Really struggle with food shopping...

[daisydee43]

Hi in our house there is me, dh, dd1.5, 1 cat and each week I try and get food for under £100 but I always fall short, it now really depresses me- am I asking for too much without having to buy crap?

We shop in asda, rarely spend more than £4 an eve meal and have very few luxuries. I order online so I can tweak it and tbh fuel would cost more than delivery does and food
arrives on a tues morning as i work Monday and don't ever have time to do it at wknd. I write a meal plan and follow a strict list so am I going wrong somewhere?

[enormouse]

Breakfasts tend to be - porridge, cornflakes, toast or granola and yoghurt for me. Egg free pancakes at the weekends.

For lunches I usually do - soups 2 or 3 days a week. A big pot will last 2 lunches.
If you're unconfident cooking soups are easy, essentially veg and stock cooked together and blended. Then I'll get 3 packs of paninis or subs (asda 3 for £1.50 or lidls) which will last another 2 days. DP will do scrambled eggs occasionally for lunch for him and DS. Other days we will have left overs from the night before or toasties or jacket potatoes.

I'll try and do 1 fish dinner, 1 meat (mince or lamb) and 1 chicken a week, 2 or 3 veggie. generally DP will do something involving sausages or bacon on his nights. Also like to do homemade pizzas or something thrown together from the store cupboards. I have a breadmaker to cut costs too.

I don't really do puddings except on weekends when I might do a crumble or rice pudding. I try and keep the feezer and storecupboards well stocked and things run out in turns (storecupboard, bread, freezer etc).

Snacks are fruit and plain digestives. I sometimes make flapjacks or crispie cakes. Ds has fruit pots, fromage frais, breadsticks and raw veg and dips. He and DP eat for England but seem satisfied on this diet.

[EasyToEatTiger]

If you have a freezer, it's worth making a HUGE pan of tomato sauce - onions, carrots, celery, anything else and toms. You can use it for pasta, to add to mince, as a base for lentil soup...
I think supermarkets are very expensive to buy fresh fruit and veg. If you have a greengrocer, use them. Also a local butcher will sell you what you want. Make soup with anything left over. Stock cubes are brilliant if you don't make your own stock.