weekly food for four on a tiny budget

[moonshaddow]

I am looking for some serious money saving tips for my weekly shooping budget, We have worked our way up to spending nearly £100 per week for the four of us (!) I would love to cut it back to £70, DS1 is 6 and hardly eats anything although lunch boxes cost a small fortune, DS" is 7 months and has an enormous appitite for homecooked organic wonders... DH is very slim but very active and eats a hidious amount of food.
We do prefer organic and would love to buy all local produce but I can't ever manage to get enough of everything and before the week is over the boys are saying 'theres no food to eat..'
please help!
recipe ideas that go a long way such as chicken in a stock pot ect. are just the sort of tips I am after.
thanks...

If you stop the juice, and swap for squash/water, you will notice a huge difference in your food bills. Own brand 'tracker' bars are a bit cheaper than the stores own brand, but probably best cut out if possible. Home made flapjack will cost hardly anything to make.

You could also swap the type of cereal - as well as porridge, own brand weetabix is quite cheap, and probably more filling than crunchy nut cornflakes.

Definitely stop buying juice, particularly if your children are eating lots of fruit. A pint of squash costs about 1/20th if not less & will have loads less sugar in it.
Casseroles & big stews can still be really filling & nutritious if lentils/beans are added & it halves the cost of a meal.
Trackers are really expensive. If you don't have time to make flapjacks (which are really quick) even buying a tray of store made flapjacks would save you money.
With regard to cleaning products - the only one you really need is bleach. I fill my bathroom/kitchen cleaner sprays with the thin bleach you can buy (in Asda an enormous 4litre bottle is 24p).
Have you got a freezer. Frozen veg is good value and still has all the vits the fresh stuff does. Big bags of peas & sweetcorn are always good to have.

get an organic veg box weekly and have an internet shop once a month for other stuff (for freezer, etc) Don't go to supermarket with cheque bk/cards, just loose change for milk and bread.(or get milk delivered-more expensive per pint, but won't buy 12 quid worth of other stuff)

plan your meals ahead.

we tried all this and the internet shop lasted us 6 wks and only cost £105.Our organic veg/fruit/garlic/chocolate(vices allowed)/extra spuds and bananas cost us £20 a week. So that averages only £40 per week. We used to spend £100 a week.

...and internet shopping is great cos you see how much you're spending and don't do the huge gulp at checkout (is that just me?)

who are you with spinamum?

We're paying twice that and no chocolate

we're with riverford

lots of really good ideas -has got me very enthusiastic indeed!

our weekely shop is now 50-60 quid a week and we eat pretty well on that i think

chilli
spag bol
both padded ot with veg

beef stew
fish pie (not every week as more expensive)
homemade burgers/fishcakes
honey roast chicken thighs/drumsticks

do main shop at tesco but get most veg from aldi (not courgettes. toms as they are rank)
tinned toms, kidney beans etc from aldi
bread machine for bread

rock buns are easy and cheap to make too and very filling not to say fattening but doesn't sound like your dh need worry there!

or welsh cakes

chicken breasts in yogurt and curry pasts marinade are nice

tesco frozren vegemince is good for a shepherds pie or bolognese..I have served it to a meat eater and they haven't know!

buy big bags of (organic) veg, chop them up, blanch them if needed and freeze them. great for when you quickly want to make something like spaghetti and you don't have fresh peppers etc.