Bean and cumin burgers

Tried out a recipe from another blog for tonight's tea. Burgers which are made from kidney beans, onion, carrot and cumin (33p for 2 adult size and 1 bubba size) which I serves with Slimming Workd style wedges (40p) and a large salad (45p, including a whoopsied lettuce for 14p!). So total meal for three was £1.18 made totally from ingredients already in the house. Oh I added a fake cheese slice on top of the burger which adds 11p on so grand total of £1.29!

Ok so this is before they're fried, they don't look like anything special. Really I think if I'd had simmered the beans for longer the skins may have been made smoother. They actually tasted yummy. Definitely something we'd make again. 

This month's challenge.

I've been back at work now for three weeks. It's been tough settling into being a working mum and coming home and finding energy to cook. The bubba has been playing up at bedtime so it's been chaotic. However, due to an 'error' there was a big problem with my pay this month so I have set myself a mini challenge this month.

We are to love out of our freezer and cupboards for the month. I've said this previously, but now my stockpiling has really come into its own! Pennies are very tight now! My goal is to set a budget of £15 a week which will be milk (bubba is now on cow's milk), bread, fruit and veg. It's essential to select the reasonably priced fruit and vegetables, those in season.

I'm going to rummage in the freezers and then sit down with my pen and paper and plan our meals for this coming week! Wish me luck :)

A quick and easy (and cheap!) pasta dish

We had this last night for tea, well the bubba and I did hubby was out. 

It made a massive pan full, enough for two adult lunches and lunch for bubba today and three other lunches each for this week. 

Three tins of tomatoes 99p (I originally used two, but thought it needed a bit more) 

Fresh tomatoes 40p (lurking in the fridge)

1 x Aubergine 60

1x courgette 40p

Large onion 20p

Green lentils 100g 6p (from approved foods) 

Yellow, red, green peppers free

Pasta 500g 30p

Works out 32p per adult portion or 16p for the baby's portion :-) 

Homemade BBQ burgers

At hubby's request he made burgers for us all tonight. We did our weekly shop so grabbed some mince (unfortunately no suitable whoopsies :( ) so we paid £3.33 for a packet of lean mince. From that we made 4 large burgers and three small ones for bubs for tomorrow so equivalent of 5 I guess so tonight for the two adults the costings are. 

Three burgers (mince £1.99, egg 16p, onion 10p, garlic clove 8p) 

Rolls x 3 (30p)

Chips (60p)

Salad (60p) 

So £3.83 in total, not particularly a cheap meal, but was very yummy :-) 

Still one burger and three small ones for the bubba for lunch tomorrow :-) 

Oh! I forgot my fake cheese! One slice was 7p, can't have a burger without some fake cheese ;-) 

Pork steaks for tea tonight!

Tonight we enjoyed some pork steaks that were on offer in the supermarket this week. We pan fried them with BBQ frylight so they were delicious! We made some chips (slimming world friendly), served with sweetcorn and peas. Hubby decided that an egg was also needed.

So the costings, just for two adults.
Pork £1.42 (two generous sized steaks)
Potatoes 70p
Peas 21p
Sweetcorn 33p
Eggs 16p x2
Total 2.98

Last night's tea.

I've been a bit quiet lately with lots going on, people staying, us going away and keeping busy. 

Had a super cheap meal yesterday. It was haddock loin which was a Sunday bargain at 49p (reduced from £5+) for two long pieces. Then I made a tomato and red pepper sauce with pasta, carrots and peas. 

Total cost for the whole meal for 2 adults and two big baby portions was £1.88! 

Fish 49p

2x tinned toms 33p each 

Onion 15p

Spaghetti 7p

Peas 21p

Carrots 30p

The pepper was free as was given to us. 

Surely meat and fish must be the most expensive foods to buy?

Many friends say that their main outgoing  is meat/fish. I can get that cheaper by looking for reduced items at the right times, using cheaper cuts, looking for good offers or using vouchers. Also we don't eat meat or fish everyday. We might have omelettes for tea, or a dish made with beans such as kidney beans or chick peas. 

Meat can be stretched. A roast chicken is cheaper than buying breast. We can make a chicken do three main meals and the bones make beautiful stock if you've time. Mince can be bulked out with veg, tomatoes and pulses such as lentils. Personally my favourite in mince are green lentils, but also red lentils. I've heard of grated carrots and porridge oats being used. Sausages can be chopped into a casserole so you need less, this is true of any meat or fish really. By bulking out with veg/pulses less meat is needed

Our biggest food outgoing is.....

