April Menu Planning and Food Shopping

This video is demonstrating an approach I use for menu planning and food shopping at the moment, using April’s food budget and meal planner sheets. Thanks for watching 🤍

Hi welcome to Frugal full my name is’s Lara and this is a Frugal Lifestyle Channel all about living a good life on a Sho string budget so today is going to be all about menu planning for April and a we trip to the shops there’s lots of

Content it’s a long video so let’s get straight into it let’s go through the first steps for doing meal planning menu planning for April so I’ve already made a start on this oh look at this poor coriander it’s terrible looking a bit like Mother Hubbard here cuz the cupboard looks

Quite bare but it’s not as bad as it seems so so I’ve had to look through the fridge the freezer and the cupboard where I keep the tins so it’s like the still leftovers in these jars and things that I might use for some dishes that’s

Fine it’s not really a huge amount here to factor into meal planning the avocado maybe so that will be the next step but that’s going to be for tonight cuscus Curry that I’ve defrosted again more condiments and stuff like that so there’s not really that much to list in the inventory for

The fridge freezer there’s actually so much still left in here there’s loads and loads so I’ve made a note of everything I already had the inventory list from March so basically I’ve just used that again and I’ve just adapted it added in what slow cooker meals and batch cook meals there

Are that are still left that I haven’t used there were meals that I didn’t eat in March that were carried forward and just did a oh she’s away did a we stock check of the veggies that are still left I haven’t included them on the list but there’s loads of fruit frozen fruit

In here and there’s like wee cakey bar things that I’ve made with apples and different stuff so if I’m hungry and need a snack I’m going to use these up cuz they’re really needing used up this month or at least some of them this month and then I would really like to

Try and use up a whole load of the fruit in here because the thing about it is I’m not a massive fruit fan and it needs to get used cuz it’s not as fresh now so I’m planning to have more things like smoothies instead of having porridge for

Brunch have smoothies and that kind of thing or if I’m having some moly and some yogurt put a bit of fresh fruit in or put more fresh fruit into porridge instead of dried fruit and just use up some stuff so yeah there’s plenty of Veggie stuff in the freezer which is

Good and some meals here’s my one little girl hello oh she’s so gorgeous you good girl she’s waiting patiently for a game aren’t you sweetie yeah so this is cupboard I also check as well there’s not a huge amount in here just now there’s a few tins of stuff

Again it’s more just the Savory things that I’m looking at here oh ow I can’t do it sore no potatoes or onions in there just now so next step is the inventory so I’ve done that I’ve listed everything so there’s a lot of different kinds of veggies as you

Can see leftover salsa mix in the freezer tens of tomatoes lots of different kinds of veggies and asparagus there’s absolutely tons cuz I got it very reduced price and froze it different kind of Carby things rice bulgo weat cuscus pasta lasagna sheets oats aboro that’s risoto rice

Noodles flour and there’s some root Mash that’s in the freezer oh sorry it’s awful sore today yogurts so they’re in the freezer going to get them used up this month eggs veggie mins lentil split pie so these are all sources of protein veggie sausages didn’t end up using them in

March so that was good there’s still a wee bit of mozzerella left and and some different beans so it says here about 12 eggs and six tins of beans the inventory I’ve got here includes the things that are coming on the Asda shop tonight so also these are oh yeah there’s some

Compt to use up so I’ve just put that there but that’s not really for meal planning it’s not really that important to know about that and then these are Meals Ready meals that I’ve already cooked in the past and Frozen that are in the freezer right now ready to potentially use so

Risoto some corn chick pea Curry Ratatouille the sausage thing and the sticky mango rice so that’s my inventory list and then the next step I’ve had a look on little and there are some loss leaders until so today’s Monday at this point in the video and

Wednesday is the last day for these loss leaders there’s a good chance that there won’t be any of these available they’re probably going to be sold out but you never know and I think every single one of these is 15 P for these lost leader deals which is really amazing so I’m

Hoping they will still have them in stock spring onions sweet green beans baby potatoes carrots and shots so there’s so much I could do with those ingredients to get them fresh so here’s hoping we’ll see and then the next step I’ve made a way bit of a head start on

It so I’ve written out the menu planners with the dates for the month of April and all the meals that are in so far without a star they’re meals that are for the busier days so I’ve just put in things that I’m using up stuff from the freezer and then where I’ve put

Stars that’s where I’m planning to menu plan to do batch cooking including some slow cooker Sundays watch this space so where there are stars I’ll be putting in some of the meal ideas I’ve got so far that take longer to prepare where I’ll hopefully have some that can

