Moving house has been quite an ordeal over Christmas, New Year and my birthday. Lots of food has been eaten, however our budget has shrunk. We have had to pay out a lot more money than ever before as we’ve bought our first house. Here are some tips on how we keep the cupboards stocked up and our tummies happy. And our obsession with garlic bread…

It doesn’t always have to be fresh

Although fresh fruit and vegetables are delicious. It goes in the fridge and very quickly, in our house, leaves. So the fridge doesn’t stay stocked for long. We’ve started buying frozen vegetables and fruit, also canned fruit to make sure it lasts longer and we only use what we need. Isla loves her fruit, we got frozen pineapple chunks and she loves that with yoghurt for breakfast. We use frozen vegetables for meals in the evenings, it doesn’t have to be a mixed vegetable pack. We buy separate bags of vegetables, they seem to taste better! 

Offers!

Make the most of offers. When the shops have sales of items that are ridiculously cheap – we buy them. We have had a freezer full of garlic bread for a month because it was really cheap and we stocked up. Who doesn’t love garlic bread? If you like something and its on offer, especially 10p or 20p per item, grab it.

Use different supermarkets 

Where we live we are very lucky to have multiple stores around us. We literally have the pick of the bunch. We get different things from different places to ensure we get the best products and cheapest too. We do not do this in the same day, may I just add, we rotate around the shops depending on what we need each week.

Lidl/Aldi

When we do get fresh vegetables and fruit, we get it from Lidl. Cheeses and items for the refrigerator are great from here too. They have great prices on everyday essentials which taste yummy. I love their fresh aisles, the mozzarella and tomato bread is delicious. 

Tesco

We go to Tesco for anything Lidl and Aldi do not sell. Some spices and herbs for example. Tesco has got a lot more competitive with their prices lately, we’ve seen a shift to compete with Lidl on the fresh vegetables! I love the Tesco vegetarian products, there’s a lot to choose from and I love their vegetarian frozen sausages – perfect for a toad in the hole. 

Iceland

We use Iceland for frozen food like french fries, fish fingers and burgers for the children. They’ve also started selling a lot more vegetarian options so we tend to grab them when we can. Oh and the ice creams are amazing from Iceland – the kiddies love the bubblegum flavour. 

Farm goods

Not quite a supermarket, but when we do have time or we’re planning to cook a nice meal for family and friends we will always get our vegetables from a local farm. They have a cart and sell seasonable vege. It’s not expensive and it’s as fresh as fresh can be. I love grabbing the big bags of greens, with no cellophane and wrapping whatsoever. 

Batch cook

Daddy is very good in the kitchen. He looks after us all and very meticulously: he batch cooks. By that I mean he makes up meals in extremely large portions and then freezes it in small portions for one person. Things like: lasagne, bolognese, chilli, Moroccan stew and my current favourite Tuscan Soup. It’s perfect as we just take a portion out of the freezer for when we need it and it’s also perfect for lunches. By the time I eat my lunch the meal has defrosted! Great savings to be made on food.

How do you shop for your families food? Do you have any tricks to add to the list, if so I’d love to hear them in the comments below.

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1 Comment
  • The Reading Residence
    Monday, February 25, 2019

    I love Iceland for freezer food, but I always come back from there wishing I had a bigger freezer – I always overbuy! I never think of frozen or canned fruit, yet I do with vegetables. Thanks for making me think of it, makes total sense.