I've been asked many times recently about what is our biggest food expenditure? 

Well for us it's fresh fruit and vegetables. I snack on lots of fruit and try and incorporate at least '5 a day' into meals for the three of us. We're extremely lucky that bubba enjoys his fruit and veg (with the exception of broccoli). We could spend up to £15-£20 or more a week, before our budget was bought into line. 

Now I try not to spend more than £10 a week. It's hard, whilst I'm at home I try and portion fruit out or I might eat the whole bowl! 

So how do I do it? 

* I look at the 'whoopsies' section first to see if there's anything there on my list/or could substitute something on the list. 

* markets are generally cheaper, especially towards the end of the day. 

* look for offers before shopping

* when meal planning I might write 'two veg' so that I can be flexible to what is available. 

* attempt to eat local/products that are in season. Sometimes tricky as so many things are available all year round now. 

* frozen or tinned veg are a great alternative to fresh ones. Often work out cheaper and obviously don't spoil if plans change last minute. 

* when buying reduced items, more with vegetables I prepare them (occasionally steam slightly) and portion them up and freeze for convenience. 

* we eat a lot of what i call 'staple veg' which are the 'cheaper' veg such a carrots. I can buy 1kilo for 69p, others such as swede often are good value. 

Sorry I've been a bit AWOL

There have been a few family problems going on so I've got to be honest budgets, eating, shopping etc have been one BIG muddle!

I'm positive that things seem to be be settling down. I'm hoping my plans for the week should stay the same, where I'm going, where I'm eating and who'll be eating at my house! Later on today, at a more sociable hour, I will do my meal planner and shopping list. 

For the next couple of months until my return to work we'll be trying to live off the stockpile of tins and frozen food I've been stashing away over the last year. Until I return to work in August pennies will be tight so this is the time we've been waiting for.....fingers crossed :-) 

A few bargains from today, courtesy of some intruder ants!

Today I've found a few bargains in Tesco. Not anyway I'm in desperate need of, but will be used and will keep. 

The 'Always' were £1 and I found a coupon online for £1 off so were free!

Hand wash 500ml £1.08 reduced to 24p! 

Talc were both £1.08 reduced to 33p

Baby bath was £1.08 (I think) but reduced to 27p

I got three veg stew packs (carrots, parsnips, onion, turnip/swede) for 10p from £1.50 each 

A Savoy cabbage for 10p, a bit sorry looking but with a few leaves removed with be lovely! Was £1. 

Two packets of figs also 10p from £2. 

And all because I came home to find ants in my kitchen and OH wanted some ant killer/deterrent stuff!! 

Today's meal plans

Breakfast - Cereal
OH and N&N shreddies (14p x 3) 42p
Bubba has weetabix (6.5p) and 1/2 banana (5p)
Kids will have a piece of fruit each (30-40p)
I'll have a banana (15p)

Lunch
OH and N&N will have LO stir fry (82x3) £2.46
Bubba will have finger foods, rice cakes, ham, soft cheese, veg and fruit, a yogurt. Works out about 35p for this
I'll have ryvita x2 and cheese spread (20p)
With a piece of fruit each (60p)

Snacks
Kids will have a yogurt (32p)
A packet of skips (25p)

Dinner
Again this is a little over budget, but we are going to make burgers for the BBQ!
2 packets of mince (£1.12 each 1/2 price)
1 egg (15p)
Onion (10p)
Salad (58p)
Two buns (8p) from a reduced batch
Homemade chips (30p)
Total of 3.45 to serve four people (and a bubba) 86p each

This works out to be £8.65 for the day! Eek! 28.83% of the weekly budget just over twice the daily allowance. Considering we're feeding two extra hungry mouths we'd knew we'd spend a bit extra. Saying that if they were here full time we couldn't be so fun about it.

Last nights tea, a little over budget, but yummy :)

Last night we gave the kids (as in niece and nephew) a few options for tea. We try and let them choose, write the list and shop for ingredients to get them involved and practice their bargain hunting skills!

They choose stir fry so off we went, was late morning so not massive reductions, but we didn't do bad.
Found some turkey breast reduced to half price £2.50
2 packets of vegetables £2.20 (full price)
2 packets of fresh egg noodles £1.20 (reduced from £1 each)
2 sachets of sauce 66p (bought a while ago on offer)
Total of £6.56

This fed three adults and two children, one of which eats adult sized portions!
There's enough for OH's lunch and the two kid's lunches tomorrow.
So 8 portions = 82p each


On the way hone my niece (9) shouted "look there's a coupon!" and sure enough some careless shopper had thrown away a coupon. Yes she's definitely my apprentice!

