Help please, food shop...

A question about : Help please, food shop...

Morning all OS'ers
Me and my family are trying to pay off a large bill at the moment and so have only a very limited amount to spend on food/household shopping for the next fortnight. I have put petrol in my car so if I'm frugal and a only make essential trips like work I should be ok. I have a voucher for Sburys Ј6 off Ј40 and also there is Ј15 on the Nectar card, I would like to try and stick to spending only Ј40 on the shop if possible. In our household there is 5 of us myself, hubby and 3 growing lads, 2 kittens, 1 dog and 2 fish. Just checked and toiletry wise will just need toothpaste I think and loo roll 9 pack. Dog food should last us, washing powder will last as will cleaning products. I thought I'd be better doing a mealplan for the fortnight do one big shop and make it last.
Breakfasts will be toast for all of us.
Lunches - youngest gets his free at school, other 2 take a sandwich, I don't get a break 3 days a week, hubby will take a sandwich.
Teas - now this is where I'm struggling a bit, we don't eat a lot of meat anyway, often have pasta based meals with a cheapie garlic bread to pad it out a bit, puddings are usually yoghurts or fruit. Can anyone offer any meal ideas cheap enough for us for the fortnight please? I'd be very grateful.

Best answers:

• I posted this on another thread, but I don't know how to do the "linky" thing, so here it is again:
  1. Vegetable casserole
  Select vegetables yoou like from these: swede, potato, leek, onion parsnip, carrot. Peel thinly and chop, but keep separate. Fry off in a little oil in separate batches, and transfer to casserole. When all done, put a little flour in the pan mix together and try to get all the "burnt" bits out of the frying pan - plenty of flavour there! slowly add hot veg stock until all mixed, add this to casserole, add more veg stock to cover, add a good squirt of tomato puree and season. Leave it to bubble in the oven (covered), about gas mark 4 ish for a few hours until cooked and the taste is heavenly. Serve with bread to mop up the gravy. You could add dumplings made from suet, flour and water. Dumplings should be added to the last 30 minutes and the cover left off so they can rise. Bet your child would love to make the dumplings for you!
  2. Home made pizzas
  In a small saucepan, place a tin of chopped tomoatoes, any herbs you like - there's a mixture called "Italian Herbs", that would be good. Salt and pepper, tomato puree and a scant teaspoon of sugar. Let this simmer uncovered until it becomes thick.
  Use a scone recipe to make the dough, and spread it out in the (oiled and floured) roasting pan - it doesn't have to be round!
  Swirl the tomato mixture on the dough, top with grated cheese. Bake until cooked through.
  Big hit with children and a good source of vitamins I should think, as I believe tinned veg can keep their constituents better than fresh, if allowed to get old.
  This post was originally written for a member with a seven year old child.
• Sainsbury's is quite expensive, even with the Ј6 off voucher it'll probably be cheaper to shop around, especially if you have Aldi or Lidl close by.
  If you've got freezer space then you can get bread really cheap in the supermarkets, I get a fresh loaf or two from Morrison's instore bakery on a Sunday at closing time for 9p.
  Morrison's also have a 12.5kg sack of spuds for Ј2 at the moment.
• Might be an idea to post the contents of your fridge and store cupboards too, so people can plan meals using some of the things you've already got in to save you spending unnecessarily.
• Thanks for those recipes I'll give those a try, the boys love pizza, I stopped making them when I returned to work just short on time but I'll try to be more organised.
  Yes I know Sburys can be more expensive but I work near to one and I would be able to knock off my Ј15 nectar points too. I do shop at Aldi/Lidl/Farmfoods too. You'd be surprised at the quality of the basics stuff too I will only have their teabags
  Good idea Ash -
  Fridge - cheese full block
  half tub stork
  eggs x5
  milk 4 pints (got one this morning) but we go through A LOT!
