Right, I need to cut food bill from £50/£60 a week to £30, can it be done ??

[nutcracker]

Needs to feed 1 adult, and 3 children, all of whom have free school meals, but also have a mother that thinks that giving them a sandwich for their tea is a bit wrong .

I shop online at Asda at the moment, very rarely pay for delivery, so bill is normally between £50 and £60 and includes all household stuff, washing powder cat food etc. Already only buy shops own brands so can't really cut back there.

As I said, the kids have free school meals, but I seem to have a mental block on what to give them for tea then as although their school meals are ok, ds in particular doesn't pick the healthy option if he can help it and so I end up cooking another big meal just to make sure they get some veg etc into them.

So realistically, can I do it ??

I always buy a huge tray of eggs as we use eggs alot and they are my fave emergency meal.

one option would be to do a big supermarket shop for all the basics that don't go off (rice, pasta, dried beans etc) once a month and then buy fresh stuff as and when you need it. You can then take advantage of all the special offers and buy fruit and veg that needs to be eaten within the next few days.

Yeah thats exactly what Ds is like. If I do a rice or pasta dish he sits and picks through the whole thing in case I have put something in there he hates, which I do LOL.

Nutcracker - if you did a big fortnightly or even monthly shop is there no way you could get a taxi back? I've definitely found the money I save doing a big shop is more than the price of a taxi with all the stuff,

Hmm possibly, depends how much i'd be spending in one go really.

If your kids will eat pasta then there are a million and one cheap pasta meals I can give you and none of them take longer than the time it takes to boil the pasta.

Yep they love pasta, tuna pasta bake being their all time fave. Any recipies greatfully recieved.

One thing I will say (from experience) is that if you have the money available in one go try not to look at the "cost" of a big pack of something, but the economy of it. For example, a small pack of rice may cost 70p (I know these figures aren't entirely accurate but it's just to try and show what I mean) and it could last you 3-4 meals, a big pack of rice may cost you £2.20 but last you for 15-16 meals. So the cost per meal for the bigger pack is less that the cost for teh smaller pack (does that make sense??)

buy as much as you can in bulk, pasta rice potatoes. Buy what value stuff you can stomach, value tinned tomatoes are fab and soooo cheap and can be added to most things. Passata to make your own pasta sauce, add onions mushrooms garlic etc etc. I tend to find stews and casseroles quite cheap meals and you can use cheaper cuts of meat or chicken on the bone as you are cooking them for a longer time.

IMO the school meal is FINE. If they are having hot at lunchtime, then give them sandwiches and a load of fruit at tea time.

If you do still want to cook a proper main meal - bulk is the best way, I always find that one pack of meat will do one meal, but two packs will do three.

Can you shop online? An asda shop online with the £5 or whatever delivery cost will be cheaper than the taxi, but give you the benefits of bulk shopping.

Veg pasta sauce is great - I chuck oodles of veg and some tinned tomatoes in slwo cooker or big pot (or both), blender 1/2 the mixture when it is cooked (soft enough to blend but not so soft it disintergrates iyswim), it is then thick enough to use a s sauce alone, you can freeze it in portions, if you want you can thin it out with a stock cube and use for bolognese sauce etc getting all the veg in them, bulking out a normal bolognese.

There are a few ideas here.

Creamy pasta

Put pasta on to boil and 5 minutes before the end add some frozen peas.

Chop bacon or ham into small cubes/ strips and place in a frying pan with a splash of oil and a crushed clove of garlic.

Cook for a few moments and then add a splash of stock concentrate or a bit of a stock cube.

Add some double cream and a handful of grated parmesan and allow to bubble until slightly thickened.

Mix with pasta and peas and serve.

Pasta with pesto

Cook pasta.

In a frying pan, cook sliced mushrooms, courgettes, diced onion, garlic and pancetta cubes slowly until soft.
Add a spoonful of crème fraiche and let it bubble for a few minutes.

Drain pasta and mix with a spoonful or two of pesto and the mushroom mixture.

