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

Dustykitten

An idea for your spinach next week. I am not keen on it but do love it in homemade tomato soup. If you can get some reduced toms - end of day, doesn't matter if they are very ripe then make the soup. Put spinach in when it is hot (I crumble it up frozen) and just stir it in, no need to cook.

thriftmonster

halia wrote: »

If you are on a very low budget to feed a family your first priority will often be to get stomachs filled. I have been in a situation myself and known other people to be in a similar situation where you only have £2 for food and the electricity meter today and nothing except teabags and half a loaf of bread in the house.
In that situation Fruit and Veg DOES become an extra - and that is assuming you can walk to 2 miles to the nearest shop that stocks fruit and veg with 2 kids under 2 (and yes I HAVE lived in an area where it was that far to a shop selling anything but newspapers, fags, white bread and alcohol)

Its winter, you need the heating on and you have to fill your families bellies so they don't scream that they are hungry all day long. In this kind of scenario the 'necesity' in terms of food is something hot and filling.

"a trip to the local health food shop becomes a "necessity" to stretch the meat ration as far as possible by bulking it out with pulses!!!"
wow, round our way its 8 miles to a health food shop - thats an hours trip each way, 3 different bus's at a cost of £2.50 a trip per person - again with kids hanging onto you all the way there and back. (and no there isn't a nice handy tesco etc any nearer that would stock pulses)

Food poverty is very very real, there's a whole host of things that contribute to it, lack of local shops, lack of cooking skills, lack of knowledge etc etc. If you find you are able to manage to get a healthy diet for you and your fmaily on benefits then well done :T .

But please don't brush off the real difficulties some people have in doing the same.

I can't really comment as, although we have had many months where we were struggling, we have never been in the the situation you mention. However, my Nana was in that situation occasionally and I think that the key thing that you mention is lack of cooking skills.You mention 4 trays of chips at 50p each - there are many recipes on this site that would feed a family better than chips for that. Home ec has been so downgraded in schools and also the promotion and pricing of ready meals has contributed to the problem. Yes, you have to pay for the electric or gas to cook, but raw ingredients are so much cheaper - but how do you get the message through.... I made a dish today that used 3 sausages to feed 4 people with pasta with seconds- on the top of the cooker

We have to get the population cooking!!!!!!

Edited: chips here cost £1.85 a tray - that's why we very rarely have a takeaway

Quackers

thriftmonster wrote: »

I can't really comment as, although we have had many months where we were struggling, we have never been in the the situation you mention. However, my Nana was in that situation occasionally and I think that the key thing that you mention is lack of cooking skills.You mention 4 trays of chips at 50p each - there are many recipes on this site that would feed a family better than chips for that. Home ec has been so downgraded in schools and also the promotion and pricing of ready meals has contributed to the problem. Yes, you have to pay for the electric or gas to cook, but raw ingredients are so much cheaper - but how do you get the message through.... I made a dish today that used 3 sausages to feed 4 people with pasta with seconds- on the top of the cooker

We have to get the population cooking!!!!!!

Edited: chips here cost £1.85 a tray - that's why we very rarely have a takeaway

I think you've hit the nail on the head

To some people ready meals/take aways/instant food is all they know.

Some people have no idea how to make a cheap nutritious meal from scratch so that bag of chips is a quick, easy way to fill up the family

Money was always tight in my Nans house when we were growing up but I always remember eating well - I remember more about the food I ate growing up than anything else about my childhood I think thats where my love of food stemmed from though.

My daugthers are learning to cook from scratch as I was at their age. One of them has a friend who only knows how to set the microwave to 3 minutes or open & heat a tin of sausage & beans.

Oh, chips here are £1 a portion. Amazing how much it varies

Queenie

lynzpower wrote: »

...
Im actually really pleased with this, thnka ever so much to everyone for the help - and do keep posting ideas & plans with a touch of luck I might be able to stretch out the freezer again next week ( lots of meat still) and magic up more money to pay off OHs barclaycard :beer:

WTG Lynz :T :T :T

mae

Just wanted to add, although I think you've got it pretty well sewn up, that soups are an excellent cheap way to help with your 5 a day. I particularly love celery soup and onion soup and both could be made even by someone who cannot cook they are that simple.
With one lot of celery and a bag of onions you could make loads of soup to freeze too.

