6000 meals under 50p in 2010; feeding your family on a low budget

catznine

Off to pm you now JackieO!

candygirl

Just pmd you Jackie xxx:A

mark55man

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

Again, not particularly healthy. Cheese every single day isn't healthy, and not one person in your family appears to be getting their 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day.

OK - my earlier problem with your posts is that the food posted above is not all that is eaten, I was trying to focus on one aspect of my spending not a complete nutrition chart.

Currently, and this is typical, we have 30 apples, 20 nectarines, 5 bananas, 4 litres of fruit juice in the house. I expect them to be gone by Sunday . For 5 portions a day per person we should have 30 portions a day or 200 a week or 10,000 a year. I will consider extending the thread to count this, but am doing one step at a time

BTW - I am a big fan of the contribution the Polish have made to Britain - pre WW2, during it, Solidarity, Economically - so if we disagree on stuff its simply because we disagree on stuff - especially style and tone

nikki20022008

Hi mark I just popped over to steal some ideas :rolleyes: your doing great keep it up and the very best of luck x
and ignore high all mighty's advice he he your doing great the two challanges are very different and I know you are doing best you can as am I lovin your thread and pop over for some grow your own veg tips anytime tc

juliapenguin

Hi Mark

I'm terrified to post on here in case I get attacked by the food police, but I just wanted to tell you one of my favourite super-cheap meals which kids and adults seem to enjoy. It doesn't sound tasty, but a foodie friend of mine (consultant cardiologist, before the guns come out, so I imagine he knows a little something about health) lived on it and its many variations while at medical school and for some years after. It's all king prawns and seared tuna for him these days... Anyway, I get tired of having tinned tomato-based sauces all the time and this makes for a change.

The basic ingredients are onions which are fried in a little oil and carrots which are briefly boiled or steamed then added to the pan with the onions. Keep on gently frying for quite a while and the result is amazing. Obviously there needs to be more than that, so a small amount of bacon, other meat, beans, nuts or a little cheese will add protein, and it's nice with both pasta and rice. Obviously you can dump in any other veg - particularly peppers, leeks and mushrooms.

The surprising thing is that carrots and onions together can have such a delicious savoury taste, especially if you add a small amount of chopped bacon for flavour. I also sometimes add a little chicken stock to the cooking water for the carrots.

We're very snowy here (Manchester) and I'm not back at work yet, so I might even get a big pan of onions and carrots on to cook very slowly this morning and then I'll divide it up and freeze in portions for quick after work dinners.

Good luck with your challenge today, Mark and anyone else who's doing it!

Julia x

cassan

PolishBigSpender

Perhaps you could give us some examples of the meals you give your family?

boredofbeingathome

catznine wrote: »

Hi Mark!

I am enjoying following your thread and now I have put a certain person on ignore it's much better!;)

zcrat41 - Thanks for the spicy lentil soup recipe, I am going to try that out tomorrow!

Our favourite soup is hm cream of vegetable soup. 1 - 1+ 1/2 lbs of veg mainly root (parsnips, carrots, sweet potato, and onions) but often we throw in runner beans/leeks etc., if we have any leftover. Just chop and cook in a good veg stock until soft, then process until smooth. I then add some skim or soya milk and season, (we like to sprinkle on some paprika just before serving with some lovely hm granary bread. All the goodness of the vegetables is kept in the soup rather than washed away down the sink (unless you save it) when veg is drained. It is very filling, suits vegetarians and must count towards some of your five a day requirements.

That sounds lovely catzine. I never thought of using soya milk before ..doh! As my DD has an intolerance to milk, i buy soya milk for her and try to boost her calcium intake through other leafy veg and she is ok with some yoghurts- it has been trial and error really.

Think i will make this today as i have some sweet potatoes left..or i may just make some large wedges with them-decisions, decisions:rotfl:

Keep going Mark you are doing a good job and it is great to see someone get to grips with things and do their very best for family on a limited budget.:D:T

AudreyHepburn_2

Hi Mark - this tread is a great read and I really applaud your efforts to increase the fruit and veg content of the meals – can’t be easy trying to please the kids every day whilst sticking to the budget.

Out of interest, I costed the ingredients for my typical daily meals to the nearest 0.5p as follows:

50g value oats 3.5p
600ml skimmed milk 29.5p
50g split yellow peas 5p
1/3 stock cube 1p
20g vegetable oil 5p
50g flour 3.5p
300g green veg 12p
100g carrot 8p
10g tomato puree 2.5p
50g onion 2.5p
200g potato 11p
1/3 tin pilchards 23p

Total £1.07p.

In practice - I make flat bread with 6 days worth of the flour and some of the oil, cut it into 6 for one piece a day spread with tomato puree.
150g split peas cooked with stock cube, 300g carrots, 150g onion makes soup for 3 days lunches.
The milk I have with the oats plus milky coffee at night, and the spud is micro waved with oil and served with green veg and fish.

Good Luck to you Mark and your family!

misscousinitt

Hi Mark

Sorry I got the wrong end of the stick regarding chickens! I started a bit of 'grow your own' last year and although it didn't save me a fortune, it was great to just go outside my back door and pick a lettuce, some spring onions and tomatoes for salad - a real sense of achievement.

While people are adding their favourite soup recipes, here are mine:

Leek & Potato

potatoes, leeks, onions, garlic, veg stock (from powder)

Sweat onions, leeks and garlic together in a little olive oil for about 10 mins till soft and translucent. Add cubed potatoes and stock and a good grinding of black pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Blend to desired consistency and serve with crusty bread. Its quite filling...

Chicken & Vegetable

1 chicken carcass (or more if you have saved them and stored in the freezer), bayleaf, peppercorns, onions, garlic, variety of vegetables - I find its a good way of using up any bits and bobs of veggies you have, soup mix (soaked for a few hours), chicken stock cube

Simmer the chicken carcass, bayleaf and peppercorns in a large saucepan for 1 hour in enough water to cover the bones. Drain and reserve stock removing bayleaf and peppercorns. Pick all the meat off the bones (its amazing how much you will get) and reserve. Sweat onions and garlic in a little oil for 10 mins until translucent, add reserved stock, plus the stock cube dissolved in 2 pints of hot water. Chop all your vegetables and add to the pan, plus the soup mix and reserved chicken meat. Simmer together for 30 minutes, season to taste and serve. This recipe can be adapted for what veg you have in - if you want it thicker, add (more) potatoes.

Good luck - I will be following with interest.

A

[Deleted User]

Hi anyone I haven't forwarded the recipes to let me know
JackieO xx