A decent meal for under a pound?

Lasagne!After reading/watching the news lately, I’ve found the whole “feed yourself every day for a pound” stuff very interesting.  So I thought I’d do a little test of my own.  Whilst eating for the whole day on one pound is, I’m sure, altogether possible, the recipes and food involved doesn’t look very tasty to me.  But what about a single decent, tasty meal, for under one pound?

After a quick trip to Aldi and some fun in the kitchen, I managed to make 10 large lasagne portions and 10 large spaghetti bolognese portions for around £17, here’s how it stacks up:

Spaghetti (x2) £0.98
Lasagne Pasta £0.49
1.6 kg Mince £4.98
8 cans of tomatoes £2.48
Tomato purée £0.32
Bit of balsamic £0.04
Bit of dark Chocolate £0.10
Half a oregano pot £0.40
Little bit of thyme £0.10
Family pack mushroom £1.49
Mozzarella £1.29
Bit of cheddar £0.20
Bit of Edam £0.20
Salt & pepper £0.10
Bit of olive oil £0.10
Jar of sun-dried tomatoes £1.19
500g Quron mince £2.00
Gas £0.32
Bit of Butter £0.10
Pint of milk £0.25
Bit of flour £0.06
Total £17.19
Portions of lasagne 10
Portions of spag bol 10
Per portion £0.86

I’ve tried to be realistic about every aspect of what I put in there, including prices for the amount of seasoning, oil, herbs and gas used.  Most people already own things like saucepans, cookers and old takeaway containers for storage, so that’s not included because it’s impossible to quantify.

There you have it, a filling tasty 20 meals for 86p each, stuck in the freezer and ready to go!  I’ve got one sitting on my desk for lunch today, and I’m quite looking forward to it 🙂

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