The Resourceful Cook is a new meal-planning website and I’ve been meaning to check out the site for a while now. I just used the site’s calculator to find out how much it can save me and it estimated £1117 by avoiding waste and controlling costs. Wow!

I’ve written about meal planning sites before, but what I love about The Resourceful Cook is how customisable and detailed it is. Even if  you don’t want to fully commit to a meal planner, I can see how it could really make your life easier (and save you money!) Plus just reading it makes me hungry and excited to cook.

You choose your family size (one, two or four), what type of pantry you keep (basic, typical or cook’s) and the supermarket you frequent. Then choose from a range of menu plans, from home take-aways (fish & chips!) to Mediterranean medley (king prawn paella) to low cal and great value options. I chose great value and narrowed it down to four meals for the week that we’d cook in. The groceries would cost me £17, according to the site. You then have the option of adding more things to your list (biscuits? toilet roll?) before finalising and creating a printable version.

There are other options too. Really busy? Pick a quick shop menu and you’ll instantly get a shopping list for three meals. You can also plan dinner parties for up to eight using the site.

Meal plans only ever use fresh ingredients in amounts that match the pack sizes available in the shops. According to the site, that means no waste, ever. Plus you get a price per person for ever recipe, which I love. I’m assuming they base that on where I indicated I shop most but I’m not sure. According to the company, prices are based on an average between a range of typical supermarkets but soon they will have it updated automatically according to specific supermarkets.

I haven’t cooked anything yet, but I’m impressed. If it could magically base the menus around what’s on sale at the supermarket  plus what I’ve got coming in my Abel & Cole box it would be even better, but you can’t have everything!! I recommend The Resourceful Cook a look.



19” HD Ready LCD TV each £119.99	Sonic Toothbrush each £16.99	TV Wall Bracket each £24.99
3 Way HDMI Switchboard Box each £11.99	Plug-in TV Signal Booster each £7.99	Sonic Toothbrush Heads per pack £4.99
Blood Pressure Monitor each £11.99	Digital Thermometer each £2.99	Glass Shelved Stand each £12.99
Nose and Ear Hair Trimmer each £1.69	Soft Close Toilet Seat each £15.99	Dettol Disinfectant Spray each £1.99
Mini Spray per pack £1.89	Moist Toilet Tissue per pack £2.29	Kilrock Gel Descaler each £1.99
Microfibre Bath Mat each £7.99	Luxury Bath Sheet each £6.99	Reversible Bath Mat each £6.99

We seem to eat a lot of cereal! Here is the latest:

Running total: £174.50

6th September – £3 for three boxes of cereal
4th September – £4.37 for pizza toppings
3rd September – nothing!
2nd September – £3.36 for two boxes of cereal
1st September – £26.25 for Abel & Cole delivery – fruit and veg, milk and eggs, plus pork mince for burgers (plenty will be frozen for another time) and more bread flour
31st August – £6.29 for massive block of parmesan (went on last night’s courgettes and pasta)
30th August – £4.25 for goats cheese (half off! to go on beetroot salad and baguettes) and £.89 for the baguette
29th August – nothing!
28th August – nothing!
27th August – nothing!
26th August – nothing!
25th August – £23.73 for Abel & Cole delivery, which included salmon and mussels (but we had a £10 off voucher)
24th August – £3.20 lunch stuff
23rd August – £28 misc lunch and dinner stuff (E didn’t save his receipts so this is an estimate)
22nd August – £5.20 baking stuff for chocolate chip cookies
21st August – £37.24 (guessing again here, as I also lost my receipt. argh!) mainly on fajitas stuff and also rye flour which we will someday use to make sourdough starter
20th August – nothing!
19th August – nothing!
18th August – £20.13 Abel & Cole order – fruit and veg, milk, eggs and bread
17th August – £5 on 2 x 500g steak mince, £1.50 on 2 x 750g tomato sauce
16th August – £1.80 on stirfry stuff for dinner, £.98 on cereal
15th August – nothing!

On Monday and Tuesday this week there’s a great “3 for £10” deal on selected British meat and poultry products, as well as a cracking half-price offer on Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.

OWN BRAND

The Co-operative British Fresh Beef Burgers 10’s 855g – £4.00
The Co-operative British Elmwood Hot & Spicy Chicken Thighs and Drumsticks 1.2kg – £4.00
The Co-operative British Elmwood Garlic & Herb Thighs and Drumsticks 1.2kg – £4.00     The Co-operative British Elmwood Chinese Chicken Thighs and Drumsticks 1.2kg – £4.00
The Co-operative British 8 Jumbo Cumberland Sausages 840g – £4.00
The Co-operative British 8 Jumbo Pork Sausages 840g – £4.00
The Co-operative British Hot & Spicy Pork Loin Steaks 420g – £4.00
ANY 3 FOR £10

The Co-operative British Dry Cured/Breaded/Honey Roast Ham 300g – £3.00
HALF PRICE

