Long post warning - Forget a hero, I need a map!

Need_A_Map

I hope you don't mind. I need some help to plan for the next month. I've got into a little bit of a mess financially recently, and I could really do without spending any money at all on food until the end of August.

I know that sounds crazy, but I think I can do it with a little help. I inherited my Irish grandmothers habit of hoarding food, so I've got a huge stockpile. So big, in fact, that it's a problem - I can't plan that much at once.

Truth be told, I also need the storage space back - it's currently a full 6 foot freezer, 2 chest of draws, my kitchen, and a couple of other handy stashes :eek: it's a habit that's hard to break - I'm still shopping for 2, (or three given I'm used to shopping for my mum whose no longer about :A)

I see something that will last on offer and I pick it up, and I still cook for an army and throw too much away.

Hopefully my hoarding will serve me well now

I need breakfasts and lunch to eat at work.

It's for 36 days...

Breakfast is normally 36g oats, yogurt and fruit (slimming world style)
Lunch is normally chicken, eggs, or fish with fruit or veg (or both), and a small pack of popcorn (none left, but corn for poppin' :money:)

Dinner - ideally max 30 min cooking, or weekend bulk cooking, Mon - Thursday. Happy to spend longer on a Friday or weekend. Has been a bit hit or miss lately.

Hi-protein snack needed for after running 3 times a week - boiled eggs and bananas are a favourite, but will run out soon.

There's nothing I won't eat (and that includes crispy insects - I've been to some funny foreign places in my time), but hate slimy mushrooms and my body reacts badly to high carb or fat meals (carbs make me sleepy so fine in the evening, and fat makes me ill).

Kilos of spices - various masalas, garam, cumin seeds, coriander, garlic, chilli - that cupboard smells delicious when I open it. Can provide a full list if helpful.

I'm happy to eat the same thing for a few days, but I'm a big girl and we're really busy at work for the next couple of months (always busy during recess) so I do need substantial meals. I can always not eat something, but if it's not there I'll pick, or borrow change to buy junk

I've got a slow cooker, remoska, microwave, gas hob, kettle, easiyo yogurt maker (but no packets).

Fridge, microwave and kettle at work.

If I need to buy anything - well, I've got about £3 in change... I get milk at work for £2 a month, due on the 1st, but can prob put off paying until the end of the month.

I normally get eggs from a man at work for £1.10 per 6 every Thursday - I can skip a week and pay the next, but would have to catch up the next week. Or just have no eggs for a couple of weeks.

Get paid again the last day of August.

I ran out of steam before getting to the cupboards - they're heavy - mostly tins (kidney, carrots, peas and the like) and it involves moving furniture).

Here's my list to start:

Fridge

Watermelon (large, whole, should keep 4/5 days - [strike]don't know if it [/strike]can be frozen) will dice and bag.
[strike] 2x 500ml fat free nat yogurt ( use by 17/08)[/strike]
[strike]130g cooked, smoked, gammon - meat only (was planning of dicing this with pasta and tomato for today and tomorrow)[/strike]
[strike]1kgish uncooked shoulder joint (un trimmed) - defrosting[/strike]

Freezer (Sorry if it's a bit mixed, but I wrote it by draw.)

[strike]6x tubs hm veg soup (various)[/strike]
[strike]2x tubs Hm chilli (mixed bean)[/strike]

2x value turkey legs
[strike]5x 4 chicken breasts[/strike] 4 x 4 bags of breasts, plus 2 cooked
2x bags tesco chicken thighs (guess 8 in a bag)
[strike]500g (un trimmed) simply cooking bacon[/strike]
About 200ml gammon stock (saving for soup, but no dried peas in)
[strike]4 brains pork faggots[/strike]
[strike]500g mince[/strike]
1 pack duck breasts

1 loaf everyday value bread
[strike]6 wholemeal pitta[/strike]
1x sheet just roll shortcrust

2x tesco Moroccan couscous (serves 1)
Spinach lentil and potato curry (serves 1)
Vegtable barley risotto (serves 1)
Meat free bulgar wheat with edamame (serves 1)
[strike]Courgette and butternut squash bake (serves 1)[/strike]
[strike] Vegetable moussaka (serves 1)[/strike]
Thai noodle stir fry (serves 1)
2x bag 16 veg funky bites
[strike]5 Quorn sausage[/strike]
6kg cheese (in 500g chunks)

200g frozen diced peppers
Bag frozen diced spinach
900g sweetcorn
Handful (one serving) baby corn
1kg fine green beans
500g diced carrots
600g button mushrooms
750g baby broad beans
500g sliced peppers
750g everyday value veg stir fry
500g value mixed veg

[strike]400g blueberries and strawberries[/strike]
[strike]2x 350g frozen cherries[/strike]
[strike]350g frozen raspberries[/strike]
Handful mango chunks
[strike]2x 400g basics berry mix[/strike]
[strike]750g fruits of the Forrest[/strike]

4 whole, small rainbow trout
500g white fish fillets
100g prawns
1 whole sea bass
200g trout fillets
1 whole bream
1 side salmon
2x 500g albacore tuna steaks
300g mackerel fillets
600g place fillets
230g yellow fin tuna steaks

