International cuisine and reflection

The alarm went off early again for the last time this week. I dragged myself out of bed (2 snoozes in) and padded wearily downstairs to make pancakes.

Usually Matt is almost out the door before I get up. But he said he's loved having me around in the mornings to chat with before school and will be sad next week when it's back to normal. So I will definitely make an effort to hang out with him over breakfast more often. And actually, the sun was shining, Pulp was on the Radio. It was pretty nice!

Sophie insisted on an 'action shot' of her pancake eating. That child is a delightful eater! I remember once telling her "don't eat your mashed potato with your fingers" so she just stuck her face straight in it! The pancakes were a success anyway. And these only had 1 small egg, flour and water so cost literally pennies.

Sophie didn't want a satuma today. Apparently they taste of lemons, so this was her lunch. Not very healthy, but they seem to have been doing ok on it this week.

Work wasn't bad going today. But I was really cold. I had to borrow a fleece to sit in. In fact, I was so cold in the night last night that I had to sleep in my slippers and dressing gown. My bones ached like crazy, it must be something to do with the diet change or stress. Looking at the menu it seems reasonably balanced. So I'm not sure what it is that makes me feel so rubbish. 

Some of the guys went to the pub for lunch but I didn't get asked because of the challenge. To be honest I'd have been happy to (read tolerated) having a water while they ate, but I guess it would likely have put a dampener on the meal. Perhaps I'm not as much fun when I'm poor!

I dropped Matt off at his dad's house with last night's leftover fried rice for tea. On the way I asked him what he'd like to eat next week. Damn kid said pancakes!!! So maybe my days of early morning cooking are not quite over yet.

When I got home I started cobbling together what was left into some semblance of a meal. Sophie has a friend over for tea. Luckily she's a joy because she'll try anything. So here it is, an adventure around the world it seems! Leftover Iraqi iroog, leftover stirfry veg and noodles, lentil falafel, Italian riceballs, crispy chicken skin, eggy bread, beans.

As you can see, there wasn't much left! 

The riceballs were great, all I did was cook some rice with a stock cube and a bit of garlic powder and herbs de provence, once it had absorbed all the water, mix in 2 beaten eggs and let the mixture cool. Then form balls, coat in breadcrumbs and fry.

 

It would be a great way to use up leftover rice. Recipes I saw included cheese and things, but I reckon there's scope to add all sorts. These were tasty just as they were :)

Both girls ate plenty and enjoyed some of the new foods. The only thing left was lentil falafel because it needed a bit more spice and flavour. I have some mixture left so will be experimenting again tomorrow with that!

So that's it, our very last meal! Every year this is challenging, but I have to say we have never been this close to running out of food before. This is what we had left.

I am so thankful to our lovely friends and family who have donated money, but also given support and kind words to help get us through the week. This challenge is 100% not about proving you can live on £1 a day. There is no way I could survive like this long term. It's about recognising that some people have no choice, and no voice. And trying to do something about that. We complain about money, I often feel the pinch at the end of the month. But we have such freedom to make choices about what we buy, where we go. This week the limitation on our choice has been one of the hardest things. 

The kids have both said at various points that they have enjoyed the challenge, or that the food has been good. I, on the other hand, had my first piece of fruit all week today, because I wanted to make sure they had enough. I've spent time making the things I know they enjoy, or spending our last 17p on a treat for them. It is heartbreaking not to be able to give your child what they want and need. My heart goes out to those who have to make those choices every day. To go without lunch so that they're kids can have something nice in their packed lunch. To forego a meal to make sure there's something in tomorrow. 

And it breaks my heart that this government keep making policies which punish those with little. And that people are again in local elections today, buying into and supporting that government. This isn't really a political blog, but it's hard not to get fired up and angry sometimes at the way some people are forced into living in 2017 Britain. This is my contribution, my mutinous stand for anyone who finds themselves battered my life and adrift. It isn't a lot but it's what I can do. It really could be any of us. 

For today though, this is the end of an important journey. I have learnt new skills and recipes, I've learnt how important kind words can be, and I've learnt that 3 cups is the absolute limit for a single tea bag! 

Thanks again for sharing our journey. I have loved writing this blog and sharing the ups and downs with you. 

Maybe we'll see you again next year!!

If you haven't yet donated please please do. 

https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/kateraynor1

If you want to know more about the project that inspires us into self-imposed famine do let me know!

17p treats; a better day

This morning we used up the last of the porridge but at least both kids went to school with full bellies. Matt had a mock Spanish oral exam so it was important he was well fuelled.

