£53 a week?

So having stated that I could, and do, feed a family of three for a week on £53, here goes. There are of course some limitations as you will see, but if you follow this and stick with it for a week you'll feel healthier, probably lose a bit of weight (though that's not the objective) and be better off financially. What's not to like?

OK here's the deal: You have to shop at Lidl or Aldi, usually both and to get as much as possible from these two, otherwise Waitrose, possibly ASDA, but not Sainsbury's, ever. You'll find, from the following recipes that the only things you need to get from Waitrose are arborio rice, possibly some herbs, the blocks of Tofu and root ginger. Everything else you should be able to get from the crafty Germans. The more observant of you will also notice quite quickly that there's no meat on offer, nor alcohol. You could add chicken to some of these without breaking the bank. But absolutely no processed meat, unless you really like horse.

What I've done here is to produce 63 meals, equating to a whole week's worth of catering (3 people, 3 meals a day, seven days in a week). Obviously in the real world, we tend to cook something different each night, possibly have something left over from last week that has been frozen, etc and we tend to have some of the 'stuff' like veg stock, a splash of wine left over (yeah right), etc, 'in'. So the actual week is much more flexible, varied and interesting than I'm showing here, but this is meant to illustrate that it can be done for £53 a week and without being boring. The vegetarian thing is not about principle - we're not vegetarians (although daughter is vegan) - but about health, cost and (for some of us) weight control. In the real world we do have fish in the form of frozen (not battered) fish or tinned tuna or sardines for lunch and maybe a good steak every two-three weeks or so - you really appreciate a nice steak when you ration it rather than having it every night.

So, 21 breakfasts, 21 lunches and 21 dinners - budget is £53. Costings are based on actual receipts.

Breakfast

2 x Cartons of orange juice from Lidl - one small glass each, each day.
Coffee with milk and sugar (optional obvs)
2x 48 packs of own brand Weetabix from Lidle half the price of branded. Have three with hot milk and sugar. all week.

weetabix £3.10 (£1.55 per pack of 48)
Milk 8 pints £4.00
Orange juice, £2.16 (2 at £1.08)
Coffee estimate £2.00

Total (breakfasts) £11.26

Lunch

Pea and potato soup:

2 onions peels and chopped £1.50 (whole bag and covers onions used in other recipes below)
1,600g potatoes peeled & cut into smalish chunks £1.20 (2.5kg cost £1.69)
700g frozen peas £2.00
2 teaspoons of mint sauce £0.25
2 litres vegetable stock £0.20
Bread & butter (olive spread) £1.00

Total: £6.15

Cook onions til soft, add potatoes and stock. Simmer for 12 minutes, add the frozen peas cook for another 5 minutes. Put in the blender and whizz to soup consistency. Back into the large pan, add mint sauce, stir, heat through. Serve with bread & butter. Serves 7 (more like 12 really)

Salad:

Lettuce. baby tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, grated carrot, sliced tomatoes, peppers, black pitted olives (sliced to resemble matchbox car tyres). Dressing of 1 clove garlic crushed & chopped with sea salt, twist of black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of mustard (Dijon is good for this) two teaspoons of balsamic vinegar and 7 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil. Mix in a ramekin & dress salad with it. You might add cottage cheese (the devil's work imo, but some like it), or some tuna to eke this out a little. Serves 7

Cost (est) £6.00


Aubergine bake - serves 7

Three aubergines sliced lengthways, brushed with extra virgin olive oil and grilled or dry fried on a skillet to get the 'lines' in the flesh. £2.40
Jar of tomato and basil sauce (Lloyd Grossman is good) £1.80
Jar of green pesto £1.00
3x mozzarella balls £1.50
Parmesan cheese £2.00
Fresh basil £0.60

Total £9.30

Arrange a layer of the part-cooked aubergine slices in a lasagne dish, spoon some of the pesto over and add a layer of sliced mozzarella. Then another layer of aubergine slices. more pesto. Add the tomato sauce all over, then grate parmesan over the whole thing and then slices of mozzarella evenly over the top. Bake for 25 minutes until bubbling, serve with fresh basil and a twist of black pepper.


