Super-saving September #3

So we've done dinners and are now onto lunch, breakfast and treats.

And we're into experimental territory for me. I'm not used to having Husband home at lunch time, nor am I used to having three family meals per day. I feel as though I have a lot to live up to here as until now, at the weekends, our lunches have been as carefully planned as our dinners. Ideally, I'd like to retain a degree of flexability in them, but the idea of simply providing a variety of sandwich fillings doesn't so much appeal.

In any case. This is what I've come up with.

Breakfasts: sugar puffs, porridge oats, berries, bananas, yogurt, bread, jam, fruit loaf, eggs, pancakes.

Lunches: cous cous salad, sandwiches, omlettes, baked potato, homemade pizza, vegetable soups, mackerel/tuna salads, boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, smoked salmon bits salad with capers.

Treats: Homemade ice cream, tea loaf, homemade shortbread, Toblerone cookies, oaty cookies, Danish dream cake, chocolate cupcakes, homemade cereal bars, banana bread, carrot cake.

Now, comes the tricky part, grouping the various meals into weeks. As I'm back in England on Wednesday, that's when I'll run my week.To begin with, let's take a look at that menu again and score off what to make for this week. Because I have a '£10 off a £50 shop' voucher for Sainsbury's, I'm going to start by scoring out the most expensive meals and adding the various store cupboard/lunch/breakfast items to this week in order to make up the total.

NB: The first four are scored out as they're not things I'm making - it's not because I'm crazy enough to think there are 11 days in a week. :)

1. At Mum and Dad's
2. At Mum and Dad's 
3. At Mum and Dad's  
4. On the road - picnic lunch/something for dinner
5. Sweet and sour salmon - this can be done with a single salmon steak, leaving 3.
6. Mutton curry - going to try making a mint sauce to mix with yogurt for raita.
7. Mexican soup with soured cream.
8. Pulled pork sandwiches and salad (remaining pulled pork to be frozen).
9. Chicken and flageollet bean casserole (1 chicken leg)
10. Fish pie (1 salmon steak and some prawns)
11. BBQ ribs - cooking the pork steaks on the same BBQ, ribs served with salad and homemade potato salad
12. BBQ pork steak sandwiches on homemade raisin bread.
13. Chicken curry (1 chicken leg).
14. 'Chicken' and mushroom pie - using the condensed soup
15. Sweet potato falafel - using gram flour and a recipe from a previous post.
16. Chicken and bean tortilla wraps - using homemade wraps, soured cream garlic dressing and guacamole (final chicken leg).
17. Remaining pulled pork with cous cous and salad.
18. Salmon fish cakes with salad (1 salmon steak)
19. Sausage and mash with green beans
20. Chorizo quiche with potato wedges and salad
21. Paella with chorizo and prawn
22. Enormous 2kg pot of bolognese - split the remaining sauce into 3 portions
23. Lasagne (1 portion of sauce)
24. Smoked mackerel salad with hummus and horse-radish mayo.
25. Homemade baked beans with wedges
26. Cottage pie.
27. Homemade pizza topped with chorizo
28. Chilli con carne with homemade guacamole and soured cream.
29. Baked fish parcels
30. Thai fish soup (final salmon fillet).

This selection of dishes includes the things I need to purchase meat for. So, 2kg of beef mince and smoked mackerel are the costly components here. I've also chosen all the dishes which use soured cream as an element - not because this is particularly costly, but because it's one of those things which you buy for one dish and then forget to use up. This way, less chance of wastage. :) I plan to make some ice-cream to have with the last of our rhubarb in a crumble, as well as possibly doing some shortbread to have with warmed berry compote and said icecream. Because I've put down what feels like an obsene number of bananas too, banana bread will be my other treat.

I could save money here by going to Aldi to get the eggs and various canned goods, but I think the £10 off voucher is just a little too good to pass up, so it's Sainsbury's all the way. I'm a little worried I won't get us to the £50 mark, but I reckon I can just top up however much I'm short by adding fancy baby rice cakes to the trolley - annoyingly, Daughter will only eat the mini ones.

