Powdered Milk

So, we're really trying to get our grocery bills down because it seems we spend half our income at Asda every week.  My mom told me to check out this website called The Hillbilly Housewife for a lot of good tips.  This $45 menu immediately caught my eye (http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmenu.htm) and I decided to plug the whole list into Asda's site to see how much it would cost here.  I should probably mention that the $45 is 2006 prices, in 2009 they figure it costs $70 for a family of 4.  I managed to get it all for about £50 at Asda, plus a couple pounds more for Black and Butter beans from Tesco and the Mac n cheese from Netto.  This menu seems really great for us because it has almost no meat (she does list a hot dog and veg stir-fry and I substituted chorizo for hot dogs) and my daughter is an ovo-lacto vegetarian.  Also, she includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack, and since none of us eat lunch at home except on weekends, this menu will easily stretch to two weeks for us. 

I'm just wondering about the powdered milk.  The Hillbilly Housewife does not include fresh milk at all, and my mom (who is the Queen of Frugal and washes Ziplocs) says she raised us on half fresh half powder all our lives and we never knew.  But the only powdered milk I can find is £1.68 for 340 g - she recommends a 20 quart box for which she paid $14.  According to my calculations (which may be wrong), to get 20 quarts worth of milk I would need to buy 52 cans of milk - outrageous, we could get buy with 5 2 litre jugs for the week I think, for less than £8. 

I guess I was just wondering if this is the normal price everywhere on the powder milk and wondered if anyone knew why.  Also I just wanted to plug this website for anyone looking to reduce their grocery bills, I know we're happy to have found it.  Thanks guys!

Not too sure about powdered milk, we never had it in our house growing up and I can't say that I've acutally seen it here.

I can recommend a shop that has inexpensive milk though. Farm Foods carries 2 litre cartons of milk 2 for £1.50 or £1 for 1 carton. I have a 2 year old that can blaze through 1 carton in 2 days so it's been a real money saver for us. Plus they have vouchers that you can use if you spend £25/£30 or more & such (£5 off each shop).

Not too sure about powdered milk, we never had it in our house growing up and I can't say that I've acutally seen it here.

I can recommend a shop that has inexpensive milk though. Farm Foods carries 2 litre cartons of milk 2 for £1.50 or £1 for 1 carton. I have a 2 year old that can blaze through 1 carton in 2 days so it's been a real money saver for us. Plus they have vouchers that you can use if you spend £25/£30 or more & such (£5 off each shop).

That's great news, we go through milk like crazy too and spend way too much buying it from the corner shop every other day.  I just wish I had a bigger fridge/freezer so I could stock up on bread and milk for the week, my DH and DD use a loaf a day (which I think is WAY too much but they won't listen to me!)

That's great news, we go through milk like crazy too and spend way too much buying it from the corner shop every other day.  I just wish I had a bigger fridge/freezer so I could stock up on bread and milk for the week, my DH and DD use a loaf a day (which I think is WAY too much but they won't listen to me!)

They have a good deal on Hovis bread to 2 loaves for £1! Plus all their 2 for £ offers are mix & match accross all items in the shop! We can do our weekly shop there for £15 for 3 of us!

my DH and DD use a loaf a day (which I think is WAY too much but they won't listen to me!)

Wow.  How is that even possible! 

Wow.  How is that even possible! 

Ha.  Mostly possible because DH must have half a loaf of buttered bread in addition to every meal.  I actually got into a big argument with him about it, I don't understand why you need to eat all that bread when you are already eating a full dinner.  I mean, if it is something like soup or stew a couple of pieces maybe, if it's pasta I do garlic bread and curry I do naan, so what's the need of half a loaf of white bread too??  He got really sensitive about it and just said that is how he was raised and he's not going to stop now.  Additionally he looked at my $45 menu and said screw that, I'm not eating beans, I'll just have pies every night I guess.  !!  It's like living in a madhouse sometimes. 

