Eat for £12 a week?

lil_me

Fair point I think, exchanging ideas if someone feels they can help is a great thing and something this forum has thrived on. Sorry mean't to add I apologise if your circumstances have change Cute n Quirky as when I checked through to make sure what I said was correct about benefits etc there was other posts about where to buy wholesale items for resale, being self employed etc.

In addition to what has been said, the main meals I post on the meal planner thread are just that, hopefully mine will not be seen as 'stodge' not that I would comment on what others choose to feed themselves and their family, if it was I wouldn't have lost almost a stone in 3 weeks Suppose also depends on what you class as 'processed'?? My main meal for today would have been written on my meal plan as lasagne and chips, the lasagne was completely home cooked with fresh pasta, more vegetables than meat, cheese made at a local farm, same with the milk, only thing NOT sourced locally (herbs etc were from the garden) was the tomatoes for the sauce (forgot to defrost some) and the pasta. Chips were local grown potatoes made into oven chips (I don't own a deep fat fryer) also with this was salad, but as I always put on my meal plans 'vegetables depends on what needs using'.

So what does all this mean in terms of fruit and veg today when all I put was lasagne and chips....Breakfast - fresh strawberries and defrosted raspberries with home made yoghurt, Lunch - Salad with a grilled piece of chicken breast, then dinner. Plus fresh orange juice I suppose (made at home from bought oranges) Would estimate after the snacks of an apple, grapes, a kiwi fruit and a banana, maybe 10+ portions of fruit & veg today ?

My fruit & veg budget for the family is more than what many spend on their entire shopping but I am hoping to change this, unfortunately without cheap stores nearby this means relying on home grown foods.

Errata

Surely nobody in this day and age is so poor they can only afford to spend 11p per head per meal?

lil_me

I think many would be suprised at how little some need to live on, some of course choose to using home grown foods etc. I have seen similar difficult times myself in situations like when my partner was laid off at work, same bills to pay and nothing to pay them etc. I suppose until you have lived it you don't realise.

Softstuff

Errata wrote: »

Surely nobody in this day and age is so poor they can only afford to spend 11p per head per meal?

Some are unfortunately, but other than that many people practice strict meal budgeting so they can spend the money elsewhere, whether it's clearing a debt, or paying off a mortgage early. My rationale for meal budgeting is saving the money to pay off our mortgage... if we continue with all our budgets as they are, and our current employment situation, we'll pay off our mortgage in 5 years instead of 30. Then the banks get only 1/6th of the interest they would have had otherwise, we will then spend on a new car and home renovations before focusing on retiring early.

As for 11p per head per meal for us... 11p is 27.5 cents, so that would be $1.75 a day for food... I could do that, but I don't think we'd be happy. We tend to spend between $200-$300 a month which is 80-120 pounds. That includes all household goods (toiletries, cleaning, whatever), and we eat far from badly.

Penny-Pincher!!

Cute_n_Quirky wrote: »

Well-balanced???? Pardon?

What should we all be eating then hun We eat a minimum of 5 fruit/veggies per day and all meals are HM (99%).

If you view my weekly shopping lists you will notice that we buy fruit/veg from the market when reduced at the end of the day and eating balanced doesnt have to cost a fortune. None of us are overweight. Breakfasts are smoothies with reduced fruit and low fat yogurt which we freeze.

Reading your comments, you are either someone who is overweight and cant eat the stodgy food through fear of gaining more weight and are probably restricted to a high protein-low/fat diet or you are just a horrible AE trying to ruffle a few feathers as youve only been registered for 4 weeks.

Either way, my meal plans are fine and my family healthy.

PP
xx

Gingham_Ribbon

Cute_n_Quirky wrote: »

Well-balanced???? Pardon?

With respect, I think you're mistaken. That menu is health and balanced and accounts for evening meals only. There was plenty of veg in it too. I am sure you don't expect people to incorporate fruit into their evening main course? Further, even if it wasn't healthy and balanced, there is a difference between asking for clarification on points, or offering advice on improving menus and simply mocking or attacking other people's attempts to help others on here.