Picnic lunch for 2 adults, 2 children and a bubba

Off for an impromptu visit to the park with a picnic lunch with my niece and nephew. 

The thought of a picnic on a budget can be daunting and expensive. If I knew we were ok I could have planned better and made cheaper and more nutritious foods. 

However here we are....

6 rolls 25p

Cheese 34p and ham 27p

3 packets of crisps 38p (skips on offer in tesco). Also a fourth packet which was already from another stay.

4 yogurts 67p

1x bubba's yogurt 7p

2 pieces of fruit each well and one for the bubba £1  

So I think £2.98 for the 5 of us :)

Also had a little treat. An Oreo ice cream cone each. These were on offer in Sainsbugs, half price so £1.24 for 4 :) 

Much cheaper than the ice cream can at the park (and don't telling our slimming world friends ;D)

A little treat for the mama

Evening guys!

Living cheaply for us is a challenge, but I like to have a little treat and make myself look half human. I take part in FLYlady's tasks, one is to "get dressed down to lace up shoes and fix your hair and make up" so each day I apply my tinted moisturiser, mascara and eyeliner so. After how I feel and whether I'm going out.

So, I went into Boots with my coupons looking for a little something for me. It's not cheapy cheap, but not too bad.

Mascara £6.29, but had a coupon for it to be £2 :)
I like eyeliners that are like felt tips, not always easy and cheap to find. So...
We're £8 each, buy one get one half price so the second one is £4 = £12. Then I had a £1 coupon so was £11 for the two or £5.50 each :)

Saving £9.29, and the items will last for ages each so won't have to buy them for a while :)

Saturday night dinner - ingredients and costings

Yesterday's dinner was a minced beef bolognese with pasta

I have costed it out at 33p per adult portion. I have divided some into bubba sized portions, I have counted two of these as an adult sized portion as they are half.

So ingredients....
Extra lean minced beef 500g £2.00 (reduced, but found in my freezer)
A large onion 15p
Garlic, half a large bulb 15p
'squirt' of tomato purée 7p
Carrots (around 100g) 1p (from the 1kg bag reduced to 10p)
2 courgettes 10p (again from a reduced bag)
2 x stock cubes 11p
2 tins chopped tomatoes 62p (31x2)
1 carton passata 29p
150g green lentils 10p (got 1.5kg for 99p from approved foods)

So, if I've totalled correctly then it comes to £3.60.

I got 6 portions for the bubba (equivalent to 3 adult portions) and 8 adult portions. Say 11 portions so it makes it 33p a portion.

To go with it we each had 100g of pasta at 10p each. Bubba would have had around 25-30g pasta cooked for him. However he has been given some tiny baby sized pasta shells from the Italian deli by his Nonna so technically they are free. They cost 95p for a 500g bag, I would only pay that begrudgingly and bubba would happily eat the same pasta as us chopped up ;)

I also sprinkle a little cheese on top. I weighed out the 20g (for slimming world measurements) and that was 14p each!

Works out that the whole meal for the three of us cost £1.45

Vegetables galore!

I hit the jackpot mid week, well not in gold coins, but in vegetables! Admittedly it was an impromptu trip to accompany my friend to Sainsbugs so not a planned spend.

I got 25 items for £4.60! Worked out a saving of £28.13

I have given a few bits to family who have visited and used lots in cooking. Mostly I have part steamed and frozen them in portions.

I have carrots coming out of the ears. I even bought some of their 'posh' carrots as they were only 15p! I also got 1kg of their basic carrots reduced to 10p so I got two! There were so many packets of so many things there that I didn't feel guilt. I still have the best part of the 2kg bags left to prepare and freeze!

I used some of the posh carrots in cooking, but I've managed 10 portions of them in my freezer (3p each). I got two packets of leeks £2 reduced to 20p each. As FIL is Welsh I gave him a packet, but I got got 4 portions out of the remaining packet making them 5p a portion! Some lovely green beans were £1 reduced to15p, I got four generous portions out of those so 14p (7p per person). Have to admit I did eat a few whist chopping ;-)

Hopefully will have a fair bit to see us through the bleak months ahead until I return to work :-)

Last night's tea

Just thought I'd share last dinner as it was truly a bargain meal! 

