OK - I have (approx) £25 to last me until the 29th..........

[TheQueenOfQuotes]

We use

roughly 4 pints milk a day (sometimes less)
1 loaf of bread last 1 1/2 days (we buy Warburtons as it's the only one available in the local shop that the DS's will actually eat )
I'm going to need to buy one tin of baby milk (£6.40)
I can only get away with one vegetarian meal (DH a big meat eater) 2 at a stretch
I'll also need one more box of (48) Wheetabix - DS's go through 5 a day between them!

and I currently have

2 lots of mince, 1 lot of braising steak (2 if you include the lot I'm using today), enough sausages for 2 meals.

All basics (sugar, washing powder, dishwasher tablets, wipes, nappies - although DH buys then anyhow - coffee, sugar, cheese, potatoes already pretty well stocked up.

Can I do it - (well I know I can - I've fed us on £15 in one week - including having to buy nappies - before now) - but how best to do it??

And what else can I do with braising steak other than make a stew type thing with it, and what else with the mince except for bolognaise type meal/meatloaf (there's not enough to make burgers/meatballs).

have you lentils in the house? i use this for spag bol/chilli con carne/shephards pie and dh doesnt even realise theres no mince in it!!

i also pad out with veg, shove everything i can get away with in a spag bol, inc. kidney beans, small bits of carrot, mushroom, tinned toms, small cut pepper, sliced celery, and this makes a lot more filling, also doubles the amount so left overs can be used for chilli later in the week if frozen!

also if making curry whizz up veg into the curry sauce to pad it out, double to portions and get veg in the kids without them knowing!

veg soup is great, just shove everything in for 20mins or so and serve, if you hate lumps then whizz it up. you can also make homemade croutons really easy, or maybe even homemade garlic bread?

What about a Large Chicken (although asda had 2 med for £5). Could do roast one day, then a chicken pie baulked out with veg, I use a tin of mushroom soup if i can not be bothered to make a white sauce. Then use the bones to make a stock for a base for a soup.

I would even do for one meal Jacket potatoes with baked beans and poached egg. Has all your food groups an is fairly cheap and healthy.

I just remembered my other end of the month meal

Rice cooked with onions, frozen veg. If i have ant chicken left i throw that in.

Just remembered something my mum used to make when we were skint (most weeks), Spaghetti, tossed in butter and garlic with parsley. It's lovely and salad is an optional extra if you have it. I know it's not your 5-a-day balanced meal but it fills you up and you can make up for it on payday!

"have you lentils in the house? i use this for spag bol/chilli con carne/shephards pie and dh doesnt even realise theres no mince in it!! "

No lentils in the house - and my DH would definitely notice if there was no mince in it .

Wisteria - it would probably fill me up, might fill DS1 up but DH and DS2 wouldn't "survive" on that - though it does sound VERY yummy

LOL - does depend on the serving size! Tin of tomatoes as an addition might help....

does dh know how skint you are btw?

DDF - ermm - well yes and no - he knows things are tight this month - I haven't let him ontothat I (foolishly) spent money on a few slightly frivilous things as soon as I found out that I had a funeral to play for. I simply "assumed" that I'd get cash which would pay for the CC and give me some extra to go towards the shopping........of cousre they then gave me a cheque and I'd already "spent" some of the money .

what did you buy QoQ? Was it worth it?

chocolate.......and a one or two cheap DVD's from Morrisons - the former was definitely worth it.......the latter I don't know as I haven't watched them yet (they're sat on the HUGE pile of "waiting to be watched" DVD's - and I can't even rememger which two it was )

PMSL - that's not frivolous! Diamond encrusted sandals is frivolous!
You wouldn't have been very much better off anyway then!? You'll do it, not long to go. Pasta and onions with tinned toms is a failsafe cheapo.

If you are on such a budget it might be wise to try and re-educate the palate of your family towards less meat orientated dishes! You can make some lovely thick soups with lentils/chick peas etc, bung a bit of cheapo bacon in if htey must have meat

How about
Homemade pizza - you can put whatever toppings on you have available

Tuna pasta (you can get v cheap tins of tuna)
or I sometimes make a tuna rice thing which is nice, make a white sauce (thickish) chuck in a tin of tuna and a tin of tomatoes (or more than one of each if you watn to make more obv), then cook for a bit and add some frozen peas and if you like other things like sweetcorn (or a frozen veg mix) and serve with rice. I put tabasco in for us to spice it up a bit.