Can we please get back to offering support, encouragement and help to each other and ease off on the insults? :beer:

Cute_'n'_Quirky

Penny-Pincher!! wrote: »

What should we all be eating then hun We eat a minimum of 5 fruit/veggies per day and all meals are HM (99%).

If you view my weekly shopping lists you will notice that we buy fruit/veg from the market when reduced at the end of the day and eating balanced doesnt have to cost a fortune. None of us are overweight. Breakfasts are smoothies with reduced fruit and low fat yogurt which we freeze.

Reading your comments, you are either someone who is overweight and cant eat the stodgy food through fear of gaining more weight and are probably restricted to a high protein-low/fat diet or you are just a horrible AE trying to ruffle a few feathers as youve only been registered for 4 weeks.

Either way, my meal plans are fine and my family healthy.

PP
xx

Your menu is full of fat and stodge - anyone can eat for £12 per week on rubbish and junk.

You are not eating a healthy, balanced diet of good nutritious food at all.

It is a scam trying to pass off a fatty, heart-attack diet as being healthy.

It is misleading and detrimental to folks' health on here - how many dozens of folks have you taken in with your nonsense? You and Black Saturn.

lynzpower

I am another who spends 25pw ( was 20 pw- but upped it a bit now we are debt free) on 2 and a dog. including cleaning stuff & toiletries. I dont buy value meat, but also we waste absolutely nothing.

We actually were supposed to be doing 7-8 portions of fruit & veg a day as OH had high cholestrol- given the changes in his diet ( courtesy of moi and everything Ive learned on here) we have now dropped back down to 5 mainly because it was really a struggle to manage 7-8 every single day given he ( and I ) dont realy like fruit very much.

The meals we have are always on the menu planner, if we have eg bangers & mash we will have onion gravy made with 3 onions, veg is- carrots, peas, sweetcorn, parnsips whatevers going cheap at the market/lidls/ tescos. So bangers & mash & veg reads like one portion, but its more like 4. beans on toast for lunch and a glass of Oj in the morning will bump it up to 6. If I get cheap strawbs thats 7 - we dont eat a lot of puddings really.

I usually have a HM soup oin the freezer, mushroom, leek & pot, country veg, chicken & veg and each one wil have at least 2 portions of vetg in each one if not more, as I like them thick and creamy and carrots /snips/ swede used for this ( instead of cream which we are not meant to have in case of cholestrol probs resurging)

From a cost perspective I try to buy british only veg ( occasionally snap & have baby corns or courgettes) most value F&V is british seasonal from the gluts. I grow my own lettuce, spinach, rocket, and have sweetcorn, green beans courgette and mange tout and peppers on the go- whether they will succeed depends on the weather- but its worth a try.

Anyone who says its not possible is lying to themselves. of course its possible. Ive been doing it for well over a year we are happier, healthier and richer than ever before. :beer:

lynzpower

Cute_n_Quirky wrote: »

Your menu is full of fat and stodge - anyone can eat for £12 per week on rubbish and junk.

You are not eating a healthy, balanced diet of good nutritious food at all.

It is a scam trying to pass off a fatty, heart-attack diet as being healthy.

It is misleading and detrimental to folks' health on here - how many dozens of folks have you taken in with your nonsense? You and Black Saturn.

COme on then- enlighten us

What do you eat every day?

theres no point in slagging others off, if you are not going to help and enable others to learn from you

Help us out here, show us what you do thats better

Cute_'n'_Quirky

lynzpower wrote: »

COme on then- enlighten us

What do you eat every day?

theres no point in slagging others off, if you are not going to help and enable others to learn from you

Help us out here, show us what you do thats better

It is not about what I eat, it is about these know-it-alls who post a 'healthy, balanced' diet which is anything but.

It is a heart-attack ridden menu of disaster.