weekly meal plans (cheap)

[ghengis]

I have read the previous threads on saving money and having a weekly/fortnightly meal plan seems a very sensible way of saving money. So....what are your meal plans and what is a realistic food budget? TIA

[zubb]

Tallgirl & Elliott, I'm lucky in that I work from home, so I can prepare food during the day. I also make sure that I cook double for a lot of meals - lasagne / fish pie / fish cakes / chilli etc so that when we are out all day we can use them.
We eat at about 6, when dh gets in, so if I haven't made anything during the day I start at 5 / 5.30 ish and ds1 (2.5) plays in the garden / lounge depending on the weather. Luckily he amuses himself quite well, and if not I resort to CBeebies. I put ds2 (7 months) in his chair and he watches me cook. Ds1 will sometimes help in the kitchen as well - he loves putting vegetables in the steamer, cracks eggs for me, and stirs omelletes. I'm hoping to have him fully trained as soon as possible so that he can take over the cooking !

[Tallgirl]

My 2.5 year old DS has recently taken a lot of interest in making sandwiches/toast (which is a bit of a pain when have to get us all out of the door for work in the morning) so might have to try getting him to help in the kitchen but think everything would take 3 times as long! I have done a meal planner for next two weeks but know that it is not quite going to work as we are away next week and i feel like i am going to change stuff but last night did make my vege pasta bake as planned. This is a really easy and healthy meal (i think) and great for using what you have in the fridge and cupboards so i'll do the recipe below.

chop up onion and other veg - mushrooms, peppers, courgettes or any other type veg and cook through for a few minutes until cooked.
Add tin of chick peas/kidney beans/mixed beans - whatever you fancy!
Add tin of tomatoes and some tomato puree
Cook through for a few mins
Add lots of cooked pasta shapes and then bung in an ovenproof dish and cover with grated cheese/breadcrumbs/sesame seeds.

Cook in the oven for about 20-30 mins and then eat with salad/bread etc Is also lovely cold for lunch the next day (mine is in my desk drawer and i'm already hungry!) There are loads of variations on this including adding bacon/chicken, sundried tomatoes/olives/capers/pesto or other sauces.

That is my contribution to this thread!

Enjoy and thanks for all the other suggestions.

[Tallgirl]

Whoops should have said to cook everything in large frying pan!

[jacksmumto1]

Carlyb and Xoz - hope you don't mind but I have emailed you for your spreadsheets. I do menu plan and keep a tight rein on what we eat but am always looking for other ideas!

TIA

[xoz]

Something else that I just remembered was that when I first started on the money saving thing, I found a variety of websites about saving on household expenses. Most of them were American but despite that they still had some worthwhile hints and tips. They are called frugal living sites. I only found one in the UK which is here and relates particulaly to large families, but I still found it had a lot of helpful stuff. It has links to several other frugal living sites also. HTH

[mummytojames]

something we have started doing to save money is bulk buying and batch cooking like we buy a large sack of potatoe we know there going to go off before useing them all so what i do is make up a load of chips and freeze them in batches
my dp likes the pasta sauce by dolmio so what o do there is there only supposed to do one pack f mince so i use four packs of mince and and tops it up with tomatoes (tinned) at a fraction of the cost then puts it in servable containers and puts it in the freezer
little things like that hth

[froot]

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[Beccarollover]

What do people use as good containers for freezing portions of food?

[Branster]

i often use the icecream tubes (the 1l capacity ones)-obviously washed . or if using freezer bags for soft foods (such as cilli con carne, or beef bourguinon - no idea how to spell it), i first place the bag in a plastic container -no lid - (like an icecream tube or taupeware), fill up the bag with food, seal it and freeze it. when frozen, remove the bag from the box and put it back in the freezer. it takes less space than using boxes

[Branster]

mummytojames - how do you freeze chips? and how do you heat them up when you want to eat them?