So for 2 packs of stir fry veg and 1 lot of noodles was £1.25 

Added a chicken breast which was reduced a couple of weeks ago so was 45p. 

FIL also came over at the last and bought another chicken breast. 

This mix fed three adults with plenty left for hubby's lunch today. 

So for my £1.70 I've four portions :-) not too bad :-) 

My meals this week, how much is it costing?

I've been asked by a few friends for some costings of meals we've had this week so here we go.

So sausage mash and veg for myself, hubby and bubba.
6 quorn sausages (I'm not veggie, but these were 'whoopsied') £1.08
Potatoes (these were a bit pricier than i normally get) 51p
Broccoli 30p
Red cabbage 18p
Carrots 15p

Total £2.13


Omelette and salad.
Needed a quick meal before going to fat club. Bubba devoured his!

Ok so two eggs for me, one for bubba, three for hubby as he's a hungry boy!

6x eggs 99p (bought on offer)
Ham 30p
Tomatoes 20p
Onion 20p
Cheese grated 20p. £1.89

Salad of lettuce, toms, cue and radishes £1.00

So £2.89 in total


Curry loaf
This is a Slimming World recipe, is 'free' on the extra easy plan and very simple.
Tin of Asda chickpea Dahl 77p
Packet of Bachelors curry rice (bought on offer) 60p
2 eggs roughly 35p

Total £1.72

Cook the rice according to the packet's instructions, let it cool a bit. Mix in the chickpeas and eggs and put in a loaf tin. Cook at 200 for about half an hour. Is enough for three generous portions.
I normally serve just veg or salad as its quite filling.


I've got to confess now that the bubba is eating 'proper' food the food bill is going up a bit. It's not just a bit of mashed carrot anymore but proper little versions of what we eat. I managed to get many packets of baby cereal very cheaply and not the expensive prices for a tiny amount. However now I've tried the bubba on own brand 'weetabix' which works out as 7p each. Also using whole milk instead of formula which works out cheaper too.

For Friday we're having salmon. I managed to get a side of whoopsied salmon for £5 and got 6 portions from it so 84p each :) bubba will have a bit from ours so £1.68 adding the flavoured cous cous (9p a packet from approved foods) and some veg it will be a lovely meal.

March....the challenge so far

Hi all!

I haven't really been updating here too much, life with bubba has been a bit hectic!

We have been managing on the budget. Although I have to admit some of my stockpiling tendencies have been sneaking in when I'm in the supermarket.

So this week I have set myself the budget of £20 instead of £30 as I have so much food in at the moment. I have spent just over £15 today mainly on fruit and veg. This week my mum is coming to stay for a week so will a stretch to feed us all on out budget. As well as this we are having bubba baptised this weekend. We have around 70 people coming! As well as raiding the cupboards for things to create I have almost £50 in nectar points and through hubby's work I have around £30 of vouchers that can be used in Iceland. That is the budget for the food/drinks after. I'm also trying to make it as slimming world friendly as possible so will be making the famous curry loaf (I have enough in my pantry for at least two) and SW quiches.

So today's meal plan...

Wednesday
2x portions of shreddies 14p
Lunch for hubby is LO chicken stew which I worked out to be 67p
I'll have chicken, sweetcorn and noodle soup. I made this from left over roast chicken and cost £1.62 to make so 27 pence a portion!
Dinner will be spag bol. This will cost around £5.55 to make (without the pasta and for three adults, a small portion for hubby's lunch tomorrow and another 4 portions to freeze), however this will create 8 portions so 69p each with an added 30p for pasta (mum will have arrived so this is for three people) so £2.37.
I'll also do a slimming world style pudding, a chocolate mouse which will will be £1.07 which should be enough for three generous (36p each)
I'll add another 60p for fruit that we'll much through out the day.
We're drinking squash that we've got in, as well as an estimated 12 teabags (mum and I drink a lot of tea!) so 18p

So today's food/drink is £4.70

You may be wondering where the milk for tea or the cereal comes from. I buy a two four pints milks for the week, although I limit milk because of my diet. I count these as a weekly rather than a daily cost.

I'm hoping to do some cooking for the baptism later on my tight budget so I might be back later with some pictures!

How have I decided on the sum of £30 a week for food?