Be frozen left over isn’t that right B Be yes and then some of the meal ideas are things that are um quick meals they’re quite easy to prepare they don’t take as long but I still want to make them on nights that aren’t as busy so basically like these are the

Meals on the busiest days that I’ve got the least time and all I want to have to do is reheat something and defrost it and then these are the the days where I’ll have more time for cooking and then the others are where I can cook something from scratch but it will be

Something that doesn’t take that long not a slow cooker meal or something something straightforward and pretty fast to prepare so I’ll fill in the gaps here and then we can get on to the next step but just to say to do that this is another step is having an idea dreaming up some

Dishes things that may be a good meal using what I’ve got in stock so these are my ideas for this month so this one is a slow cooker idea Rootin lentil casserole lasagna is a slow cooker meal I may do that still to decide uh Ratatouille pasta that can be

Done as a slow cooker but I’m still to decide split PE split pea D or lentil D and chapattis I’m going to probably have that as a quite a quick meal one night and maybe batch cook it spiced bulgar wheat that’s a really easy one to throw together Moroccan mushroom and green

Bean couscous is tasty so yeah for uh if there any of these you’d like to see in a video let me know and I can do a we video when I make them veggie omelet that’ll be an easy one and then I’ll probably do another sausage thing

Um or the other thought I had was doing rather than making homemade potato wedges or maybe if I end up buying those reduced potatoes they could be potato wedges or otherwise root chips so carrot and parsnip chips they’re really tasty and it’s a good alternative to having so

Many carbs root chips with sausages and beans or spaghetti Hoops or Amor scrambled egg like a kind of cooked breakfasty type meal that’s always a good one like that kind of thing and then other batch cook ones that’s not a slow cooker but it’s a really nice meal to have and batch cook

Is risotto so there’s plenty of choice in the freezer of different veggies to use for that there’s Peppers asparagus leak mushrooms so there’s loads of options there chickpea Curry and another veggie chili maybe but I’ve got a batch of corn mins so I’d probably use the corn Min if I do that

And if I do a veggie lasagna I maybe will use the corn mince half a bag as well yeah we’ll see so anyway this is based on what I’ve already got and what’s coming tonight so there’s loads of stuff to keep me going for this menu

So let’s get this these ideas and these meals across onto this menu and then I’ll be back and I’ll tell you the next steps that we’re doing okay that’s that job done so all the gaps are filled so bearing in mind as well if I end up buying those loss

Leaders or there some kind of amazing reduced price bargain I might adapt this a bit the great thing is that at the beginning of the menu these are things to just take out the freezer so they could easily be carried forward for the end of the month or the beginning of

Next month as extra meal options so you know like if there’s really amazing bargainous veggies or reduced price meals it’s cheaper to save these for another time and make something else and for example I’ve got that fresh avocado needing used up so if I see something that I could have along

With that as a meal then I might adapt that away bit what’s here so we’ll see but that’s the plan so as you can see in theory I shouldn’t really need to buy very much at all in April because there’s enough in stock to do pretty much all the meals

So that’s a list of needs and wants so far so I’ve jumped to the next stage I’ve kind of done the next stage as I go along I tend to do that I just kind of start writing things down as I realize I need them as well like covered items and

Things so this is how going into may this is how my inventory should be apart from that avocado and there’ll be hopefully a lot less yogurts by then but there’ll still be quite a lot of food in the freezer and the cupboards and there’ll be a whole another round of Frozen stuff because

I’m planning to batch cook all these different meals Curry Ratatouille pasta lasagna uh root casserole Roto sausage thing and chili so there’ll be hopefully another set of frozen meals in there so and then depending on whether these are available it might change things slightly again give more

Options so I used pretty much I think I’ve used all these yet cuz I ended up putting that as a a quick meal one night so I’ve ended up using all these ideas for different meals as part of the menu cuz I knew these things are things

I have in stock so it makes sense rather than having to buy unnecessarily so that’s where we’re at with that this is the list of needs and wants so far so some of these things in this wants list are stock up items so if I end up stocking up on them

Throughout the month I might use my some of my essentials and stock up fund for that so that would be these ones that I’m putting the dot beside the ones with the Stars are the things I’ll need sooner I’ve still got enough for now but it will run out this month same with

That Um this can wait cuz I’m using ones cat litters not Mega urgent but that will be needed this month and then so will this but I’ve got a date so I know I mean the B baked potato wouldn’t have to be bought because I do have some