  1 leek
  3 carrots
  cherry tomatoes full pack
  half pack of trex (I use it for pastry)
  Ketchup/mayo
  Freezer - 6 pack wraps
  4 breakfast muffins (the boys love these with egg)
  half pack frozen peas
  6 slice bacon
  Cupboard -
  1 tin potatoes
  1/3 bag strong white flour
  2 sachets of yeast
  1 carton passatta
  choc spread/peanut butter both almost empty
  half bag pasta
  self raising flour almost full bag
  cocoa powder
  Have a herb and spice rack too which is not too badly stocked.
  Yes I know how little we have in but we have been short for a few weeks now :s
• Oh yes have cat food for tomorrow and enough litter for then, dog food should last the fortnight, fish food have plenty for the month or more. Def. need toilet rolls and toothpaste.
• Check that you can use your Ј6 off voucher and nectar points on the same purchase; a lot of these promos are "no other promotion."
  The other thing is that even with those you may well be paying more than you would if you stocked up on YS goods.
  What stores can you get to at discount time?
  If you cannot them the two mains items are going to be budget/basics pasta at less than 30p per 500g (6+ portions) and some basics sliced bread for sandwiches.
  For the older boys; would they eat pasta salad once or twice a week? Pasta, mayo (you already have) and a tin of basics sweetcorn.
  Pasta bakes:
  Basic tomato (with some grated veggies) and cheese
  Tomato, tuna and a little cheese.
  "Macaroni" cheese.
  White sauce (flavour with nutmeg and black pepper), peas and bacon.
  Get a bottle of budget/basics rape seed oil at 90p-Ј100 and add a little to all the above - Vits A & D and calories.
  Try and get a large white cabbage and make slaw regularly for some vitamin C.
  Buy a bag of split peas (half a cost of lentils) and make soup.
• Porridge would be cheaper then toast for breakfast. Can the other two children have their free school meals just for these two weeks?
  https://agirlcalledjack.com/ has a lot of vegan and veggie recipes. I would be tempted to produce a large batch of vegetable curry and a vat of thick soup.
  I would also be buying a large bag of spuds for jackets and chips, and a huge bag of pasta to serve with a basic tomato sauce - tinned toms, onion and garlic.
• For cheap meals I like:
  Tuna pasta bake: Pasta, a can of tuna and a white sauce or cheese sauce
  Egg and chips with a couple of slices of bread and butter
  Sausage pasta bake (pasta, passata (or value sauce in a jar if you prefer), an onion and a pack of sausages chopped finely served with Aldi's cheapest garlic bread to fill you up
  Jacket potatoes
  Aldi's Carlos frozen pizza is very cheap and quick to make
  Sausage and mash
  Beans on toast
  Omlets
  Pancakes filled with rice, beans and any left over veg or meat
  Noodle soup: noodles in broth (made of chicken stock, chilli, garlic ginger and a little tomato puree) with veg and any meat you might have left over
• Another cheap protein meal idea is dhal, you can add some veggies if you like, and serve with rice and/or pitta bread. I'm a vegetarian and this is one of my staple quick foods. You don't have to use lentils, you could use split peas, as RAS has said that they are cheaper.
  I quite often throw a handful of lentils into a veggie casserole or even home made tomato sauce to serve with pasta. It's more filling, but the main thing is the protein aspect.
• I see you have tinned potatoes cheese and egg a frittata using the potatoes would be filling . puttanesca is quick and cheap just need olives capers and tomatoes and chilli flakes or maybe omit capers if too expensive olives are cheap at aldi .
  soups are good you can make with anything really. Carrot and ground coriander would be easy to do if you have that in your spice rack.
  I would buy pasta and rice and potatoes as earlier post says Ј2 for a big sack if you have a morrisons nearby. make sure you get enough protein tinned beans ( kidney beans etc are great ) quorn mince is Ј1.40 atm at morrisons as well.
  do you eat curries ? again super cheap and make with what you have.
  you can make chapattis with flour ( plain flour) like others have suggested check out a girl called jack .
• Thanks everyone for all the ideas much appreciated and taking note before I meal plan.