I was working from home first thing. Which would usually mean loads of tea and buttered toast. Instead I had to make do with a single biscuit! It was really really good though!

I had iroog, again, for lunch. It is delicious but I'm definitely over it now. For some reason everyone wanted to talk about food when I got into the office. Kebab and chips, cheese and onion toasties, lasagne. I swear they're doing it on purpose! I think my patience is definitely less than usual. I told a customer off (they did deserve it a bit) when usually I would have bit my tongue. The customer is always right, right? It's probably good for my employment status that we're nearly done!

The kids have been awesome this week. Sophie has been a bit up and down about the challenge, Matt reckons he's barely noticed bless him. But I really wanted to treat them a little bit. The cheapest treat I could find was some Cola in Aldi for 17p. They were thrilled.

Dinner was egg fried rice, with chicken for the meat eaters. We didn't have a lot of time between Sophie getting home from hockey and leaving for Brownies so it was a bit rushed. 

I used a little garlic ginger paste and soy sauce (10p), the rest of the chicken (85p), 2 onions (20p), 3 carrots (12p), couple of handfuls of peas (20p), 4 eggs (28p) and a shed load of rice (15p). I was hoping for leftovers! At £1.90 it was a good sized meal for everyone. And there was just about a portion left when we'd finished.

I used up all the onions, carrots and chicken. There really isn't very much left for tomorrow. At all. Lentils, rice, eggs, bread, bananas. I'm not quite sure what we can 'ready steady cook' out of that! I have prepped some pancake batter for breakfast. When all else fails, there is always pancakes!

I headed out this evening to see a band called Seafret. They were amazing. I'd like to say I enjoyed my water but I'd rather have had the beer!

We're up to £400 on the donation front, which is brilliant. Thank you so much to everyone who has donated. And of course there is still time if you haven't ;) 

https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/kateraynor1

Dirty midnight feasts and Emotional Turbulence

This morning feels a very long time ago. It's been an emotionally turbulent day.

But first, last night I had a massive craving for some bad food. A frugal Facebook group helped me out with the suggestion of a banana sandwich sprinkled with sugar and fried. Oh my word, it was the best dirty midnight feast!

This morning I made pancakes because the porridge is almost gone. Matt declared that "no one can be sad with pancakes, they're like anti depressants." So I guess he was happy!

Sophie spent most of the morning laying under a blanket proclaiming my shortcomings as a mother. Which was nice! I'm not sure if it's hormones, hunger or a combination but we are both a little fractious this week.

I had a significant day, in that I signed all the paperwork to BUY A HOUSE! I was on top of the world before I went. I've wanted this for so long and our new house is perfect. But the solicitor wants a more thorough survey doing because of some internal walls being removed. Which means I can't give notice on our lease yet. Which bummed me out a bit. We have a house inspection tomorrow I was hoping to cancel. They've been unnecessarily thorough previously. Complaining about every mark on the wall, every bit of clutter even. They just make me so stressed and anxious. So a great week to have it! We can't even celebrate when it's over.

When I got back from the solicitors I had a few work calls to take. So lunch ended up being about 3pm. I was ready for it! Lentil soup, lentil iroog (again!!) and that 5p salad which is still going strong.

Tea was the stirfry veg - 10p which was marked down on Sunday, I can't believe how good it still is. No slimy bits at all. Noodles - 1.05 (5 packs), and chicken 85p for the others. I did loads and it went down well! I'd add 10p again for a bit of garlic, ginger and soy sauce.

I have been desperate for a long hot bath since yesterday. And since the plumber came earlier, I cracked open a new bottle of Radox (the actual brand!) and ran a super bubbly bath.

Which was not hot.

Gutted.

I climbed in anyway and Les found me, crying a bit (a lot) in a half filled, lukewarm bath. Not my finest moment of the challenge but it was just the final straw. I just wanted a bath! I ALWAYS cry on day 3. As the stress and monotony really kick in. I don't know if it's blood sugar or vitamins or what, but it's crap! And I know it's only for 5 days. And I know it's going to benefit others. I don't know how long I could do this for no reason other than being skint. Worry about the kids diet, not wanting to eat until I know they've had enough. It's not a nice way to live and it is all consuming.

Les did some voodoo magic on the boiler coz "that's what boys are for" and Hey Presto! Hot water! I finally got my bubble bath.

