The £3 a Day Challenge - Using Up the Leftovers

 

Having such a small amount of storage space it has been important to me to quickly make good use of the foods I bought last week during the Challenge, especially the already cooked leftovers and the fresh salady stuff.  One of my first use it up meals was a lettuce and coleslaw bun, a nice filling lunch which simply added a brown sub roll to my Challenge leftovers.

Then I made use of the cooked potato/carrot/onion mix ...

... and made myself a pasty.  

Which also neatly used up a third of a roll of shortcrust pastry that I had in the freezer.  I am in the process trying to use up the contents of the freezer which seems to be lots of bitty stuff, half a pack of this, half a pack of that.  When you have such a tiny freezer space it's like playing freezer Tetris every time you go in there when there's a lot of stuff, especially when most of it is singly wrapped to save space.

Lunch the next day was a bit similar to the top photo, but this time some sliced cheese and cucumber   was added to the lettuce, and it was served with some of the tortilla chips as a crunchy nibble.

The flour has been tipped into my large flour jar, the oats into the oats jar, the spaghetti is in the spaghetti jar and the garlic cloves and baby spinach have been added to the bags of both in the freezer so there is no immediate rush to use them before they go off.  We are both using the marmalade when we have toast in the mornings and the peach slices have been added to the other tinned fruit in the cupboard to be served with some ice-cream one evening when we fancy a treat.

Lunch today is going to be the last of the lettuce and cucumber with the remaining sausage rolls, so as you can see nothing will be wasted ... which makes me very happy 😀

Sue xx

The £3 a Day Challenge - End of Challenge Round Up

 

One Challenge, one week and boy did that go fast!!

Just look at what I have over ... so much food, there's at least another two days worth of good eating there.  I knew £21 would be a luxury budget for one person, it was just the Challenge of knowing what to buy with each £1 coin as it became available for each meal that kept me on my toes.

Not in the photo because I ate them for my breakfast were the last two crumpets.  This time eaten with lashings of spread instead of the 27p marmalade.

Also not in the photo ... because I forgot about it ... was the orange juice!!  Look, it was sat on my desk looking reproachfully at me as I downloaded the other photos ... don't forget me it shouted as I slurped.

So what's left over:

1/3 of a tub of Coleslaw

2 Sausage Rolls

2/3 pack of Tortilla Chips

1100g SR Flour

most of a jar of Marmalade

2 Garlic cloves

400g of Spaghetti

370g Oats

a tin of Peach Slices

1/2 a Cucumber

1/2 a Lettuce

1/3 bag of French Fries

1/2 bag of Spinach

2 Lemon slices

enough vegetable filling for another pasty

a small portion of Pasta Sauce

.. and a wad of receipts and a 5p coin.

Quite a lot to show for a week of Challenging Myself.

Every Challenge I do teaches me something, so what did this teach me?

That £1 per meal is doable and can be very tasty.  

That I am quick to react to what my body tells me I need.  I switched buying a few things around at the last minute and enjoyed what I made with what I had purchased all the more for it.

  

That the self- weigh and self-checkout facilities in Sainsbury's definitely give it the edge when you are doing a Challenge of this nature.  It takes all the embarrassment out of buying one carrot, one potato, one onion and one banana  😳

That my little fridge and freezer cannot cope with me doing Challenges whilst we are both living here in my little flat.  Oh, I am looking forward to my Smeg even more now!!

That just because some own brands are cheap does not make them worse taste-wise in any way.  The Tortilla Chips at just 45p a bag (although the shelf edge label said they were 55p they scanned at 45p 😀) were just as tasty, if not better, than the branded ones I have had before.

That my 35p Pitta Breads were a brilliant buy and stayed fresh all week.

Thank you for all of you that stuck with me for the whole week, thank you for the comments and the encouragement, it made it all seem all the more worthwhile and kept me on the straight and narrow.

Now all I have to do is to use up my leftovers over the next couple of days, nothing will be wasted.

Thank you.

Sue xx

The Ration Challenge - End of Challenge Round Up - Edit ... New Total

The Leftovers.

There's not a lot left is there!! 

I guess I could rustle up one final meal of Fried Rice in a Satay-like Sauce ... but I won't.  Instead these items will be used up over the next few days with other foods out of the cupboard here at the Van.  Peanut butter on toast for breakfast for perhaps two days and in normal eating non-ration challenge terms I guess I have a couple of weeks worth of rice.  

Yet again this year I was shocked at the sheer amount of salt I went through.  At the start of Challenge Week this little salt cellar was full to the top, now only the bottom third is left.  I guess when food is sparse and simple salt equals flavour and you add all the flavour you can to all of your food.

I will needless to say be weaning myself off salt over the next few days.

The ticks on the wall chart show that I completed all I set out to complete  😃

Now, how about a round up of some of my favourite meals ...

Right at the beginning the Paratha, with one of my three cups of coffee of Ration Challenge week.  Me ... drinking just three cups of coffee in a week ... unheard of!!

One of my favourite meals - the Falafels with plain rice.

I'll definitely be making these again for sure, but in future with dried or even fresh herbs added and some pepper too, both things I didn't and couldn't have last week.  They were light as anything and absolutely delicious 💓

An eye-opener for me, I like wraps!!

 Especially when they are fresh turmeric homemade wraps and filled with hummus and broken up bean burger, but in more normal days they will also have some shredded crunchy lettuce and perhaps a squeeze of mayo.

Oh be still my beating heart - the pastry made with oil instead of hard fats is delicious, and when it's wrapped around a Lentil and Beanburger is a real treat.

Lentil Pancakes.

