Aiming to keep hunger at bay on three pounds a day

"...Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was a stranger and you welcome me..."

                           Matthew 25:34-35  

 

I have been making pizzas as above for the past....ooo 50 years!  My latest writing project is to publish simple, tasty and nutritional recipes developed from years of keeping many different people healthy while living with us. 

Last March many will know I felt led by the Lord to start a daily blog entitled: 'Food for Thought' which began with episodes, steps and then keys within a story.  It was my spiritual manna, and I hope for others too. Each series ran in conjunction with the three lockdowns and finished in December.  I considered another series, but the Lord kept drawing my attention to people using food banks and children going hungry.  

With my blog having such an apt title I realised I had the ideal platform to share my cheap recipes. And, in the midst of writing about this last on Saturday, I read UCB's Word for the Day based on Romans 12:6.  God gives people gifts, hospitality includes feeding people, so this has to be one of mine!

With the first lockdown where one week melded into another, my husband suggested he keep a spreadsheet of  our main meals. I now ask, what haven't we had lately?  As of today's date I've produced 300 meals - not recipes!!

However, this project is going to be more complicated than I thought.  How do I cost a recipe when things come out of my cupboard, eg a tsp of dried herbs?  A friend living with us suggested I stock and price up an imaginary store cupboard. Some ingredients will last more than a month, but will bring a better average of daily/weekly/cost when adding recipe ingredients. I now need to consider a month of meals to do that.  I will base prices from Lidl as it is where we do the majority of our shopping, using their unbranded products where possible.   I have begun to feed my imaginary four people...

Breakfast store cupboard: 2 pkts of porridge, cornflakes, muesli, weetabix, 4 jam/marmalade, sugar/tea/coffee and added in the perishable items to cost:  15 loaves of bread, 1kg 'nearly butter' and 60 litres of milk. If my calculations are correct divided by 4 people and 30 days = 35p each.  

Lunch store cupboard: 1 kg 'Nearly butter', 15 loaves of bread and 120 pieces of fruit.  5 days varied sandwich fillings: corned beef, grated or cream cheese, egg, pilchard, tuna, leftovers and 2 days:  toast, soup, beans averages out at 40p each. 

FYI the above pizza cost is  13p for base ingredients from stock + tomato and onion topped with leftover chicken bits, 2ozs mushrooms, 2 ozs grated cheese = £1.05.  Served with lettuce, cucumber, pepper, onion and cherry tomatoes  £1.80.  Divide total by 4 people - = 71p each.   Total cost of food for the day: £1.46 per person. leaving money spare for another day. For the recipe you may have to wait until February before it is on my website.