Food ideas for a VERY tight budget

I've been able to cut my grocery budget pretty well by trying to buy more fresh foods than packaged/processed foods. Also, I keep an eye on condiments to make sure I'm not spending too much on them. Some things I will use routinely but others may stay in the fridge for awhile unused...

If you have a crockpot/slow cooker, they are great to use to cook inexpensive cuts of meat that are normally tougher but soften up really well in the crockpot.

Also, I've found that if I make my own treats I save money there too. One example is instead of buying frozen ice cream pops/desserts, I slice up bananas and dip in cocoa powder mixed with coconut oil and some stevia then freeze them. They make a nice snack and also are a good way to use up bananas that are perhaps a bit too ripe to want to eat by themselves.

Also, making your own muffins and sweet breads at home can save on money and if you use whole wheat flour/oat bran or other healthy baking ingredients, you can make them healthier than store bought. And you can use up fruits that are a bit too ripe when you bake.

Soups are a great way to use vegetables that are also quite ripe and may not be as "attractive" in a dish.

If you buy fresh herbs, you can freeze the parts that you don't use immediately for later.

Another way I was able to cut down on the budget was to reduce waste or thrown away groceries. I don't buy bread every week because if I do some will go to waste (sometimes we tend not to want to eat the same foods again and again). When I do buy it I make sure to use it up in sandwiches or breakfasts so that we finish the loaf. I try to do some planning ahead but then also keep a constant eye on what I have on hand and try to whip up meals with what I have before stocking up on new ingredients if possible.

Best of luck to you! This community is a great resource for tips and advice and I know you will find some great tips!

Hi
I, too, am on a tight budget. I've found that cooking lots of vegetables and cutting down on meat has helped to both reduce costs and make our meals much healthier. We've recently found a shop where we can buy carrots, onions and potatoes by the sackful - about £13 total for a sackful of each, and these will last for quite a while and form a healthy basis for lots of meals. Perhaps you could find somewhere in/around Cardiff that sells in bulk? Not easy to carry them home on public transport, but you may be able to work something out or even beg a favour from a friend with a car once a month or so. Add a one or more other veg and a protein source (eggs/cheese/meat/fish/vegetarian alternative) and you've got a healthy meal which can be very varied. Carrots, for example, can be chopped and microwaved in a casserole dish for the more traditional British way of serving, or try frying them gently in a saucepan in a small amount of butter/olive oil mixture and adding a finely chopped onion/leek/few spring onions, for a tasty alternative. Try making your own healthy alternative to chips — cut up potatoes into either chip-shaped bits or just into wedges (either peel, or scrub and leave the skins on for healthier alternative particularly if they're "new" spuds) and put into an oven-proof dish so that they're spread out as much as possible. Drizzle a little olive oil (you don't need much) over them and use your hands to coat the potatoes. I sprinkle some paprika over them for a little extra flavour and colour, but have also used crushed garlic for an alternative flavour - neither is necessary, or you could experiment with other flavours (e.g. a little chilli powder or curry powder or your favourite herbs). Pop into a fairly hot oven (180-200°C) and cook until tender and starting to brown on the corners, but turn them regularly, particularly if they're deeper than a single layer. Cheap and healthy.
Also, porridge oats are cheap to buy and make a cheap and nutritious breakfast that's filling too. Make it with milk and/or water and then add a spoonful of jam for a bit of sweetness and flavour. 3-4 dessertspoons of porridge oats will make a big bowlful of porridge and provide a good filling breakfast for children, too. Make with whole milk for young children and add fresh/frozen fruit if you can and it's even better. I make mine with half skimmed milk and half water as I'm watching the calories.
Lots of other useful tips from others in this thread.

Lentils are a huge staple here. Also if I do ham I make sure it's with the bone since that + a bag of split peas makes a great soup. there's a 14 bean soup mix that needs little helping and can be done in a crock pot just google 14 bean soup!.

