Twelve pound Charity Challenge - done and dusted!

Amazingly it hasn't been that bad!  
Living off £12 for a week sounds mad, but we've done it, 
and it really has made me stop and think.


I had got into the habit of last minute meals.  It would get to 4 o'clock:  
"What's for tea mummy?"
"..ermmm, something lovely..!" [hopefully opens fridge door]
But last week I was one step ahead - and it felt good.  So more planning needed I think!  I'm going to try to go shopping with a proper list, avoid going when I'm hungry, which is lethal - and  think more carefully about what I put in my trolley.


The kids were running out of steam by the weekend.  The grumbling had definitely kicked in.  When they get bored they ask for food, so I took them cycling in the Forest of Dean to distract them, with the added bonus that it wore them out!  
Yesterday we had pasta with the last of the chicken in a creamy sauce (butter, flour, splash of milk, water and half a stock cube, taste of mustard and a spoonful of cream cheese) which I'd frozen - and baked beans and cider bread for tea.  The last of the muffins too.


I know I have more planning and cooking time on my hands because I'm not working, but a part from the bread and pizza dough, nothing I made last week took longer than 10 minutes to prepare.  I am an impatient cook!


The small amount of fruit and veg has been a struggle; still we scrapped through and it's fired up my enthusiasm to grow our own.
On the plus side, the kids are drinking water and have stopped asking for juice,
I got them to eat soup and my fussy eater ate potatoes (even if he didn't know it!),
there haven't been any biscuits or crisps in the house (sadly temporary - 1 against 3),  
I rediscovered muffins and would have faced a mutiny without them,
cider bread! - who'd have thought it?
I actually quite like cream crackers.


Last, but definitely not least, there's a cheque in the post for the Rifles "Care for Casualties" Appeal.  And you know what, I'd do it again!

Day 91 - Twelve pound Charity Challenge!

I've wanted to have a go at this for ages!  It's possibly a bit bonkers, but I love a challenge and love a bargain, so the idea of spending just twelve pounds on the weekly food shop appeals to me. I've also told a few friends I'm going to do it, so have to now, don't I ? 


My Granny had an amazing knack of being able to make something out of nothing. There was never any waste in her kitchen and always a large pot of interesting looking soup. I'm quite sure some of her frugal skills rubbed off on all of us (apart from her fondness for offal)  
She was a wonderful cook; I think about her often and know she would have loved this challenge.


Spending so little has made me think long and hard about what to buy and what to cook. Obviously a lot more planning needed. Getting our five-a-day might be tricky and you can forget organic, apart from some sad looking parsley growing in a pot outside the back door.  Of course the challenge would be a lot easier if we grew our own vegetables (something I'm going to try this year)  
Looking more closely at what I buy has made me realise that fruit and veg make up a hefty chunk of our weekly food bill.  More than I thought really.  


So what's in and what's out?  Well, there'll be no rummaging around in the freezer, but I can use any flour and sugar that's in the cupboard and a spoonful or two of things like honey, jam, and cooking oil.   A teeny bit of flexibility is ok, isn't it? Anyway, they're my rules and the money I usually spend on the weekly shop is going to the Rifles "Care for Casualties" Appeal.  Please do take a look.


I've done my best to prepare the kids for day one on monday and they seem quite keen! Things might change when they look inside an empty fridge.  The youngest was a little shocked when I told her there wouldn't be much in the way of treats or pudding, "No pudding mummy?"   Wait until she sees what's in her lunch box....


The fun starts tomorrow!