i need to do a weeks shopping for about £15, only food everything else sorted, what do i buy??

[lucysmam]

as i'm on a super-duper tight budget this week. stuff like beans, tinned toms and mince, tea bags etc (basic stuff really) have to be included as well, but i'd like to still be able to do something a bit interesting and exciting with the limited budget i have. also, i dont have a freezer at the mo so all needs to be either fresh, able to refrigerate for a week or cupboard type stuff.

thanks in advance for any suggestions xx

Ok will sort it later with you.

tuna rice salad, i basically use what i have in, looks a bit like this

rice - i tend to use basmati
1 tin of tuna
onion
tomato
cucumber
celery
2 peppers, very nice with red and green
capers if you like them
sometimes I chuck in either kidney beans, flagelot beans or chickpeas. Or some lentils like puy lentils.

If you're really hungry put some boiled eggs in

Dressing is creme fraiche and lemon, with a teaspoon or two of mayo

don't forget fresh thyme and parsley

great with nuts and seeds too

rebelmum1, what's your kitchen garden book called and who's it by?? Just I'm off to B&Q for a wander with in laws tomorrow (not actually buying) but if planters are not too expensive i might pop there next time fil is off work

soremummy, apparently i'm not cat-able and i haven't got a fiver in my bank account to become cat-able because i took it all out.

I cant contact you because you have to ALLOW it in the email options on your profile I think. Someone will be able to tell you what to do to allow you to receive cat message from me then you can reply to that email so you wont have to pay the £5 hth

right, ok will have a look

have done it, just had to click on allow on email settings.

Sorry Lucysmam I am a bit late to the thread but thought I would share my budget recipes with you.

Sausage casserole

16 thin sausages (cut into threes)
2 tins chopped toms
pinch mixed herbs
1 onion chopped

cook sausages and onion in oven with a bit of oil for 20 mins ,take out pour over toms an eggcup full of water and herbs bake for a further 40 minutes .serve with Mash .
It's yummy

other stuff is
Jackets
potato cury is gorgeous and really cheap you can google the recipe but if not let me know and I will post it here when I find it .

Chicken drumsticks with lemon squeezed over and some garlic serve with beans.

Jerk paste is chea p and tastes lovely over chicken it is very hot and spicy though.

Macaroni cheese with tomatoes in the middle.

Chilli --

mince
2 tins toms
kidney beans
cumin
chili powder
onion

just fry mince and onion when brown add spices and toms and simmer for 30 mins then add kidney beans and cook for another 10 mins.

For lunches pitta breads are more filling IMO and are nice with tuna mayo or cheese in.

HTH

So what's good at asda? Is it 8p curry sauce?

Want to shop this week on a teeny budget as have NO cash. A friend has offered to drive to asda...

I need meals for three nights for one adult and two under fives. Don't know about the other nights (they're at dads so I may just not eat.... or trying the slimfast shake thing...) plus need kids lunches for 5 days and basics...

might pop into morrisons as they are doing chicken breast for 50p!!!!!

any ideas?

the fresh smartprice mince is ok for 99p a box, frozen chicken portions (they're like small chicken breasts) £4.00 for 1.4kilo do us 3 meals, frozen veg is about 79p, sausages the fresh smartprice are about 57p i think or a bag of frozen are 89p for 20. cod fishcakes are 98p for a box of 10. smartprice spuds 73p for a bag and.

i'd do spag bol, stir fry with the chicken and veg and bangers and mash or fishcakes with chips and peas. the instant noodle type packets are ok for one as an accompaniment to something like stir fry and are only 8p but wouldn't use the flavouring sachet.

if morrisons is close & the 50p chicken offer's still on i personally would just get enough of that to do the 3 nights meals and do something different each night with it. morrisons own basic brand is not that different to smartprice/tesco value/sainsbury's basics so would get most of the stuff i need from there if you're getting chicken from there instead of going to asda as well so there's less temptation to pick up any other 'bits' you might not necessarily need.

IMO, & I do usually go for own brands, if you want bread go for the next one up from the basic brand as its slightly better but that said if you are really skint then 37p bread is still perfectly edible. tinned stuff is much the same as any other tinned stuff imo.

If you want something for yourself for the other 2 nights make a shepherds pie or get something to go with some tuna or salad or something that will easily do two nights.

Bit waffley and long but hth a bit

ImNotOk, i'll have the potato curry recipe if you don't mind! I've a long list of cheap and tasty sounding meals to try and am writing a list for my next shopping trip as i go along!

I'll find it out for you ,a word of warning about the morrisons chicken they are only letting you buy two at a time ,my mum had to put one of mine on her shopping the other day

Potati curry

450g/1 lb peeled, cubed potatoes
1 large onion, chopped
25g/1 oz ghee or butter
1/2 -2 green chillies (to taste), deseeded and finely chopped
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp dried ginger
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
2 tbsp tomato puree
200ml/8 fl oz boiled water or veg stock
A little chopped fresh coriander to serve
Boil the potatoes until cooked, but still firm. Drain.
Heat the ghee or butter in a large pan.
Add the onion and chillies and cook until lightly browned.
Add the turmeric, coriander, ginger, cumin and tomato puree and cook for about 2 mins.
Add the potatoes and stir.
Add the water or stock and bring to the boil.
Simmer for about 5 mins.
Stir in the chopped coriander and serve.

I only put in one chilli as the first time I made it it was too hot for the lo's
Bulk it out with rice and pittas

oh, that's a pita! i would have got fil to run me down for some as well if that wasn't the case.

cheers for the recipe, looks easier than i expected & my lo loves spuds of any sort (would probably eat them all day if i let her!) so perfect! i only have red chillies in but oh isn't keen on them so would probably leave them out.

It is very filling .

i got my friend to pick up two for me, and im getting two again tomorrow, it's only me and two dc's so we will scrap by on one box per meal!

Have you got a slowcooker LM ?

morrisons are doing 3 pizza bases (with tomato sauce and cheese) for £2 (i THINK) I then just add a mushroom, some sweetcorn and some green peper to the top YUMMY.

nope, not got one ImnotOk, never even heard of them until I joined mn a month or 2 ago!

luna, you'll manage, there's always a way. Chicken, chips and beans is a favourite here with lo and oh, chicken stir fry can be bulked out with veggies if you haven't a lot of meat - I used to use a full pack sometimes then wonder why I was short on food for another day - chicken casserole is another fave here as well.

thanks im writing lists too! I need to learn to save money. Got lots of nappies atm but will be testing lidls next as so many people rave about them.

has anyone got any good slow cooker recipes? I bought one last year for £20 (a HUGE One and there's only three of us!

this is going to sound really stupid but how do you make an omlette?
and does it taste really eggy or just like scrambled eggs? (I'm not keen on eggs but can just cope with scrambled)

luna, how about meal planning? unless you already do it?

I plan for the fortnight ahead & buy 15 meals so we've a bit of choice when we get to the dayy before we shop again. I don't mean be completely anal and decide what you're having what night unless you want to do it that way but having a plan & knowing what you have to make something out of already has helped me in the past. Lidls nappies are great! No nappy rash or any soreness when we used them for our lo, only don't use them now as lidl is a trek away unless fil will drive us there.

Lists are my life most of the time as daft as it sounds! I have a list of things to do in a morning, a list for shopping & work out prices using the online shopping sites, a list of bills going out. All sorts, it keeps me on top of things

ages since I've had an omelette luna, but iirc it doesn't taste too eggy, I never used to like anything but omelettes! Think you do them similar to scrambled but not sure