Woe is me ... Must feed us all for $200/wk!

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yiu, Aug 1, 10:14pm
I take my hat off to ya DM! I find it hard to budget for 4 adults and 2 children on the same sort of allowance (150-200) per week and I never seem to make it last, though since reading the ENTIRE THREAD (not just the last couple) I too am uplifted by everyones comments of savings in shopping and feeding ones family.
Too good everyone! Excellent ideas also
darlingmole, Aug 2, 2:23am
How's it going indy? ? Well it's going~! Yeah, it's amazing that the old saying "necessity is the mother of all invention" applies day-in-day-out in my kitchen. Things are going well but still find the milk situation hard (my 16 month old just LOVES her bottles). But yes, otherwise I think we're eating both healthily and wisely. To behonest I'm sick of baking but it has to be done. Made mocha-chocolate crunch for the lunch boxes and self-crusting silverbeet'n'bacon quiche aswell ... already got the apples! Tonight for dinner it's schnitzels (bought on special a few weeks ago for $4. 00) and has been marinating - will serve with brocoli, cabbage and vermicilli noodles ... cheap but tasty'n'filling (I hope! )
ry5, Aug 2, 3:34am
I remember reading this in a handy hints book years ago. Every week, put your grocery shopping off by one day, and after 7 weeks you have saved a weeks worth of grocery money! Not only do you save money, it teaches you how to be creative with what you have left in the cupboard. You have to be strict on yourself though and not overcompensate for the lost days!
ry5, Aug 2, 3:36am
maybe I should clarify... week 1 - shop on Monday, week 2 - Tuesday, week 3 - Wednesday etc etc
kob, Aug 2, 5:07am
well my bargain for the week was... ... i went to NW this morning unexpectant ly and found 2 chicken breasts for $2. 50 6 sausages for $2 and 500grams of pork mince for $5 so for under $10 bucks got 3 meals i was impressed... . .
Added onion, soy & worchester sauce to the mince made into small balls and fried , cooked some rice and in another pot added sugar, vinegar soy sauce, cornflour and a little orange juice made a sweet & sour sauce, once pork balls are cooked add grated carrot and some pineapple I had 1/4 of one in the fridge that i used otherwise i would of opened a tin and used that juice instead of the orange juice blend the sauce and the balls together and serve over rice, will feed 4 for about $8. 00 I will be hcecking NW out on a Sunday morning more often
toadfish, Aug 2, 5:29am
I had a similiar experience yesterday afternoon at our local woolworths... Got an awesome topside roast for $8, 2 x fresh chickens $5. 20 each, pork spare ribs 2 trays around the $3 mark, lamb mince around the $3 mark, 3 x snitzel meals around the $4 mark each, pork & fennel sausages $3... I probably got around 9 family meals for about $35... . Thrilled. Especially about the beef roast... we wanted to invite some freinds around and it has to be Weight Watcher freindly... this roast is enough for 6 plus sandwiches... its so lean. . so will team it up with lots of roasted vegetables and either beans or brocolli... .
toadfish, Aug 2, 5:31am
And the funny thing is... . I only went in for milk... . . (But always cruise the meat case and I am picking those just came out) about 4pm
indy95, Aug 2, 6:02am
Just thinking about keepingFIVEteenagers fed and happy makes my blood run cold darlingmole, never mind having to do it. I know what you mean about the baking. Even if you love doing it as I do it can become a burden week after week and not particularly cheap nowadays. All I can say is keep up the great work.
kob, Aug 2, 7:51pm
my eventive lunchbox filler this week i had a pakt of flakey pastry so i rolled into a big rectangle, then i cleaned the fridge out, i had a little amount of bbq sauce from a meatloaf & small tub of swet and sour from chinese the other night so i combined those and spread over the pastry, i had acouple of pieces of ham that i chopped and spread over and some grated hard as left outside the pkt cheese so sprinkle lightly over, rolled up like a pinwheel sliced thinly and glazed with beaten egg and baked on a oven tray, and guess what they were yummo lunchbox fridge cleanouts they are called try them they were great... ... .
winnie15, Aug 2, 8:21pm
itook a leaf out of kobs book and while tead was cooking last night i mixed up some muffins, made 2 lots so thats 24 muffins for the week! And if we get fed up with musffins then i'll feeze soem and bake some biscuits.
toadfish, Aug 3, 2:13am
Talking of Muffins Winnie15 This made me laugh - about 3 weeks ago I brought a "reduced to clear" bag of braeburn apples for about $1. 29 at Foodtown ... the only fault I could see was they were on the small side, which I don't mind for lunchboxs... anyhoo the girls for whatever reason didn't like them much so only ate a few... so when they started to get a little old looking (about half the bag) I peeled and stewed them... Which gave them a whole new lease on life... and the girls ate some more... . . So this afternoon their was about 3/4 cup left of them and because they were braeburn the slices held their shape (ie were not mush) so I have chopped these into small pieces and made apple, sultana & cinnamon muffins... and guess what at last they are all gone and not a skerrick wasted! ! ! ! !