Evening meal

Mushroom and spinach risotto:

1 pkt Arborio rice £1.00
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil £0.20
bag of Spinnach £1.00
Chestnut Mushrooms £1.30
Veg stock £0.10
2 Onions chopped (see above)
Glug of white wine £0.40
Parmesan cheese £0.30

Total £4.30

Cook onion until soft (5 mins - half way through add the mushrooms), add the rice and cook for a minute, add the wine and cook for another minute until rice has absorbed most of the liquid then start to add the stock a good slug at a time. Stir a bit until stock is absorbed and add more stock. This takes about 20 minutes. With the last slug of stock throw in the spinach and stir well. Serve with parmesan grated over the top (unless you're a vegan in which case leave out).
Serves 7

Three cheese cannelloni

2x Ricotta cheese tubs £2.00
bag of Fresh basil. £0.60
Parmesan cheese (about 2/3 of a wedge) £2.00
Sun dried tomatoes (jar) £1.00
large jar tomato & basil sauce £1.80
2 x buffalo Mozzarella cheese balls £1.00
20 cannelloni tubes £1.00

Total £9.40

Mix ricotta with chopped sun-dried tomatoes, torn basil leaves and parmesan in a large bowl. Then fill the cannelloni with the mixture, fiddly but worth it. Use a large teaspoon and 'tamp down' with the handle as you go. You'll get the hang of it. Then arrange the filled tubes in a large lasagna dish pour over the (heated) tomato sauce, grate a load more parmesan cheese over the top then add the mozzarella slices evenly over the top of the mixture. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes, serve with a few basil leaves scattered over, a twist of black pepper and a smile. Serves 7

Red lentil curry

2x onions chopped (see above)
2x garlic cloves crushed & chopped £0.20
1.5 tablespoons medium curry powder £1.00
Pinch of flaked chillies (optional) £0.20
7oz red lentils (dried in packet) £0.40
3 peppers deseeded and diced £1.40
I aubergine diced £0.80
1.5 pints of vegetable stock £0.10
400ml tin of chopped tomatoes £0.35
chopped coriander £0.60
Flaked almonds £0.50
Brown rice £1.00

Total £6.55

Cook onions & garlic until soft, add curry powder and cook for another minute. Stir in the lentils and veg cook for a minute then add stock and simmer for 40 minutes. Add tomatoes & coriander simmer for 10 minutes, serve with brown rice (which takes about a week to cook) toasted flaked almonds (dry fry in a small pan for 5 mins) on top & twist of black pepper. Serves 7.

And that's it! As I say in reality we have something different every night (via slightly smaller portions than indicated or leftovers etc, although buying to do the recipes means that we throw away almost nothing - everything gets used.

A couple more recipes that are cheap, simple and quick to do, just for variety:

Tofu stir fry

One square tub-thing of firm tofu, drained and kitchen rolled dry, cut in half lengthways and then into cubes of about 1 inch square. £2.00
2 garlic cloves crushed £0.40
Thumb-sized piece of root ginger (don't buy a pack, just break off a bit the size you need) chopped £0.20
pack of Chestnut mushrooms sliced. £1.40
Pack of baby sweetcorn halved lengthways £1.20
Pack of mangetout £1.00
any other veg sliced thinly - carrot, courgette, peppers etc. £1.50
Beansprouts or 'ready for wok' noodles £0.80
pack or jar of any stir fry sauce - hoi sin, oyster (not veggie) chow mein etc £0.75
spring onions £1.00

Total £10.25

Chuck everything except sauce and noodles/beansprouts into a wok for 6 minutes then add the sauce and noodles, cook for three more minutes serve with spring onions on top and chopsticks. The fork and spoon police will almost certainly be in your area when you cook this. You have been warned. ;)

Moroccan Stew

1 onion sliced (see above)
1 garlic clove £0.20
1 Aubergine diced £0.80
8 oz carrots slided £1.00
1 butternut squash peeled & diced £0.90
tsp ground cumin £0.20
tsp ground coriander £0.20
tsp ground cinnamon £0.20
2 tablespoons tomato puree £0.50
1 pint vegetable stock £0.10
pack of firm tofu cubed £2.00
handful dried apricots chopped £1.00
fresh coriander £0.60
2-3 oz pine nuts toasted (dry pan fried for 5 mins don't burn!) £1.00

Total £8.70

Cook onion, garlic & veg in large pan for 5 mins (in veg oil - 1 tbsp). Add spices, cook for 1 minute, add puree and stock, simmer for 40 mins. Add tofu, apricots, coriander, cook for 5 more minutes. Serve with toasted pine nuts on top.

enjoy!

So, based on the above - and I have tried to be quite generous on my cost estimates, based on actual receipts but with odd numbers rounded up.

Breakfasts - £11.26
Lunches - £21.45
Dinners - £20.25

Total £52.96.

You could easily substitute one of the other recipes for lunches or dinners (instead of soup or salad) without breaking the budget. Obviously the risotto and curry are cheaper than some of the others, but I could have just done risotto & curry all week for everything and shaved £15 off the final budget. Not sure what I'm going to do with the £0.04 I have left over from my £53.00 budget. Probably blow it on wine, women and song. ;)