I feel refreshed from it but I'm still exhausted. Usually the night before the house inspection I would be rushing round cleaning grout with a toothpaste and scrubbing windowsills. Tonight I can't care enough. Luckily Les is fixing everything. Which is just as well!

I dunno what the total is. But it's less than £20. :) until tomorrow...

Broken boilers and bolognaise

Today started off pretty well. Kids both had porridge, although I weighed what was left and discovered we have used over half the oats. And we've only had porridge one morning! Total - 20p ish.

Both kids wanted supper last night; Sophie's was a bowl of porridge and Matt had a plate of leftovers. So maybe it's not going to go as far as I thought!

The kids took a packed lunch of sausage sandwich, crisps, 2 biscuits and a satsuma to school. Which I don't think is bad going really and 32p each.

I muddled through at work ok, and had leftovers from last night for lunch.

I really miss choice. And it seemed like everything was food focused; I turned the radio on and it was a cooking programme. So I put on a podcast and they were talking about favourite crisp flavours. Then facebook had a video of how to make chocolate brownies. I really crave some tasty, unhealthy food!

My mood is very definitely not helped by hormones and tummy ache. 

I got home from work to discover that the boiler is bust so we have no hot water. (The boiler that British Gas has been recommending the landlord replace for several years) This is really NOT what I need. My heart was set on a hot bath to ease my aches and chill me out. Instead, in preparation for the boiler man coming tomorrow I had to find Sophie's bedroom floor and forge a path to the boiler. 

I am not usually a negative person, I like to see the best in things, but today I most definitely feel like the universe is out to get me. And I know that the stress of worrying about food, and general reduction in calories etc is playing a huge part in that. Luckily Saturday is only 4 sleeps away...

Les cooked a delicious bolognaise using the rest of the mince - 90p, 2 tins tomatoes - 58p, peas - 20p, onion - 10p, herbs - 10p. He didn't get the memo about spaghetti so used penne pasta instead; which adds 9p to our total as it's more expensive. Total for this meal ~ £2.17. I have us up to £19.57, this is the tightest it's ever been! We often end up buying a pint of milk on the last day but won't have the chance to do that this time.

Les did me a huge portion without meat. I thought I would save half to take to work tomorrow. Sophie had other ideas and finished the lot!

It's starting to get hard now. And I can't believe it's only Tuesday!

We'd love you to sponsor us to help with the important work carried out by the drop-in. https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/kateraynor1 

These are challenging times for many of our clients, and will continue to be so for more than just 5 days. I've loved being a part of a project which welcomes people with love and acceptance, and offers respect and hope. I hope for good things for all our clients, and hope that this small gesture from us can help.

Sweetie scandals and Iraqi delights

We had an extra little cutie (Iraqi delight number 1!) who decided to wake super early this morning. So I was grumpy, hungry (totally psychological) AND tired. Thank goodness for tea (2p).

Sophie is also not a morning person. I suspect I am responsible for this.

She plodded downstairs this morning and declared that if she couldn't have syrup on her porridge then she wasn't playing anymore. Not a great start to the week! So I agreed to make pancakes. I doubled up ingredients thinking I'd save the rest of the batter for another day. The kids had other plans!

2 eggs - 14p. Flour - 7p. Milk - 7p. 28p which made 14 pancakes. So 2p each. Plus sugar, breakfast total - 32p.

Lunch was... Brown. My lentil soup was nice but the chapattis I made yesterday weren't great. The 36p a loaf bread was also pretty yuck, especially without butter. I'm not a brand queen by any stretch but you certainly get what you pay for with that stuff!

Matt had a sausage toastie, which of course Sophie was jealous of, so she also had one after her soup.

Lentil soup - 10p portion, sausage toastie - 14p each, Sophies chicken stock and veg soup - 2p. Total including bread 40p.

In the afternoon, as my back was turned for 5 minutes, Les and the kids found a half eaten packet of sweets in the car, and dove in. I was furious. I have spent hours preparing for this challenge, checking prices, writing meal plans, shopping, cooking. Every year this gets harder. Prices go up, each year the kids appetites grow. But I have tried to ensure this was as easy as possible for everyone else in the house. It felt like a kick in the teeth. 

Luckily they went out which gave me some time alone with my sulk and a cup of tea (2p) to adjust. I could ignore it. Just pretend it didn't happen. After all there really are worse things they could have done. No one spent any more money, it was a half packet of sweets which would likely have ended up in the bin in a week or two otherwise. But if I didn't say anything, I would feel disingenuous. People have trust in us to stick to the rules, otherwise what's the point. I class myself as a woman of integrity; I couldn't leave it unsaid. Hopefully you guys will understand and still want to sponsor us! If not, well that's ok too. But at least I've been honest.

