Day Four of my £1 a Meal Challenge dawned beautifully with the sun shining once again and highlighting on the worktop just how quickly my little stash of leftovers was building. A cup of coffee and a few thoughts later and I knew exactly what I would do ... live for the day on my leftovers and use the overage from Day Three and todays £3 to buy some food for the local Foodbank instead.
Breakfast
So using my apple, the banana that I had popped into the freezer last night and picking out the spinach leaves from my bag of mixed leaves and then adding two spoonfuls of the oats I quickly whizzed up a breakfast smoothie. It was delicious.
Then armed with my £4.06 I headed to Sainsbury's.
I forgot to take a photo of the food in my basket as I was concentrating on adding the prices up in my head, and then I got so excited to hit £3.06 exactly that I completely forgot I had £4.06 to spend. Dropping the first lot of food into the Foodbank's box, I then went back around the store determined to buy something useful with the remaining pound. Two kilos of pasta seemed a very good buy for just 98p.
In case you can't read the receipt here is what I bought:
1 jar of coffee
2 jars of jam
2 jars of marmalade
2 packets of biscuits
and
1kg of pasta shapes
1kg of spaghetti
I'll be nice to myself and add the 2p change to my breakfast pound in the morning.
Lunch
I finished off the last of the beans and used one of the pitta breads. I honestly thought a pitta bread once toasted would go crisp like bread does, not in my toaster it doesn't it stays soft and floppy. So it was more like beans on hot bread but hey-ho it was tasty and filling so I'm not grumbling ... much 😉
Tea
This was bloody gorgeous. The curry sauce I made last night was whizzed up in the Nutribullet and then slowly reheated, the flavour was amazing. I will definitely be making this again and definitely on the day before I want to eat it, as the flavours developed so well in 24 hours. It was poured over my last potato which was par-boiled in wedge shapes and then finished off in the oven, and the last of the mixed leaves. I added a couple of my half-sticks of celery so I had a bit of crunch to the dish.
Very filling and very, very tasty ... and I have at last made a bit of dent in the pile of leftovers that were building up.
Cash Carried Forward
2p
Food Carried Forward
oats
SR flour
3 cloves of garlic
1 stick of celery
1/2 tin of tomatoes
4 lemon slices
hummus
coleslaw
3 pitta breads
Back to normal tomorrow, when I will be going out armed with my £1.02 to buy my breakfast. I hope it's a lovely sunny morning again, it's very nice going out first thing when the sun is shining and the shop is empty.
Sue xx
You're very inventive, Sue. And it's surprising how much food you can actually buy with a small amount of money.
ReplyDeleteThis Challenge is proving to be really eye-opening, I'm loving how it's making me really think of the best way to spend my single pound.
DeleteWhat a wonderful generous thing to do,giving to the food bank,a lot of people would have spent it on something extra special for themselves which is of course is perfectly ok, you are very thoughtful and kind. x
ReplyDeleteI honestly didn't even think of spending it on something for myself, it's amazing how much the food has accumulated so quickly, I just wanted to eat through what was piling up on the worktop. That someone else gets to benefit from my Challenge just makes me even happier.
DeleteBrilliant idea to buy some things for the local food bank! Your challenges always make me realise that I still spend far too much money on food. Even though I think I don't!! I really must try harder once my son moves into his own flat xxx
ReplyDeleteWe all do, don't worry I can be just the worst if I'm in a 'chuck it in the trolley' kind of mood. And if I go out shopping when I'm hungry you SHOULD see the snacks I end up coming home with ... haha.
DeleteYou are such a resourceful person-and generous to boot! Who knew Sainsbury's sold ham at 28p a jar? I didn't! Just shows how little notice I pay to the shelves whilst shopping. Mind you I buy Jam in Lidl when it is on offer, 45p.
ReplyDeleteI know 28p for jam and 27p for marmalade, it's amazing, and I have used the marmalade before in a Challenge and it's actually VERY tasty and you don't need to use much as it's very sweet and very strong tasting.
DeleteIf you're ever thinking of making your own preserves it's actually cheaper to go and buy half a dozen of these jars, eat the jam or marmalade and then re-use the jars. New empty jam jars are a lot more that 28p each!!
That's a very generous thing to do, Sue, and you still ate well yesterday. I've bought Sainsburys 28p jam before, as well as the marmalade and it's all perfectly tasty. It seems that you got your 5 a day in your meals too! You are one amazing woman :) x
ReplyDeleteI did, I ate really well ... it was a very tasty day.
DeleteYes, I have used both before they are very good value and very tasty. They both make excellent jam tart or turnover fillings too, and if you thin down either with a touch of hot water they make a good ice-cream drizzle.
That's absolutely fantastic and working out to very well. xx
ReplyDeleteIt's going so much better than even I expected, although with a total budget of £21 for the 7 days I should really have expected it to work out.
Deletethat was very kind of you to buy for the food bank x
ReplyDeleteI felt it was the right thing to do. It nice that our Sainsbury's has the large Foodbank box available all the time for donations, it seems to get filled right up at least twice a week.
DeleteYou are doing really well, its brilliant what you have achieved. Plus it's so generous of you to give to the food bank
ReplyDeleteThank you, it's nice to give whenever you can.
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