[strike]125g low low mature Cheddar spread (lovely stirred through pasta)[/strike]
4x 8 laughing cow light blue cheese (lovely in an omelette)
10x 8 laughing cow extra light (4 sometimes make up my after run snack)
4x 250g quark
600g low fat cottage cheese
[strike]300g light chilli philli[/strike]
2x 200g lightest philli

Store cupboard

[strike]7 small (150g) sweet potatoes [/strike] roughly 3 servings mashed in Freezer
3kg rice
[strike]3kg oats[/strike] 2kg left
1kg pasta
1 stick (12?) wheatabik
[strike]7 tins tomatoes[/strike]
6 tins baxters stay full soups
2 chilli beans
[strike]8 [/strike] 5 tins baked beans
[strike]4 ratatouille [/strike]
[strike]5 bean salad [/strike]
800 tea bags - should just about have enough
200g tomato puree
6 cartons passata
[strike]8 eggs[/strike]
300g soya mince
500g popping corn
1 pack spaghetti (4 portions)
1 pack vermicelli (4 portions)
2x 500g whole wheat couscous
6x instant noodles (chicken I think, but I never use the flavour)
12 oxo stock cubes - beef and chicken
Lemon essence
Calendral sweetener (4 jars) - don't have sugar in the house.
4 cartons (lts) UHT milk.

Thank you for your help. When I remotivate myself I'll start having a dig through the cupboards - it'll mostly be pulses and tomatoes - think there's a handy stash of tinned mackerel in tomato ( my mum did love her fish )

I just need a bit of help planning food for a singleton - not gotten my head round it yet (all change last October) and now I can't afford to just grab food out or defrost too much.

BAGGY

My stock cupboard use it ups are normally pasta and pasata based sauce with philly stirred through. I think you will be eating a lot of stew type things with what you have - chilli, curry etc. You say you dont eat much carbs ( I am carb queen) but could you eat paella/mix rice without bloating?
You could make pulled pork (with the shoulder?) and have that L/O as stir fry with veg and rice.
Chicken and ham pie with the pastry and soup as sauce bulked out with sweetcorn?
Good luck. It's possibly do-able but you'll be having strange meals.

good_advice

Gosh! that does sound like a lot of food.

I have food but not that much. I often decide the day before what we will have for dinner. It has to be got out of the freezer unless just after shopping day. defrosted.

I would just change to buying the fresh things like milk and fruit.
Use what you have. Get the food mountain down.

Good luck.

Need_A_Map

That's kind of the problem I'm having - I've got more than 36 days worth of protein, but it's matching it up with suitable carbs and veg I'm struggling with.

I try to be carb free at lunch - otherwise I can't work in the afternoon (just want to nap ). Happy to eat carbs in the afternoon.

Just don't want to get three weeks in and run out of fixin's

Will have absolutely no money to buy replacements or fresh anything

What's here is all I got.

Need_A_Map

Okay, I also found a very elderly pack of dried fruit 150g. Adding that to my fresh fruit, that means I've got - 3kg frozen fruit, 1 watermelon, and 150g dried.

There are 25 working days to cover, meaning 25 portable breakfasts needed.

3kg frozen fruit means I can have up to a max of 120g fruit and 36g oats for 25 days. I'll run out of yogurt after 6 days (normally 200ml a day, but can stretch it over an extra day - making it 150). I can make with milk and water at work and hope no one notices I've not paid my dues until payday.

That leaves 11 days at home to figure out later - watermelon or early lunch I guess.

Need_A_Map

25 lunches at work is a little more challenging.

6 can be soup, but soup by itself won't satisfy me. Will have to think there.

2 chilli will be fine. Plenty of protein and veg (at least 2 servings of veg per portion with onions, carrots, mushrooms, peppers and pulses)

And both will help my attempt to be vegi twice a week.

So, that's a little unsatisfying but manageable 8.

Choices next - mix the ratatouille with the bean salads to make another 9 lunches (perhaps with a shredded half chicken breast per serving?) or have a half tin of the ratatouille with a baked sweet potato and 30g cheese to make 8?

WantToBeSE

Instead of thinking about making new lunches, can you just make extra portions of dinner and have them for lunch the next day?
For example, if you make a chilli in the evening, make enough for a few extra portions (for lunch) too.


Also, a variety of curries sound like a good idea based on your spices and tinned tomatoes.


To save time, you could do all of the above in the slow cooker too.


Also, don't waste your potatoes that are only going to last a bit longer. Par boil them and cut into wedges, chips etc and then freeze.


You have enough fish to make a fish pie (maybe topped with the potato that is only going to last a little longer) too. The Jamie oliver one is good, just fish, veg, chilli, garlic and topped with potatoes. You could freeze the extra portions of that and use for lunches as well.


if you are at a loss for what to cook 1 night, just pick 1 carb, 1 protein, 1 fat and veggies.

