Eating plans for a £1 a day

I wouldn't buy on the vine tomatoes if they were the only ones available.

MissAdventure

The issue isn't to stave off starvation, though..
It is to budget on a very limited amount.
I suppose we could drink our own pee, if we had to - what a saving!

Isn't budgetting on a very limited amount the same as eating to stave off starvation? I don't even eat a lot but I reckon I'd be close to starving on a pound a day.

Also, MissAd, I was talking metaphorically.!!

Mollygo

Daddima
You’d think he would know that tomatoes ‘on the vine’ were more expensive.
Salmon paste with only around 9 grams of protein-hmm.
My biggest concern about that lovely bit of ‘look what I can do’ vs is that the bodily energy + car fuel energy + cooking expended in making that video far outweighed the nutritional value of the meals.
But at least he’s keeping his mind active.

I looked at the comments under the video. Apparently, the 'on the vine tomatoes' were the only ones available separately.

He also cheated a bit. I don't think people could go into Costa and McDonalds every day and scrounge things, nor could they go for a walk to forage.

MrB has started doing our weekly shop fairly recently. I'm having to teach him how to choose vegetables one veg at a time. His go to way, for example, was picking up a bag of carrots so I had to write things like "choose four nice fresh carrots individually". He's getting there. We're onto leeks now. I don't think he's ever thought to actually inspect the food he's buying, which I think is important with fresh stuff especially.

The issue isn't to stave off starvation, though..
It is to budget on a very limited amount.
I suppose we could drink our own pee, if we had to - what a saving!

Teenagers 10 - 15

Require (slightly lower for females) 2400- 3100 cals per day
Nutrients as above same proportion

It would be difficult to fill up a teenager on £1 per day.

School dinners are about £2.50, not very nutritious and often just junk food.

If all children got a good, nutritionally balanced school dinner either free or subsidised then that would solve a lot of problems.

Cheap isn't a bargain if you can't eat something because you don't enjoy it, though.

Anything that stops you from starving is a bargain!!!!!

You would need to work out if it was worth buying a box of fruit and veg.
If any isn't used, then it's a loss from an already limited budget.

It's easy to spot and know about bargains when you see them.
Anyone can do that: the art is making meals that fit around them, consistently, and nutritionally.

Daddima
You’d think he would know that tomatoes ‘on the vine’ were more expensive.
Salmon paste with only around 9 grams of protein-hmm.
My biggest concern about that lovely bit of ‘look what I can do’ vs is that the bodily energy + car fuel energy + cooking expended in making that video far outweighed the nutritional value of the meals.
But at least he’s keeping his mind active.

Lidl stores often have a large box of mixed just-on-date fruit and vegetables for sale for £1.50 but they are situated just beyond the tills.

Cheap isn't a bargain if you can't eat something because you don't enjoy it, though.
If someone can only enjoy it milky, they'd factor in those costs.
It would still be reasonable though, I reckon.

MissAdventure

I can't remember who it was to, actually, but it wasn't you.
It was just a general "where the hell is all this seasoning coming from" comment to anyone.

Yes, a lot of the meals are reliant on having a well-stocked store cupboard of basics to start with.

It's a good idea to soak cheaper oats overnight before cooking in the morning.

Coeliacs may have a problem with oats (avenin) as well which makes eating cheaply very difficult.

My mum used to make it with water and we got a stingy dribble of golden syrup on top. Letting the syrup (or treacle as we called it in Yorkshire) dribble off one's spoon and make patterns in the porridge was half the fun.

The point about making it with water on this thread is that it's cheaper than with milk. Apparently really trad Scots would add salt rather than sugar!

I think it tastes creamier with the milk added before, but it may be a load of rubbish. I presume it is creamier because the milk soaks into the oats so you use more.

My porridge is never lumpy either, but that's not my problem with porridge. The problem is that on its own it contains a lot of carbs, which I just can't tolerate. Does it taste different if you add the milk before or after you've made it? Nutritionally, I would have thought it's the same. Milk brings the overall GI down, just as butter on toast and cheese on a baked potato do, as well as adding extra protein and fat.

My mum liked it stodgy, no milk in the making, but milk dribbled on top.
I miss that woman!

growstuff

MissAdventure

Nobody has said poor people refuse to eat porridge made with water.
A lot of folk simply prefer it that way, regardless of finances.

It's also more nutritious with milk and the GI is lower.

I've actually done an experiment with porridge to show the effect on blood glucose levels. I've tested my levels after eating porridge with water and with milk. Porridge with water makes my blood glucose level rise higher and it takes ages to come down. I don't really like porridge with water anyway, so if eat porridge, I always have it with milk.

That's good but it's still possible to make edible and unlumpy porrridge with water. That's how it was traditionally made when using oatmeal rather than rolled oats. The oatmeal was soaked in water overnight.

If you make it like this, especially if you keep it thick (but not lumpy), you can add milk before eating it. That help nutritionally as well as helping to cool it down.

I'm actually an expert at making non-lumpy porridge. So much so that when I helped with guides and scouts, even the ones who said they hated porridge at camp ate the stuff I made nae bother, having refused it when made by others.

Oh, that's interesting isn't it?
Pretty relevant to poverty and health, too.

MissAdventure

Nobody has said poor people refuse to eat porridge made with water.
A lot of folk simply prefer it that way, regardless of finances.

It's also more nutritious with milk and the GI is lower.

I've actually done an experiment with porridge to show the effect on blood glucose levels. I've tested my levels after eating porridge with water and with milk. Porridge with water makes my blood glucose level rise higher and it takes ages to come down. I don't really like porridge with water anyway, so if eat porridge, I always have it with milk.

We have a stall set up that sells excellent fruit and veg.
They sometimes sell a big washing up sized bowl of stuff off.
Then you have to figure out if you actually need 9 lettuces, and factor in that it may still be a bargain even if you lose 3.
I usually (used to) cut the tops off and regrow any that were spoiling.
Tomatoes - I know I will eat every last one of, so I buy those.

Yes I agree MissA. When I see all this lovely produce at our market it seems such a shame not to buy and share.

Community Pantries must help be we don't have one in our town.

I think sharing of ingredients, meals, and shopping is an excellent idea.
Nobody where I live is interested, sadly.
Buying 3 cucumbers for a bargain price is a waste when one goes off before you've eaten it.
So much better to split items.

It simply can’t be done with nutritional requirement of various stages of growth etc in mind.

One of the reasons I quoted that recipe is that each and every household will be different. I applaud Growstuff for trying to do this but I have a feeling we will get to the comunity kitchens stage before the government takes its head out of the sand.