Also, get some turkey breast steaks (can be vv cheap) and dip in flour, then beaten egg, then paxo stuffing mix and fry a bit to crisp up then oven bake, delicious.

I was going to say something alone those lines, CD.

Too (red) much meat is really not good for you - well for adults anyway.

too much (red) meat

it's frivilous when it's nearly the end of the month and you're on SMP - so over £200 "down" a month from when you were working .

Still as you say not long to go

Today - Beef Stewy type thing (if I get my ar*e off here and get it started soon)
Tue - Mincy somthing
Wed - Sausage Something
Thursday - Baked Bean Lasagne (that's one vegeterian meal that does seem to fill DH and the Ds's up and they enjoy
Friday - Beef Curry type thing
Saturday Mincy something
Sunday - Sausage Something
Monday - Baked Potatoes
Tuesday - I'll buy some a cheap bit of meat and make a stir fry with all the left over veg

Phew......So - not too much "extra" stuff to buy for that lot.......and If I'm clever I may get DH to buy the SMA.......quick text at 8pm ("oops forgot to buy SMA - any chance you could get some on the way home" ).

Also you can buy really cheap cuts of meat that are delicious as long as you cook them correctly

this might help

1 onion, chopped
1 red and 1 yellow pepper, chopped
4-6 mushrooms, sliced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tin of chick peas, drained and rinsed (or any other tinned pulses)
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, or 1/2 tsp mixed dried herbs
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
black pepper to taste

Heat 1 tbsp of of olive oil in a large saucepan.

Fry onion and garlic for a couple of minutes, until soft.

Add the peppers and mushrooms and cook on a low heat for around 10-15 minutes, until soft.

Add the tomatoes, chick peas, herbs and spices and simmer with the lid on for a further 10 minutes.

Serve with rice or crusty, warm bread.

sorry that was chick pea casserole

use as a base, add other bits as you prefer

The reason the baked bean thing fills them up is because it has pulses in it! they are for nothing compared to meat esp if you buy them dry. Experiment with them, look recipes up online etc

oh the "abundance" of red meat is because I forgot that there were more packs of mince and braising steak in the freezer than other types of meat and didn't space them out properly throughout the month.

CD - it's only this week I've got to be extra cheap - we'll be "back on track" end of the month. and as for reeducating DH's palate.......hmm the fact that we now sometime have 2 meatless dishes a week is a bit of a revelation - and it's taken me nearly 8yrs (well we've been together nearly 9) to get that far .

He doesn't like tuna (and DS's not keen either) and can't eat anything too spicy either doesn't agree with him. - the curry will be "mild" to say the least lol.

Yikes! He's going to get gout eating all that red meat.

QoQ why do they have to have meat every meal?

It's not true that vegetables don't fill you up - my dp tried that one on me for ages until I proved him wrong by making a lasagne (like you're doing) without meat and he didn't notice. Now he happily gives it all a go!

I would say that there doesn't seem to be an awful lot of veg in those meals, but will they be added anyway?

Meat I haven't done too badly with this last month in terms of cost - found a really good local butcher that does lots of offers "buy 2 packs for £10" type of thing (where each pack contains enough meat for 2/3 meals).

how about chile con carne
a bit of mince goes a long way with kidney beans and tomatoes in that

Wisteria......because apart from the baked bean lasagne (which I make enough of to feed the 5000 as well ) I've not found many other vegetarian meals that do the job. I subscribed to an american "Menu Mailer" thing for just over 1yr so had LOADS of recips (lots of them vegetarian) from that - but most got a thumbs down from them.

If it was just me and DS1 I'd be ok - unless it's his "favourites" like sausages he doesn't eat much more than me - but DS2 and DH have massive appetites.

I know the feeling QoQ, have gone from me having 3 fulltime under 5s (7pm - 5pm 5 days a week) to nothing extra at all, because of the move.

I'm lucky though that DH doesn't mind if we have beans on toast, or a huge bowl of soup with bread for a meal