£25 a week food budget do-able?

neviditelny · 28 Aug 2017 at 17:45

Porridge is a quite good cheap breakfast, but I tend to not stand porridge.. Since I was a kid porridge makes me feel sick/be sick.

About making chillis, bolognese I can make a batch and freeze some of them so I can rotate what I'm eating and not eat the same to closely to each other.

I've looked into beans a bit more as well as someone on fb posted to a good article about the good of beans.

Uther · 28 Aug 2017 at 18:06

neviditelny said:
Porridge is a quite good cheap breakfast, but I tend to not stand porridge.. Since I was a kid porridge makes me feel sick/be sick.

About making chillis, bolognese I can make a batch and freeze some of them so I can rotate what I'm eating and not eat the same to closely to each other.

I've looked into beans a bit more as well as someone on fb posted to a good article about the good of beans.

Unfortunately if you are on a tight budget you might have to change your likes and dislikes! Due to health issues I'm trying to change my diet in a huge way, I dislike lentils and beans intensely, but that's what I'm eating.

Tuppy_Glossop · 28 Aug 2017 at 18:29

If you are buying reduced stuff from the supermarkets do not buy fish (especially fresh tuna) or bird meat on the best before date.

ramdrive · 28 Aug 2017 at 20:36

Maybe some help:-

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/week-easy-meals-£25

http://www.lifehacker.co.uk/2014/07/18/eat-just-10-per-week-healthy-recipes-budget-meals

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jul/20/10-pound-a-week-recipes

Stretch · 28 Aug 2017 at 22:36

If you want spices (which if you're eating on a budget is essential imo), go to asian supermarkets. You can buy 10 times the amount you get in the schwartz sized jars for not much more.

Invest in some decent jars and it stays fresh for a year+ for ground spices, or much longer for whole.

jpaul · 28 Aug 2017 at 23:02

Uther said:
I dislike lentils and beans intensely

there are some great recipes for green/puy type lentils, sweat some onions/celery/garlic paprika, mix in washed lentls, stock cube, cook al-dente ?

Tuppy_Glossop said:
If you are buying reduced stuff from the supermarkets do not buy fish (especially fresh tuna) or bird meat on the best before date

per my commens in the fish thread, I do not think quality of fresh fish in the major supermarkets is anything to write home about, tuna and salmon which I would like a bit rare'ish, in particular,
and I am much more attracted to the reliable/excellent taste you can get from some tinned sardines,
I don't wan to start a run on my favourite brand, but they can definitely be part of a £25p/w food budget <50p for 25g of protein, who would purchase powder instead ?
Hopefully as part of brexit, the EEC puts a huge import duty on the sardines we currently export and they appear fresh in the UK supermarkets, as opposed to the French ones - that would be a result.

Biz.Kid09 · 29 Aug 2017 at 01:41

https://www.tinybudgetcooking.com/live/

Followed this guide (just fill in the form and they will email a PDF recipe book) whilst I was at uni and it was great, I would buy all my ingredients from Aldi and worked great.

Tuppy_Glossop · 29 Aug 2017 at 09:33

jpaul said:
per my commens in the fish thread, I do not think quality of fresh fish in the major supermarkets is anything to write home about, tuna and salmon which I would like a bit rare'ish, in particular,and I am much more attracted to the reliable/excellent taste you can get from some tinned sardines,

What I wanted to say was don't risk it if you see a cheap protein treat on reduced fish, chicken, or turkey. I have made myself ill buying reduced fresh tuna on its last day (Booths fish is usually excellent quality but scombroids can be dodgy when they are old) and I have also been pleased with myself for buying reduced chicken at great prices only to realise it was inedible when I opened it (smelling terrible). Not worth the risk of illness/money waste.

neviditelny · 29 Aug 2017 at 11:37

ram and biz, thank you for those links. i've found them very useful and will go through them a bit more during the week as i got food to last me this week without problems at least.

stretch, good idea about the spices, definately something i will check up. got suggestions for any good jars and where i could get them from?

Hater · 29 Aug 2017 at 11:51

Tuppy_Glossop said:
What I wanted to say was don't risk it if you see a cheap protein treat on reduced fish, chicken, or turkey. I have made myself ill buying reduced fresh tuna on its last day (Booths fish is usually excellent quality but scombroids can be dodgy when they are old) and I have also been pleased with myself for buying reduced chicken at great prices only to realise it was inedible when I opened it (smelling terrible). Not worth the risk of illness/money waste.

If it's smelly and on the day, you can take it back for a replacement still.

So you get freshness for reduced price!