**edit** - The only reason I have taken on the entirety of planning this, is because planning is what I do. Les will happily cook every day of the week but I couldn't cope with leaving him to last minute decisions! He's a good 'un really.

So once I'd mentally dealt with that, it was on with preparing dinner - Iraqi delight number 2! This was based on a recipe Abdul gave us last year and it went down a storm. It's probably miles from actual iroog now I've tweaked it. Especially the veggie version which I made with lentils. I also ran out of time and patience to make them small so they are supersized ones! And super tasty!

I'm not 100% on the cost because I kinda threw it together but roughly 1 tin tomatoes - 29p, bread crusts - free, lentils - 10p, minced beef - 70p, carrot - 4p, onion - 10p, flour - 4p, spices - 10p. So £1.37 for the iroog. Rice on the side was around 10p cooked with the juice from tinned tomatoes and a sachet from instant noodles for later in the week. Then, with the exception of peas, all the veg came from the yellow sticker stirfry packs. And there's still TONNES left. At least one more meal for the meat eaters, and 2 for me.

I put our total for the day at around £2.35. So notwithstanding the sweet saga, I think we're doing ok. I expect early nights all round as evenings are going to be the hardest for me!

Don't forget why we're doing this - https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/kateraynor1

Cooking up a Storm on a Sunday

I love a good faff in the kitchen. Mainly so I can avoid doing proper housework. It's what Sundays are perfect for.

So this morning I made a lovely big mess preparing food for the next week.

I made some lentil soup, which is DELICIOUS! If a little heavy on the garlic, and chapattis to go with it. I think, though, it might only stretch to 4 portions and Sophie showed a great deal of interest in it! Hopefully I have enough lentils to make another batch midweek. The stock cubes I added work out 2.5p each as I buy them in packs of 100. And the garlic powder around 5p. So that's an extra 10p on our total.

I cooked the chicken thighs then stripped them and made stock from the bones and the discarded bits of veg. I decided to save the skin to stick back in the oven another day as it seems a shame to waste and the others love crisp chicken skin.

I also prepped Iroog so it's ready to fry later in the week. This is a recipe from our Iraqi friend Abdul. And it's delish! When I checked alternate recipes online it even said that they are often served with lentil soup. So hopefully I'll have extras! I'm experimenting with my veggie version, and put some cooked lentils in. We'll see how it turns out.

I think having confidence in the kitchen is essential to succeed with this challenge. I couldn't have followed proper recipes for the things I made, I just adjusted to suit what we had enough of.

Apparently only a fifth of parents give their kids homecooked meals every day. And another fifth cook once a week or less. I'm not passing judgement, life gets really busy! I'm lucky that Les has the time, skills and inclination to make us some really good food. But if you don't know how to cook then getting the most out of your money is going to be even more challenging. And that can be a huge barrier to being healthy and raising healthy children.

I braved Asda at closing time. I was hoping for something good to put in the chicken stock to make some soup for Sophie (mainly to keep her grubby hands away from my lentil soup). The choice was limited but I came away with lots of stirfry veg and a bag of salad for the grand total of 25p. A saving of £3.35! 

To be honest I wasn't sure whether it was a good buy. I've no idea what I'll have the salad with, and I hadn't planned a lot of stirfry! But decided to deconstruct the packets and use the individual bits. Sophie requested the carrot, squash, sweetcorn and red cabbage for her soup. I separated a bunch of cabbage which we could use as a side for later in the week, and the red pepper which both kids can have as a snack. The remaining veg will make a welcome addition to the instant noodles I'd planned to have one night.

There actually looks more after than before!

 So we're now up to £19.20 before ANY spices, tea or emergencies. I'm a little worried. Usually we have at least an emergency pack of biscuits to get us through the midweek lull but I can't see that happening.

Wish us luck!!

https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/kateraynor1

Shellshocked from shopping

Despite some meticulous planning, I was once again undone by complacency.

I spent 2 hours this morning writing meal plans and comparing the price of every single ingredient across 4 supermarkets. But it took so long that I ended up with a slightly incomplete shopping list which said "some fruit" and "packed lunch stuff". Not that organised. I remember last year working to a 10p a piece rule on the fruit so that was my plan. I felt pretty confident as I walked into Lidl with a couple of quid to play with.