winnie15, Aug 3, 2:32am
well done toadfish! are they the same apple & cinnomn muffins out of alison holst muffin book? ?
winnie15, Aug 3, 2:33am
toadfish do you work out of the home? or are u a full time mom?
toadfish, Aug 3, 2:51am
They came from the Alisons "Meals without meat" book. I work part time at the moment (luckily for a very flexible company - have been with them 9 years) but will be looking for fulltime work in November. I was a SAHM till both the girls went to school then got a part time job. The girls are 15 & 16 now & I have been home when they leave for school and home when they return all the way through... which has been awesome but I have to admit the sacrafice for this has not been earning a "full" wage... hence the need to budget... to live as my girls would say a "Champagne life on a beer budget"
toadfish, Aug 3, 2:54am
PS... The muffin is a standard fruit one and you can make it with anything you have on hand... . Its the one I make most often. Just took 4 of them to a neighbour who is moving in today (i knew her) and another 2 to another neighbour I knew needed a boost... so have 6 left for the girls afternoon tea and lunch tommorrow.
winnie15, Aug 3, 5:41am
good one toadfish so nothing was wasted . . that feels good aye
winnie231, Aug 3, 9:36am
bumping for cheap meal ideas ...
winnie15, Aug 4, 6:36pm
off to thames today so will do some bulk buying where it's cheaper. Going to get a heap of self raising flour and milk powder, i have a lovely scone recipe that i mix up and use a couple of times a week whether it's for savoury scones with soup or a meal, or plain scones for snacks and school lunches, date scones for an exrta sweet snack.
toadfish, Aug 4, 7:51pm
Hi Winnie Saw your other thread re "Anxiety" hope thats going well. My Miss 16 can tend towards that... Shes an "A" student but worries constantly about not doing well enough... Lots of love and support and most importantly lots of talking... is what I am doing. We have parent teacher interviews in a couple of weeks so i am taking her so she can hear for herself how well she is doing...
winnie15, Aug 5, 7:40pm
thats a great idea toadfish! .
toadfish, Aug 6, 2:25am
Not sure if this has been mentioned DM but Corn Fritters... for 9 people... 2-3 tins of corn kernals... 2-3 cups of flour, 2-3 eggs, 2-3 teaspoons Baking Powder. (I say 2-3 as I'm not sure how bigger eaters your 9 are... 1 can would not be quite be enough for our family ie. 4 adult eaters, as a main dish) Served with coleslaw.
pixiegirl, Aug 8, 12:57am
dont know if this has been mentioned before but there is a shop on the road that goes from Henderson to Swanson way (cant think of the name of it) and there is a little shop there that sells chickens etc. When I went past the other day they had a sign 10 for $49. 95 - that was whole chickens (frozen). Obviously they will be smaller ones most likely but if you can get a meal out of one of them and have the freezer space you have 10 or maybe more meals. If you dont have the freezer space maybe go halves with someone else. Also while you are over here check out the fruit and vege shops on Hobsonville Rd, some special are at the moment leeks 69c, brocolli 99c. There are several that compete between each other so prices are always good. I now buy my milk from the F & V shop as they have 2 for $5 - we get one light blue and one dark blue. For apples I think the cheapest places I have found are the fruit shops heading north out of Kumeu - I think they grow and sell and always have bags of horse apples as well if you have animals etc.
pixiegirl, Aug 8, 1:03am
Also I have found saturday and sunday afternoon lately Coun tdown westgate seem to have their meat reduced down in price. It is always the time I go in there and never have any extra money to get some but I always lurk up and down the ailse just looking and dreaming... ... ... .
Butcher Jack at the corner of glenfield rd had and I think still has a side of land for $39. 99. It is a frozen side and was in bigger pieces, roasts etc - minimal chops etc. We had leg the other night and it was really good. I will roast the should and the other bit that looked like a rack of lamb and will casserole or stew the balance. It was so much cheaper than buying just a leg of lamb.
cxc_mama, Aug 12, 12:17am
bump x
raewyn64, Aug 15, 6:41am
bacon & egg pie I found the other day I had a few bacon hocks in my freezer. Thanks to tips from everyone here I have just made a yummy bacon and egg pie with one of them. I cooked it in the crockpot yesterday (the hock) so have bacon stock now until the meat fell off the bone.
Then used it in the pie today. So sometimes bacon hocks can be on special and cheaper than a pack of bacon - and also I could chunk the bacon pieces instead of using rashers.