A Foodie Mum On a Budget

10/09/2026

This morning Mr. Big had a blood test scheduled, and it was a bit of a traumatic experience for him.

He still went into school afterwards, but I told him he could choose what we had for dinner tonight.

As we had to go into town for a few errands anyway, I gave him the choice of eating out.

His choices were:

McDonald’s
KFC
Chopstix
Wetherspoons

He chose Wetherspoons, I secretly was quite happy about that choice though, as it’s somewhere we all enjoy.

The boys both chose the spicy noodles, and I had a kids’ pizza.

I had to laugh at how differently the boys eat their noodles.

One eats all the noodles and leaves the soup…
The other prefers the soup and leaves the noodles! 😂

All in: £22

Not exactly a budget dinner, but after the morning Mr. Big had, I was more than happy to let him choose.

And now it’s bedtime before work tomorrow… followed by a VERY busy couple of child-free days for Mummy!

09/09/2026

Food pantry haul, 9/9/26

08/09/2026

Tuesday’s dinner was supposed to be BBQ chicken wraps according to the meal plan…

BUT when I defrosted the chicken, the boys decided they wanted quesadillas instead! 😂

It’s the same meat, so I didn’t mind changing the plan.

We also ended up eating a lot of leftovers and bits and bobs, including some scallops I had lurking in the freezer.

I keep a freezer inventory with the price I originally paid for things, so even when I’m using something months later, I can still work out what it actually cost me.

Costings:

Wraps – £0.00 (from the food pantry ages ago, but frozen)
Chicken – £0.00 (full price already included in a previous dinner)
Guacamole – £0.00 (from the free frozen food box at the food pantry)
Tomatoes – £0.00 (from the garden)
Scallops – ½ pack (£1.29/2) = £0.65 (reduced to clear from M&S)
Cheese – (£1.89/8) x3 = £0.71 (Farmfoods)
Onion – £0.05
Lettuce – £0.00 (from One Stop after 8pm)
Carrots – £0.10
Chilli – £0.00
Radishes – £0.00 (leftover from the other day and already included in that meal)
Feta & hot honey filo pastry – £0.00 (from Olio)

All in: £1.51

Mr. Small also made himself a taco because he is taco obsessed at the moment! 😂

I’m still not completely convinced by the hot honey, although I have to admit it was much better with the salty feta!

No recipe today as this was very much a bit of everything kind of dinner! 😂

07/09/2026

Mr. Small had a very good day at school today!

I still can’t get over how much the boys have grown up. Where have my little boys gone?! 😭❤️

I spent the day sorting through things and cleaning up, and then getting everything ready for work tomorrow. The cleaning took AGES, but I’m finally getting there!

On my meal plan today we had tuna, celeriac & pasta salad.

However, the tuna was substituted for some frozen cooked salmon from my freezer that needed using up. And it turned out absolutely delicious!

Mr. Small loved the salad, and Mr. Big liked it too, but he wasn’t very hungry. He has a hurting tooth at the moment as it’s loose, but not quite loose enough to come out. He has NEVER dealt well with loose teeth! The joy of Autism!

Costings:

Salmon – £0.44 (from the food pantry)
Pasta – £0.50 (from the food pantry)
Celeriac – £0.00 (free from Olio)
Lettuce – £0.00 (free from One Stop)
Carrots – £0.10 (used 2 from a pack)
Radishes – (£0.70/4) = £0.18
Spring onions – (£0.69/6) x2 = £0.23
Parsley & coriander – £0.00 (from the garden)
Onion – (£0.90/10) = £0.09
Bread – £0.00 (from the freezer, originally from the food pantry)
Yoghurt – (£1.95/8) x2 = £0.49 (the small Lidl ones — expired 24th August and bought before our holiday)
Garlic – (£0.03 x2) = £0.06
Lemon juice – £0.10
Mustard – £0.10

All in: £2.29
Served 3

I made WAY too much salad, so we’ve got loads left over!

I’ll be taking some for my lunch tomorrow, so that’s one less thing for me to worry about when I’m at work.

And my running total for food is still £10.43, as we haven’t had to buy anything else yet.

The boys ended the evening with homemade smoothies using the bananas and pears I got for free and some other frozen fruit.

07/09/2026

I thought I better clarify! 😂

My lash post came up as AI content, and I couldn’t understand why because I write my own text and posts.

