£7.00 per week - menu ideas

PhGage

This recipe is based on Weezl and MSE friends' Cheap Family Recipes' risi e bisi and is adapted for the £7 to feed 2 adults for a week challenge.

Wolf from the door rice and peas dressed with bacon 2 ways for 2

Ingredients

2 Tbsp fat/oil/dripping (as per budget shopping list)
50g cooking bacon, finely diced
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
100g dried weight marrowfat peas soaked and cooked (see note)
100g dried weight marrowfat peas soaked and sprouted (see note)
160-200g Smartprice long grain rice (depending on appetite)
Make up stock from stock cube: approx 250-280ml
20-40ml bacon spread (4-8 tsps or to taste)

Method

Fry the onion in the fat/oil/dripping until soft and translucent, then remove, leaving the fat in the pan and keep onion to one side.

Fry bacon until crisp. If the bacon doesn't have much fat, add a little water to the pan to assist the fat to melt and stir occasionally until water steams off, leaving crisp bacon and golden brown residue at bottom of pan. Remove bacon from pan.

Having removed bacon from the pan, add the onions back, Add a little of the stock to scrape up the crusty meat essence from the bottom of the pan and stir to dissolve it.

Add rice and the cooked peas and stir to coat in the fat/oil. Add half of the stock.

Bring to boil, turn down to simmer, mostly cover pan and cook for 15 minutes. You may need to add more more of the stock so check it a couple of times and top up with stock if necessary. (If you need more liquid because your pan is quite large relative to the contents, then you might need to add a little bit of a stock cube to adjust the seasoning along with extra water. Cheap Family Recipes describes it thus: "The consistency needs to be quite wet, much more like a sloppy risotto than a biryani.")

Add the sprouted peas to the contents of the pan. Occasionally check that there is enough stock to keep the consistency wet and add more if necessary. Cook for approx. another 15 minutes or until the rice and peas suits your taste.

When cooked, dress/fork through the bacon spread to taste and stir in the reserved bacon pieces or sprinkle over the top.

Notes

Dried peas

I don't use bicarb to soak the dried peas (it's supplied in the packet and the directions advise you on how to use it): the downside of this is that the peas are grey rather than green when cooked but the upside is that it preserves more of the vitamins. If you have an OH who can't bear grey peas, then you might need to use the bicarb but rinse it off well before cooking.

If you sprout the dried peas, you add to the vitamin levels of the peas and it's the nearest I could get to a fresh vegetable for this challenge aside from the onions. (Some people claim that sprouting the peas also helps their digestibility but I don't really know about this.) Sprouting is straightforward using a colander, sieve or seed tray with drain holes: at present, the peas are sprouting well in 36-40hrs because it's so warm.)

You could just use dried marrowfat peas that have all been cooked. Or use peas that have all been sprouted. If they've all been sprouted, then don't add them until the rice has been cooking for some time (you may need to start off with less stock and then add more with the peas).

Costings for 2 generous portions

2 Tbsp dripping 3p
1/12 everyday onion 6p
50g cooking bacon (from the half pack not used to make bacon spread) 7p
200g dried peas 26p
200g smartprice long grain rice 8p
stock cube 1p (may need part of another one)
Bacon spread 4-8 tsps approx 4-8p

Total 55-59p

If you have any herbs, garlic and usual seasonings, they add to the tastiness of this recipe. If you have some cheese, then you can probably get nearer to the Cheap Family Recipes version. I like the slight sweetness of the sprouted peas as it's a good contrast to the salty savour of the bacon/spread.

PhGage

Wolf from the door dried pea soup for £7 to feed 2 adults for 1 week challenge.

Ingredients

3 Tbsp fat/oil/dripping (as per budget shopping list)
2 small onions, peeled and finely chopped
100g dried weight marrowfat peas soaked and cooked (see note)
100g dried weight marrowfat peas soaked and sprouted (see note)
Make up stock from 2-3 stock cubes: approx 2 litres

Extras to serve: 30-60ml bacon spread (6-12 tsps or to taste); 150g dry weight long grain rice (cooked).

Method

Fry the onion in the fat/oil/dripping until soft and translucent, then remove, leaving the fat in the pan and keep onion to one side.

Add the cooked peas (see notes) and stir to coat in the fat/oil. Add the stock.

Bring to boil, turn down to simmer, mostly cover pan and cook for about 15-20 mins.

Add the sprouted peas (if using: see notes) to the contents of the pan. Cook for approx. another 15 minutes.

Put some of the peas aside if you don't want a completely smooth soup.

Either add all or some of the onion back before blitzing. Or, keep aside all/some of the onion and add it just before serving.

Blitz the soup to preferred texture. (see notes)

To serve: Heat soup, stir 1-2 tsps bacon spread to taste per portion. Add any reserved onion if liked.

Notes

Dried peas
Please see dried pea notes as for rice and peas dressed with bacon 2 ways.

Additional to the previous notes, it's personal preference as to whether you choose to use previously soaked and cooked peas, or half and half cooked peas and sprouted peas, or all sprouted peas. Cooking times may vary as sprouted peas typically need less cooking. If you use sprouted peas, you might want to keep some back after cooking when the remainder of the soup is blitzed and then add back in for texture.

Adjusting texture of soup
If you prefer a thicker soup, dry toast 2-4 Tbsp of chickpea flour until it changes colour and smells nutty. Stir some of the soup into the flour and make a paste: cook this out. Add some of the paste back into the soup and stir until smooth and preferred thickness.

For a more substantial soup, don't use the chickpea flour but add some cooked rice when heating.

The above recipe makes 6 generous portions of soup.

