You have £10 and a Sainsbury’s Local

[EmeraldPebble]

Other corner shops are available! 😂

Tomorrow I’ll be picking up bits for tomorrow’s tea, it’ll be the last meal before pay day and it’ll be for me, my partner and our 1YO. Our budget is about £10. We’ll be limited to what’s in our small corner Sainsbury’s.

This has got me wondering, if you hypothetically wandered into your small local for bits for a meal and the same budget what are you choosing? Asking for curiosity but may take any interesting ideas as inspo!

Pasta and a pasta bake sause and some cheese.

My nearest small shop is a coop, specialises in wine, beer, cider and snacks (1/3 shop), Amazon lockers, chocolate, sandwiches and Cook ready meals. There’s one tiny freezer for non cook, and non ice cream things and one small aisle for mostly picky bits, very little veg (they have salad) or cooking ingredients. If you are short on money can you get to a Lidl?

Baked potatoes cheese and beans. Or fried eggs on toast with beans on top. I'd also go off piste if there were something exciting in the reduced section. Please come back tomorrow and tell us what you had.

Pasta is cheap. For £10 get some pasta, chopped tomatoes or pasta sauce - presumably you have spices and herbs at home - some chicken and mushrooms and a garlic bread stick.
pasta: .75-£1 for 500/gr
Sauce: £2
Chicken: £4/400gr
Garlic bread: 2 baguettes/£1.
Mushrooms or salad: £1
Not enough for cheese but maybe you have some? If you have onions and other veg like peppers I’d add that, but even without you have a filling meal for the three of you. Sorry it’s not more exciting!

A couple of pork shoulder steaks, some spuds & a green veg.
If no ingredients for a sauce at home, perhaps a bottled sauce

Probably a Thai-style veg curry, if they had any curry pastes.

So essentially whatever veg is available plus a tin of potatoes, some peanuts or cashew nuts, the curry paste, a tin of coconut milk and a lime or two.

Veg-wise my usual pref is for something green (green beans or courgette work for me), peppers, spring onions, maybe a carrot or two. Plus the tinned potatoes and nuts. I don't like mushrooms but they would work. In an ideal situation I'd also add fried tofu.

Serve with whatever the cheapest rice or noodle situation is.

Jacket potatoes, tuna and beans, might skip the cheese to keep costs low and add extra butter instead

Dal curry with rice

Sardines are really cheap, 55p for a tin so I'd get a few of those and pan fry to eat with rice

Not very interesting but I'd go for scrambled eggs on toast with beans and a little chocolate mouse for pudding.

Depending how much time I had either:

• Dal with some frozen spinach in and rice
• pasta and sauce with grated courgette, tomatoes and onion
• sausages, beans/peas and mash or homemade chips

Bangers mash & baked beans.

Firstly I wouldn’t go to a local store, I’d try to get to a big Sainsburys. They have loads of cheap things in their value range.

I’d make quorn ( won’t need the whole pack and cheaper than chicken ) curry with rice and naan

Do you have any food at home already? Pasta, onions, garlic, potatoes? Any dietary constraints?

-Pasta Bolognese with a salad- A small beef mince is £3 on the sainsburys website (might be more at a local one though), pasta, onion, garlic, tin of tomatoes etc
-Shepherds pie (add a tin of green lentils and cut some meat out)
-Pasta bake with whatever veg/meat you have
-Baked potatoes with beans, cheese, bacon/pineapple/spring onions, tuna/frozen sweetcorn/mayonnaise
-Fritatta. Box of eggs and whatever veg you fancy cooking in it. Bacon/ham works well too. I've used leftover roast veg in it also.

Love the comments so far! FYI we had pasta tonight already and the Sainsburys really is the only place we can get to - I was asking half out of curiosity btw as I wonder what you’d get if you found yourself grabbing bits for tea that same night and with the budget! Ready made bits or otherwise - sorry still reading and catching up

That’s plenty for one nice meal, I’d probably go with something like pork chops, mash potatoes and green beans. Comfort food for cold days and quick and easy to cook. That would be about £7.50 so you could get an apple pie and custard too.

Pasta, onions, peppers, chicken, cream cheese, hopefully you have some seasoning

Bag of raw prawns, spring onions, reduced stir fry veg bag, coriander, lime, chilli and rice noodles.

Already got the tamari, ketchup, salt, pepper and hot sauce at home.

Came here to say exactly this!

I’d go for something like breaded chicken, salad, and a dip. Use rice from home or buy some. Make it up into a rice bowl KFC kind of style.

I’d probably settle on jacket potatoes with beans and cheese.
im not a good/creative cook and im not good with choosing things on a budget but i reckon you could definitely get potatoes a couple
of tins of beans and a block of extra mature cheddar for a tenner?
when I said I’m not good and choosing things on a budget what I mean is I don’t really know how much things cost, I do online shopping so put virtual things in a virtual basket and just click to pay!!

Without wanting to sound like a knob...did you not see the bit in the OP saying "We’ll be limited to what’s in our small corner Sainsbury’s... if you hypothetically wandered into your small local for bits for a meal and the same budget what are you choosing?"?

How many people and what do you have at home?
I would choose from what’s on offer and check Nectar app as well.
It could be pasta/ rice / potatoes + vegs + protein
vegs and protein could be frozen.
e.g sausages with frozen mixed vegs and rice.

Chicken breasts, courgettes, red pepper, potatoes, lemon and garlic, roasted together in a baking tray. You’d probably have enough change for a jar of Hellmans to dollop a spoonful on top.