicken on a bed of bell peppers and rice. Or Chinese 3 cup chicken w soy sesame oil with green onions and chilli’s.

and then next time it’s mince beef and pasta… beef stroganoff w mushroom and knion, spag Bol, lasagne type pasta bake, a keema w peas, hamburger helper (US) inspired creamy pasta. etc.

The suggestions about withholding seconds to stay within budget have opened my eyes and saddened me. despite being raised poor seconds were mandatory and no one went hungry, but otoh the kids not allowed pickiness or preferences - which obviously wouldn’t work with dietary restrictions or just wanting to not eat the same carb all week - and it’s a different world now CoL wise.

Its worth finding out if other local towns or places you visit have an asian store - simply because you only need go once a year if you are topping up spices etc.

Yes, we Indians don't grind fresh spices every time. I just use ready ground spices from Everest, Shaan or MDH. Should be available online. They are good enough and last ages. I don't use curry pastes though, as they are expensive and don't taste good to me.

Well done on having a teen who will cook for the whole family. I wonder if the Roasting Tin set of books may be good for your teen. They are simple one pot recipes with good flavours. A whole series ranging from the Quick Roasting Tin to the Green Roasting Tin.

It will get easier as she gets the hang of it and builds up a stock of spices. Cooking from scratch is all about practice. I hope you get lunch through your work. I feel for anyone suddenly having to slash costs so much.

We are a normal family and I cook 99% from scratch. I make my own pasta sauces, stock and even pizza bases (and the pizzas).

I cook all kind of stuff, curries, Chinese, Thai and Spanish and I don't have an app.

I do have 3 freezers and 2 fridges plus a huge pantry. It's what makes me saving in groceries a lot. I buy meat, fish, seafood and even bread in bulk and freeze it. The pantry is always stocked with rice, flour, cereals, tuna, pasta, gnocci, oils and legumes. I also have a kitchen cabinet full of herbs. If you don't have that much space, think what items are the most expensive that you can buy cheaper on sale and divide in freezer bags. Meat and fish is usually where you can save a lot of money when buying in bulk.

I don't plan meals. I have adult sons who from time to time ask for something special but mainly eat what I put on the table. Roast stuffed chicken, combination fried rice, stews, lentil soup, cuban rice, steak sandwiches with salad, pasta in different sauces, mostly with veg and olive oil, stir fries, salads with combination of protein and vegetables.....there are so many recipes you can do from scratch without too much money. Some of them need time though.

Go to YouTube and search for cheap wholesome recipes. There is so much stuff available you'll wonder where to begin.

Well done on having a teen who will cook for the whole family. I wonder if the Roasting Tin set of books may be good for your teen. They are simple one pot recipes with good flavours. A whole series ranging from the Quick Roasting Tin to the Green Roasting Tin.

She doesn't generally but she's saving money herself so she's been told if she wants to eat she has to cook for all of us because I'm working and DD1 is away. Usually, she'd just eat frozen pizza or pot noodles but I've told them I am not buying those anymore as we all need to eat the same evening meals to save money, so her choices were buy your own pot noodles and pizza or cook for the family while I'm at work.

She's not happy about it but has decided it is a better option than having to buy herself a week's worth of instant noodles and nuggets.

Probably going to be roasted for suggesting this, but can't you edit out some of the meat meals and replace with: beans and cheese on jacket potato with salad, soup and roll, beans on toast? We try to mix up having larger and smaller scale dinners depending on what we're up to. Also as we prefer not to eat meat everyday.

That's mad! I've just done an online Asda shop and it cost £88 and that includes bulk items of catsan and cat food, and for lunches and meals for sat to Friday for 2 adults.

It will take time to build your staples too but once you've got them in they're there then.

This is my typical Sunday lunch for 4.

Meatloaf (minced chicken or pork), seared and cooked in stock.

Some of the stock strained to be broth, with Giovanni Rana tortellini (no compromising with cheaper filled pasta, GR is the best).
Sliced meatloaf and gravy.
Frozen green beans, steamed in the pressure cooker with potatoes boiled below. Served with garlic butter*
Grains, rice or quinoa salad with diced tomatoes and cucumbers.*
A simple homemade cake like muffins, banana bread, apple strudel.*

€4 or 5 per person.
There are often *leftovers.

Dishoom’s black dal is a great way to get into lentils. You can buy a kg of black urid beans on Amazon for £6, which is more expensive than an Asian supermarket but still cheaper than chicken, as it makes 5-6 family meals rather than one. Recipe below.

https://amp.theguardian.com/food/2019/sep/07/four-classic-indian-recipes-dishoom-chaat-dal-salad-jackfruit-biyani-chicken-makhani-curry

I am quite suspicious of people nowadays saying that they don't have a local Asian supermarket, now that one has opened up in (wait for it) Cornwall. Truro, to be precise.

If we've got one in Cornwall, surely 90% of the population must now be served by an Asian supermarket?!

(To be precise: it's not just an Asian supermarket in Truro, it's an "international" one, run by people I suspect to be Kurdish and heavy on Nigerian, Turkish, Korean and Indian products. I still haven't stopped visiting to stare at the shelves in stupefied wonder).

For me to find an Asian supermarket ( if there is one, I know of a cash and carry ) I would have a 100mile round trip

Which is why I stock up when I can when I fly into the UK

NI doesnt have a huge immigrant population and what we do have is mostly Eastern Europeans , theres polish shops in near enough every town, all supermarkets have huge sections of Polish foods. The supermarkets do stock the branded Asian stuff, even Thai is making an appearance, but they are the brands made for the UK market, not the stuff you buy in a proper Asian supermarket

I use loads of spices and buy online. Those little supermarket jars are a rip off.

Most supermarket do cheaper spices in the world food aisle. The East End brand (Tesco) has dried coriander for £0.13 per 10g compared the Schwartz at £0.83 per 10g. Of course Schwartz do multibuy offers, but you can ignore them, they don't shave off 75%.

I think it's easier once you've got a store cupboard

Like i can think oh i want to make X and i already have herbs, spices, stock, pasta, rice, tinned tomatoes, black beans...
So I just need whatever meat and veg
With occasional store cupboard top ups

Im still confused op, was hello fresh really cheaper?

@Frequency Hi OP no need for a yogurt maker, you can make it in a standard oven....

No, we have saved just nowhere near as much as I expected we would. Hello Fresh was £50-70 for four meals for four depending on how many extras we added. And then we would spend £30-40 on freezer items, cooked meats, bacon, bread, yogurts etc for lunches, breakfasts, snacks, and the other 3 meals a week.

I was expecting to get the budget down to £50-70 per week and save the £30-40 per week but we haven't managed that this week without forgoing most of the items we'd normally buy from Iceland/Asda online which we can't manage without cutting out meals.

Asda usually got giant packs of spices in world food section.
And for some more exotic ones I went to ebay. Also, got boxes of noodles from there. It's 40 pqcks box I think.

If we've got one in Cornwall, surely 90% of the population must now be served by an Asian supermarket

Good for you, but an Asian supermarket in Truro isn’t exactly local if you live in
Penzance. It’s a 60 mile round trip!