The unexpected! I have for the past 50 years been using easy, tasty, nutritional meals to feed family and friends. I’d not considered writing my recipes down, but in the light of news that speaks of people and children going hungry these could become a lifeline.
I believe it is possible to eat well for less than £3.00 per person per day. I have worked prices out from Muesli to cornflakes, added fruit juice, toast with jam/marmalade and the cost of breakfast is less than 50p a day. It’s the same price for lunch with a sandwich, or toast, with a variety of fillings or toppings and includes a piece of fruit. That’s leaves dinner which often costs less than £2.00.
I haven’t included fizzy drinks, crisps or biscuits as not essentials for living, however, you will find there is ‘wiggle’ room to include these treats. It is possible without those things, or other snacks you could lose weight and feel fitter!
It is a change of direction but really feel the blog has been inspired by the Lord as this is even more apt to the blog title of ‘Food for Thought’ which was at first to feed the spirit and now it’s the body!
In mid-January the Lord highlighted the words in Romans 12:6 “We have different gifts in accordance to the grace given to us” and I realised my recipes were a gift I could share “to contribute to the needs of others”. It was the confirmation I needed to press on as it was an onerous task, collecting food prices, working out cost of menus and pricing it per person.
It would seem that many families today are used to fast foods, prepacked and ready-made food, so my aim is to help people have a basic store cupboard, and have a weekly shopping list to make it easier to buy the ingredients you need to prepare, cook and enjoy homemade food.
I don’t think it was coincidence that as lockdown began to meld into days, weeks and months, Brian, my husband suggested he record our daily main meal on a spreadsheet. I can now ask, “What haven’t we had lately?” Every meal is nutritional, but not always cooked from scratch, so I have included one of our favourites in each weekly menu.
I shop around different stores, but for the benefit of this project where possible have used Lidl, as there is likely in Europe to be a store near you with their reasonable prices. If you live abroad, you can compare prices. In the UK so areas have Farmfoods and their frozen food is often cheaper than anywhere else. From the internet you can download vouchers at £2.00 off £25, £5 off £50 etc.
As you can imagine this project has taken hours of research and if you spot mistakes, inaccurate calculations, have a question, want to comment, or offer your recipes you can email: foodforthought@emanuel-publishing.com I apologise now any inaccuracy, and hope you will return to the website again and for inspiration.
I have 40 recipes to publish and you may have one to contribute. I’ll end the series with a few cheap sweet recipes which are easy to make and can be added for a treat.
At the end of 31 days I’ll average the money spent over the month for I believe it is possible to keep hunger at bay for £3.00 or less per person per day and remain healthy.
Each week will begin with a weekly menu along with the ingredients you need to buy in order to fulfil the recipes. In the contents section there will be a page for your stock cupboard items that can’t be defined by consumption. Some of these will last months, others perhaps only a week, but will be a useful, basic check list to ensure you have what is needed.
SO WATCH THIS SPACE….LAUNCH DAY IS NEARLY HERE!