Sunday - Day 2

Woke up to grey skies, so a lazy Sunday is in order today.

Breakfast is two eggs scrambled on top of hot buttered toast. ( I added a couple of spinach leaves just to "MasterChef" it up.  :)   Along with a cup of tea, it is a good start to the day.

Simple lunch of "Pizza" and a cup-a-soup.
"Pizza" is a piece of bread toasted on one side only to create crisp base.  If your toaster cannot take a double piece of toast, you can toast the bread on one side in a frying pan.

A smear of tomato from my tinned tomatoes for a sauce base add some diced bacon, top with cheese and grill to brown, bubbly deliciousness.    A cup-a-soup sachet created a nice warm drink to round out this meal.

We were actually out for the afternoon, so no afternoon tea today.  

Dinner was a quick mix of pasta and mixed veges (cook the mixed veges in with the pasta for a one pot meal)  When the pasta and veges are cooked, add 1/2 tin of tuna and 1/3 can of diced tomato. Stir through and serve.

Saturday.. Day 1

Today is the beginning the meal plan.  I am excited :)

I have made a couple of decisions to aid me in making sure everything lasts the week.

I will measure out out 300ml of milk to use each day.  Now, my math tells me that 7 x 300ml is 2.1L and of course I only have 2L, so the sneaky plan is to take out 100ml of milk from the carton, top it back up with 100ml of water.  Voila!! 2.Ll of milk that you cannot taste any difference with.

I have put 7 teabags out near the kettle and will keep track of how many cups of tea I have.

I have put my block of butter in a separate tub and my husband is under instructions that it is MINE!!!    I chose to use salted butter over margarine for a couple of reasons.  Firstly margarine is just a horrid chemical filled concoction that I cannot justify putting into my body if I have a choice.  Secondly, I can use butter to cook with as well as using as just a sandwich spread. Thirdly, I chose to use salted butter as I do not have any added salt to add to my meals, so this will help add a little more flavour. (not that I use a lot of salt anyway)

Here is the outcome of today's meals...

On the menu today is..
Breakfast
2 egg omelette with bacon
Cup of tea with milk
Lunch
Cheese and Salad sandwich on multi grain bread
Cup of tea with milk
Snack
2 Wafer biscuits
Cup of tea with milk.
Dinner
Pasta with Tomato, beans and cheese.
Cup of tea with milk

2 Egg and Bacon Soufflé Omelette

• 2 Eggs (Separated)
• Small Rasher of Bacon Diced
• Butter for frying.

In a clean bowl, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks.

Meanwhile, lightly fry the bacon until just cooked.  In a separate bowl combine the egg yolks and lightly cooked bacon.  

Gently fold the egg yolk and bacon mixture into the egg whites, being careful not to knock out too much air.
Fry gently in butter to each side until golden brown and the egg it set.

Lunch time saw me portioning out my salad veges in preparation for salad sandwiches through the week.  I thought to get the most from the little cucumber and carrot, I made strips of cucumber with a potato peeler and grate the carrot.  Mixed with the spinach leaves it certainly did provide a more than adequate filling for my sandwich.

Afternoon tea was a surprisingly good snack of two chocolate wafer biscuits and a cup of tea.  

Dinner was a lovely satisfying mix on boiled pasta mixed with kidney beans and mixed
through with a 1/3 tin of my diced tomato.  A slice of cheese on top and under the grill until the cheese was all nice and bubbly .   I am most certainly not hungry, and am now more excited to keep going.

Week 1 shop...Under Budget :-)

Here is the update of my shop.

You may notice the column labeled "Actual (Deemed)"  If a price is in RED, that indicates an item that I have not actually bought because I have the same product already at home.

I had budgeted for Tea Bags @ $2.57, but I took advantage of the special on Nerada tea at $1.99  I have Liptons currently at home, but only because they were on sale a few weeks ago.  My tea varies between Liptons, Bushells and Nerada depending on what is the best special on the day.  So I am happy to deem $1.99 for 50 teabags.

I had also originally budgeted for chicken thighs from the deli ( they had been advertised at $4.99kg)  When I got to the store, I noticed the drumsticks were only $3.98kg so bought 2 of them instead.

