Well here we are at the end of Day 4.
Breakfast was again plain pancakes with jam and a spot of soft cheese.
2 of the little scones, with more jam during the morning.
Then 2 bowls of soup with lentils, cabbage and bacon. The bacon provided a lovely saltiness and flavour.
The dinner this evening was a huge scone based pizza. I made a scone mix using 250g flour, dividing it into two, with the second half for lunch tomorrow.
One of the little pots of tomato in the fridge was shared between the two, along with half of the solitary remaining onion and a tiny bit of carrot. Then a few little bits of soft cheese, and I pinched a few slivers of bacon from tomorrow.
It was pretty tasty considering I didn’t reduce the tomato to make a sauce, or have any seasonings. So looking forward to that at lunchtime tomorrow.
Still really longing for a cup of tea and a huge mug of coffee.
At DD2’s tomorrow, and we could have gone out for a nice lunch somewhere, but I need to do Day 5 – grump 🙁
Having worked out the nutrition, I know there are enough vegetables, fibre etc in the basket, but it feels like I have been eating far too much white flour and jam this week. Looking forward to some variety in a few days.
Thank you Lesley! Well… after posting my meal plan I realised that each day I should really be cooking 190-200g of rice and dividing that in two portions! One for lunch and keeping the other one for dinner! That’s about a mugful of grains. It sounds like a lot of rice, but then that’s another main staple for many people in the poorer world. I am looking forward to the challenge!
Veronica
Yes, I like seeing how other people do it too. Did you see on Sue’s blog how a lad last year bought just Mars bars and coke!
Oh bless you Veronica. I am really looking forward to a lovely cup of tea tomorrow 🙂
Interesting choices, I shall watch with interest how you get on
Almost there!
Shame about the missed lunch though 🙁
I’m not sure how I’d manage without my coffee, I’d really struggle.
Several people whose blogs I read are doing this challenge, and I find the different approaches fascinating, and there’s always something new to learn.
Hi! You have really inspired me! I have been thinking all day how I could help you have your cups of tea! And here is a plan I came up to help your cause! The idea of the beans is that they are a daily staple food in many countries and a healthy option too! I like them a lot!!
My choice of shopping basket is from Tesco’s website and you might like to know that they now stock an everyday value cooking bacon at 81p for 500g and is this week’s new line and savoy cabbage is half price!
Here is the list. Came up with:
1 Tesco Savoy Cabbage Each £0.40
1 Tesco Everyday Value Lemon Curd jar 411G £0.22
2 Tesco Carrots Loose £0.15
1 Tesco Brown Onions Loose £0.16
1 Tesco Everyday Value Rich Tea biscuits 300G £0.23
1 Tesco Everyday Value Pineapple Pieces In Juice 540G £0.36
1 Tesco British Semi Skimmed Milk 1.136L/2Pints £0.89
1 Tesco Everyday Value 80 Teabags 250G £0.27
1 Tesco Everyday Value Cooking Bacon 500G £0.81
1 Tesco Everyday Value Long Grain Rice 1Kg £0.40
1 Tesco Wholefood Pinto Beans 500G £1.09
Basket price £4.98
I probably try and eat the above over 7 days, and each day would provide aprox 1600 kcals, 60g of protein, 37g of fat and 15g of fibre fr me. For a man that require more calories the above should be eaten over 5 days I believe.
For this meal plan one needs to soak all the beans overnight in cold water at least 2 days before starting day.
The day before we will call the prep day” which is when the bacon is separated into 3 piles:
The first one is the neat thin slices we can grill and eat once a day with a main meal.
The second pile is the thick uneven pieces which are best to put to cook with all beans to add flavour and seasoning.
The third pile is the small fatty bits and small bits chopped small for frying gently with the chopped onion and the carrots grated. We will call this the “carrot sofrito”. Once softened divide the mixture in 5 or 7 portions. Maybe freeze them individually. Each daily portion can be added to the cooking rice or evening cooked cabbage for favour and seasoning.
Next…
Cook all the beans and thicker bacon pieces the day before till soft. Care to avoid burning at the bottom. Separate into 7 portions (5 if you are a man)
That’s it! All the preparation is done. Let the week begin:
Each day follows:
Breakfast
We start the day by grabbing the daily allocated portions from freezer or fridge and pouring milk into a small jug the allowance for the day. Mine is 160ml (a man’s one will be about 220ml) and grab up to 11 teabags!
Grab 5 (7 if you are a man) rich tea biscuits and top with a teaspoon (10g) of lemon curd each. Maybe save some of the rich tea biscuits to eat later in the day?
First thing to cook is 95-100g of rice with half the daily carrot sofrito portion. For each day cut a 5th or7th of the cabbage, chop into smaller pieces and boil for about 5 minutes or until tender to your taste. Drain and stir fry with the other half of the daily carrot sofrito portion for 1-2 minutes. Serve with half the rice and half the beans from daily allowance.
Evening meal
Grill the bacon slice(s). Serve with 2nd half portion of rice and beans
For dessert a 60g portion of the tinned pineapple. Freeze? the other portions till needed each day.
I cook rice by frying the washed and drained grains on a non-stick pan then in this case with the carrot sofrito. I then measure boiling water to exactly double the volume of rice..then turned to a low heat, cover with lid and simmer without stirring for 12-15 minutes. i then remove from heat and gentle lift the rice to get colder air right under and around grains. I close the lid again to keep heat in but keep pan away from direct heat. I leave it alone for up to 15 minutes, then gently re-fluff the rice to separate clumps and get more air around grains. Close lid again. Pan now should sit on a colder surface till serving time. All this could fail of course depending on the rice variety. One needs the right one!
Thank you for being a great inspiration for me!
Veronica