Ha.  Mostly possible because DH must have half a loaf of buttered bread in addition to every meal.  I actually got into a big argument with him about it, I don't understand why you need to eat all that bread when you are already eating a full dinner.  I mean, if it is something like soup or stew a couple of pieces maybe, if it's pasta I do garlic bread and curry I do naan, so what's the need of half a loaf of white bread too??  He got really sensitive about it and just said that is how he was raised and he's not going to stop now.  Additionally he looked at my $45 menu and said screw that, I'm not eating beans, I'll just have pies every night I guess.  !!  It's like living in a madhouse sometimes. 

are you married to my husband too?

Not too sure about powdered milk, we never had it in our house growing up and I can't say that I've acutally seen it here.

Yes you can easily get powdered milk, I think it's kept with the long life milks.
When I was a kid we always had some in the house, remember getting home from the family holiday and the shops closed, so my mum would make up some powdered milk for us to have on cereal and in tea.

Ha.  Mostly possible because DH must have half a loaf of buttered bread in addition to every meal.  I actually got into a big argument with him about it, I don't understand why you need to eat all that bread when you are already eating a full dinner.  I mean, if it is something like soup or stew a couple of pieces maybe, if it's pasta I do garlic bread and curry I do naan, so what's the need of half a loaf of white bread too??  He got really sensitive about it and just said that is how he was raised and he's not going to stop now.  Additionally he looked at my $45 menu and said screw that, I'm not eating beans, I'll just have pies every night I guess.  !!  It's like living in a madhouse sometimes. 

Is he northern? I've noticed it quite a bit up north, they even have white bread in restaurants. I was never brought up to have white bread at a meal, unless it was soup or stew, and even then, never just plain white bread and butter.

I do a £40 a week menu for myself and my boyfriend which uses lots of fresh veg and meats  (I cook everything from scratch) the often have a week on one basket in Delicious magazine. I'm really sorry but that hillbilly housewife menu does look pretty horrible, I hate things like "hot dog stir fry" and I worry about the nutritional aspects of process meat.
Also eating beans, beans and beans in various different ways must get pretty boring. You're eating beans for 7/14 meals (lunch dinner) and when you're not having beans you're having things like mac and cheese and sandwiches, most days also do not do five a day fruit/veg. Now I like beans, but that's a lot of beans!

If you're not having lunches at home, there's plenty you can do by buying good quality meats, like a whole chicken and stretching it into several days or if you don't eat meats roasting veggies/vegetable kebabs one day and then making them into a pasta sauce the next etc

Also start looking at different cuts, like I use a lot of feather steak, pork belly (delicious pork belly nom nom nom) and squid, so tonight the boy and I are having a chilli and preserved lemon squid salad, the squid was £2.20 and the rocket was £1, I'll make the lemon/chilli dressing out of store cupboard items and it's a tasty summery, quite fancy meal for less than £4.

Is he northern? I've noticed it quite a bit up north, they even have white bread in restaurants. I was never brought up to have white bread at a meal, unless it was soup or stew, and even then, never just plain white bread and butter.

Possibly. My dad used to eat a load of bread with bacon and eggs, or fish and chips. Also, if he had a lot of gravy left on his plate he'd get some bread to mop it up.
Originates from a certain generation I think where they had to fill up with bread.

Lot's of restaurants put bread on the table though, anywhere in the world

Possibly. My dad used to eat a load of bread with bacon and eggs, or fish and chips. Also, if he had a lot of gravy left on his plate he'd get some bread to mop it up.
Originates from a certain generation I think where they had to fill up with bread.

Lot's of restaurants put bread on the table though, anywhere in the world

Not sliced wonder bread!

lol-  Yes he is northern, just glad to know he's not the only one! 

I do a £40 a week menu for myself and my boyfriend which uses lots of fresh veg and meats  (I cook everything from scratch) the often have a week on one basket in Delicious magazine. I'm really sorry but that hillbilly housewife menu does look pretty horrible, I hate things like "hot dog stir fry" and I worry about the nutritional aspects of process meat.
Also eating beans, beans and beans in various different ways must get pretty boring. You're eating beans for 7/14 meals (lunch dinner) and when you're not having beans you're having things like mac and cheese and sandwiches, most days also do not do five a day fruit/veg. Now I like beans, but that's a lot of beans!