[mummytojames]

i use the poundstretchers pack of 7 food containers with lids (£3) i found they were great because the 2 small ones were ideal for ds meals
but i think i got a bit more space then most because i got three fridge freezers one for baby food and junk (icecream) the other ones for stuff like burgers sausages and joints and the third one is for ready homemade meals that just need to be thawed and reheated

[mummytojames]

i just read what i typed and god im more organised then i thought

[xoz]

MTJ I thought you sounded a bit scary actually...
3 freezers? WOW. I've got 1 of those horrible underbench ones (the joys of rental accomodation) which is always jam packed, no space to freeze anything in advance...

[mummytojames]

xoz nothing scary about it realy was given a freezer full of food as a house warmin gift of my mother then a year later she was hrowing out her old on and offered first refusal saying you can never have to much freezer space then my dp mother was getting rid of her old one and asked us if we would like it because im always moaning after being down the cattle market that i havent got enough freezer space
i also live in rented accomodation a flat actualy with a smallish kitchen and have told dp that everything else would go before my freezers because i like to spend one day a months or so cooking crazy then sitting back and relaxing thinking i only got to reheat it and thro somthing with it lol

[Branster]

MTJ you are so well organized! could you tell me how you go about freezing chips please? we all love them here and as you say when you buy a big bag of potatoes they go off quickly. such a waste.. i wish i could do lots of chips and freeze them. do they taste as good as fresh ones?

[xoz]

MTJ lucky you hey! I've got a big freezer too, but it's in a storage unit in Sydney waiting for us to go back... you do sound ultra organised!!!
Unfortunately I like to be spontaneous with what I eat, what do I feel like today sort of thing, am really bad at remembering to get things out of the freezer and don't have a microwave either so reheating is not that easy.
However good on you for doing it that way!!! I'm sure it must give you lots more time to do other things... and avoid the annoying kids in the kitchen issue too

[happymummy1]

I have just started to do a meal plan,my shopping bill is'nt usually too much anyway but i thought it would help me to save time and get more organised!
I will let you know how it goes!

[carlyb]

happymummy1 - good for you - keep us updated!

[mummytojames]

branster sorry never came ontill now freezeing chips
there are two ways to freeze chips
one peel cut as normal put them to soak for about a hour then rinse and leave to drain for a short while put in containers or bags (what ever you use at home realy) and pop in the freezer
two is to do the same as above but part cook the chips and they have drained slightly the secound option is used if on a diet because where there already part cooked you can put them in the oven
hth

[cuppy]

Right I have been inspired! I used to plan our meals when I was on WW abd also worked full time - it was easier.
Now though, our shopping bill has crept up to £60/70 per week for me,dh and dd(4mths) so Im going to start again.

After reading the previous thread on Aldi and Lidl I actually went to Lidl last week to have a look at their prices. The savings are good - 20 binbags for 69p - £1.40 somthing in Asda.

Am I sad??

[Branster]

thank you v v much mummytojames! i'll try it this week.

[xoz]

No cuppy not at all, I'm really interested. I've never been to lidl. Are they open late? I got to Asda all the time because I think the're generally cheapest, but would willingly change if Lidl has the range and prices! Do they have all the same stuff as Asda & Tesco. It hought they were much smaller

[cuppy]

Yes Xos they are alot smaller - theres another thread on it under food -you night find that useful. They dont have a massive reange.

It seemd some mn's think its great, others wouldnt buy the veg, some love the meat .... so I think its up to what your tastes are and the individual store.

I went to Lidl up by the Rover roundabout ( do u know it?). Its nowhere near as nice as usual supermarkets - all their stuff is in boxes, and they dont have trolleys to accpmodate babies.I didnt get to have a good look but from what I could see there really are some savings to be made.
Adsa binbags £1.28 lidl 69p (+ they are strong)
Asda lettuce 54p lidl 22p
Adsa 2l bottle pepsi £1.28 lidl 99p.

Its open till 8pm. I did a big shop at asda this week and next week I'm going to leave dd with dh and pop there first and take my receipt and if some stuff is cheaper, buy it then go to asda for the rest of the stuff I need. It may be a lot of hassle - depends on how much i save.

Ill let u know how i get on.

[FawnDrench]

Zombie thread from 2004.