In keeping with this years Living Below The Line challenge, and in response to a phenomenal number of requests, I’ve pared back some of my recipes even more to the bare bones, knocking out ‘luxuries’ like garlic and lemon to bring my spend from £10 per week to £10 for 10 days, without compromising my ‘tea need’. You’ll notice I’ve done it for twice as long as the original challenge, because my shopping and cooking habits aren’t a supposed to be a short term fix but more an awareness into a different type of simple, nutritious cooking. However it can be translated into £1 a day for 5 days, for 2 people, if you like.
All items listed are Sainsburys Basics (except chickpeas, cumin and green beans) and all correct at time of going to press.
Shopping list: £9.82 for 10 days or for 2 people for 5 days.
Basics cornflakes, 31p/500g
Basics unsweetened soya drink, 59p
Whole meal bread, 22 slice loaf, 50p
Apples 82p for 6
Mixed fruit jam, 29p
Vegetable pack, 20pc carrot, potato, onion, £1
Rice, 40p
Pasta 39p
Chopped tomatoes x2 35p = 70p
Kidney beans, 27p
Chickpeas, 69p
Natural yoghurt, 65p
Cumin, 95p
Green beans, £1.40/kg
Basics Teabags, 35p
Dark chocolate; 31p
Mixed herbs, 20p
10 days.
Breakfast:
50g corn flakes with a splash of unsweetened soya milk and a cup of tea, made with soya milk
Lunch:
Jam sandwich, with yoghurt OR apple.
Dinners:
2x Mumma Jacks Best Chilli with rice
3x Carrot & Coriander Falafels with rice and green beans
2x Pasta Alla Genovese (dried herbs if no fresh herbs available, included in shopping list)
3x Vegetable masala with rice and green beans – uses up your remaining veg bag at the end of the week!
You will notice some ingredients missing from the shopping list that are in my original recipes – these can be missed out without too much of a compromise.
You will also notice at the end of the week that you have some rice, pasta, cumin, green beans, Teabags, jam etc left – they can be rolled over for the next week, leaving a little wriggle room in next weeks budget for other staples like a different herb or spice (paprika is a favourite), or cous cous, dried beans in bulk… The longer you do it, the bigger your store cupboard becomes, and the more varied and adventurous you can be. It’s almost 2am and I’m hitting the sack, will rework this and add links in the morning, but recipes can be found by searching the ‘search’ bar on the top right hand side…
Jack Monroe. Twitter: @MsJackMonroe. Email: jack.monroe@nqe.com
Categories: Life & Food
Big Blue Supermarket: ONE. Big Orange Supermarket: NIL. 
Soho Food Feast…. In Pictures. 
What’s it like to rely on food banks? BBC News, 30th May 
Earthy Red Wine and Mushroom Soup, 24p per portion* 
Reflections from below the line 
Post F&M Award surprise hamper of yummies – EEEEK!!! 
I do hope you sleep well and pray
that your job works out and you soon get paid.
My Mother kept herself and 8 of us on £19 per week back in the
60′s .I do not remember ever going really hungry
but the thing about poverty in the tedious dismalness
of it all.
I made your Carrot and Chickpea Falafel tonight
here in Mexico where I now live,
They were very good, but then I don’t have to eat them all the time.
God Bless you both.
Best Wishes
Charlotte Williamson
Sent from my iPad
Think we’re going to give this a go, better late than never – thanks for giving me some ideas. Not sure if you’ve come across this report from various churches challenging myths about proverty, but thought you might find it interesting: http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2013/03/03/the-lies-we-tell-ourselves-ending-comfortable-myths-about-poverty/. Next time IDS comes on telly or I find a Daily Mail on the train, I might play a varient of Bingo.
Hi Jacks, having recently started to be involved with the Rossendale Foodbank (RAFT – find it on Facebook!) I noticed that you have kindly allowed your recipes to be shared with foodbanks. There is a team of volunteers within RAFT that are putting together recipe cards to send out with the food boxes and I wondered if you would mind me using your recipes for this purpose.
However, that chocolate tea bread sounds so delicious, I will be ‘product testing’ that one myself!
Good luck with your new job
Thanks
Janet
Hi Janet,
I would be more than happy to let you print them out on recipe cards for people at food banks. It’s where I started off after all. Could you print the link to my site on them to direct people to the whole range of recipes?
And yes, the chocolate tea bread is great!
Will do Jacks, thanks for your help.
Janet
It’s much harder than it looks, we are a family of 5 so it’s tempting to try this with the whole family than just myself. Have played about with sainsburys online and for £5 for 5 days there is not a lot I can buy. It will be an interesting challenge. I went with porridge for breakfast (made with water) 2 loafs of bread, a jar of jam, 4 pints of milk (all that tea), vegetable stock cubes,mixed herbs, vegetable selection, 2 tins of spaghetti,. My plan will be to make a big vegetable soup and spaghetti on toast for 2 of the days.
It’s not very interesting but do-able even if very light on the fruit (none) and veg side of things.
Came across your blog while Googling around for ideas for my own blog, and stumbled upon yours. I’ve always wanted to blog about living for 5 days on 5 pounds, but unlike you lack the will to do so. Am also moved by your experiences and your resilience in the face of adversity. Hope you and your son continue to be well!
Love love love this
thanks for being the voice for all of us that find or have found ourselves in this predicament and never saw it coming my 2 children are grown up now but I’ll never forget xoxo
Hi there, I’ve just read about you in a recent weekend publication, and I must say how impressed I am with the way you have managed and survived. Do you now have a job, well, that’s great and I wish you all the very best luck, for yo and your son. Margaret (margaretmortondean)
I recommend you look at the Weston A. Price Nutrition Foundation.
– http://www.westonaprice.org/
Here is an article they wrote about eating truly nutritious food on a budget, as our poverty struck ancestors once did:
– http://www.westonaprice.org/making-it-practical/healthy-eating
They promote traditional, nutrient dense foods which do not cost the earth. Did you know you get more vitamin A and many other nutrients having liver once a month rather than a steak every day? Liver is sold for next to nothing. Also, combine meat with kidney, again, costs very little.
The fatty cuts of meat, like, pork belly, cost half the price of chops, are far higher in fat soluble vitamins A, D and K2.
Rather than eating fish, ask for roe, which is fish eggs and the male verson. Packed full of far more nutrients than the fish, but sells for a fraction of the price. Pick up a few kilo’s for £10.
Go to your butcher and your fish monger and ask for bones. They often give them for free, as they will otherwise throw them away. Boil them up to make nutritious soup with everything a child needs to grow healthy bones and immune system (white blood cells are made in the bone marrow).
Go to a butcher and ask for, say, neck of lamb. Enough meat there for a few weeks and will make enough bone broth for a few weeks of soup, yet again, is often given away for free. Nobody wants these cuts anymore.