Which leaves my shopping list as follows (all prices from My Supermarket - for this list, ASDA works out marginally cheaper):

1x    Honey Monster Foods Sugar Puffs (320g)    99p    was £1.99
1x    Sainsbury's Porridge Oats (1.5Kg)    £1.49   
1x    Sainsbury's Basics Plain Flour (1.5Kg)    52p   
1x    Doves Farm Organic Stoneground Wholegrain Spelt Flour (1Kg)    £1.99   
1x    Sainsbury's Sweetcorn (1Kg)    £1.30   
1x    Sainsbury's Pollock Steaks (520g)    £3.00    any 2 FOR £5.00
4x    Sainsbury's Basics Chopped Tomatoes (400g)    £1.40   
1x    Sainsbury's Cannellini Beans in Water (410g)    69p   
1x    Sainsbury's Chick Peas in Water with Added Salt & Sugar (410g)    69p   
1x    Sainsbury's Flageolet Beans in Water (400g)    69p   
1x    Sainsbury's Haricot Beans in Water (410g)    69p   
1x    Sainsbury's Basics Red Kidney Beans in Water (420g)    20p   
1x    Sainsbury's Corned Beef (340g)    £2.29   
1x    Sainsbury's Basics Pineapple Pieces in Juice (227g)    30p   
1x    Sainsbury's British Fresh Pasteurised Milk 6 Pints (3.41L)    £1.74   
1x    Sainsbury's Basics Salted Butter (250g)    £1.19   
1x    Sainsbury's Red Leicester (250g)    £1.75    any 2 FOR £3.00
1x    Sainsbury's Soured Cream (300ml)    £1.10   
1x    Sainsbury's Basics 2% Fat Natural Yogurt (500g)    55p   
1x    Sainsbury's Woodland Free Range Medium Eggs (12)    £2.00    was £2.60
1x    Onken Biopot Cherry Yogurt (450g)    £1.00    was £1.29
1x    Revilla Chorizo Tradicion (390g)    £5.00   
4x    Sainsbury's British Beef Mince (500g)    £10.80   
1x    Sainsbury's Highland Oatcakes (300g)    69p   
1x    Sainsbury's Pumpkin Seeds (200g)    £1.66   
1x    Sainsbury's Sunflower Seeds (200g)    £1.37   
1x    Sainsbury's Basics Lemons (4)    63p   
6x    Sainsbury's Fairtrade Bananas Loose (Approx 147g)    60p   
2x    Sainsbury's Courgettes Loose (Approx 105g)    37.8p   
4x    Sainsbury's Carrots Loose (Approx 175g)    56p   
1x    Sainsbury's Aubergine    £1.00   
1x    Sainsbury's Whole Cucumber    80p   
12x    Sainsbury's Large Red Onions Loose (Approx 190g)    £2.05   
1x    Sainsbury's Basics British Strawberries (250g)    £1.00   
1x    Sainsbury's Basics Avocado (4)    £1.50   
1x    Sainsbury's Wild Rocket Leaves (70g)    £1.00   
1x    Sainsbury's Basics Mushrooms (400g)    97p   
1x    Sainsbury's Basics Sultanas (500g)    84p   
1x    Sainsbury's Basics Peppers (600g)    £1.29   
1x    Sainsbury's Basics Potatoes (2.5Kg)    99p   
1x    Sainsbury's Sweet Potatoes (2)    £1.00   
1x    Sainsbury's Basics Cherries (250g)    £1.80   
1x    Sainsbury's Little Ones Eco Size 4 Maxi 7-18kg (32)    £4.99   

Total cost? £66.49

Meat is not counted in my voucher, and I might yet skip the nappies and get them from Aldi instead, hence the high price. Aside from top up of yogurt, milk, salad and fruit, this should feed us for the month when coupled with what's in the freezer.