Here’s an emergency meal plan for if you really are up against it financially, and need to spend as little as possible for a week or two without missing meals, or compromising your nutrition levels too much. If you shop verycarefully you could feed family members for £1-2 per person per day on this plan, less if you prowl around several supermarkets near closing time for reduced price special offers, use coupons wisely, and ask for free fruit and veg when market stalls are closing down and have overripe things to give away. Other tips include choosing frozen and tinned foods over fresh, as nutrition levels are usually better than with things that have been languishing in your fridge. Also make sure you choose full fat dairy products over skimmed or semi skimmed, to maximise vitamins and calories. For about four people, this menu currently costs:
 |
£34.53 |
 |
£41.70 |
 |
£46.36 |
 |
£52.87 |
 |
£54.39 |
Breakfast
Porridge with full fat milk, optional raisins.
Lunch
Tinned soup – choose a different type every day. Do not substitute with packet soup.
I piece of brown toast with sunflower spread
If there’s no protein in the soup, also allow 25-50g ham, spam, tofu, tinned fish or cheese
Supper
1. Baked potato and full fat cottage cheese, sliced tomato
2. Corned beef hash and frozen peas
3. Vegetable curry with lentils and rice
4. Spaghetti bolognaise made with Quorn, turkey or pork mince and tinned chopped tomatoes
5. Frozen sausages with mashed potatoes and frozen mixed vegetables
6. Fish fingers with oven chips and baked beans
7. Cauliflower cheese with bread and butter
Still hungry?
1. Tinned fruit and custard made from powder
2. Stewed or baked apples and custard
3. Rice pudding with full fat milk
4. Natural yoghurt and a little sugar or overripe banana
5. Jelly
6. Blancmange
7. Home made jam tarts
Shopping list – cost it out at http://www. mysupermarket.com and take note of any ‘Switch and save’ suggestions they make.
Large bag of porridge oats
2 pints of full fat milk per day – make sure you all drink it if it’s not used in cooking, including the adults
Small bag raisins/sultanas/currants/dried mixed fruit (optional)
14 tins of soup – look for multi buy offers, favour vegetable-rich ones
About 1.5 to 2lbs of any of the following: cheese, ham, spam, tofu, tuna or other protein
8 oz tub sunflower, olive or other vegetable oil spread
2 x 800g loaves brown bread
4 large potatoes
8 oz full fat cottage cheese
4 large tomatoes
2 large tins corned beef
3 onions
5lbs regular potatoes
2 lbs carrots
Bag of frozen mixed veg suitable for curry (root veg especially useful, and you can include some fresh carrots and potatoes)
Small bag lentils
Small bag long grain rice (use with curry and also in rice pudding)
Packet spaghetti
1 lb Quorn, beef, pork or turkey mince
12 frozen fish fingers
Tinned chopped tomatoes x 3
12 frozen sausages
Bag low fat oven chips
Bag of frozen peas
2 tins baked beans
1-2 cauliflowers, depending on size
2 tins fruit, eg pears/prunes/mandarins/peaches
Bird’s custard powder
4 baking apples
Small bag of plain flour
1 pint natural yoghurt
1 packet jelly
1 packet blancmange
If the cupboard really is bare, try the Trussell Trust food banks. Their website is here, and you can get referrals from GPs and other community professionals who are part of the scheme, to receive three days’ worth of food:
Posted by carol edwards on 22 February, 2012 at 9:45 am
Thanks for this timely article. I have had to do this for many years with a growing family and it is surprising how well you can feed a number of people for very little if you are creative and flexible. Willingness to use up free veg or discounted food is key, as is making sure, when you do have a little cash, to stock up on condiments, herbs and spices, stock cubes, cheap pulses and other storecupboard fare, so that in a crunch, you can jazz up very basic ingredients, like potatoes and rice and lentils and create something quite palatable.
I’ve also found that a decent cookbook of Indian vegetarian recipes has enabled me to make some amazing meals for special occasions for well under a tenner, with dals, veggie curry, flatbreads, raita, simple salads and rice all easily do-able with cheap foodstuffs.