Last time on the Unity Social Kitchen Blog, you were challenged join us for our £2.50 food challenge to help raise awareness about food insecurity social isolation. With less than two weeks to go, I’ve been browsing a few of the supermarkets prices to plan the five days.
Wandering around with a notepad and writing prices down, I may have got some funny looks but don’t let that put you off, planning is key! Staff will probably just think there’s been an influx of mystery shoppers.
After comparing prices between my local supermarkets, I’ve come up with my plan as a guide to help you. For me, the hardest part is going to be Tea/Coffee/Sugar sacrifice and potentially the lack of condiments/herbs etc to add flavour. What I have tried to do is still include as much fruit and veg as possible, although this will be dependent on buying lose veg or a reduced bargain. Good quality protein will be lacking.
The £2.50 Daily Menu
| Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Extras |
| Full Fat Milk £0.80 | Baked Pot/Egg £0 | Potatoes 2.5K £1.15 | Salt £0.27 |
| Wholemeal Bread £0.50 | Beans + Toast £0 | 8 pack Pork Sausage £0.85 | Olive Oil £1.30 |
| 5 Bananas £ 0.79 | Leftover Pasta/Sausage £0 | Tin Beans £0.22 | Mayonnaise £0.41 |
| Buttery Spread £0.69 | Soup £0 | 6 Eggs £0.75 | Stock Cubes £0.36 |
| Ground Coffee £1.09 | Soup £0 | Bag Pasta £0.29 | Diluting Juice £0.42 |
| Garlic Bulb £0.25 | |||
| 3 x Tin Tomatoes £0.60 | |||
| 1 x onion £0.15 | |||
| £3.84 | £0 | £ 4.26 | £2.76 |
Total= £10.86
This leaves £1.64 which will be used on loose vegetables for soup and veg/Salad for an omelette or Frittata. If I then have anything spare I will either get other loose fruit if possible, and/or a packet of custard creams as a sweet treat £0.34.
Breakfast
Banana on Toast and Coffee x 5 days. I have opted for Ground Coffee as cheaper than a jar over the 5 days.
The Loaf has 14 Slices; I will use the spare slices for Beans on Toast and a Slice with the Soup at Lunch. Tip – BUY Full Fat Milk and Water it down
Dinner
Sausage and Mash x 2 Days. Tomato and Garlic Pasta x 2 Day, Omelette/Frittata x 1 Day or Egg, Chips and Beans x 1 Day. The Chips will be cooked in oven with drizzle of olive oil.
There are 8 sausages in the pack. 3 for each dinner. 2 will be kept for the pasta at lunch.
4 eggs for dinner. 2 boiled for Lunch and added to Mayo for Baked Potato
Half the beans for dinner/half for lunch
2 Tins tomatoes for the pasta sauce and 1 will be used for the soup
Pasta can be added to the soup.
Lunch
Soup x 2 portions (Stock Cubes, Potato, and whatever veg I can get. Hopefully I’ll have enough soup to have at dinner as an extra.
The other days are made up from the dinner and breakfast leftovers.
For this plan, I visited Aldi and Sainsbury’s. However, for my loose vegetables I will probably go to Morrisons as you have a better variety of loose fruit and veg.
I’ve tried to stay away as much as possible from ready meals/ jars of sauces and instant noodles etc, however you can buy these for as little as 0.75p for a Frozen Lasagne, 0.25p Noodles and 0.29p Pasta Sauce, so the challenge will be different for everyone depending on you will or won’t eat. You may also be happy eating with no variety over the 5 days, so a couple of chickens @ £1.89 each, a bag of rice @ £0.72 could see you through lunch and dinner.
I hope that you find this useful and gives you a few ideas. We look forward to you joining us for the £2.50 Challenge and hearing how you got on. Keep a diary for the week and share your experience with us.
Unity Volunteer Recruitment Day Reminder
On Sunday we are holding a Unity Volunteer Recruitment day 12-3pm @Spoon Café 46 Trongate. Meet the Team from The Social Kitchen, Sunday Social and Empower Services and hear about how these projects make a difference to individuals and families and the difference you can make by offering some of your time.
You will find out about potential opportunities including – Event personnel, Fundraisers, Individuals with Cookery Skills, Entertainer/Performers, Group Support, Arts and crafts, Numeracy and Literacy and Employability.
The Event will also give you an insight into our new Sunday Social project, where you will be able to sit down, have a chat and enjoy a hot meal prepared in the Social Kitchen.