Noodles in the cupboard I could do like a veggie udon noodle dish but I thought it would be good for using up that salsa mix so budg just allowing I’m sure the budget will allow for a baked potato at the end of the month so really the needs

List is very small so depending on my budget that I’ve got in mind today I might buy a few of these items that have a star against them there might also be some loss leaders being bought here so I’ll have a way look through the cupboards add in any cupboard things

That I’ve not thought of and toiletries and cleaning products and then um so in the shop itself needs will be the priority followed by loss leaders and any amazing reduced price things that can’t be missed and then and only then budget allowing it’s once so before we go shopping first of

All just going to have a quick check with you I’ve already had a bit of a look so I don’t imagine there being anything it’s a total riot in here sorry these are things I don’t bother writing down for the inventory because I just kind of look each month and just

Get a general Gest of if I’m going to need to stock up on anything yeah there’s LS left in there not thinking I’m going to need anything here oh do you know what I think I do need is tin foil though seconds excuse me I think I’ve got a

Cold think I got a bit of a chill walking right oh I forgot about all these nice dried fruit and things mom gave me this big huge bag of GOI berries here there’s a whole load of flour maybe pancakes sometime they’re always good loads of carvy things and

Then the stuff that comes tonight is going to top up for the rice the pasta the risoto rice oh see this is why it’s always worth checking there is a bag of porridge in here already so I’m going to take that off the list it’s not needed oh do you know something actually

It’s already coming with the online shopping oh it’s okay it’s not going to go to waste this is why it’s good to check first so I don’t think there’s anything I need here apart from tinf o oh there is a small amount left I’m going to put 10 foil on the

List still enough baking powder I use that for cleaning as well enough herbs and spices okay let’s check the cleaning products now it’s a riot in here as well I hardly ever need that many cleaning products I mean I do clean my home sometimes these are for Bella’s lit Tre

When I’m cleaning that out but yeah there’s still enough there oh I’m getting the whole load of these on the online shop tonight as well and didn’t need them okay well there you go that’s another and Bin bags but then it’s good to stock up on these things it’s it’s not really an

Issue right so we’ve done that antib back wipes oh yeah I think I’m going to need some anti-back wipes I know they’re not the there are cheaper ways to clean but they help make life easier cuz sometimes I have so little energy to do housework and cleaning sometimes just

Having a couple of them makes all the difference got some more washing up liquid coming don’t need anti b or vinegar that’s fine okay yeah it’s just it’s good to have a oh I shouldn’t have lifted that that hurt uh it’s good to have spare of that right so that’s that

I’ll go and check toiletries and I’ll be back in a sec so anti-back wipes kitchen roll hair conditioning treatment none of these are urgent but they’ve been added onto the wants list because yeah as you can see running low toilet rolls are coming tonight so that’s good don’t need don’t

Need any diluting juice there’s still plenty of cordal stuff there and the fat balls for the birdes there’s still loads of them so it’s all good sorted so I think that’s it oh I forgot to write the tin foil down again that’s not urgent but it is something I’ll need quite

Soon so there we go that’s the list so let’s go shopping so I’m in ASDA and I’ve not been able to get any of the needed still got to check the milk but I doubt they’ll have that cuz they said it was out of stock for delivery and I’ll check out the reduced

Bread there’s no other reduced deals today and they don’t have the Lost leaders here either so it’s interesting cuz this I’d ordered this one it was out of stock so they offered me this and I was going to say no but they’ve actually got that in stock now which is strange but anyway

Comparing these this is actually less this has less sugar this is actually healthier than this and it’s nearly a pound cheaper so I’m going to give it the try don’t know how good it’ll be but it’s worth a try right two down and one to go so I

Didn’t managed to get very much an AA at all at one point I actually thought I was going to be leaving the store with no items which is probably the first or second if if that probably the first time ever to do that but I did end up buying a few things one

Wait no two one or two really reduced price bready kind of products and have willpower this month Lara don’t eat them all straight away and uh yeah there were some things on the want list so it will save having to get them later in the month or next month and uh treated the

Week so that was good well part of the treat of the week I forgot about the other part so I’ll get that in um little hopefully there’ll be a bit more joy in little actually being able to get stuff on the list it was oh thanks they’re letting me

Across it was uh strange not to see any garlic no garlic in the shop so maybe there are vampires in town and that’s why there’s a garlic shortage but anyway let’s get to little now so I’m back home it was really heavy rain so I wasn’t going to try and film and chat