(I cook this in all sorts of variations, taking things out and putting them in)

Creamy chicken

Chop an onion and fry it gently in a bit of oil, add some garlic and some chopped cooked chicken. Add a splash of chicken stock concentrate and some double cream. Boil gently until thickened.

I use this with rice, pasta and as a filling for chicken pie.

jacket potatoes?
Eggy bread?
Sausage casserole?
Bangers & mash (with extra veg if available)

and my student staple - pancakes!!!!!!!

Beans on toast is healthy abd filling .Cheaper yoghurts with cut up fruit.Make huge pots of soup and mince and freeze.I agree that a snacky tea is fine if they are having a hot lunch.Soup is filling and you can cram it with veg.Basic ranges are fine for beans pasta stock cubes etc.It is do able but you need to menu plan and be quite strict

What about still shopping on line and paying £4.00 delivery that way you can still get the own brand things you need. I think there minimum order of £25.
Look at Aldi and Netto for wash powder, I know Netto have 'branded' items.

Both my boys have school dinners so tbh- most nights they have something like beans on toast or cheese on toast. If I cooked them a meal at night that would most probably just pick at it. They always have a bowl of fruit pieces at bedtime also.

Thanks for those Mrspnut

Have just printed off a meal planner chart from netmums so will get started on that later.

if you decide to do a bulk supermarket on-line shop every 2 - 4 wks, then do so via My Supermarket this will compare the total price of your trolley against the big 4 supermarkets and show you which is cheapest.

ooh. please could you link to the meal planner? thanks

My standbuy cheap meals are.

1. Chicken and bacon rice

2 chicken breast cut into bite size pieces
3 rashers of bacon again chopped into bite size pieces.
1/2 onion finely chopped
any veg (leek,pepper and courgette. Or any frozen i have in the freezer.)
Rice.
chicken stock

Brown onion, then bacon fry untill brown add chicken.

once brown add veg if fresh fry for a few mins add rice and water. Cook for 15 - 20 mins untill cooked. Add frozen veg after 10 min if using.

Or do add to noddles instead of rice.

2. A Mince stew.

A packet on mince meat
1 Onion
frozen/tinned veg
Gravy.

Fry mince and onions
Add gravy and veg.

Cook for a least 30min serve with mash potatoes.

3. Egg fried rice

Cook Rice in the morning.
3 eggs cooked into an ommelette chopped into pieces.
fry onion, garlic add a chopped chicken breast and fry untill nearly cooked, add frozen veg then add some soy sauce and chienese 5 spice powder. Add cooked rice and egg cook until heated through.

Only other thing i can suggest is to buy shop brand cleaning product as that ca double your shoping bill.

My Mum mate used to do the chicken and bacon rice thing with Tinned corned beef cut into cubes and pineapple stired in and warmed through 10 mins before the end

oh we do a bacon and mushroom pasta, which is very simple and quick.

chopped bacon or lardons (spose you could even use ham)
loads of chopped mushrooms
chopped onions
tinned tomatoes
garlic and mixed herbs.

Fry off bacon and mushrooms, add garlic and onions, then bung in tinned tomatoes and mixed herbs. You can mix it with pasta top with cheese and bung in the oven for a pasta bake thing, or just spoon onto cooked tagliateli for a quick meal.

if you plan your meals and do a detailed shopping list, you could use www.mysupermarket.com to price it up. I do a fortnightly Asda shop using this site. The if it's £60 for the fortnight, you know you've got everything included. Asda are pretty cheap for most things, certainly cheaper than Co-op!

The more shops you go to the harder it is to keep control - perhaps easier to just have one budget, remember to leave a bit extra for milk, veggies etc.

If you can get children onto real (rolled oats) porridge, it's loads cheaper than cereals as you can buy a kg of oats for about a £1, and you can use half-milk half-water to make up.

Just noticed someone else has recommended the same site. I really like it, it's much easier to use than the supermarket own site.

meal planner

All of these recipies are fab, thank you