Food challenge week 1

And the shopping list:

the pineapple, lettuce, aubergine and brussel sprouts were in the reduced section...pineapple has been cut up and frozen, the rest will keep ok in the fridge for now....

so that's a grand total spend of.......drumroll......£43.49

Now, "how on earth is she going to stick to £100 for a whole month if she has spent almost half in the first week?"  I hear you ask.... well, my plan was to stock up on certain items that were on offer at the start, and just topping up each week with fresh fruit, veg, bread and milk.  So I now have a budget of £18.83 to spend each week for the next 3 weeks.  It also means that our total meat for the month consists of: a whole chicken (approx 1.4kg), 2 packets of chicken drummers and thighs* (containing approx 4 drumsticks and 2 large thighs each), a packet of pork loins steaks (5 in the packet) and a packet of minced beef (777g).  Meat is now a luxury and I will be using it as an ingredient (as I have said before).  I will be making a little stretch a very long way.....

* I was on rota to cook a meal for a lady at church who has just had a baby.  I therefore used 3 of the large thighs from the two packets and deboned them.  I then chopped them up and made a caribbean chicken and potato curry, and some rice and aduki beans cooked in coconut milk (from storecupboard items).  It looked pretty substantial and would easily feed us four, so I think it'll be plenty for her and her husband and toddler.  As for the other thigh, I also deboned and chopped it up, marinated  it in soy sauce, ginger, garlic and oyster sauce, then used to make saturdays meal for us.  It was more than enough with the beansprouts and chopped veg (even some leftovers actually!)

As for the rest of the meat I bought, I divided the mince into 3 portions of approx 250g each and froze them seperately.  The pork chops are in the freeser and I will use the chicken to make 2 meals and some stock (to freeze for soups etc).

As you can see from the menu above, we will be eating leftovers for our lunch (me and Nick).  This is usually what we do anyway.  I haven't got a lot of bread in my shop, so I will bake some by hand from the bread flour I already have.  Snacks will be either cheese and crackers (already got the crackers), or homemade cake (already got flour, bought the eggs, sugar and margarine), fruit or veg sticks.

Anything else mentioned in the menu that I haven't bought whilst shopping, is stuff I already have in my cupboard/fridge/freezer.  I planned the menu around those items to keep the shopping bill low.

So anyway, I think that covers it.  This week the fridge and cupboards are overflowing, it remains to be seen if we will have such bounty available when the budget shrinks next week.......

Yoghurt marinated roast chicken

As a practice for my upcoming challenge, I decided to see how far I can make a whole chicken last.  Sadly I forgot about the stock I made in the slowcooker using the carcass and had to throw it out, but on the saturday I used one of the chicken breasts to make chicken and broccoli in blackbean sauce with stir fried noodles and beansprouts.  It was delicious and the kids both heartily approved - Ben even had seconds (practically unheard of!) In order to have even the slightest chance of completing the challenge, I need to make meat less of the 'main deal' and more of an ingredient, and find ways to bulk out our meals without using so much.  So this is what I did with the joint portions of the chicken.

Yoghurt marinated chicken

Ingredients:
2 x chicken thighs, 2 x legs, 2 x wings - skinned
few tbs of low fat yoghurt
roughly 1 heaped tsp each of paprika, ground cardamom (my most prized spice), ground coriander, ground cumin and black pepper
pinch of turmeric
couple tsps salt (you need extra to compensate for the yoghurt and lemon)
juice of a lemon
1/2 tsp chilli powder (optional)

Method:
slash all the pieces of meat with a sharp knife and put in a bowl.
In a seperate bowl mix together all the rest of the ingredients.
Pour yoghurt mix over chicken and mix well to coat all the pieces.
Cover and leave to marinate overnight in the fridge.
When you are ready to cook it, bring it out of the fridge and let it come back to room temp, before putting in a pre-heated oven.  Drizzle with a little olive oil and cook on about 180 degrees for approx 40 mins or until cooked and the juices run clear.

