I did my shopping in preparation for the Live Below the Line challenge today.
- 1 carrot (15p)
- 4 x tin potatoes (56p)
- 2 kilos rice (40p)
- salmon paste (25p)
- split peas (53p)
- tomato puree (35p)
- lemon curd (22p)
- uht (49p)
That totals at £3.35 for the stuff listed above. I will factor in the cost of herbs, spices and lard as I use them. I was going to buy a pack of frozen mixed veg, but I couldn’t find one cheap enough, so I will buy fresh vegetables as I need them.
The problems I have had with planning meals for this challenge are:-
- Being gluten free makes this challenge much more tricky. It seems that everything cheap contains wheat – pasta, noodles, bread, cake, snacks, etc. HOWEVER… this means that I must stick with whole foods (mostly), making the challenge much more healthy.
- Ensuring that I have enough food to not ever be hungry (you don’t want to see me when I’m hungry!), whilst providing a good variety of flavours.
- Having to go to different shops in order to find affordable food. Ok, so this isn’t particularly convenient, but it’s definitely not the end of the world either.
- Ensuring I get nutritious food each day. I think I have managed this.
I have a work training day tomorrow, so I’ll be out all day. I am preparing my food today. I’m currently grinding my rice into flour, so I can make my first lunch recipe. I have borrowed a coffee grinder to make the flour. It is overheating a lot, so I have to grind a handful of rice and wait ten minuted for it to cool, before continuing. Thankfully I’m not too busy today and I can do it at my leisure.
Recipes to follow.
jennypiccalilli 