Food Cycle fundraising total so far: £90
I really struggled yesterday. I knew I loved my coffee but I had no idea I actually had a physical addiction to it. That was quite an eye-opener. I managed the whole day yesterday with no caffeine but my work suffered. I have a lot of freelance writing to be catching up with this week and it was such a struggle to form each individual sentence yesterday. I’m sure yesterday’s blog post on the challenge was a jumbled mess!
So, I’ve swapped some of my rice and minestrone (my husband scoffed two portions of it yesterday for his lunch!) for enough coffee to last me through the week. At 3.6 pence per cup it will still be within the £2.10 per day breadline challenge budget. I will address this caffeine addiction at a later date.
Now – on with today!
7:45 Wake. Kept hitting snooze because despite a full night’s sleep I was knackered. The prospect of coffee revived me. I was that tired that I was going to give up my morning exercising for the rest of the week until this challenge was finished. After a few sips of coffee I could feel the brain fog lifting and my mind felt sharp as a pin again.
9:00 Dropped the kids off at school and did an hour’s kenpo (a Japanese martial arts exercise video).
10:15 Breakfast: after a heavy workout the last thing I want to do is fill my belly with stodgy porridge, so I liquefied it. I upped my daily budget of fruit (I’m not going to have enough fresh fruit for every morning this week now) and blended it with milk and a spoonful of porridge oats. Total cost for this delicious, ice cold reviving drink: 33p. Feeling on top of the world. I can do a full day’s work now.
Breakfast Smoothie
Ingredients
- 100 grams frozen fruit salad (20p)
- 200 ml skimmed UHT milk (13.2p)
- 1 tbsp porridge oats (0.6p)
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
12:00 Stir fried the leftover Shetland smoked peppered mackerel rice from yesterday with a handful of kale and oh… my…. goodness it’s so good! A big hearty plateful too. Just what I needed after that morning workout and a smoothie for breakfast. I didn’t blog the recipe yesterday as my evening, lack of daylight Instagram snap wasn’t particularly attractive, but after throwing in a handful of kale this dish transformed.
Refried Smoked Peppered Mackerel Rice with Kale
Ingredients
- 150 grams long grain rice (6p)
- 1 vegetable stock cube (2p)
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil (3.75p)
- 2 small onions (6p)
- 1 clove garlic (3p)
- 2 Shetland smoked peppered mackerel fillets (£1.65)
- 200 grams frozen broccoli and cauliflower, defrosted (24.4p)
- 20 grams kale (10p)
Instructions
- Cook the rice according to the packet instructions but add the stock cube to the water for flavour.
- Chop the onion and garlic.
- Heat oil in a pan over medium heat and gently cook the onion until it starts to soften. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute.
- When the rice is cooked, thoroughly drain it and add it, along with the smoked pepper mackerel fillets (torn into small pieces) and the chopped broccoli and cauliflower.
- Stir fry until everything is heated thoroughly.
- Leftovers keep well! Just refry and eat!
Notes
Nutrition
1:30 another cup of coffee bartered with the hubby. 3.6p
3:30 Getting hungry, but still feeling well and alert. Got plenty work done today.
4:30 Making the rest of the family dinner. This doesn’t feel particularly fair me chopping up all their lovely vegetables for their pasta ragu dish. Initially my husband was going to do the cooking for the rest of the family while I was on this challenge, but come the day before he asked if he could donate extra to the challenge fundraising if I cooked for them. I agreed. They finished off most of DD’s birthday cake this evening. I hid in the other room.
5:30 Tucking into my own dinner – broccoli and cauliflower soup for one. This wasn’t that bad actually, and served with a generous slice of brown bread (3p – I’m saving another slice for later tonight to stop the hunger pangs if they start again like they did last night) it was filling enough to stop my stomach from grumbling.
Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup for One
Ingredients
- 1/2 tbsp sunflower oil (1.88p)
- 1/2 small onion (1.5p)
- 1 small garlic clove (3p)
- 200 grams frozen broccoli and cauliflower, defrosted (24p)
- 200 ml water
- 1/4 vegetable stock cube (0.5p)
Instructions
- Heat oil in a small pan and gently saute the onion (chopped) until it begins to soften. Add the garlic and fry a further minute.
- Add the remaining ingredients and simmer, gently, for 15 minutes.
- Puree with a hand blender and serve immediately. Alternatively, you could chop the veg finely before adding to make it a chunky soup instead.
Notes
Nutrition
7:00 Making an experimental fruit crumble. No butter, no sugar… not sure how well this is going to turn out but we’ll see. I reckon finely chopping the raisins might give it some sweetness and the liquid from the frozen fruit defrosting might give it a nice texture?
9:00 Fruit crumble is a bit dry, but it’s sweet and edible and it’s something to boost my calorie intake, especially after this morning’s work out session.
Fruit Crumble
Ingredients
- 1/2 tbsp sunflower oil (1.88p)
- 2 tbsp porridge oats (1.2p)
- 1 tbsp brown flour (4p)
- 42 grams frozen fruit salad, defrosted (8.3p)
- 15 grams raisins (2.5p)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C.
- Mix sunflower oil, porridge oats and brown flour together with a fork in a small bowl.
- Chop the raisins finely and arrange in a small ramekin dish along with the fruit.
- Sprinkle with the topping and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
All in all it’s been a pretty good day. As you can see, I haven’t stuck with my meal plan (published on Sunday). I hate meal planning! Probably won’t stick to tomorrow’s plan either.
I’m not getting enough calories. Although I am eating enough fruit and vegetables, and I am probably doing ok in the nutrient department, I am not eating enough calories. I do need to shed some weight so I’ve got reserves, but this sort of diet definitely isn’t sustainable, especially since I’m aiming to exercise pretty heavily for an hour each day. I’m finding the nutrition guides provided my by recipe plugin very helpful, so add about 300 extra calories to what it says above for the recipes and today I only ate 1452 calories (Edit: for some reason the nutrition label isn’t working… bah!). There is a low level hunger thing going on which I am getting used to.
If you are new to this series of blog posts this week, from the 24th-30th of November 2014 I am taking the FoodCycle Breadline Challenge. This challenge, designed to raise awareness of food poverty in the UK and help raise vital funds for the Food Cycle food hubs, asks us to live off of only £2-10 per day (per person) for food and drink. Although we are a family of five, I am taking this challenge on my own, with an entire shopping budget of only £14-70. I will be blogging recipes, tips and thoughts throughout the week. You can sponsor me over on my Virgin Money Giving Page.
PLEASE SPONSOR ME ON THE #BREADLINECHALLENGE VIA VIRGIN MONEY GIVING
Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary with match, pound for pound, up to £200 the amount raised for Food Cycle via my Virgin Money Giving Page to donate to the Shetland Food Bank for their Christmas Food Parcels. Around 60 Shetland families will be supported by these food parcels this festive season.
About Food Cycle:
Food Cycle is a UK charity that combines volunteers, surplus food and spare kitchen spaces to create tasty, nutritious meals for people at risk of food poverty and social isolation.
£50 will help them serve healthy, nutritious three course meals for 100 people. Follow @FoodCycle on Twitter using the hashtag #BreadlineChallenge to keep up to date.
As this is a collection of very frugal recipes, I am linking them up with Credit Crunch Munch, a frugal food blogging challenge by Camilla at Fab Food 4 All and Helen over at Fuss Free Flavours. This month it is guest hosted by the lovely Alida over at My Little Italian Kitchen.
If you want to be kept up to date on my recipes, occasional craft tutorials, adventure stories and giveaways then please subscribe to my weekly newsletter; it gets sent out every Monday morning if there is new content. Your email address won’t be passed on to anyone, you will never be spammed and you are free to unsubscribe at any time, no questions asked. Make sure you confirm your subscription or you won’t receive the newsletter – if it hasn’t arrived check your junk mail folder.