  Liney - I should have explained better my youngest only gets the free school meals because he's in year 1 (the government bought in the free school meals until year 2) my other 2 boys aren't entitled at 11 and 13 that's why they take a butty to school, plus they can eat them whilst kicking a ball
• If you can get a tin of corned beef, you can make a casserole that is delicious! Chill the tin till it's hard. Slice the corned beef up, slice an onion or leeks if you have them, and slice a load of potatoes, add peas or other green veg. Put a layer of corned beef, a layer of onions and green veg, and then a layer of potatoes in a dish. Keep going till full, finish with a layer of potatoes. Pour an Oxo over the lot. Stick in the oven and cook for about 40 minutes till the potatoes are soft.
  My Mum used to make this, I do too, I think it's a wartime thing, but it really tastes good!
• A small chicken is Ј2.75 in Aldi at the moment and you will easily get two meals plus a stock from one chicken.
  So a roast one day followed by a chicken curry, chow mein, stir fry, sweet and sour, spanish style, pie or pasties.
  Make a chicken noodle soup out of the stock from the carcass if you have any left over meat just add it to the stock with some sweetcorn and broken spaghetti, top it up with water and simmer until the spaghetti is cooked. Alternatively make a cream of chicken soup the base is a basic white sauce (1oz flour, 1oz butter and 300ml of milk plus the stock) I make mine the Delia way, that is I put everything into the pan whisk well and then turn on the heat added to the hot stock whisking all of the time then I add meat and veggies of choice.
  I bought a sack of Morrisons potatoes this week as well 12.5 kgs approx 25lbs for Ј2, that will last us a couple of weeks easily and we are a family of five adults, one is veggie and one fussy eater (DD's BF.)
  We love potato scones which are cheap and easy to make, lovely served with a fried egg, fried tomatoes and bacon great as a Saturday brunch or Sunday brekkie.
  They are also tasty with jam or syrup
  Potato Scones
  Makes 12 pieces
  450g (1lb) Floury potatoes, peeled and boiled
  ј tsp salt
  2oz butter
  4oz self raising flour
  Mash potatoes, add salt and butter and flour to give a stiff mixture.
  Turn out onto floured surface, knead lightly and roll out to a thickness of 1cm (1/2inch).
  Cut into triangles and cook on a hot greased griddle or frying pan for 4-5 min on each side.
  Serve hot
  * You can freeze them as well, just reheat thoroughly in the oven
  Pancakes for breakfast is another cheap idea, we prefer English style with lemon and sugar but you could do American style ones, the Jamie Oliver recipe is the easiest 1 mug flour, 1egg and one mug of milk. beat well and add spoonfuls to a hot pan,turn down the heat to medium flip when bubbles appear, serve with syrup or whatever takes your fancy.
  Buy a bag of red lentils to bulk out mince or stews, plus you can make a dhal or lentil bolognaise, cheese and lentil loaf, lentil burgers etc.
  I always bulk mince, stews and pies out with lots of veggies as well as a good handful of lentils.
  Lunch boxes don't have to be sarnies, how about HM meatballs with salad with a HM potato salad or make pasties, vegetables in a cheese sauce go down well here even with DH so does tuna and sweetcorn in a white sauce, in fact you can put anything in a pasty.
  Tuna balls are portable, lovely hot or cold and the kids love them basically tuna mixed with mash and sweetcorn, dipped in egg and breadcrumbs and fried until golden.
  Cold pizza is always a hit with children, so you could slip a slice into their lunch box.
  Always have a piece of fruit in the lunch box and bottles of water are better than juice or fizz.
  Make a batch of cakes at the weekend and freeze them to last the week for lunch boxes or make some twinks hob nobs and keep them in an airtight tin................Beware they are exceedingly moreish
  https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...twinks+hobnobs
  Don't buy bottled water, it is overly expensive just get the kids a water bottle each and chill the water overnight in the fridge.
  My lot don't like cold pasta but if your family likes it how about a pasta salad
  Look on the Ј20 a week thread for lots of cheap meal ideas
  https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=4148389
• Thanks again for all your replies and suggestions, I am well on the way to coming up with a meal plan now mainly involving pasta and tuna Thankfully it'll only be for a few weeks anyway, just makes you realise though how tough it really can be for some.