Costings for 6 portions

3 Tbsp dripping approx. 5p
2/12 everyday onions approx 12p
200g dried peas 26p
2-3 stock cubes from pack 3p

Chickpea flour (if used) 2p

Approx. total for dried pea soup = 48p

Extras: 1-2tsp bacon spread per portion is extra 1-2p per portion. Rice would add approx. 2p per portion.

stargirl90

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone that's contributed to this thread - I went through it earlier and wrote down loads of ideas. I'm a skint single woman living alone, and I have a disability which limits the amount of hours I can physically work, so I often struggle to make ends meet and I'm always looking for ways to save the pennies - thank you all so much!

[Deleted User]

stargirl90 - yes its great. Someone posted a link to a great site, which i bookmarked, run by some MSE users, its http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/recipes.html i found it fantastic

recoverydust

wow amazed
going to copy and paste recipes into a folder
xx

dory22

Chunkysmum wrote: »

Hello,

So sorry I've not been able to reply. I've been having password issues and had to get help from the MSE tech team. I have been reading the unbelieving posts and been getting really stressed being unable to reply to say THANK YOU SO MUCH.

That menu is fantastic BB!

I am new to this forum and said the bit about MSEs enjoying a challenge as I was trying to make a fairly miserable post a bit more light-hearted as I thought more people would post that way. Sorry.

A bit of background (this will out me if you know me but if I get help I don't care):

I am a final year medical student with a husband who works and an 8 month old daughter. I had to have my daughter earlier than I'd planned to have children, due to a medical condition that I have making it likely that I will be infertile as I get older. Hence why I had her during uni.

I had to take time out of my studies to have treatment/surgery for my medical condition and then to have my daughter.

I restarted my final year in June and, despite me applying at the earliest possible opportunity and providing all requested documentation, NHS bursaries have mucked me around and are now saying that they won't even look at my application until November! I have complained and a 'superior' is calling me tomorrow.

In the meantime, as my course is full-time, my daughter is in full-time uni nursery costing £785 pre month (with discount applied). I also have to have a car due to long commuting distances to different hospitals at irregular hours. Petrol cost is killing me.

Anyway, over the time I've been ill and pregnant our finances have got worse and worse. We had to take out a £3000 loan to pay for a £700 car repair and the first few months of nursery. DH's wage does not cover nursery.

So, anyway, we have £12.20 in the bank until 31st (need petrol etc as well) but basically as soon as my husband's pay goes into the bank it ALL goes out again, we will have NO money for food next month until NHS bursaries pay us. I have applied for a crisis loan form uni (early last week) but they've not got back to me yet.

I have however found £30.00 in the bottom of a draw and, thanks to MSE, discovered I have £42.00 worth of Tesco clubcard vouchers.

My wonderful mum has emptied her store cupboard for me (I had a few things) and bought loads of baby food.

So, I have: Pasta, rice, 1x tin chopped toms, 3 x heinz soup, 1x jar pasta sauce, oil, butter, one chunk of cheese, 2xtin mackerals, assorted pickles.

My nearest supermarkets (in walking distance) are Aldi and Lidl, there is an Asda a 2 min drive away.

I've tried the children's centre but they have been no help :-(

Thank you so much for all your help so far. Would love to see the next week BB.

Role on graduation and a paid doctor job!

hi chunkys mum just to let you know you can get cheap bulk baby stuff on amazon if you do online surveys and get amazon gift cards from the surveys it could help with nappies etc.

tesco's always have reduced meat, veg and bread at around 5 - 6pm on weekday.

hope you do ok.

recoverydust

health visitor - foodbank referral
crisis loan you dont need to be on benefit

septemberblues

You can self refer to the foodbank round here, you would get nutritious food for three days, they even give pet food if you have a hungry animal! They also do baby food, and even toilet rolls, and if you were still in dire straits you can go to them again.

A lot of needy people just turn up and they are never turned away. As someone said on here, you could be a millionaire one minute and homeless and hungry the next, it's a scary thought.

Good luck

Butterfly_Brain

I went into Asda today and I can't believe how much some of their prices have gone up in the last week and I am not talking about a penny or two I am talking about rises of 10p, 25p, and £1 on some things :eek:. Most of their special offers are on junk foods like biscuits, sweets, table sauces (Ketchup and HP) and the like
The £7 challenge is going to be impossible in a few weeks if the prices are rising like that :eek:

PhGage

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

The £7 challenge is going to be impossible in a few weeks if the prices are rising like that :eek:

10p here and there really does have a disproportionate impact when it's such a tiny budget.

It is easier to do the challenge if you are prepared to accept the lack of fruit and vegetables.

Shopping List £6.70 9 August

Asda
Smartprice medium white sliced loaf £0.47 x2 £0.94
Smartprice full fat cream cheese 250g £0.62
Smartprice mixed weight eggs 6 £0.85
Smartprice frozen sausages (20) £1.00
Smartprice baked beans in tomato sauce £0.26 x7 £1.82
Smartprice cornflakes 750g £0.46

Sub-total £5.69

Sainsbury's
Basics skimmed milk powder 400g £1.01

Total £6.70

Breakfasts are the cornflakes and reconstituted milk
Lunches are cream cheese sandwiches (make the cream cheese go further by stretching with a little of the milk)
Dinners are sausage, beans and eggs on alternate days with bread.

Or trade the 2nd loaf and buy the larger, better value pack of eggs (Smartprice mixed weight 15 for £1.25) and have hard/boiled eggs for lunch on 2 days with Sainsbury's Basics white pitta bread (6 for 20p) for a total of £6.83

It will be interesting to track how the price of everyone's £7 shopping lists change over the next few months.