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Weekly food budget for a single person

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  • Registered Users Posts: 4,119 ✭✭✭Bredabe


    In terms of the cookery books, I didn't want to assume op was a specific age and was conscious that the budget maybe tight for internet. Books at least can be revisited if there is a choice between light or internet in the budget. Ime, there are many more housekeeping or budget cooking tips in older books.

    I use lls/oz's and us measures, I just cant juggle all those no's to convert to metric. But in the end, its up to OP's inclinations/budget.

    "Have you ever wagged your tail so hard you fell over"?-Brod Higgins.



  • Registered Users Posts: 726 ✭✭✭Slightly Kwackers


    It's whatever floats your boat.

    I used to set up instrumentation for companies and made a point of offering them whatever the site used I never had a single taker for cubic angstroms or cubic fathoms despite offering them "cheap" :-)

    Frankly unless you find someplace to sell things in pounds ans ounces, do you not have to do a mental conversion anyway?

    I can only buy flour in kg, so that tells me I can get three loaves from a bag of flour with plenty to spare for dusting, that's using standard loaf tins. Yeast I buy in grams as I do soda or baking powder.

    I would actually find it very difficult to work in anything other than kg and litres.

    There is one butchers heading from Tralee to Ardfert that advertises things in pounds, I find it as much use as the plethora of shops selling things at x% off. Loads do it, but don't put a price on the "discounted item". Anyway I'm getting old and have no desire to try work out how many slices of bacon are in a pound of the stuff, I somehow doubt that the pounds and ounces are for the convenience of the customer either.

    As an ex UK resident, I must confess to being a little negative about imperial measurements. I feel sorry for the poor eejits that wrecked their country for blue passports and the pints of wine they don't even have yet.



  • Registered Users Posts: 317 ✭✭Madd002


    Just my tuppence worth, below is a cheap meal that I eat 2-3 times a week as its quick easy and filling.

    Ingredients:

    1bag of Dunnes frozen garlic & herb prawns €4.79, 3 portions

    1pack Dunnes spaghetti .79c 5 portions

    1tub cherry tomatoes 99c 3 portions

    Chilliflakes from cupboard €1 dunnes brand.

    Couple leaves of basil from window but if you don't have it'll do without.

    Cook a portion of pasta, bring to boil and simmer.

    Get a small saucepan and put on low add some olive oil & add 10-12 frozen prawns as these are fresh frozen they'll cook to a pink colour. these take around 8mins turning regularly add Chilli flakes at end.

    Cut cherry tomatoes in half and snip basil leaves in your serving bowl.

    Drain pasta and toss into saucepan with prawns & add the cherry tomatoes & basil in too toss around with fork and upend into serving dish. You should end up with something like this add a sprinkle of salt and black pepper to taste, its very tasty & not boring 😋



  • Registered Users Posts: 726 ✭✭✭Slightly Kwackers


    It looks delicious,

    The photo is very impressive too.

    Food isn't the easiest subject to record.



  • Registered Users Posts: 317 ✭✭Madd002


    Thanks, I used to spend hrs cooking dinners in evening when kids were younger and coming in after school, now that I'm older I'm too tired after work so need quick easy and satisfying meals.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 166 ✭✭defiantdancer


    @Madd002 thank you! That looks delicious & also really easy to make😊



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,316 ✭✭✭Speedsie
    ¡arriba, arriba! ¡andale, andale!


    @HeidiHeidi re keeping shop bought basil growing, the secret is to repot it! Basically it's a pot full of seedlings and runs out of nutrients quickly.

    I tend to repot into about 6 pots, but I know people who just just one very large pot.

    Pinch off the tops, about 2/3 leaf nodes, the seedlings will then bush out & you'll have months of basil.



  • Registered Users Posts: 166 ✭✭defiantdancer


    @Speedsie this is great advice-I will do this😊



  • Registered Users Posts: 29,371 ✭✭✭✭HeidiHeidi


    I have actually been told that before, and tried the repotting - the plant definitely lasted longer for sure - but my sister has a basil plant that was nearer to a tree, which i was very jealous of but have never got even close to achieving!

    But yes, repotting in a bigger pot with fresh compost definitely prolongs the life of the plant.



  • Registered Users Posts: 5,328 ✭✭✭dunworth1


    does anyone else find that the 3 for €10 meet offers in Dunnes has become poor/static recently there used to be a bit of variety every now and again now it just seems to be the same items?

    i have also noticed they have started doing a 2 for €10 and a 3 for €12.

    the 2 for €10 is just bigger portions really ( 3 chicken fillets instead of 2 etc.)



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  • Registered Users Posts: 7,017 ✭✭✭LambshankRedemption


    I should preface this by saying I worked in Dunnes for 6 months in the year 2000.

    Ive never been a fan of Dunnes as a consumer. They used to be the cheaper option over Quinnsworth/Tesco. Then Lidl and Aldi arrived and they were no longer the cheapest option. They went through a sort of identity crisis by trying to emulate Marks and Spencers for a while. For cheapness, my go to is tesco, who by the way are doing 3 for €10 in selected meats. They also have a kilo of beef mince for 8.50. So you could divide the kilo into 5 parts, and have a dinner with 200grams of beef mince, for 1.70 per dish.



  • Registered Users Posts: 24,253 ✭✭✭✭Sleepy


    One tip for meat: a whole chicken is WAY better value than butchered packs of breasts/wings/drumsticks etc.

    Roast the chicken whole and enjoy a roast chicken dinner (cook in a dutch oven on top of some root veg / peppers and you'll have roast veg to go with the chicken, strain the veg out with a slotted spoon, add some stock and flour/cornflour to make real gravy.

    Pick the carcass clean of meat, throw into tupperware in the fridge - you'll have enough shredded chicken to use in stir fries / curries / pasta dishes for a few days (we'd usually get enough for a chicken fried rice for a family of four the next day)

    Put the remainder of the carcass into a stock pot, fill with water and the peels from your root veg, perhaps an onion etc and simmer for a few hours, strain and you'll have a rich chicken stock that's the perfect base for chicken noodle soup with some cheap noodles, sweetcorn and spring onions. (That's another tip actually - only use the greens from the spring onions and put the bulbs in a glass of water on the windowsill and you can regrow the greens in a week or so. Usually get 4/5 "harvests" from each bunch we buy.)



  • Registered Users Posts: 25,268 ✭✭✭✭zell12


    That is very expensive. Lidl have beef mince at €6.78/kg

    or Aldi at €6.59/kg



  • Registered Users Posts: 7,017 ✭✭✭LambshankRedemption


    That's another tip actually - only use the greens from the spring onions and put the bulbs in a glass of water on the windowsill and you can regrow the greens in a week or so. Usually get 4/5 "harvests" from each bunch we buy

    I do that. My sister thinks Im mad.

    That is very expensive. Lidl have beef mince at €6.78/kg

    I dont frequent Lidl because I dont have one near me. That is a good deal.



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