If you're not having lunches at home, there's plenty you can do by buying good quality meats, like a whole chicken and stretching it into several days or if you don't eat meats roasting veggies/vegetable kebabs one day and then making them into a pasta sauce the next etc

Also start looking at different cuts, like I use a lot of feather steak, pork belly (delicious pork belly nom nom nom) and squid, so tonight the boy and I are having a chilli and preserved lemon squid salad, the squid was £2.20 and the rocket was £1, I'll make the lemon/chilli dressing out of store cupboard items and it's a tasty summery, quite fancy meal for less than £4.

I don't like to do processed either - I haven't actually done the menu aside from a lentil stew my daughter and I ate yesterday.  I did roast a chicken on Sunday with intentions of eating on it all week, but my daughter won't eat meat and my husband won't touch soup so we only ate the leftover meat on sandwiches.  I hate to waste all the rest of the chicken but it's too hard to please a vegetarian AND a man who won't eat anything remotely healthy.  His five a day comes in the form of a daily multi-vitamin and I can't convince him otherwise, he also won't eat fish unless it's battered cod so we're stuck there too. 

I honestly can't really think of a way to change our menus, I'm fed up with it all and am ready to just let the two of them make their own meals!  Then again I'm absolutely fine with vegetarian food, it's just DH who won't touch veg, so maybe I could make mine and DD's and just let DH fend for himself lol.

Do you know the site Cheap, Healthy, Good? They do things like the $25 food project where they really do eat healthy for very little money. I follow the site in my RSS feeds for the good recipes, but like cheesbiscuit, I cook everything from scratch and wouldn't feed half of the Hillbilly crap to my cat, let alone my child.

lol-  Yes he is northern, just glad to know he's not the only one! 

I don't like to do processed either - I haven't actually done the menu aside from a lentil stew my daughter and I ate yesterday.  I did roast a chicken on Sunday with intentions of eating on it all week, but my daughter won't eat meat and my husband won't touch soup so we only ate the leftover meat on sandwiches.  I hate to waste all the rest of the chicken but it's too hard to please a vegetarian AND a man who won't eat anything remotely healthy.  His five a day comes in the form of a daily multi-vitamin and I can't convince him otherwise, he also won't eat fish unless it's battered cod so we're stuck there too. 

I honestly can't really think of a way to change our menus, I'm fed up with it all and am ready to just let the two of them make their own meals!  Then again I'm absolutely fine with vegetarian food, it's just DH who won't touch veg, so maybe I could make mine and DD's and just let DH fend for himself lol.

Can you try a split where the meat is added really late? Like for instance, make a saffron risotto with some peas, and then fry chorizo separately and add it to your husbands meal before serving? The same for spaghetti B, make a veggie sauce (so easy to hide veggies in tomato sauce) but fry off some mince separately and add it to his portion? It wont taste quite as nice as cooking it all together, but it will still be good and you only have to cook one pot with a little extra.

You could do the same with pies, make a creamy veg and mushroom pie filling, cook chicken separately and add to your husbands, then put pastry rounds on top (less fatty as well.

Strategic use of ingredients is really the key to getting your food bills down, everyone thinks I must spend loads on my food bill as I shop at Ocado, Abel and Cole and Farmers markets, but the truth is, I meal plan, don't waste anything and don't spend money on processed foods. I also don't wander around the supermarket impulse buying and doing BOGOFs I don't need (BOGOFS can be great, but often they're just a waste!)

Yes it's more effort, but it tastes better, is healthier and is generally nicer for everyone, My DB really didn't like vegetables, he would say "oh I hate parsnips, or I don't like leeks" yeah, turns out he loves all that stuff he just hadn't had them prepared in nice ways

Just an idea!

he would say "oh I hate parsnips, or I don't like leeks" yeah, turns out he loves all that stuff he just hadn't had them prepared in nice ways

I hid leeks in a fish chowder last night - my DH won't eat them if he can see them!