Queenie

Thank you for sharing your experiences, it makes interesting reading.

halia wrote: »

...
But please don't brush off the real difficulties some people have in doing the same.

I wasn't aware I was I have posted these forums on numerous occasions to offer help, advice and motivate others.

I have mentioned many times, I am blessed with all the major supermarkets in my locality, traditional butchers, greengrocers, farm shops, regular farmers markets, continental markets occasionally too. And yes, a health food shop just 10 minutes walk away. But, I do appreciate not everyone is as fortunate.

I suppose I can count myself very fortunate as well that I was brought up alongside my siblings by a woman who knew how to turn a bone and vegetables into a satiating meal to come home to on winter nights - or who would turn a humble cauliflower into a fabulous cauliflower cheese and leftover potatoes and veggies into bubble and squeak. My first experience of a vegetarian roast dinner (my mum's term ) was a roast dinner sans meat! :rotfl: She certainly had her own fair share of difficulties to contend with, so no, I wouldn't "brush off" the difficulties others may have.

Strange isn't it, as a child growing up alongside my 4 brothers to a widowed mother who brought us up on her part time wage ... we weren't considered "fortunate" in those days. Yet, thanks to those very circumstances, I can reflect back and say, yes, all the knowledge I've acquired and the skills I was taught then do now seem to put me into a fortunate position of being able to cook healthily and economically, plan ahead and make do and mend. Funny old world when you think about it .

kdean

Queenie wrote: »

I suppose I can count myself very fortunate as well that I was brought up alongside my siblings by a woman who knew how to turn a bone and vegetables into a satiating meal to come home to on winter nights - or who would turn a humble cauliflower into a fabulous cauliflower cheese and leftover potatoes and veggies into bubble and squeak. My first experience of a vegetarian roast dinner (my mum's term ) was a roast dinner sans meat! :rotfl: She certainly had her own fair share of difficulties to contend with, so no, I wouldn't "brush off" the difficulties others may have.

You were extremely fortunate. The flip side to the coin would be my nan who had to work 3 jobs in order to feed her family (of 8 children) and so was never there to teach her children how to make a nutritious meal even if they did have the money to do so. After my eldest aunt married and moved out at 16 my mum who was 9 at the time (and the oldest girl) was then in charge of feeding all the rest of the children. Obviously she did not have the knowledge or experience to be able to feed all nutritiously so breakfast and dinner were basically the same, bread and either jam or butter (not enough money for both). They were all signed up to school dinners so were not deemed to have needed actual dinner when they returned home. Weekends were the only times when a proper cooked meal was done and at the age of 9 my mum was in charge of doing a roast.

My mum did not get any knowledge passed on from her mother and so was not able to pass it on to me. The only reason I can cook at all is because I have taught myself. I still have a lot to learn and would have to say that I have probably never had 5 a day for a whole week of my life! As I am now an adult with two young children I am determined to change this vicious circle. That is where this site has been very helpful and our meals have changed greatly in the past few weeks but we still have a way to go yet.

I just wanted to show that the people that Halia has described do exist and you can be sure that my family is not the only one, and I personally do not take offence at what she has said because it is true for us and has been for as long as I can remember.

Churchmouse

Well done kdean:T :T

You've made a good start and small steps will see that continue. One of my grandmothers was very like your nan, the other had the luxury of being able to stay home and cook and care for her children, and pass on that knowledge.

I'm certain you'll break the cycle with your own children. Good luck:D

pavlovs_dog

grated courgette works just as well as grated carrot in bolognaise type sauces

lynzpower

pavlovs_dog wrote: »

grated courgette works just as well as grated carrot in bolognaise type sauces

but it is more expensive