I had to have a rethink on meals because of that disgusting minced pork. I'm using some of the bread flour to make pizza so bought another loaf of the Essentials range from Aldi to use instead of buying another bag of flour and making another loaf. Because I'd been hoping and planning for sausage rolls I popped into the butchers and bought just a couple of sausages. I bought 4 potatoes (bigger than the mini ones I bought last week so they can be used differently) and eggs again for sandwiches or whatever.
AL Loaf sliced wholemeal 39p
AL 4 Medium Baking Potatoes 67p.
Eggs from a different roadside stall £1.20
And 2 sausages from the butchers for £1.41 (the opposite and 100% better than Value Range- and the only way to buy a small amount)
Total £3.67. Running total brought forward £60.58+ £3.67 = £ £64.25
I used the bread machine to make a Pizza dough, which I'd not done before. It made quite a lot so I divided into two before stretching on two baking trays
and then topped half with bacon bits that I'd fried, onion ditto and then turned it into a topping by using another tomato and a bit of juice from the third tin. Finished off with cheeses - half the Value range mozzarella ball, little of both the Value Range grated cheeses.
After cooking it looked huge so I cut in half and had half for one meal and the rest later.
A mixed salad with it would have been good but I only had a few mini plum tomatoes. Of course if I was a perfect gardener I'd be harvesting my own leaves from the greenhouse!...as someone is sure to tell me!
I'll definitely use the bread-maker to make pizza bases again but will divide into 4. The other pizza base was baked for just 5 minutes and then frozen.
So what's left out of the 64 pounds worth of food to make meals with for 10 days.......if I do 28 days or 13 if I do 31 days?
1 Tuna, broccoli and Pasta bake in freezer
1 curry still in freezer
Pieces of white fish in freezer
Mashed potato in freezer
1 Pizza base " "
3 chicken joints " "
2 sausages " "
2 or 3 slices of bacon" "
Few small Yorkshire puddings " "
Frozen mixed vegetables
3 Fresh Carrots
1 Parsnip
Tin carrots
1 can of pineapple
1 can of peaches
1 can tomatoes
Self raising flour
Baking fat
Grated cheese (both)
Half a mozzarella ball
Rice Crispies cereal
Sliced bought Bread
Half loaf home made.
Tin Sardines
Few Small potatoes
4 medium baking potatoes
Peanuts
Half cabbage
Few apples and grapes
6 eggs
Few crumpets
Coffee
Milk
I'll need more apples that's for sure.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
I take my hat off to you, Sue! Your meals have (mostly) looked really good and your enthusiasm seems unabated!
ReplyDeleteIt's being a good brain work-out!
DeleteIt is interesting to see what can be done on a limited budget.
ReplyDeleteAfter my divorce from my first husband I lived on very little income and existed on baked potatoes and rice most of the time.
Baked potatoes and rice doesn't sound too good to live on. For me it would be toast and more toast I think!
DeleteSue, what flour did you use in the breadmaker for pizza dough, please? And which recipe ? [your regular one, or one from a breadmaker book] Thank you
ReplyDeleteStrong bread flour and it was from the bread maker recipe book. My usual pizza is one of the small cheap ones to which I then add more topping. I make a pan full of Pizza Topping and keep in the freezer. But from now on I shall use the bread maker and freeze the pizza bases.
DeleteI feel another challenge coming on...living well but for as little as possible...as I think we know that cheap isn't always good value. The foods that I shamefully dispose of are very often of the cheap 'bargain' variety which turn out sometimes to be a total waste of money. x
ReplyDeleteDefinitely some things I won't buy again but otherwise I'm still well under that average
DeleteI make my pizza dough in the breadmaker and it makes two big pizza bases, which get two different toppings on, as Keith is fussy and wouldn't have my Ratatouille-style topping so his is topped with ham or bacon and cheddar. Yum. Boughten pizza, unless costing £5 plus, are always a disappointment. Like you I use strong bread flour, but have some 00 grade (for pasta) which needs using up. In fact, I may make pizza for our meal tonight, having read about this.
ReplyDeleteThe cheapest meat is something I avoid, for the reasons you give (chuckerooli!)
Mind you, having been awake half the night, being creative in the kitchen is not high on the agenda today!
You are doing SO well with this challenge.
Much more cooking than I've done lately but I'm pleased that I'm still way under the average spend for one person
DeleteYou are doing really well on this challenge, and getting two good quality sausages from the butchers is a really good idea. Your pizzas look delicious, aren't homemade ones just so much more satisfying than bought ones, full of goodness and fresh ingredients.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the secret for eating cheaply is to buy the best quality food but only in the quantities that we need for the week or whatever. You have a LOT of food to see you through the final half of the challenge.
I didn't want to spend out on the local sausages I usually buy as they come in packs of 8 and I had a craving for making sausage rolls!
DeletePizza dough is so easy in the breadmaker, isn't it? If it's homemade, you know exactly what's in it, too.
ReplyDeleteI really need to use the bread maker for more than just ordinary bread and I was surprised how good the pizza base was and now I know I can freeze the bases that's what I'll be doing in future.
DeleteLooks like a lot of us like using a bread machine for making pizza dough - so easy.
ReplyDeleteYour final conclusions on this experience is not far off and I'm looking forward to reading that
Alison in Wales x
I'm just hoping not to need to spend much more for the rest of the time
DeleteIt makes us realize what a disaster a bad package of meat is for people who can't afford to replace it. I know you're doing an experiment and can stop when done, and I am impressed by your planning. You're making some great meals there.
ReplyDeleteI always make baked items such as pizza base, not hard, and you know what's in it!
Very true about the cheap food - and I feel lucky I do have a choice
DeleteProbably not as disastrous as it was for the animal. Meat is hardly a necessity.
DeleteYour pizza looks so good. You've done extremely well cost-wise. It is quite amazing how much can be purchased at lower cost using value brands.
ReplyDeleteThe experiment is going well - hope I don't need to spend much more
DeleteI make pizza dough in the breadmaker too and it always comes out well. There is a quite a lot of it though, it would easily make 4 small pizzas. Yours looks very tasty.
ReplyDeleteWell done with all the food planning! Your brain must be working hard all the time ;)
I don't understand why I'd not thought of making pizza dough before although I've only had a bread maker for a few years and just hadn't thought about it
DeleteYou are doing wonderfully. I have always made my pizza dough in the bread machine, I am now contemplating making cake as there is a button for that.
ReplyDeleteYour pizza looks awesome.
God bless.
I use the cake cycle to make banana nut quick bread. I like I can dump and let the machine do the mixing. I do have to scrape down the sides when I add the nuts, but other than that, it's dump and forget.
Delete