What's your 'cheapest' diet?

Absolock

My cheapest food was home-grown and organic when we got our first garden in 2010. We were interested in cutting costs of living then without giving up small luxuries. Slashed the water bill (on a meter) by gathering water in a butt to water the veg, flush the toilet and mop the floors. Least expensive wine I made was with dandelion flowers. It made a gallon / 4.5L of great golden white wine for the price of a packet of sugar. The rest we went to Aldi for.

Wilko looks to have some good bargains. We'll be changing from buying my Other Half's shampoo, conditioner and shower gel to a 2-in-1 or 3-in-1 product.

shandyclover

FlaatusGoat said:

This is for people on maybe £10 a week or less for food. Per person. I know this sounds bad but it's a fact of life. Apart from visiting the food bank, here's mine (excluding 'reduced')

Spaghetti hoops with microwaved potato. Porridge oats (either raw or cooked if I can afford to top up the Lecky)

One banana (per day)

Tinned kidney beans with salt and maybe a tiny bit of ketchup of the own brand kind

Baked beans, the cheapest own brand ones.

I know the M and S, Waitrose elite will scorn me for not including the essentials (Caviar, red wine, lobster and aged steak fillets but there we go)

While it might come to a bit more than £10 a week, I've found the recipes of Miguel Barclay's site to be brilliant. Cheap, easy meals but enough variety you really don't feel like you are missing out. He sets the budget for each meal at £1 a head. Our family is mostly vegan but some of his recipes suit us with no 'fussy' ingredients.


https://www.miguelbarclay.com/

Rosa_Damascena

Absolock said:

My cheapest food was home-grown and organic when we got our first garden in 2010. We were interested in cutting costs of living then without giving up small luxuries. Slashed the water bill (on a meter) by gathering water in a butt to water the veg, flush the toilet and mop the floors. Least expensive wine I made was with dandelion flowers. It made a gallon / 4.5L of great golden white wine for the price of a packet of sugar. The rest we went to Aldi for.

Wilko looks to have some good bargains. We'll be changing from buying my Other Half's shampoo, conditioner and shower gel to a 2-in-1 or 3-in-1 product.

Was it really any good though?

JIL

Rosa_Damascena said:

Absolock said:

My cheapest food was home-grown and organic when we got our first garden in 2010. We were interested in cutting costs of living then without giving up small luxuries. Slashed the water bill (on a meter) by gathering water in a butt to water the veg, flush the toilet and mop the floors. Least expensive wine I made was with dandelion flowers. It made a gallon / 4.5L of great golden white wine for the price of a packet of sugar. The rest we went to Aldi for.

Wilko looks to have some good bargains. We'll be changing from buying my Other Half's shampoo, conditioner and shower gel to a 2-in-1 or 3-in-1 product.

Was it really any good though?

I made wine when I was 16, elderflower and it was the best wine I've ever had. 
Not that I had anything to compare it to. 😁

Absolock

Rosa_Damascena said:

Absolock said:

My cheapest food was home-grown and organic when we got our first garden in 2010. We were interested in cutting costs of living then without giving up small luxuries. Slashed the water bill (on a meter) by gathering water in a butt to water the veg, flush the toilet and mop the floors. Least expensive wine I made was with dandelion flowers. It made a gallon / 4.5L of great golden white wine for the price of a packet of sugar. The rest we went to Aldi for.

Wilko looks to have some good bargains. We'll be changing from buying my Other Half's shampoo, conditioner and shower gel to a 2-in-1 or 3-in-1 product.

Was it really any good though?

Very good considering it isn't a Gewurztraminer or Liebfraumilch. Better than some other home-made with more expensive juices.  Also potent.

Absolock

JIL said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

Absolock said:

My cheapest food was home-grown and organic when we got our first garden in 2010. We were interested in cutting costs of living then without giving up small luxuries. Slashed the water bill (on a meter) by gathering water in a butt to water the veg, flush the toilet and mop the floors. Least expensive wine I made was with dandelion flowers. It made a gallon / 4.5L of great golden white wine for the price of a packet of sugar. The rest we went to Aldi for.

Wilko looks to have some good bargains. We'll be changing from buying my Other Half's shampoo, conditioner and shower gel to a 2-in-1 or 3-in-1 product.

Was it really any good though?

I made wine when I was 16, elderflower and it was the best wine I've ever had. 
Not that I had anything to compare it to. 😁

Elderflower is very pleasant. Elderberry needs to be kept a while to mellow, but Elderflower can be drunk young.

bouicca21

I made elderflower once. It was horrid.  I threw it away but somehow missed one bottle.  Found it a year later and tried it - delicious!  How I regretted the ones I’d thrown out!

Absolock

Ah dear. you have my sympathy. A lot depends on the recipe, I guess.

There was one recipe which called for pea pods as an ingredient and I thought, No Way Jose, but the main ingredient was growing wild - can't remember what that was- well, tried a demi-john full and stored it away for a year - it was actually drinkable by then :-)

It's my Other Half who does the drinking, I just do the making and have a glass to test it.

Boat_to_Bolivia

Longwalker said:

FlaatusGoat said:

Marmite is like pure salt, anyone who eats it must have elevated blood pressure. I can't understand why it's even legal when we're already banning other unhealthy stuff like sugary drinks and also trying to get food makers to reduce calories

Funnily enough, whilst Marmite is high in sodium, its also extremely high in folic acid which works on reducing high blood pressure. Also contains high amounts of B3 which boosts the good cholesterol making it good for the heart. There have even been studies done on it and its affects on the brain function, those that eat it regularly have higher levels of GABA, a deficiency which is linked to brain disorders such as Alzheimers. The increase in GABA has been linked to the high quantities of B12 in Marmite. It also has high quantities of B1 and B2

As part of a balanced diet, Marmite is good for you. Just 1 teaspoon 3 times a week will improve your health

I didn't know that. Thanks @Longwalker. I like marmite but haven't bought any for years. I have now added it to my shopping list!

My staple diet when a poor student was baked bean curry. Any cheap tin of baked beans would do as I added curry powder. Fried up an onion with garlic, carrots, courgette, mushrooms, and any other cheap veg, added curry powder then the tin of baked beans. A pan full lasted me a couple of days served with a slice or two of toast.

Still eat it now!

EssexHebridean

FlaatusGoat said:

Marmite is like pure salt, anyone who eats it must have elevated blood pressure. I can't understand why it's even legal when we're already banning other unhealthy stuff like sugary drinks and also trying to get food makers to reduce calories

This is utter nonsense. For a start it's not like the majority of people would eat a jarful at a time - the serving size means it might give someone roughly 7% of their RDA of salt. Sweeping generalisations like this are incredibly unhelpful - particularly when we're talking about a fairly basic foodstuff that many people might rely on to provide a bit of interest on otherwise plain toast at breakfast, or to add additional flavour and seasoning to other meals - it is a cheap way to do both. 

GaleSF63 said:

While I don't dislike Marmite, I only seem to want it after I've been ill, when I have an urge to dip my finger in the jar. I came to the conclusion it's my body telling me I need salt.

When I had Covid, each morning I went and dabbed the tip of a finger in the jar and tasted it - reckoned it was a decent method of judging whether my sense of taste was affected at all!