My grandmother's pasta & bean soup is another cheap staple here. Literally you dice garlic (however much you like (I do 1/2 a clove) and brown it slightly in some olive oil. To that you add in 1 can of tomato puree (28oz) and 1 6oz can of tomato paste and your choice of italian seasonings. I just use a little dried oregano when cooking and finish with some fresh parsley. Take that off the heat (and word to the wise it does splatter so shield yourself with a pot lid when you add the tomato!) Meanwhile cook a box of ditalini pasta but take out 3 mins from cook time. When the pasta is "done" you add it to the tomato base and use the pasta water to get your soup consistency. Pour in a can of drained cannellini beans and let it cook through for another minute or 2. simple as that Feeds my family of 6 with leftovers to spare!

Hope some of this helps! Cooking on a dime can be hard!

in for ideas

Bubble and squeek or potch? Hotch? Darn can't recall.

Take leftovers add cabbage and potatoes boil. Serve with mustard.
Cheap, filling, etc.

Someone else suggested moneysavingexpert.co.uk forums - I can strongly recommend the old style board - it's local to you so the deals/shops mentioned will be relevant. You are relatively time rich money poor with being at home. You don't want to be stuck in the kitchen, but having something simmering or cooking away is not difficult. You must learn to cook, involve the children, they will enjoy it and be more interested in eating food that they've 'helped' to prepare.

Buy in season - aldi / Lidl great for certain things being very cheap and varies every week or so. But if Tesco's is what you've near by or which ever go with that. If you can grow some herbs on a window sill, all the better. For starters, thyme / sage are very easy. But if you don't have any, don't stress.

I'm putting some standards to get you started in cooking. If you can afford processed stuff you put in oven, you can afford a chicken, etc... If not, scale down to lentils.

1. Roast chicken - put in the oven - generally 180 degrees for about 1.5 hours, but check the back. At a very basic, just put it in the oven and take out afterwards. On a separate tray, peel and chop a bunch of root veg, carrots / turnips/etc... / onion in to evenly sized pieces (approximately 1-2 inches) - fill the tray, any left overs will be re-used. throw some oil / dried herbs on top - and mix up. To make best use of the oven being on, fill that tray up, but only 1 layer of veg deep. Roast in oven for about 45 min. Serve with some boiled potatoes (or not, I don't bother) + some bisto gravey if you feel so inclined. I realise that this takes 1-2 hours to cook, but it heats the kitchen up so you can turn off the heating and you don't need to be watching it.

(note on moneysavingexpert, they refer to re-using chicken as rubber chicken. Google it for more ideas)

2. Left over chicken:
1. Making stock - This will make soup / chicken pies taste far far nicer. It does take about 2 hours, but you only need to work for about 15 minutes of that. I have it on at night time when watching the tv.
Okay, get your hands dirty and take all of the chicken left off the carcass. You're going to make some chicken stock. Put the chicken aside in to a container and pop in the fridge. Break the carcass up in to smaller pieces so it fits in a pot + cover with water. Dump the skin if it hasn't been eaten. Add in the following if you have them Roughly chopped onion / celery - 1-2 stalks / 1 or 2 carrots - no bother to peel if you don't want - if you don't have these, don't stress, just do it with the chicken. If you've some thyme/ bay in the garden add it in. Simmer for ~2 hours. Strain / cool down and put in fridge. Don't worry if it goes a bit jelly ish, when you heat it up that will loosen up - that's lots of flavour in there!

3. Left over chicken: chicken pie
Put some potatoes + make mashed potato.
Take an onion, chop and fry off in a little oil (or what ever you prefer to use). Add in some veg, chopped in to small bite size pieces. I like celery / peas / carrots, but really use what you have and like. Mushrooms I'm sure would be really nice, but I hate mushroom. Add in chopped left over chicken + chicken stock. Some people will say to thicken it up to add a roux (this is butter / flour), but really I'm not keen. Amounts will very based on the size of your family. Put in to a dish that can go in the oven. Top with mash and put in the oven for 45 min, @ say 180. I would serve with something like boiled cabbage or some other cheap green veg.

4. Left over chicken: chicken curry
fry off an onion + add thai curry paste - follow directions on pack. Add in veg + coconut milk + left over chicken. This may be higher in calories, but I think some fat is good - decide for yourself.