The Co-operative Kiwi Fruits 6’s – £1.00
ONLY £1

The Co-operative Strawberries 400g – £2.00
The Co-operative Raspberries 170g – £2.00
The Co-operative Blueberries 200 – £2.00
The Co-operative White Grapes 500g – £2.00
BUY ANY 3 FOR £5

The Co-operative Ultra Concentrated Laundry Liquid 730ml – £3.00
BUY ONE GET ONE FREE

The Co-operative British Beef Frying Steak 700g – £5.00
HALF PRICE

The Co-operative Mandarins 700g – £1.60
THIRD OFF

The Co-operative Fairtrade 99 Tea Bags 750g – £3.07
50% EXTRA FREE

The Co-operative Fairtrade Chocolate 100g – £0.90
2 FOR £1.40

The Co-operative Fairtrade Champagne Truffles 115g – £3.00
ONLY £3.00

The Co-operative Sweetcorn Cobettes 4′s – £1.00
ONLY £1.00

The Co-operative Fairtrade Rich Roast Coffee 100g – £1.35
20% OFF

The Co-operative Fairtrade Orange Juice 250ml – £0.56
20% OFF

The Co-operative New Potatoes 2kg – £1.25
SAVE 50p

BRANDED

Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream 500ml – £2.04
HALF PRICE

Kenco Smooth/Rich Coffee Freeze-dried Coffee 100g – £1.75
THIRD OFF

BRANDED

Andrex Toilet Tissue 9’s – £5.06
BUY ONE GET ONE FREE

Clairol Herbal Essences 250ml – £2.64
BUY ONE GET ONE FREE

Danepak Smoked/ Unsmoked Back Bacon 220g - £2.20
BUY ONE GET ONE FREE

Danepak Pork Sausages 454g – £3.00
BUY ONE GET ONE FREE

Duracell Ultra Batteries AA/AAA 4’s – £4.99
BUY ONE GET ONE FREE

Kellogg’s Nutrigrain Elevenses 6 x 45g - £1.29
HALF PRICE

Sharwood’s Naan Breads 2’s – £1.00
ONLY £1.00

Uncle Ben’s Long Grain Rice 500g – £1.00
ONLY £1.00

Sharwood’s Indian Cooking Sauces 420g – £1.00
ONLY £1.00

Heinz Baked Beans 4 x 415g – £2.29
2 FOR £3

Waitrose offers for 26th August – 21st September. Check Waitrose.com for the weekly Delia and Heston special offers.

Nothing crazy yet this week but I’m really quite shocked at just how much we spend on groceries! We’re barely past the halfway mark for my tracking month! This is a real reality check.

Running total: £167.13

2nd September – £3.36 for two boxes of cereal
1st September – £26.25 for Abel & Cole delivery – fruit and veg, milk and eggs, plus pork mince for burgers (plenty will be frozen for another time) and more bread flour
31st August – £6.29 for massive block of parmesan (went on last night’s courgettes and pasta)
30th August – £4.25 for goats cheese (half off! to go on beetroot salad and baguettes) and £.89 for the baguette
29th August – nothing!
28th August – nothing!
27th August – nothing!
26th August – nothing!
25th August – £23.73 for Abel & Cole delivery, which included salmon and mussels (but we had a £10 off voucher)
24th August – £3.20 lunch stuff
23rd August – £28 misc lunch and dinner stuff (E didn’t save his receipts so this is an estimate)
22nd August – £5.20 baking stuff for chocolate chip cookies
21st August – £37.24 (guessing again here, as I also lost my receipt. argh!) mainly on fajitas stuff and also rye flour which we will someday use to make sourdough starter
20th August – nothing!
19th August – nothing!
18th August – £20.13 Abel & Cole order – fruit and veg, milk, eggs and bread
17th August – £5 on 2 x 500g steak mince, £1.50 on 2 x 750g tomato sauce
16th August – £1.80 on stirfry stuff for dinner, £.98 on cereal
15th August – nothing!

Save money and eat well by choosing food that is in season. Here is what to buy in September, according to BBC GoodFood:

Fruit
At its best: apricots, blackberries, broadbeans, damson, figs, gooseberries, peaches, pears, plums, raspberries, redcurrants, strawberries, tomatoes

Coming in: bramley apples, cranberries, quince,

Veg
At its best: aubergines, beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, cavalo nero, celeriac, celery, courgettes, fennel bulbs, garlic, globe artichokes, kale, lamb’s lettuce, leeks, lettuce, parsnips, peas, peppers, potatoes, radishes, sorrel, spinach, sweetcorn, swiss chard, watercress

Coming in: brussels sprouts, pumpkin, salsify, swedes, sweet potatoes, turnips,

Meat
At its best: autumn lamb, goose, grouse, guinea fowl, lamb

Coming in: duck

Fish
At its best: crab, halibut, oysters, salmon, tuna

Coming in: mussels