Day 21: The last Shop

Day 21: Monday 21st January 2013

Monday's Menu:

Breakfast: Porridge with water, 1 tsp of sugar and 50g of Frozen Fruit

Lunch: Cup a Soup

Dinner: Rice and vegetable stock soup with poached egg

It's Monday which means time to get another week's worth of shopping. I have 10 days worth of challenge left to buy for, and a budget of £9.61. I decided it would be best to buy the final 10 days food in one go, rather than getting 3 days worth of food at the end of the challenge. Due to the training days I have with Tearfund, the last three days of the challenge are separate and will be carried out on the first 3 days of Feb (See Day 15 for more information). Therefore I needed to make sure the food I was buying would last (sell by date wise) until then. 

Meal Plan for the Last 10 Days.

I decided that planning meals would be the best way of ensuring the food bought would last. I decide to plan 3 recipes that I could make in bulk and would last over multiple meals. This way the ingredients would go further and I would be certain of one good meal each day. I looked at previous produce that had been bought and decided what meals would go the furthest. I settled on making a Sausage and Baked Bean Casserole, Chickpea and Kidney Bean Curry and a Tomato  and Bean Soup. I then planned the recipes for each meal and created a specific shopping list (Recipes and shopping list below). I am hoping by planning meals more thoroughly I will be able to have more substantial meals each day. 

Standard photo - Food for the next 10 days.

I checked my supplies and weighed out the remaining porridge to check I was covered for 10 days worth of breakfast. This weeks shopping list looked fairly the same as every other week to be honest, with a couple of exceptions. In previous weeks the frozen fruit I have been buying has lasted me 7 days. I wanted to make sure I got at least one portion of fruit for on the other 3 days that this wouldn't cover. I thought buying more frozen fruit would be a bit extravagant so decided to buy 2 bananas and a tin of peach halves. These I can add to my porridge or have as a snack. I'm so excited to have fresh fruit again. I decided to buy some greek yoghurt which I can have with the curry or with fruit for lunch. Apart from that I stuck to what I knew worked.

This month has gone strangely quickly, but at the same time  I feel I have been doing the challenge forever. I can't believe this was the 'shop below the line shop'. I have grown to love shopping around for a good bargain, and have definitely picked up some transferable skills for my normal grocery shop. The finish line is in sight, I only have 13 more days left to go until the 13th of Feb. 

If you would like to sponsor me for this month please click here to be taken straight to my just giving page.

WEEKS FOOD: (If you are interested)

Left overs from week before:

1 x Egg

3 x Cup a Soup

600g of Porridge

4 x Stock Cubes

2 x Onions

1/2 portion of Frozen Fruit

5g of herbs or other seasoning

Purchases this week (Budget £9.61):

2 x Tinned Baked Beans and Sausages (40p Each) - 80p

1 x Tin of Tomatoes - 31p

Bag of Onions - 69p

Curry Sauce - 23p

Stock Cubes - 10p 

2 x Tinned Kidney Beans (18p Each) - 36p

1 x Tinned Chickpeas - 69p

1 x Tinned Baked Beans - 28p

Rice - 40p

Potatoes - 69p 

2 Pints of Milk (49p per pint) - 98p (Only 1 pint bought in this shop - 2nd to be bought at later date)

200g of Sugar - 34p

Greek Yogurt - 50p

Cup a soup - 20 p

Frozen Fruit - £1.25

Strawberry Whip - 10p

Custard - 7p (Risking it again)

Fruit Squash - 42p

10g of Spices - 10p

2 x Banana - 33p

Tinned Peaches - 45p

Total: £9.29

RECIPES:

Simple Sausage and Baked Bean Casserole: 

I saw the recipe for this online. This should make 4 good sized servings.

Photo taken from Spar.co.uk

 Note: The recipe I found suggested using proper sausage but I'm sure the sausages in the tin of beans will work fine.

Ingredients:

1. 2 x Tins of Baked Beans and Sausage 
2. 2 x Onions (Chopped)
3. 4 x Portion of Frozen Veg
4. 1 x Tin of Tomatoes
5. Herbs and Seasoning

• Begin by heating you oven to 220 degrees C.
• Mix the vegetables and onions into a casserole dish, adding salt and pepper.
• Add the two tins of sausages and beans along with the tine of tomatoes. 
• Add a good few pinches of paprika, thyme, sage and parsley to taste and stir well.
• Cover with foil or lid and cook for 1 - 1 1/2 hours - Stiring occasionally

Chickpea and Kidney Bean Curry:

Should make 4 good sized servings.

Ingredients:

1. 1 x Jar of Curry Sauce
2. 3 x Onions
3. 4 x Portions of Frozen Veg
4. 1 x Tin of Chickpeas
5. 1 x Tin of Kidney Beans

• Dice Onions 
• Fry onions in large pan on low heat - do not let brown
• As onions start to soften add frozen veg and continue to fry.
• After a couple of minutes drain and add chickpeas and kidney beans to the pan. 
• Stir fry on low heat for a couple of minutes before adding curry sauce.
• Cook on low heat for 10 - 15 minutes.

Tomato and Bean Soup: 

I am hoping this will make 4 or more servings - Hopefully I can save some for lunches.

Ingredients:

1. 1 x Tin of Tomatoes
2. 2 x Onions (Diced)
3. 1 x Tin of Baked Beans
4. 4 x Servings of Frozen Veg
5. 500 ml Stock
6. 5 x Small Potatoes (If I have enough left)
7. 1 x Tin of Kidney Beans

• Fry onions in pan until soft
• Stir in tinned tomatoes, half frozen vegetables and stock.
• Bring to the boil, cover and let simmer for 30 minutes.
• Blend soup using hand held blender.
• Stir in Parsley, baked beans, kidney beans and remaining veg. 
• Season to Taste.
• Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes until beans and veg are hot.
• If you like your soup smooth you can blend again at this point.