5. Make soup - this is a generic how to make any soup. I'm hopeless on measurements, I eye ball everything. But trust me, just try it. You will need either a stick blender or a full one. If you don't have a stick blender and you like soup, can I strongly recommend you get one. Here's one on argos, very basic but based on spec will do the job. http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4234700.htm
1. fry off a chopped onion in oil (and if you have a stalk of celery, a carrot, and a clove of garlic). If I'm adding spices I add them here.
2. Add stock, this is water + stock cubes / bullion, or the chicken stock made above. **
3. Add veg, simmer till tender + blend up. If it's too thick, don't worry, just add some more water.

Ideas, any veg can be used, these are just some of the combinations I use :
- 1 tea spoon of curry powder + parsnip = curried parsnip soup
- Herbs if you have any + roasted veg (left overs from chicken) = roasted veg soup....could be roasted carrot soup if only carrots, etc... Carrots go well with thyme.
- Pea + dried, or just peas. See below for ham stock, ham and pea soup is yummy. Add in some shredded ham + use frozed peas.
- Carrot + thyme, or just carrot.
- sweet potato + tamarind (this one I really liked, but not really standard ingredients)
- Fennel
- Butternut squash + sage
- left over, before I go to the shops, I clear out any veg that's going to go off and make generic veg soup.

**I like to have a protein in my soups to fill me up. higher carb option is as others said, lentils - just chuck a couple of hand fulls in now, if you do this you might need to add more water. Other times I just throw in some shredded chicken / ham / what ever I have when I'm heating it up. This turns it from


6. Bolognese sauce - takes about an hour, but prep time about 15 minutes. Freezes great, make double and freeze 1 batch. Can use to make lasagne
- In a pot fry off a chopped onion in oil (add if you have a stalk of celery, a carrot and a clove of garlic) + 1 tsp of dried mixed herbs
- in a separate dry fry 400 gm of mince.
- Add mince to the onion + add 1 tin of tomatoes + fill tin up with water + 2 table spoons of tomato paste + veg. I use carrots or peppers in summer.
- Simmer for 40 min or so.

Serve with pasta, or just with some green veg.

Add a tin of kidney beans + some chili powder, call it chili and serve with rice.

7. Ham - boil in a pot for the times directed in packed. If extra salt sometimes you need to replace the water once. I add in an onion / celery / carrot. When I strain off the water, I keep it for stock. I work in Euros, but you can buy ham to feed the family for say 4-5 Euro with left overs for sandwiches, or you can buy sandwich meat for 2-3 Euros with loads of additives. With the stock I make pea soup. I like add either ham or mint.

8. Risotto

9. Curried lentil + Aubergine : http://www.food.com/recipe/red-lentil-and-aubergine-eggplant-curry-205101 Aubergines are out of season, but in season very cheap. Lots of other lentil recipe's, but I know this one is nice.

9. Tuna + pasta (fry onion/garlic, add tin tomato + 2 tbs tomato paste, add tin of tuna, add cooked pasta and simmer). A variation on this is to do a pasta bake, something quite similar, but goes in the oven.

10. Eggs, eggs and eggs. cheap and high in protein. Hard boil, mash with a bit of mayo for sandwich fillers. Use left over potatoes / veg to make omelettes.

11. Porridge for breakfast. To make it sweeter I used to add a chopped apple/pear + cinnamon, raisins, or jam in a pinch.

12. If you like dips like salsa - learn to make your own. Home made guacamole is very healthy, cheap and yummy.

13. Treats for the children (not you )
- don't buy them, learn to make cup cakes / flap jacks / etc.... will work out cheaper and better for them. I'm not going in to this here....

No more processed food, learn to make it yourself. Will be better for the purse strings and your health. I cook as I enjoy cooking, better flavours, more environmentally friendly and finally gives me a few bob more to spend on something else!

Trick is all left overs get used, nothing gets dumped.

Good luck, hope the stew worked out well. (left over stew with a baked potato is a great lunch)
- Jen