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Mum of three, daydream adventurer, OU Life Sciences graduate, occasional crafter, ex-pat Canadian & quite possibly Britain's most northerly food blogger.
Jeanne Horak-Druiff says
November 28, 2014 at 10:25 amSo impressive that you are doing this (and such a wake-up call as to what stuff that we take for granted costs!!) Glad you managed to barter some coffee 🙂
Elizabeth says
December 6, 2014 at 11:27 amThanks Jeanne – I’m glad I bartered some coffee too; I don’t think I would have managed the week without it!
Keep Calm and Fanny On says
November 26, 2014 at 6:35 pmWell done on doing this challenge, it’s really highlighting the issues so far, and I look forward to following your week!
Elizabeth says
December 6, 2014 at 11:27 amThank you xx
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says
November 26, 2014 at 5:11 pmI’m glad you found a way to have some coffee! Love the sound of the breakfast smoothie too, don’t think I’ve ever added oats to a smoothie!
Elizabeth says
December 6, 2014 at 11:26 amIt’s a great way to thicken up a smoothie and make it a bit more filling, especially if there’s not a lot of fruit in it.
Katie Bryson says
November 26, 2014 at 2:47 pmThat’s in incredibly healthy line up of recipes on a budget which is amazing!
Elizabeth says
December 6, 2014 at 11:26 amThanks Katie, I did try – but you know what? Come the end all I wanted was a tin of cheap supermarket brand ravioli!
David says
November 26, 2014 at 11:03 amAs someone who is currently relying on the Food Cycle service, and having to survive on an average of £10 a week on food for the last year, I applaud you in highlighting this cause. The recipes are great too. Sadly no blender though it’s amazing how well you can get by with determination.
Elizabeth says
December 6, 2014 at 11:25 amThank you David for your encouragement, I am very grateful. Your comment about no blender made me think about alternatives – I am lucky to have a kitchen full of equipment (mostly sent for review) but not everyone has that. Wishing you all the best for the festive season and the coming new year.
Jane Willis says
November 26, 2014 at 7:38 amMust try that crumble recipe – no added sugar AND oats – very diabetes-friendly. I really struggle with finding puds, and in winter a piece of fruit doesn’t always hit the spot
Elizabeth says
December 6, 2014 at 11:23 amI would go with my second attempt later on in the week – a little bit more oil and fruit (cooked from frozen) made for a rather lovely evening treat. This first attempt was a bit dry (edible but dry) 🙂
Camilla @FabFood4All says
November 26, 2014 at 12:08 amWow Elizabeth you really have done a fishes and loaves job here – well done on embarking on this worthwhile challenge and coming up with delicious looking food! Thank you for entering #CreditCrunchMunch
Elizabeth says
December 6, 2014 at 11:22 amThanks Camilla – it’s not been easy but I made it through and reached my fundraising target too!
Alice Megan says
November 25, 2014 at 11:13 pmOh wow I definitely couldn’t do this I applaud you big time
Elizabeth says
December 6, 2014 at 11:21 amIt’s not easy Alice, but I got there in the end and reached my fundraising target too!
fashion-mommy says
November 25, 2014 at 11:10 pmI think your recipes are really quite impressive and I admire you for sticking to your plan.
#UKBloggers
Elizabeth says
December 6, 2014 at 11:20 amThank you – although I haven’t quite stuck to the plan! I really don’t like menu planning.
Alida says
November 25, 2014 at 10:55 pmWow Elizabeth! What a fab collection of proper frugal recipes! I could happily have that smoothie for breakfast and mackerel is one of my favourite fish ever (and it is so cheap). That will make a great lunch.
I love your soup and the crumble too. I can’t believe how cheap they are! This is going to be a very successful post.
Thanks so much for entering #CreditCrunchMunch!
Elizabeth says
December 6, 2014 at 11:20 amThanks Alida 🙂