Challenge Seven - The Leftover Challenge - End of Challenge Round Up

It has been a good seven days - almost a finale as it were to the last Challenge the 'For the Price of a Coffee Challenge'.  It seemed very fitting to continue with another challenge to use up all those amazing leftover items of food shopping.

Having £2.75 a day proved to be a luxury during that Challenge and it was always going to be a bit easier for me to manage buying a weeks food when I have previously done Challenges with much smaller amounts of cash in the kitty at the beginning.

After the seven days of this Challenge there are still a few leftovers, but that is of course because I allowed myself the luxury of being able to use up to five items a day from my own cupboard, fridge or freezer and that is what made this second week possible.

The foods that are leftover from the Leftovers Challenge

In the cupboard there is:

500g Porridge Oats

486g Brown Rice

262g Spaghetti

Virtually all of the tub of Gravy Mix

In the fridge:

A large tub of Red Lentil Dhal

2 and 1/3  Onions

In the freezer:

3 tubs of Tomato and Pepper Sauce

1 tub of Potato Curry

1 tub of Butternut Squash and Garlic Puree

So straight away I can see the meals I would make if I were to continue, but I'm not.  It's time for a weekend off, for buying chips from the caravan park chippy, for eating pizza in the Clubhouse and for generally eating what I want when I want.

But the meals I see from the food I have leftover from the leftovers are:

10 x 50g breakfasts of Porridge or Oaty pancakes

4 portions of Red Lentil Dhal with Brown Rice

2 portions of Spaghetti with Tomato and Pepper Sauce

1 portion of Potato Curry and Brown Rice

1 portion of Tomato and Pepper Soup

1 portion of Butternut Squash Soup.

Which leaves me with the tub of gravy granules and the onions, which instantly bring to mind making some thick onion gravy and digging in the freezer for a couple of veggie sausages to go with a portion of mash.  

So … if I raided the freezer and fridge for any vegetables that need using up and made myself a six portion pot of soup, and bought a single loaf of bread and two tins of value beans (costing under £2 in total) I would be able to use the porridge or oaty pancakes for breakfast, my soup or beans on toast for cheap lunches and use one of these meals each night for my tea … and eat well for a further ten days!!

Nothing will be wasted I'll just not be eating these meals straight away.  The oats have actually been tipped into the jar with my chunky mixed grain oats, the rice has been tipped into the rice jar and the spaghetti into the other already opened spaghetti packet.  I had some of the rice and dhal for tea last night and will have another portion tonight, the rest will be in the fridge until I need it and the frozen things have gone back into the freezer for the next week or so.  But they will all be used up before the caravan park closes for the Winter and the fridge and freezer are emptied and switched off for three months.

All in all a very satisfying little Challenge that kept me on my toes and got me back into the mindset of being careful what I bought and what I ate … and it's really good to do that every now and then.

Thank you to all of you who followed along reading the posts every day and there were hundreds of you, special thanks must go to those among you who took the time to comment and help keep me on the straight and narrow knowing you were really interested, following my every move and coming up with some good suggestions of your own.

Now I'm off to walk the dogs and call into the chippy on my way back for a small portion of chips.

Sue xx