Saturday 24 January 2015

Challenge Food Plan

Yesterday, I posted my shopping list for the Feed 2 People for a Week on £20 challenge.

I have to point out that I am posting a food plan for the virtual challenge.  As it would need OH to actually agree to do it in reality, and he will not, then it must be virtual one.  Firstly, I have to point out that I am not saying the plan is nutritionally correct and it's certainly not to everyone's taste.  There is a lot of carbohydrate and a minimal amount of meat, but they are the kind of meals we do eat especially in winter.  We need the carbs to keep warm :)

To start I would freeze the thick sliced loaf and take out slices as needed for toasting.  The medium one would go further for sandwiches. Freeze the sausages and take out as needed allowing time to thaw.

Day 1)
Cereal & milk
Poached egg on thick toast
Sausages (oven roast), roast potatoes, broccoli, carrots, gravy

Day 2)
Hot buttered thick toast
HM vegetable soup (onion, carrot, potato, cabbage) with bread
Jacket potato with grated cheese & grated carrot

Day 3)
Cereal & milk
Ham sandwiches with lettuce and tomato (share one)
HM cheese & potato pie, baked beans

Day 4)
Cereal & milk
HM veg soup (as above) with bread
HM Bubble & Squeak with bacon (2 rashers each)

Day 5)
Cereal & milk
Cheese salad with lettuce, grated carrot, tomato (share one)
Egg, chips, 1/2 tin baked beans (shared)

Day 6) Assumed to be Saturday
Cereal & milk
All Day Breakfast:
1 sausage, 1 bacon rasher, 1 egg, half a grilled tomato, 1/4 tin beans each plus a slice of toast
Cheese on toast

Day 7) Assumed to be Sunday
Cereal & milk
Sausages (grilled) mashed potato, cabbage, carrots & gravy
Toasted cheese & tomato sandwiches

Puddings

If there is flour in the cupboard, then I would save an egg from Day 6 (scramble one to share) and use half the tin of pineapple to make an upside down sponge with it.  This will make 6 portions either to have with the custard or to eat as cake.  If no flour available, then I would make 4 small servings of pineapple and custard to eat on 2 separate days.

Snacks

Snacks would have to be toast or cereal (there should be a little left for this) and a cup of tea/coffee

Conclusion

For just one week only I think we would manage, after all I have done it in the past but we would really struggle if £20 was all we had week after week.  There is no way I can get 5 portions of fruit/veg in this plan.  We seem to have just 2 so this plan is NOT nutritionally sound.

If we had to do a second week I would buy:

1) Rice instead of potatoes

2) Chicken (whole) which would provide around 6 portions instead of sausage & bacon

3) Make a larger quantity of soup for 3 days worth

4) Definitely buy whatever fruit I could get for my budget even if it is just one or two bananas


Thanks for popping in and please do comment.  Feedback (good or bad!) will be very interesting :) x






10 comments:

  1. My hubby is the same, he was not impressed on low spend/ no spend September, so I can't do it again. But he does work with me on less food waste, and making all dishes from scratch, and not using process food.

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  2. Since we have now retired I must admit that OH has done the same. We do shop more carefully, waste less and don't buy ready meals. He is just not prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice of actually living the challenge :/

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  3. Same here, we could not do it, we have a alot of fruit , veg and salad, food is one of lifes little pleasures you might as well have something and enjoy it.

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    1. I do think it crucial to eat lots of fruit and veg so couldn't stick with this for long, yet I know some people have to. They have no choice which is why I donate to the Food Bank and why I had a go at a menu plan for this challenge. It was so difficult :-[

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  4. I thought about this but with me being a shift worker we tend to eat at different times of the day for four days of the week and also I'm trying to regain fitness and perhaps even regain some of my lost muscle so it would be very difficult, I feel, to stick to £20/week.

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    1. Being a man it would be even harder to stick to I imagine, as men need more calories than women. I can totally understand why you didn't try it, John. We are both with the challenge in spirit :-)

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  5. It's an interesting challenging but needs masses of planning. I've reflected on how much we actually spend on food per week ( ignoring cat food, household goods and alcohol). I'm pretty confident that I'm living weekly on £33 - which isn't too bad! Jx

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    1. Not bad at all, Jan :) That's normally what we spend in a week too which is why I found the £20 limit so challenging. It would grind me down week after week. How Jack Monroe managed on £10 for herself and her little boy fills me with admiration.

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  6. It is very challenging to do, we have nearly run out of vegetables. In reality it would be very difficult to do this for too long but could be doable with yellow sticker food and things from the garden.

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    1. Yes, I do so agree, Dc, one would need to be very resourceful and determined, growing whatever one could and scouring the shops each week for bargains. I think meat and fish would be minimal too :(

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It's OK.....

  Angie 💓 xx