BUT… I’ve now worked out it was the recipe card! 😂

I wrote the recipe down myself and then used one of Canva’s automated features to make it look a bit nicer because, let’s be honest, nobody wants a picture of my handwritten recipe! 😂🤦‍♀️

And apparently Facebook didn’t like that and decided the whole post was AI! 😬😬🤦‍♀️

So going forward, I’ll stick the recipe in the comments instead!

Hopefully that sorts it! 😂

#

07/09/2026

Today has been a bit hectic!

The boys were with their dad this morning and came back to me around 12. Luckily, they had both already eaten, so we didn’t need to worry about lunch straight away.

Around 1:30 they had a little snack — cheese and ham toasties! 🥪

After that, they both helped me organise and find all their school clothes and supplies ready for tomorrow.

I’ve spent most of the day cleaning and organising the house too, although unfortunately I didn’t get anywhere near as far as I would have liked! 😂 At least I made a start!

This afternoon we met up with a friend and her daughter for a walk before it was time to come home for dinner.

Tonight I made crispy tofu & ham rice bowls with roasted butternut squash and hot honey.

I used some tinned tofu that has been sitting in my cupboard for absolutely ages. It had a best before date from 2024, but the tin was unopened, in good condition and had been stored properly, so I was happy to use it rather than throw it away.

Costings:

Ham – £0.00 (free from work as it was going to expire)
Butternut squash – £0.00 (free from a friend)
Chilli – £0.00 (free from a friend)
Tofu – £0.00 (from the food pantry a few years ago — they couldn’t get rid of it!)
Eggs – (£1.99/15) x2 = £0.27 (Mr. Small doesn’t like egg)
Radishes – (£0.70/4) = £0.18
Carrots – £0.10
Onions – (£0.90/10) = £0.09
Spring onions – (£0.69/6) x2 = £0.23
Garlic – (£0.03 x3) = £0.09
Rice – (£9.99/10,000g) x300g = £0.30
Broccoli – £0.00 (free from Olio)
Hot honey – £0.30 (Mr. Big fancied trying honey because the bear looked sweet 🤦‍♀️😂)

All in: £1.56
Served 3

Quick note about dates: best before and use by dates are different. Best before is about quality, whereas use by is about safety. So I’m happy to use something past its best before date if it’s been stored properly and is still in good condition, but I would never use something past its use by date. ❤️

Not too bad for dinner, especially when most of it was free, rescued or already sitting in the cupboard! ❤️

And as promised, I’ve attached the recipe for anyone who wants to give it a go! ❤️

I need to go home to bed now! 😂❤️

06/09/2026

Food I’ve picked up for free this weekend 🍐

I’ve picked up quite a bit of free food this weekend, so I thought I’d share what I’ve got.

From the One Stop last night at 9:15pm: two bags of pears, pita bread and lettuce.

The One Stop next to me gives away any perishable reduced-to-clear products after around 8pm. I only take things we would actually use, and there were still plenty of things left for other people.

A friend was clearing out her kitchen and gave me some dipping sauce that expired in 2024, lots of chillies from her greenhouse, dates and a butternut squash she wasn’t going to use.

Then from Olio I picked up bananas, celeriac and broccoli. There were two broccoli, but unfortunately one had to be thrown away.

I did have to buy a few things when we got home from holiday, as we literally had no vegetables in the house 😂

So my running total for food I’ve purchased since getting back from holiday is:

Sainsbury’s — £2.41
Lidl — £2.53
Farmfoods — £1.99
One Stop — £3.50

Total: £10.43

That’s everything I’ve spent on food in the four days since we got back from holiday. Not too bad!

Have you managed to pick up any good free food finds recently? I’d love to hear what you’ve found!

06/09/2026

🍽️ This week’s meal plan

A slightly shorter meal plan this week as I’m going to be busy from Friday through to Monday, so I’m keeping things simple and using up what I already have.

Sunday – Crispy tofu & ham rice bowls
Monday – Easy celeriac & tuna pasta salad
Tuesday – BBQ pulled chicken wraps, using some pulled chicken from the freezer 🌧️
Wednesday – Easy beef & prune tagine
Thursday – Mystery dinner!

Thursday will depend on what needs using up by then. I’ll see what I have and make something from it rather than creating more leftovers.

I’ll try and give you the recipes for these as we go along.

What’s on your menu this week?

04/09/2026