Using What We Already Have
This week proves why keeping track matters: our first shop has already paid for part of this week’s breakfasts, lunches and dinners.
Week 1 left us with oats, wheat biscuits, flour, rice, pasta, frozen vegetables and several useful cupboard ingredients. We will use those first, then spend this week’s money on fresh food and proteins rather than buying the same basics again.
Start here: food carried over from Week 1
Check what you actually have before shopping. Our plan begins with approximately:
- 610g porridge oats and 16 wheat biscuits
- 800g plain flour and most of the yeast packet
- 700g rice and 500g pasta
- 50g red lentils
- 3 eggs and 1 unopened tin of tuna
- 200g frozen peas and 400–500g frozen mixed vegetables
- Peanut butter, raisins, oil, sugar, stock cubes, gravy and mixed herbs
- A few slices of frozen bread, if any remain
Week 2 shopping list
Prices are a guide based on supermarket own-brand ranges and will vary by shop, pack size and local availability. Check what you already own and use the 92p buffer for small price differences.
| Buy | Quantity | Estimated |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 2 × 4 pints | £3.70 |
| Wholemeal bread | 2 loaves | £1.70 |
| Potatoes | 5kg | £3.50 |
| Onions | 1kg | £0.95 |
| Carrots | 1kg | £0.69 |
| Bananas | 1 bunch | £0.85 |
| Apples | 6 pack | £1.65 |
| Cucumber | 1 | £0.89 |
| Eggs | 12 | £2.45 |
| Cheddar | 400g | £2.50 |
| Natural yoghurt | 500g | £1.10 |
| Sausages | 8 | £1.75 |
| Chicken thighs | 1kg | £2.75 |
| Fish fingers | 10 | £1.65 |
| Margarine | 500g | £1.25 |
| Chopped tomatoes | 4 tins | £1.88 |
| Kidney beans | 2 tins | £0.78 |
| Baked beans | 2 tins | £0.84 |
| Red lentils | 500g | £1.45 |
| Coconut milk | 1 tin | £0.85 |
| Mild curry powder | 1 jar | £1.10 |
| Wraps | 8 | £1.20 |
| Passata | 500g | £0.55 |
| Sweetcorn | 1 tin | £0.55 |
| Frozen mixed vegetables | 1kg | £1.25 |
| Frozen peas | 900g | £1.25 |
| Estimated total | £39.08 | |
The seven-day meal plan
Use the pasta first
Breakfast: Wheat biscuits and banana
Lunch: Peanut butter toast, apple and cucumber
Dinner: Creamy vegetable pasta bake
Cook once, feed everyone twice
Breakfast: Wheat biscuits and apple
Lunch: Tuna and sweetcorn wraps with cucumber
Dinner: Sausage, bean and lentil casserole with quick homemade flatbreads
Save four lunch portions for Wednesday.
A quick rice night
Breakfast: Porridge with raisins
Lunch: Leftover sausage and bean casserole
Dinner: Egg and vegetable fried rice
Budget-friendly fakeaway
Breakfast: Porridge and banana
Lunch: Egg sandwiches, cucumber sticks and yoghurt
Dinner: Fish-finger wraps with homemade wedges and peas
Make Saturday’s lunch now
Breakfast: Porridge and grated apple
Lunch: Beans on toast
Dinner: Mild chicken and vegetable curry with rice
Save four lunch portions for Saturday.
A filling meat-free dinner
Breakfast: Pancakes with sliced banana
Lunch: Leftover chicken curry and rice
Dinner: Lentil shepherd’s pie with peas
Keep the final day simple
Breakfast: Porridge with yoghurt and raisins
Lunch: Carrot and lentil soup with toast
Dinner: Jacket potatoes with beans, cheese and cucumber
Week 2 recipes
The full recipes are kept separately so this weekly guide stays easy to use while shopping and meal planning.
A little preparation makes the week easier
- Freeze one loaf and take out slices as needed. This prevents the second loaf becoming stale before the weekend.
- Divide the cheese mentally before using it: about 150g for Monday, 100g for Sunday and the remainder for sandwiches, snacks or next week.
- On Tuesday, portion the casserole for Wednesday’s lunch before anyone goes back for seconds.
- On Friday, cool four curry-and-rice portions quickly and refrigerate them promptly for Saturday.
- Make Sunday’s soup while the jacket potatoes are cooking, or prepare it on Saturday and refrigerate it once cool.
This week’s waste-less wins
- Use the last Week 1 bread slices before opening a fresh loaf.
- Save clean carrot peelings and onion ends in the freezer for homemade stock.
- Freeze overripe bananas in pieces for future porridge, pancakes or smoothies.
- Mix a spoonful of water into the empty passata carton, shake it and add it to the pan.
- Turn stale bread into breadcrumbs for topping a future pasta bake.
- Use yoghurt instead of buying a separate dessert or individually wrapped snacks.
End-of-week stocktake
Exact amounts depend on appetites and pack sizes, but this is what should broadly carry into Week 3.
| Ingredient | Likely amount left | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Porridge oats | About 90g | Use in baking or one small breakfast |
| Plain flour | About 200g | Carry into Week 3 |
| Red lentils | About 100g | Add to soup or sauce |
| Eggs | Approximately 4–5 | Use early in Week 3 |
| Cheddar | Approximately 100–150g | Keep wrapped and refrigerated |
| Frozen peas | Approximately 500–600g | Carry into Week 3 |
| Frozen mixed vegetables | Approximately 300–400g | Use in a soup, pie or rice meal |
| Potatoes, onions and carrots | Whatever remains | Check before writing Week 3’s list |
| Peanut butter, oil, sugar, stock, herbs, curry powder and gravy | Useful amounts remain | Keep as cupboard staples |
Leftover and rice safety
Cool cooked leftovers promptly and refrigerate within two hours. Eat refrigerated leftovers within 48 hours or freeze them. Reheat only once and make sure food is steaming hot throughout.
Cool cooked rice as quickly as possible, refrigerate it within one hour, use it within 24 hours and reheat it only once. If you are unsure how long food has been left out, do not save it.
Week 2 complete
We have stayed within £40, used the cupboard rather than filling it with duplicates, and carried several useful ingredients into Week 3.
Back to the challenge