[Deleted User]

I too live alone and have for the past month been eating from my cupboards.Its suprising how much food you have stored, I know I have far too much, and have this month only been eating stuff I already had in stock.I tend to spend most of my money on fresh fruit and veg and use as much as poss. if I can from what is already available.I couldn't tell you a carb from a carbanara so I'm not too sure what help I could be.:)

To me food is just the stuff you put inside to stop you feeling hollow I cook quite a bit, and make all my own cakes and biscuits and like to eat pasta,rice and mix bits up if I can.

I don't eat bread at all or butter so I never have to worry about that, or sugar . I do like lots of soup (but only home made ) as I'm not keen on the tinned stuff.Chilli's shep's pies, salads are mainly what I eat, plus quite a bit of fish when I can.

If you are in dire straits with cash flow then I would see if instead of going to the shops to buy, just stay away and wade your way through what you have The sweet potato's are good and if a bit elderly then boil,mash and freeze before they get any older.for five weeks it won't kill you to just eat what you have Once you get paid again you can sort your menu out a bit more. I stockpile food at times if I see a bargain,but thats down to my age and being brought up with rationing and WW2 (probably like your Granny )

Don't go anywhere near a shop unless its strictly neccesary and vital. Adapt what you have and try to be inventive If I have run out of something I will try to use an alternative if possible rather than going to the shops.

trailingspouse

Hmm. You sound like you have a very good grasp of what makes a balanced diet. I would go further and say that you have an extremely detailed idea of what you should be eating.

36g of oats?? Do you actually measure it out?

The obvious thing to do would be to eat the stuff that's going to go off first, and then move on to the stuff which will last a little longer, and once you get to pay day start adding a bit of fresh stuff to the food you already have.

However - you are making it complicated. You need portable breakfasts, you can't eat carbs at lunchtime, you can't do this, you can't do that. I have a feeling that you are setting yourself up to fail. You might be doing this intentionally, or you might be doing it sub-consciously, but nevertheless you are doing it.

Hoarding is a well-documented symptom of deeper-rooted problems. You need to go to see your GP to get the help you need. Please.

Need_A_Map

trailingspouse wrote: »

Hmm. You sound like you have a very good grasp of what makes a balanced diet. I would go further and say that you have an extremely detailed idea of what you should be eating.

Thank you. I've been lurking here for years and I do try and pay attention

I've been doing slimming world since last October - which had helped - but had to stop as I couldn't afford to continue at £5 a week. Tis a shame as I liked the company and it helped me think about what I was eating.

36g of oats?? Do you actually measure it out?

It's a slimming world healthy extra b - just about - it's also (very handily) a frylight cap full...

However - you are making it complicated.

I'm honestly not trying to. I start work at 7, sometimes through to 6, and I need to talk medication at the same time each day with food - given I'm not getting up at 5 on my days off just to take 2 pills, I need to eat breakfast and lunch at work. Work kindly doesn't object given I'm the only one that doesn't object to being in between 7 and 8.30

I'm insulin resistant, so if I eat a carb heavy meal at lunch I literally want to go to sleep. Have more drugs to help me manage this, but for now, protein, fruit and veg in the afternoon. I'm going to have to push it this month - more pulses than I'd like, but on event days I will have to work twelve hour days and can't afford to not be alert.

Hoarding is a well-documented symptom of deeper-rooted problems. You need to go to see your GP to get the help you need. Please.

I'd actually suggest in my case it's a result of a short period of unemployment and having a partner for the last 8 years that couldn't hold down a job for more than two weeks (seriously, in 8 years he had 3 jobs and the longest was 10 days...). I've had to rely on those stashes more than once - but now I'm trying to change my habits :T

I will definitely take your advice to heart should I struggle to make the change on my own.

It is a very different thing to go from shopping and cooking for three to being completely alone in the universe (sorry, too much sci-fi this weekend).

I'm more than happy to give myself time to adjust - and while I do, I've got plenty of food in

Need_A_Map

WantToBeSE wrote: »

Instead of thinking about making new lunches, can you just make extra portions of dinner and have them for lunch the next day?
For example, if you make a chilli in the evening, make enough for a few extra portions (for lunch) too.

I'd go mad if I needed to have the same thing morning and night - I'll happily eat the same three or four days in a row, but not consecutively *blegh*

Plus, this way I use some of the tins that have been lurking in the cupboard for months - I normally cook from fresh/scratch so I'm not even sure where my tin opener is :rotfl:

I can always borrow the one at work

Also, a variety of curries sound like a good idea based on your spices and tinned tomatoes.

To save time, you could do all of the above in the slow cooker too.

I don't know why, but my Slowcooker curries always endup watery and less than nice.

I do love curry, so a great idea, but maybe quick enough to make on Sunday and reheat through to Tuesday/Wednesday? I don't normally have it with rice, but make a Dahl mix that's filling enough on it's own. I'm a little limited on pulses, but must have a bag of lentils in one of my draws - then just need to scrounge some onions...

Also, don't waste your potatoes that are only going to last a bit longer. Par boil them and cut into wedges, chips etc and then freeze.

Done great suggestion - half wedges/ chunks, half mash in bags, in freezer.