I was disappointed to see just how expensive fresh produce is in the supermarket.  :(
There was no Lettuce mix left so I have had to substitute baby spinach leaves to get some fresh green leafy vege into to meals.  I will have to get creative with some vege next week.

Looking around Woolworths I took note of a few options for next weeks shop.   I am hoping to get some Mince to get some red meat into the diet.  I also noticed a Home Brand Lasagne for just $2.27 which might make cheap lunches for 3 days.

I am happy that I have come in under budget. Now the fun begins with actually eating the menu plan.  I now have $25.15 for my budget next week

 

We start with breakfast tomorrow. 

Item	Budget	Actual (Deemed)
1 Dozen Eggs	$   2.79	$    2.79
2L Full Fat Milk	$      2.00	$      2.00
250g Butter	$      1.39	$      1.39
12pk Cheese slices	$      1.99	$      1.99
Multi Grain Bread	$      1.50	$      1.50
2 x Tinned Diced Tomatoes	$      1.18	$      1.18
3 Bean Mix	$      0.75	$      0.75
Frozen Mixed Vege 1kg	$      1.59	$      1.59
Tuna in springwater (185g)	$      1.15	$      1.15
Chicken Drumsticks from Deli 205g	$      1.30	$      0.95	Sorry forgot to take a pic :(
Bacon 250g	$      2.69	$      2.69
Fresh Carrot	$      0.20	$      0.34
Fresh Cucumber	$      0.40	$      0.69
Lettuce Mix	$      0.50	$      0.88
2 x Dried Pasta (500g)	$      1.30	$      1.30
Cup of Soup (4pk)	$      1.10	$      1.10
Cream Wafer Biscuits	$      0.57	$      0.57
Tea Bags 50pk	$      2.57	$      1.99
Total	$    24.97	$    24.85

Week 1....Shopping List and Menu Plan

Week 1....Shopping List and Menu Plan

After spending the morning on the Woolworth's Online site to gather pricing information, I have come up with this shopping list and Menu Plan.  

I will update this with actual prices and photos of purchases tomorrow after I have actually done the shop.

Shopping List

Menu Plan 

Loading the entire shopping list into Calorie King produced the following nutrition report.

It shows that the kJ count is slightly OVER my ideal.  (52984 vs 50666 ideal) I must admit that sort of surprised me.  I don't think I will eat all the pasta though, so I am going to guesstimate that my kJ will be pretty close to spot on.   

Stay tuned for the next installment  :-)

Feeding myself on $25.00 per week... Possible??

A post popped up on LifeHacker this week regarding a journo who had pondered the question back in 2010 if he could feed himself for the price of a cup of coffee per day.
The figure he came up with was $25.00 for the week. (Read the original 2010 article here.)

He  revisited this idea as to whether or not he could still do it in 2015.  (read the follow up here.   his conclusion was he could not buy his original basket of food for the $25.00.

That got me thinking.....

Is it possible to feed myself on just $25.00 per week?  At first thought..  I thought not.  My husband and I tend to not buy much food from the supermarket as the prices are much higher than the green grocer and bulk butcher we use.  The staples that we do buy from Woolworths tend to be Home Brand or "Select" brand anyway so the idea of using these cheaper items does not phase me.

After reading the original meal plan, I decided to tweak it see how I got on.  

This blog will follow my journey for one month of $25.00 meal plans.

Firstly...The Rules

• As per the original article, I will stick to the closest supermarket to our home, making the assumption that someone spending just $25.00 for food would not have a car.        Our local Woolworths centre does not have a green grocers in it, so I will have to buy  F&V from Woolies as well.  Our centre does have a butcher, bread shop and a  chicken shop, so I may use them as an option.
• No bulk pricing (read the original article as to why)
• Existing supplies.... I am going to be a little elastic here.    I am going to make a firm menu plan with a detailed shopping list that will be priced out.  BUT  I am not going to buy food that I already have in the house.  It would be silly on my part to "double buy" goods that I already have.   I will photograph everything I buy and use.
   
• I am aiming for a  kJ count of 7238 per day which is the figure that Calorie King came up with for a woman of my age, weight and lifestyle.  I will average this out over the week, meaning my total food consumption needs to be around 50666 kJ.

So, please follow me along on this and add your comments and suggestions.