I served this over a bed of rice which I had cooked with lemon, and sprinkled fresh coriander all over it, a garlic yoghurt sauce and peas and broadbeans with mint

We could all have eaten twice as much as was on offer, but cutting down on our portion sizes (me and Nick) would not be a bad thing.....

Garlic yoghurt sauce

Great with grilled/barbecued/roasted meats.....

Ingredients:
natural, plain yoghurt, whisked
1 clove garlic, minced
tbp fresh chopped coriander leaves (or mint as a variation)
salt to taste
tbs olive oil

Method:
gently sautee the garlic in the olive oil and add the coriander, taking care not to burn the garlic (it will become bitter and unpalatable)

add the yoghurt and gently heat through until warm, then season with salt.  Do not allow the yoghurt to boil as it will curdle.

Peas and broadbeans with mint

This was a side dish that accompanied yoghurt marinated chicken.

Ingredients:
frozen or fresh peas
frozen or fresh broadbeans, shelled (I didn't do this as I was pushed for time, though I do much prefer them shelled)
1 banana shallot (or small onion), diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
handful of fresh mint, shredded
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
sautee the shallot/onion in some olive oil until softened, then add the garlic
add the peas and broadbeans and cook until just done
stir in the fresh mint, leaving some to add on top when serving (so it doesn't all wilt in the heat)

Serve!

A fantastic variation would be to add some crumbled feta - with some warm flatbreads, it could also make a lovely light lunch....

£100 food challenge: Setting the scene....

So, I feel I should make a few things clear in preparation for this challenge, namely that:

1. the kids have school lunches so I will not have to include their lunches during the week in this menu.  However it will include both mine and Nick's weekday lunches, and all weekend ones. 
2. during the challenge, there will be a half term holiday.  During this week, I will have to factor in lunches and snacks for the kids during the day.
3. We are away 5th-6th of February visiting family and attending the chinese new year celebrations in Trafalgar square and London's west end.  I will, for obvious reasons, not be including the food eaten during this time in the challenge.
4. I have a pretty good store cupboard including, amongst other things; a variety of dried beans, bulgur wheat, wholegrain rice, LOTS of spices, dried lentils and odds and ends of pasta. In the freezer I have some frozen berries we picked last autumn, some frozen apple sauce we made, a few wild Alaskan salmon fillets, a couple of tubs of cannellini beans I cooked up in a batch, various assortments of vegetables and some home made chicken stock.   Whatever I haven't used up before the start of the challenge will definitely help me to achieve it!

With all this in mind, I am already collating ideas and recipes - I still think it's gonna be nigh on impossible, but I WILL give it a good go......

February Food Challenge 2011

£100 budget for food for one month for a family of 4.....

Yesterday, whilst preparing a whole chicken for roasting, I boasted to Nick that I reckon I could feed us all for a week from one chicken....I was actually completely exaggerating somewhat, but he somehow turned that into a challenge and told me to see if I could feed us all for a month on a measly budget of £100.  Well, I like a good challenge me, so despite reservations as to the actual probability of being able to stick to such a minute budget (especially with food prices rising as quickly as they are), I have been mulling it over ever since.  And I must say, I am quite intrigued to find out if I could really do it.  Technically I could just feed us all beans and rice, rice and beans for the next month and stay well within budget, but that's not any fun.  I want to see if I can do it bearing in mind the following:

• the food has to be balanced (in terms of healthy/some treats)
• the budget has to include ALL meals, drinks and snacks
• the food has to be able to satisfy two hungry, growing children (who eat most things, but are suspicious of others), a permanently hungry, lactating mum and a dad who works out 5 days a week and walks/cycles to and from work every day.
• the food must be interesting and varied, drawing influences from various types of cuisine - as this is how we like to eat normally

So, my budgeting and cooking skills are going to be tested to the absolute limit with this one I think!  Though my recently restocked storecupboard will undoubtedly help.....

For the sake of ease, the challenge will run from one pay day to the next, therefore it will begin Saturday 29th January and end Friday 25th February. Each week I will post my menu, shopping list and total spent - along with some recipes and reports on how we are doing.

First post will be coming up soon......