That you can make something that is tasty, filling and nutritious out of a handful of lentils and a cup of water was a revelation and these will no doubt be made over and over again.

And the highlight of the week for tastiness, colour and just sheer joy bringing ... my Tomato Pizza.  This will be eaten over and over I can assure you, but with a side of maybe coleslaw or just some crunchy salad vegetables rather than with even more tomatoes  😁😆

It's been a good week, having done this before meant I had some knowledge of what was ahead of me and having the time to try out a few recipes in the run up to it was brilliant.

But the absolute highlight of the last week for me has been YOU.  Knowing that I had so much support, cheering me on from the side-lines, willing me to do well and being ready in a nice way to hold me to account if I failed or stumbled was humbling, cheering and well, just so supportive.

I would like to thank each and every one of you for that support, be it financial or with your words of encouragement.

My Sponsors for Ration Challenge 2020

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• Me

Thank you ... between us we managed to raise the magnificent sum of  £1,6500.00  The team I was part of managed to raise £3,289.20 between us, and the Ration Challengers overall total up to now, as some people are still doing the Challenge over the next few weeks, is £1,434,457.00

What else can I say except a massive THANK YOU.

Sue xx

 in the UK we've raised

Ration Challenge - Thank You

I wanted to quickly pop on to share this lovely little film with you.

It's a THANK YOU from Concern Worldwide UK to all of the Ration Challengers and their supporters.

You!!

Thank you.

Sue xx  

Stocktaking - End of Third Week

The end of the third week and things are still looking okay in the cupboard.

I have:

450g Porridge Oats

640g  SR Flour

350g Red Lentils

900g Brown Rice

300g Brown Penne Pasta

200g White Spaghetti 

(swapped because Alan ate 200g of my brown)

2/3 Tub Gravy Mix

1 tin Tomatoes

1 tin Baked Beans  :-)

1 tin mandarin Pieces

1 tin Sardines

It's looking pretty healthy in the freezer.

I have:

9 slices Bread (and 3 crusts)

50g Grated Cheese

Lemon Slices and juice

Spinach Cubes

1 tub Pasta Sauce

1 tub Soup

1 tub Tomato and Onion Sauce

1 little Pastry disc

340g Sliced Peppers

2 Homemade Vegetable Pies

4 homemade Quiche bases

1 portion Apple Crumble

3.5 Bananas (chopped up)

The fridge is a bit sparser.

I have:

3 tubs of Bits and Bobs Soup

1/3 jar of Green Pesto

1/2 jar of Marmalade

4 Eggs

100g Flora Spread

And down in the drawer I have:

Spinach Leaves

1 Brown Onion

4 Apples

and one bartered half Red Onion

In the cupboard there are my four baking potatoes from last weeks shopping.

And out on the worktop I have the remains of my 10 for under £10 store cupboard items.  These are holding up pretty well, I'm pleasantly surprised ... but then there is just one of me doing this particular Challenge so I guess that can be expected.

 I spent £2.33 on this weeks shopping, meaning an overall spend of £23.72 in the first three weeks of the Challenge.

Which means I have £4.28 left for my final weeks shopping.

😎

A Rummage Through the Cupboards/ End of Week Two

The End of Week Two photos show that I have lots of food left in stock.

The cupboard is looking pretty healthy.  The only dried thing still untouched is the rice, I need to do something about that I usually eat a lot of rice.

The fridge shelf is looking good too ...

... although there's less in the drawer.

In the freezer I've got lots of goodies, including two tubs of Pasta Sauce left and four tubs of homemade soups, plus the makings of two more Apple Crumbles.  

There are just four slices of bread and one crust left though, time to start looking out for a yellow-stickered loaf methinks.

I still have lots of my basic store cupboard items left along with ...

... my last three potatoes.

I have plans for these today  :-) 

I have spent a total of £21.39 during the first two weeks of the Challenge ...

...so I have £6.61 remaining.

But as you can see I have lots of food still to use up, so I think I will try and hold onto my money for as long as possible and instead of being tempted at the shops see what I can make over the next couple of days to use up the last of the fresh foods.

😎

Day Eight - End of First Week

I thought for the end of the first week, just seven days into my Challenge, it would be good to assess what foods I have left from my initial purchases.  This includes my 'Big Shop of £17.68 and the block of Trex I bought from my fridge on Day Four at the going rate of 85p.

A total spend up to date of £18.53.

The fridge is quite sparse as I ate the fresh things from there, or popped them into the freezer before my business trip.

But as you can see I have Flora spread, tomato ketchup, most of the Trex and most of my marmalade ... along with the jug of tap water.

The freezer is positively brimming with goodies.

I have 12 slices of my bread, 3 portions of homemade vegetable soup, 4 portions of pasta sauce, 1 little spinach cube, a bag of lemon slice halves, 3 x 50g tubs of grated cheese, 400g sliced peppers, a lemon juice cube and a portion of savoury pastry.

The cupboard is still looking good although there are obvious gaps with five of the cans of food gone.  But I still have:

500g Brown Rice

300g Spaghetti

400g Pasta Shapes

750g Porridge Oats

2 Jars of Pesto Sauce

1.3kg Self Raising Flour

1 Tin Tomatoes

3 Tins of Baked Beans

1 Tin of Sardines

450g Red Lentils

1 Tin of Peach Slices

1 Tin of Mandarin Pieces

Plus my store-cupboard starters of salt, pepper, oil, coffee etc.

I have 9 Potatoes in the potato bag in the cupboard.

And in the fridge drawer I have:

4 Carrots

1/2  Marrow

6.25 onions

1/2 Bunch of Celery

And yes ... I was photo-bombed for the fridge drawer photo 😃

😎