£7.00 per week - menu ideas

jkelly90

I've just read the entirety of this thread and have noted down loads of the recipes, thank you everyone!

I only cook for me, and sometimes my boyfriend and/or flatmate, but I would never have thought that, if times got really bad, I could live on £7 a week for myself alone, let alone for two people, so I am really impressed! :T

Funnily enough, after reading a bit of Weezl's thread that was linked somewhere here I mentioned the bit about a couple in the US being given £35 per week food stamps to my boyfriend, saying I thought this was loads of money, and he completely disagreed and has challenged me to live off of £17.50 per week...I might just take him up on that (this is a man who thinks nothing of spending £3 per meal for himself though)!

But anyway, I digress. Besides thanking everyone for their contributions my main reason for posting was to ask Butterfly Brain a question about the tortilla recipe.

I tried making these last night and they turned out okay except that most of them are a bit crispy rather than soft like the ones you buy in the supermarket. This batch will be great for houmous and the like, but how do I get them to be soft?

My dough ended up a bit wet, so I kneaded them in a lot of flour, so I'm wondering if that then meant that there wasn't enough lard? Or did I simply leave them in the pan too long? Advice would be greatly appreaciated! Thanks!

gayleygoo

jkelly90 wrote: »

But anyway, I digress. Besides thanking everyone for their contributions my main reason for posting was to ask Butterfly Brain a question about the tortilla recipe.

I tried making these last night and they turned out okay except that most of them are a bit crispy rather than soft like the ones you buy in the supermarket. This batch will be great for houmous and the like, but how do I get them to be soft?

Have you tried wrapping them in clean tea towels once you take them off the pan? I do this for potato bread and soda farls and it softens them nicely!

Butterfly_Brain

You need to make sure that the dough is cling filmed and keep the tortillas in a warm tea towel, and they literally only need a few seconds to cook on either side, alternatively do them in a microwave

jkelly90

Thanks guys, I didn't try the tea towel thing and I definitely must have left them in the pan for too long! I'll give it another go and hope they turn out softer.

Savvybunny2009

Hmm need to have a think through to see if I can come up with a menu plan that isn't too unhealthy, love all your suggestions though, it has really got me thinking and I especially love the ciabatta and focaccia (sp?) recipes, nice to have an easy bit of luxury. Would be fab with homemade soup which is super cheap, freezable and endless combinations.

I was also thinking baked bean lasagne, lasagne sheets 49p, baked beans 25p and home made white sauce, not much to make a rue and add some milk. The good thing about the recipe is it makes a fair bit, 4 meals for one or 2 meals for two? and as you don't use all of the lasagne sheets you could make another batch for the price of another can of beans and home made white sauce, or canneloni and adding some herbs to spice it up.

Cake4brains

This thread is fab :T. Thanks everyone

Butterfly_Brain

The super six is great this week all 49p
750g new potatoes, pack leeks, 1kg carrots, 1kg onions 350g broccoli and 600g parsnips.

I see a few meals from that lot such as
vegetable pasties,
vegetarian curry,
parsnip soup,
onion soup,
carrot soup
broccoli cheese,
leek and potato soup
If you have pasta a nice vegetarian pasta bake with either a tomato, chilli or cheese sauce.
chop up vegetables and serve with egg noodles and a chow mein or hoisin sauce
new potatoes are lovely roasted or sliced and put into the oven as an alternative to chips.

stoplurking

This is a great thread, thanks to everyone who has posted shopping lists/meal plans. Fortunately I dont need to live on this amount (have been near it on odd occasions in the past) but it really shows that it is possible to live on very little with a bit of planning. OK, there's some repetition but in dire times it's worth it if alternative is c/card or go without. FemmeauFoyer I am going to try your rosemary focaccia today. Thanks

sweetcheeks33

Thank you all for posting, while I'm not living on the bread line I have let my c/c get a bit too high so will use these ideas for a couple off months to cancel it back out again. I get my meals at my second job so that's great too so helps me out a bit... Let the fruggling begin as it stresses me out yet it's my own fault but c/c need to and will be tackled!! thank you

ButterflyBee

Hello Sweet-cheeks! I too have been rather naughty but it's time to face facts and be responsible.

This month is hand to mouth as I desperately wanted to pay £1000.00 on my cr card but with it being holidays as well I have spent all I had and now nothing left to live off! :mad:

So its time to pull in the belt and make things work!:T

Tonight is pasta, cheese sauce and bacon bits! mmmm! delish and cheap!