seven days, twenty one meals, thirty two quid and fifty nine pence

A couple of weeks back I itemised everything I ate and drank for a week and it came to £41.88. That was pretty much a typical week of shopping and eating for me excepting, of course, that I was always aware that I was monitoring what I ate - but add, say, a few more quid and we're definitely hitting my average spend.

Following on from this I thought it might be quite interesting to see what a week's menu would look like at around the £30 mark - and this lot is the result. I should point out that the total of £32.59 did include £3.96 for coffee. I rather shot myself in the foot there I guess, but the normal 'cheap' beans which are my mainstay were not available - had they been I'd have saved around £2. I also used a 'premium' bread flour this week, rather than the 60p/1.5kg supermarket one I normally use.

As before, for the cost of each individual dish I have counted every ingredient, save for seasoning and spices (and I've made an overall allowance for these in the 'store cupboard' line item).

The link for the torta de naranja recipe will take you to the Peckham Rye Eats blog - it was Lisa who introduced me to this lovely cake when I went round for dinner recently. Thanks Lisa!

friday

Breakfast: orange juice + granola £0.88
Lunch: tuna mayo sandwich £0.67
Dinner: spaghetti + broccoli 1.76
Sub total: £3.31

saturday

Breakfast: orange juice, peanut butter + toast £0.40
Lunch: bacon, artichoke + broccoli salad £2.34
Dinner: poached egg, chorizo + peas; little gem salad; torta de naranja + cream £2.06
Sub total: £4.80

sunday

Breakfast: orange juice, porridge + cream £0.40
Lunch: niçoise salad £1.48
Dinner: roast chicken, watercress, roast potatoes; almond thins £1.85
Sub total: £3.73

monday

Breakfast: orange juice, granola £0.88
Lunch: fruit (apple, satsuma, nectarine, banana) £1.09
Dinner: pea + ham soup with chorizo; torta de naranja + cream £1.97
Sub total: £3.94

tuesday

Breakfast: orange juice £0.30
Lunch: niçoise salad  £1.48
Dinner: rice + chicken; pear £2.03
Sub total: £3.81

wednesday

Breakfast: peanut butter + toast £0.20
Lunch: fruit (apple, satsuma, nectarine, banana) £1.09
Dinner: lamb's liver, bacon + mash; almond thins £2.14
Sub total: £3.43

thursday

Breakfast: porridge with milk £0.20
Lunch: egg + cress sandwich £0.45
Dinner: pea + ham soup; torta de naranja + cream £1.09
Sub total: £1.74

drinks + other stuff

Coffee £3.96
Tea £0.30
Honey & sugar £0.20
Bread £0.90
Milk x 2 pints 0.98
Butter £0.47
Olive oil £0.73
Store cupboard £.030
Sub total: £7.83

week's total: £32.59

You'll have probably noticed that the fiscal brakes were definitely on this time around - for example there's no fresh fish for dinner, no steak or other costly meat and I had pea + ham soup twice (although in the one instance enlivened with some fried chorizo). The (halal) chicken I ate was £2.99 for the whole bird - no corn-feeding or free-ranging this week. I only allowed myself one bowl of granola for breakfast - opting for porridge or peanut butter and toast the rest of the time (and on the Tuesday I only had orange juice). And when the juice ran out that day, I didn't buy another carton.

The exercise confirmed what I've long thought - that if you want to enjoy a varied diet, if you hope to eat well and pleasurably, if you want the food on your plate to gladden your heart as well as fill your belly, £30 is pretty much the absolute bottom line for a weekly spend in this country - or certainly in London.

Consider this: everything I ate this week (apart from a handful of almond thins) was home-made - that includes breakfast cereal, bread, stock and cake. Only the coffee, a chorizo sausage, a few olives and a tub of cream came from a delicatessen; everything else was either from Asda or the shops on Rye Lane. Apart from coffee and tea I only drank tap water - no bottles of water, cans of soda or juice (apart from the morning orange juice). I'm not sure how -  without a garden or an allotment, without forming a co-op for bulk purchasing, without living in a large household to benefit from economies of scale, without foraging or skip scavenging - how I could have bought more efficiently the ingredients for what is (I think) a modest yet still enjoyable weekly menu.

I'll need several weeks of sybaritic indulgence first, but my next self-imposed challenge will be to aim for a weekly spend of around £20. Luckily, the Cranks Recipe Book is available for one pence on Amazon. Wish me luck.