Personally I've eaten heaps and heaps of reduced fish (local Waitrose does it all the time) and never had an issue.

Reduced muscles are the best, god I move muscles

Semple · 29 Aug 2017 at 12:17

cheesyboy said:
I made 4 family sized ones yesterday. Total cost approx £16, for about 14 adult portions.
What do you use to store them in?

Presumably you're freezing them before they get baked in the oven?

jpaul · 29 Aug 2017 at 12:27

muscles are moving outside scope of £25p/w but the latest comments I could see on supermarket fish freshness (not even the last day reduced variety)

How your supermarket 'fresh' fish can be THREE weeks old: Seafood bought from the big four was only two days away from rotting
In the latest edition of Food Unwrapped (aired 3 March), Jimmy gives supermarket fish a sniff to discover how fresh the stock really is.
He discovers that both the frozen fillets tested higher (8 & 8.5 on the Torry scale) than either the chilled or fresh

that sums it up for me, I do not believe any of the supermarkets are sufficiently proud of their supply chnain to publish data.

cheesyboy · 29 Aug 2017 at 12:28

Semple said:
What do you use to store them in?

Presumably you're freezing them before they get baked in the oven?

2 litre pyrex dish with lid, like this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pyrex-4in1...UTF8&qid=1504005554&sr=8-6&keywords=lid+pyrex

(though I only have 2 - also used a 2.5 litre rectangular one (a bit big) and a 1.5 litre one (a little bit small))

and, yeah, freeze before they've been in the oven.

cheesyboy · 29 Aug 2017 at 12:29

Hater said:
Reduced muscles are the best, god I move muscles

jpaul said:
muscles are moving outside scope of £25p/w

Mussels

Hater · 29 Aug 2017 at 12:42

jpaul said:
muscles are moving outside scope of £25p/w but the latest comments I could see on supermarket fish freshness (not even the last day reduced variety)

that sums it up for me, I do not believe any of the supermarkets are sufficiently proud of their supply chnain to publish data.

Yeah but all supermarket produce is *****. That's not the debate here though, you're not going to be feasting on the freshest of the fresh premium produce with a 25 quid per week budget.

Semple · 29 Aug 2017 at 12:48

cheesyboy said:
2 litre pyrex dish with lid, like this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pyrex-4in1...UTF8&qid=1504005554&sr=8-6&keywords=lid+pyrex

(though I only have 2 - also used a 2.5 litre rectangular one (a bit big) and a 1.5 litre one (a little bit small))

and, yeah, freeze before they've been in the oven.

Yeah i guess they're not too bad if you're serving up 4 portions, i assume you just whip the lid off and stick it in the oven?

Both my partner and I do love a lasagne, and bulk freezing a load of lasagne's would be ideal, but would work out quite expensive to buy portion dishes for 1/2 people.

Skillmister · 29 Aug 2017 at 12:53

I've been eating Quorn a couple of times a week lately which is surprisingly cheap (from Aldi at least). The small chunks and mince are perfectly acceptable in things like stir frys, curries, chilli etc

cheesyboy · 29 Aug 2017 at 12:58

Semple said:
Yeah i guess they're not too bad if you're serving up 4 portions, i assume you just whip the lid off and stick it in the oven?

Both my partner and I do love a lasagne, and bulk freezing a load of lasagne's would be ideal, but would work out quite expensive to buy portion dishes for 1/2 people.

Yeah, lid off - in oven. Can stick the lid back on and go in the fridge if there's any uneaten left in the dish. Before the kids got too numerous and too big, we used the 1.5 litre ones - a good size for 2 (big portions if you fill them). Bought loads over time, probably have about 12 now. Don't use them much as they're too small. They're pretty good value, though, £4 each from Asda:
https://direct.asda.com/george/george-home/pyrex-glass-dish-with-lid-1.5l/001415883,default,pd.html

krooton · 29 Aug 2017 at 13:27

Semple said:
Yeah i guess they're not too bad if you're serving up 4 portions, i assume you just whip the lid off and stick it in the oven?

Both my partner and I do love a lasagne, and bulk freezing a load of lasagne's would be ideal, but would work out quite expensive to buy portion dishes for 1/2 people.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Food-Foil-...TF8&qid=1504009534&sr=8-8&keywords=foil+trays

10p per tray, I use them for all my bulk cooking (curries, chilli, lasagnes, gnocchi, macaroni)

Hotwired · 29 Aug 2017 at 13:31

cheesyboy said:
Mussels

I dunno, I thought it was an obscure way of saying meat to say muscles