This is the question I've been asked by family and friends in recent weeks while researching into a sum to aim for and how can they do something similar just for food/grocery shopping? This is not a number I have plucked out of the air. I have worked on keeping our food bills down for the last few years without compromising on variety and quality. However it has to be a balance of what a) you can afford and b) what is a realistic aim.

It's surprising how many people do not have an accurate idea of what their food shop costs. My first thing to suggest is write down everything you spend a week on food. You may choose to include food eaten at restaurants and snacks eaten while out and about or just food bought as part of the groceries. It's up to you. It's surprising how just popping into a shop for a pint of milk on the way home results in spending £10 on yummy treats that catch your eye after a long day. Some prefer to log spends on their phone with an app, other on a good old fashioned pen and paper. At first I used to put all receipts into a pile and add up at the end of the week so I wasn't influenced by a running total. I was shocked! From this you'll be able to see where your money goes, you could even mark which were planned and impulse buys.

There is little point drastically cutting a grocery budget overnight, instead aim to reduce it bit by bit. I have seem two main ways in which people do their grocery shopping. One is a monthly shop with weekly top ups for fresh items such as bread, milk, fruit and veg. The other is a weekly shop buying just what is needed for the week. I've converted to weekly shop. I find it is much easier to buy what I need rather than what I may need later in the month.

One idea is to cut costs is to change branded products to own supermarket own brand products. This is trial and error really, some are better and tastier than others. For example I find 'proper' Shreddies compared to own brand 'Shreddies' are very similar. So I buy the cheaper option now. You'll be able to find what you will and will not compromise on. Meat is normally one area where people are torn. For me, due to slimming world I need lean cuts of meat, however this does not rule out cheaper cuts of meat. I will do another post of the ways I make my meat go further as it in itself is quite long.

Another way that I have to try and stick to budget is to have limits for certain products. One example, I look at a branded fat free yogurt at 60p. So weekdays hubby takes one to work, I might also have one for lunch or a snack, that's £6 on yogurt! that's 20% of the weekly budget. I set a limit for 20p per yogurt. I'm not saying that yogurt is an essential that's just one example. Either we buy supermarket own brand or branded ones we like when they're on offer.

Other examples I have are....
Washing powder - 10p a wash (going by the number of washes on the packet)
Fabric softener - 5p a wash
Dishwasher tablets - 10p each
Teabags - 1.5p each
Crisps - 20p max (we don't eat many these days)
Breakfast cereal - £1 per 500g

So this is a little of how I have come to my £30 a week to spend on food. Food prices are ever increasing so I am aware that this may not be possible for the entire year, but at this point in time I'm positive it can be done.

Starting on my challenge for 2013

Hello and welcome to the start of my challenge to live on £50 a week. I'm aiming to feed myself and family for £30 a week. There is me, my hubby and my five month old son  'Bubba' to feed. In addition, hubby and I are also following Slimming World's plan to loose weight there needs to be plenty of healthy food especially fruit and veg. The other £20 will cover cat food/litter, eating out, trips out, household items (such as toilet roll and cleaning products) and toiletries. It will not cover Bubba's formula or nappies. 

I'm very excited although a little nervous about this. With our new son we need to cut back on our expenditure, but we want to still enjoy life. I have read many tips and ideas on how to do this. 

My plan so far is: 
1) to meal plan. This will enable me to buy the food we need and not random items, reducing cost. I will only cook what we need so reducing waste. By knowing what we are having will stop the panicky brainstorm at 5pm of the dilemma of what to make for tea and then grabbing an impulse take away. 
2) use coupons. I have seen this on tv shows, but have seen people in England do this. I need to look at what coupons I have against the items I need and not be fooled into being things I don't need! 
3) an accurate spending diary to see where the money is being spent.
4) I would like to use the 'second purse' system. Before I went on maternity leave I stockpiled many tins, packets, drinks and toiletries. This system allows me to 'go shopping' in my larder and put the money into a second purse/pot to be used at a later date. By using this system I will have money to buy items on offer for future use without it coming out of the weekly food budget. This will make more sense as I use it. 
5) Take drinks out with us. Either eat before going out or take food with us.
6) Do more free things, like go for walks in the nearby countryside, canals, woods. Use coupons for cheap entry, or seek places with free entry. Eat out using vouchers and deals. 

As food is the biggest expenditure this is the area I have given most thought about. However in addition, this week I will document how many times I use the dishwasher and washing machine to incorporate this into my budget.

I will work on my first two weeks of meal plans and post these with costings. 
I would welcome any tips or ideas. 

MSE x