While walking but little disappointingly all the Lost leaders were back to their normal price even though there’s meant to be two more days of the deal so note to Future Self is when there’s special offers like that go at the beginning of the week in future

Not the end because it looks as if they cut it short sometimes also made a bit of a blunder in ASDA I had an Asda rewards digital voucher for a pound and then it had this thing where you could press it to select 2 and then it canceled out the 2 so I

Ended up not having any reduction so I didn’t realize but it was that you could have 2 instead of 1 voucher but it was only if you bought I think it’s household items or something so I ended up losing that pound which is rubbish so again note to fut your self be very

Careful when it flashes up with a bonus coupon read the small print first but never mind so I just checked the Asda online shopping receipt again and it turns out I am going to get four milk so that’s good so I thought I was going

To need to get more milks later in the month but I’ve bought four today and then there’ll be four coming with the shopping so I should be covered it’s annoying cuz the milks I bought today they’d sold out in little and Asda of I must have got the last four in

ASDA but when I physically went there there were none and there were none in little so I had to buy milks that are over double the price boo what I noticed was in both shops that um I was in B&M too for a small number of things but what I noticed in

Asar and little is that the shelves were empty for certain things when it was the cheaper versions of certain things that are still just as good quality they’re selling out so you know why that is cost of living Christ very frustrating situation so also probably a Monday is not a good time

Monday L afternoon early evening it’s probably not a great time to have gone in hindsight because a lot of people do their bulk shop on a Monday so and the fact it’s the Easter holiday Monday as well means that probably more people went shopping today to get their stuff

So there’s less available on the shelves so I’ll remember that for future too but as you can see I got quite a lot of things that were on the list managed to get the garlic don’t need the yogurts got some milks got the tomatoes might need more milks later in

The month but probably not got the coffees these are going to get carried forward to May they’re not urgent the Marmite I got that same price in ASDA as little never tried the Asda version so we’ll see the music Le coming with the shopping so as I was talking about in

The video The Substitute is actually healthier so that’s great don’t need yogurts yet got some backup Nut Butter got one bag of cat litter and just opened two bags yesterday so there’s enough to last my Wii one till May and then the hair conditioning treatment don’t need that yet got one that’ll be

Enough I’ve adjusted the menu so I no longer need chickpeas they were out of stock no longer need the baked potato and I got some spare Tomatoes don’t need the anti-back wipes cuz I found more in the bathroom so yeah and then got the kitchen roll the tin foil paracetamol

Ibuprofen and I’m just going to show you the adjustments I’ve made to the menu so going to carry that sausage thing forward and I got some bargain rolls in the shops just there so change dinner for tomorrow and just modifying what ingredients I’m using slightly so I didn’t need to buy

Chickpeas or anything and using up stuff that I’ve got um yeah these are just notes to myself so later in the month rather than the baked potato I’m going to have a Le lentil and veggie curry soup with rolls since I got those rolls today and I got bread too so there’s

Loads of veggies to use up in the freezer and there’s lots of dried lentils or split peas so it be easy to make a soup uses up things and then that sausage thing from the beginning of the month can get put there instead of the spiced bulgar wheat

So the way that the menu is now the only thing I might need is some more soy milk later in the month but if I’m having a smaller amount each day I was going to try having just 300 MLS a day and using up that slim fast

Stuff that can’t stand it but need to use it up and if it’s going to help me lose some weight then great might as well get it used up so if I do ration out the milks the milk portions hopefully I won’t even need milk which means I might

Not have to go shopping again in April how good would that be here’s hoping and then these are the modifications I’ve made this is based on what’s been bought in the shops today and looking over the online shop again making sure I’ve updated things so yeah so that’s that the last stage of

Doing meal planning and shopping would be um sorry for sniffling would be chopping and freezing veggies fresh veggies but I’m not getting any fresh veggies delivered tonight so don’t need to do that I did get some bargain bread which I’m going to show you in the next video

So I’ll separate the slices out and freeze them but other than that that’s all the steps of doing a menu plan and a shop completed so thank you for tuning in and watching this video today hope it was useful and looking forward to seeing you next

Time the next video will be like a kind of online shopping haul and today shopping at the shops Hall and going over my food budget and what’s been spent um and that could be all I need to spend for the whole of April hopefully apart from they’ll be spending with

Within the sinking funds so there’ll still be a budget video at the end of April and everything but it will be a we summary of the spending so far and what the sinking funds have been so hope you can join me then and thanks again for watching bye