I started unravelling quite quickly when the store assistant told me they "couldn't get lentils in". This was the base of like 80% of my meals. I even found a lentil falafel recipe I was excited to try if I had enough left. Hoping there wasn't a world shortage, I pinned my hopes on getting some in another supermarket. Aldi don't sell them, but Asda had them for the same price. As long as they were in stock!

The fruit was all more expensive than I'd anticipated. Not by much, but I also realised I'd missed baked beans off my calculations, and the biscuits were more than I'd expected. The kids had requested satsumas. But £1.29 was a little steep. I decided to try my luck with the reductions in Asda.

I'd added up at least 3 times. I'd checked the prices of everything on my way round. But the till receipt was more than I thought. So on the packing bench I got out my list and my receipt. Tinned tomatoes which I'd seen online at 25p were actually 29p. I so wanted to say something. We might need that money. I felt myself go red and hot. It was crazy to query 12p. So I left.

In my haste I'd forgotten to log my vehicle reg. So as I went back in I decided to ask about the tomatoes. I explained to an assistant that the price differed from online. She sighed, looked at me with a mixture of confusion and weariness. Then told me how much stock she had to sort before closing time. I felt so ashamed and stupid. 12p was such an insignificant amount. And did I really want to get a manager to argue about a 12p refund?! I decided that no, I did not. 

On to Asda, it seems I had timed it badly to get any yellow sticker items. The only things they had left were birthday cake and ranch salad. If only Jo were here to ask! She'd have known the precise times of every mark down!

I found some reasonably priced fruit, the highly sought after lentils, and some smart price snacks for the kids lunches. The biscuits worked out 4p a portion, the crisps 6p. But the fruit, 10p per banana and 8p per satsuma (And that was only because I'd scoured the crate for the bag with the most in it!) Once again I'm frustrated that unhealthy food is cheaper than healthy. That on a very tight budget parents have so much less choice. My kids would love melon or strawberries, but there was no chance of anything so exotic and expensive. 

This time when I got to the till I was right on the money.

So after 2 hours planning, 1.5 hours shopping and about 15 rounds with the calculator, we have our starting food which comes in at £18.85.

I really hope I haven't forgotten anything!


Don't forget we're doing this for BCDP, please consider sponsoring us - https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/kateraynor1

It's back!

Here we are back at the beginning of our live below the line challenge for another year!

We had a family chat about doing it. The boys were cool with it, Sophie had said she didn't want to do it again.

So later on the follow up conversation went like this;

"Sophie, I definitely don't want to make you do this. But last year we raised a lot of money and it really helped people. I'll make sure we include some really tasty stuff, remember last time you said it was great coz we had more biscuits than normal and..."

"Mum. You could have stopped at 'it really helped people'. They need us, let's do it."

So we're doing it!

I always struggle with involving the kids and making them 'suffer'. But social responsibility is really important to me; I think it is our responsibility to help those who have less than we do. We shouldn't feel guilty for being housed, fed, clothed. I work hard for that. But I have had some lucky breaks and a supportive family and not everyone gets a great start. Or makes the best choices.  And in the great scheme of things, to have a bit less choice for 5 days is not going to hurt my kids. I hope it helps them to grow.

Anyway, here we are. 2 days to go, without a shopping list or meal plan!

I had a wander round Asda and saw 8 chicken burgers for like 80p. A bag of nuggets for the same. That's pretty tempting! But I really don't want to eat rubbish all week. It's not about proving that it's easy to eat healthy on that budget. Because it really isn't easy. It's awful. And if we did it all the time I guarantee I wouldn't have my job and the kids would do worse in school. But I want this to be a challenge to eat as closely to how I'd like to eat as possible. Which means making space for fruit and veg. And cooking proper meals for the kids.

This year I'm doing the challenge in memory of my friend Jo who passed away last year. She was so supportive of us doing this challenge and used to volunteer at the project before I'd even heard of it! She was joyous, kind, funny, crazy, loving, cheeky. But she made some bad choices along the way and things didn't always turn out great. Last year she joined in the challenge with us for moral support. She sent me recipes, and tips on getting discounted stuff from the supermarkets. I hope she's proudly watching us this time around. Love you, crazy chicken lady. And, when I feel like crap by Wednesday and want to hide, I will be slapping on my reddest lipstick knowing that's how you'd want me to handle it.

Of course the main objective is raising money for a very worthy project which offers love and support to those often overlooked or rejected. If you can give, that would be amazing. Your support means a lot.

https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/kateraynor1