Help us get 5 a day on 10.00 for the week!

lynzpower

hi there all

OK, im trying to drive down this weeks shopping budget to the 10 mark to free up some money to pay off OHs CC. We have plenty of cleaning stuff and shed loads of meat.

Nothing muhc in the garden at the mo, most of the lettuce has karked it, and the mange tout has give up, so we cant use that.

I have in at the mo

Freezer
Mince galore
2x pork joints
chicken fillets
bacon chops
2 eggs ( mixed with milk)
couple of chillis ( HM RMs)
V: bag of frozen spinach which I havent really enjoyed hence them still being there
V: bag of corn coblette things

Fridge
3 onions
cheese
few potatoes
all the condiments under the sun

Cupbaords
All the usual baking gear, flour sugar etc, spices and herbs, you name it ive got it
tins of beans
kidney/ flagelot/ pinto/ chickpeas
passata
chopped toms

er thats it.

So, help me - can I really get 5 a day on 10.00 for 2 of us?

Your help greatly appreciated

Queenie

Those tins of pulses, chopped toms/passata and beans count towards your 5-a-day, so you're already off to a good start without spending a penny if you factor in one serving of those per day

Department_Of_Health wrote:

Beans and other pulse vegetables - such as kidney beans, lentils and chick peas - count only once a day, however much you eat.

You say "all the baking stuff", but does any of that include any dried fruits? Those count towards your 5-a-day too. Sultana's aren't particular expensive if you get the own brand and you only need 1 tbsp to equal 1 portion.

You only need 2tbsps of cooked spinach to count as 1 portion, so maybe you could mix it in with some mashed potato if you don't like it on it's own, or with eggs in a frittata?

You might find the following chart useful in working out what the Government recommends as a "portion".

Download 5 A DAY portion tables (PDF, 18K)

More info can be found here:- http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Policyandguidance/Healthandsocialcaretopics/FiveADay/FiveADaygeneralinformation/DH_4001494

Gingham_Ribbon

Bags of value frozen peas and sweetcorn are very cheap in the supermarkets.

As pulses can be counted once, and are very cheap, you could make a large bolognaise with green lentils. I have a recipe somewhere on here that I'll look out for you later.

Fruit juice counts once as long as it's juice not 'juice drink'.

Sometimes it's worth doing the shopping towards the end of the day when the produce going 'out of date' is reduced to clear.

Queenie

Also, I've gone back to sprouting seeds recently (we've been living off the pantry/freezer and little to no cash) to suppliment our 5-a-day. Small investment, fast, big crops

Penelope_Penguin

Morning, ladies!

Queenie - thanks for the tip about pulses counting (wasn't sure if they did at all). I now add a slug of them to all my mince dishes. Can you give more info on how to sprout seeds. Which can I use? What do I need (hoping a large coffee jar will do - don't want to spend unnecessarily )

Gingham - yes please for the lentil bolognaise recipe :beer:

Lynz - when I make a sauce using mince, I add whatever veg is available. That way you can get 3 portions in one meal, quite cheaply. I mentioned red lentils, also grated carrot, tin of cheap tomatoes, tin of drained or frozen sweetcorn, onion, and whatever is cheap at the farm shop - grated pumpkin/squash, pepper, etc.

Do you have a Julian Graves near you? Round here they're forever having a half-price sale. Time to stock up on dried fruit - dates and apricots are my favourite. I have a tub in my desk drawer to munch on.

HTH, Penny. x

Queenie

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

Morning, ladies!

Queenie - thanks for the tip about pulses counting (wasn't sure if they did at all). I now add a slug of them to all my mince dishes. Can you give more info on how to sprout seeds. Which can I use? What do I need (hoping a large coffee jar will do - don't want to spend unnecessarily ) ..

There's a whole (long!) thread on this very subject

sprouting seeds**to eat**

I have a particular fondness for sprouted chickpeas but I sprout quite a variety:- mung, alfalfa, chickpea, radish, lentil, sunflower. My local health food shop does a "3 day organic sprouting mix" which contains Chick peas, aduki beans, brown lentils, green lentils, mung beans, sunflower seeds and puy lentils.

Yes, you can use a large coffee jar, (link from within the thread above showing how:- http://www.i4at.org/lib2/sprouts.htm ) but I've had my greatest success using a trio of trays made for the purpose (not the more expensive "Bio Snacky" brandname though)- bought from my local health store and cost something like £6.99 It's been a worthwhile investment for me because I didn't get on too well with the jar method. Others do get along well with the jar method though, so don't be put off trying, especially in the early days when you don't know how you'll like them or how often you will use them. Fit a piece of cloth over the top with an elastic band and rinse every day. Some people swear by keeping them in the dark, but my stack of trays live on my kitchen window sill (North facing but still works a treat).

twink

i find an easy way is to make a big fruit salad, a base of apples then some grapes, couple of kiwi fruits, large tin pineapple (37p asda) a couple of tins of broken mandarins (about 19p each asda) or whatever fresh fruit is going cheap then add lemonade or make a sugar syrup and keep in the fridge

Iwantahouse_2

Mangoes are only 50p at Tescos at the moment
You can also get a bag of pears for 49p

savingpennies

Don't forget tinned fruit can also count, best in fruit juice though rather than syrup. Morrisons do very large tins of fruit. We usually have tinned peaches/pears/mandarins at breakfast with yoghurt.

lynzpower

OOH great thoughts there, thanks to all. Yes, we do have sultanas raisins & dessicated coconut ( bet that wont count lol).

Ok tonight we are eating out so I dont need to overly consider it, OH is having beans on toast at work so thats 1 for him done. Im having a glass of OJ now, so one up for me too. I think cramming in another 4 today is possibly a bit to the wind, given we are eating out later. However, we will survive.

Tomorrow Im going to roast off a pork joint with pots , peas, carrots, sweetcorn fritters and POSS pasnips if you can still get them now - I might be tempted to try the frozen variety anyone had these? Chuck in mushrooms on toast for tomorrows brekkie with a tin of beans ( + scrambled eggs!) and theres 6 done. Glass of OJ makes us 7. Should make up for any lack today.

Monday - Ill do the bacon chops with potatoes of some sort with honeyroast carrots and corn cobs - Oj in the morning and a bean soup for lunch which IM certain is 2 due to beans and the chopped toms. Im going to do baked apples for tea ( never done these before!) so with the raisins & sultanana thats 1 as is the apple so thats 2. - theres 6. Just.

Tuesday- more bean soup & OJ ( 3) mexican chicken- chicken fillets, passata (4) onions,mushrooms,pepper, (5) brown rice etc

So far that totals a cost of 50p for apples, 2.00 for bag of peas & one bag s corn, 1.16 value mushrooms, bag carrots 55p, 75 for OJ ( from concentrate) total 4.96 hmmm not looking good is it. plus a pepper 5.46

Weds, ive got some sort of watercress sauce ( got it cheap- no idea if this counts, cant see it) So we will have that as a pasta sauce with chicken fillets, with mushrooms, sweetcorn onions, (2) plus the OJ and the soup - 5.

Erm... might need to come back to this later....

On the subject of the seeds, i did the jar version, I found it a great deal of hassle for very little reward. I just dont have the inclination now I seldom have time to turn round at home these days.

Any more thoughts more than welcome x

Queenie

lynzpower wrote: »

.....
Tomorrow Im going to roast off a pork joint with pots , peas, carrots, sweetcorn fritters and POSS pasnips if you can still get them now - I might be tempted to try the frozen variety anyone had these? ....

I admit I've tried them at Christmas; my friends like their frozen roast pots., yorkshires and parsnips :laugh: They were oooookkkaayyy. I cooked them longer and slower than the recommended time though - had experience of them when they were cooked for me many years ago and they were hot but hard in the centre *YUK*!

Yes I was a jar failure but I can honestly recommend the tiered trays - a quick glass of water at night, then another in the morning and they pretty much do their own thing will very little attention or faffing around
You may even be lucky enough to come across some at a Boot Fair or even a charity shop? You never know