My Holiday Hunger Challenge meal plan

Beverley is taking our Holiday Hunger Challenge in the first week of July. She will be living off a food and drink budget of just £2.50 a day to raise awareness of food poverty in the UK, especially during the school holidays which can push many families into food insecurity and poverty. With the help of wonderful people like Beverley, we can raise funds that will help more children return to school happy and healthy – and give parents a tasty time too!

Here is a draft of my weekly food plan. I plan to do most of my shopping at my local Lidl, and I may still have to make some adjustments. I am trying to imagine starting from scratch with nothing in my cupboard. This is really difficult, I can understand why families on a limited food budget would buy ready /convenience foods, as stocking up on store cupboard items, eg. lentils, stock cubes, dried herbs, to cook from scratch is expensive to start with, though healthier, more varied and cheaper in the long run.

Day	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Sunday	Porridge/banana	Sardines on toast, 2 sliced tomatoes. An apple.	Roast stuffed chicken thigh/1/2 jacket potato/2 carrots/1/2 tin peas- Dessert: Tinned mandarins/ 1 tbsp plain yoghurt
Monday	Toast / ½ tin baked beans	Sardines on toast, sliced tomato, grated carrot Kiwi	Chicken thigh/salad            ( lettuce, tomato, grated carrot, slice red onion)/jacket potato. Dessert: Tinned mandarins/ 1 tbsp plain yoghurt
Tuesday	Toast /1/2 tin baked beans	Sandwich-Wholemeal bread, chicken thigh,1 tbsp sweetcorn, mayo, 1 tomato. Dessert: tinned mandarins/ 1tbsp plain yoghurt	Frittata- 2 eggs, ½ jacket potato sliced, 1 tbsp sweetcorn, half tin garden peas, mixed herbs, with (lettuce, tomato, grated carrot, sliced red onion) and cheese.
Wednesday	Toast/ egg	Veg and lentil soup-jelly/tinned mandarins/ plain yoghurt	Mince burger, toms, onion, mixed herbs, salad mixed, ½ tin red kidney beans. Swiss roll, custard- packet, banana- rest made into a trifle for tomorrow
Thursday	Toast /egg	Veg and lentil soup, 1 slice bread-large orange sliced	Mince/chilli half left from mince, added ½ tin kidney beans, chilli powder. ½ jacket potato Banana custard trifle
Friday	Toast/ egg	Pitta bread pizza, salad. Banana and yoghurt	2 servings-Veg and lentil soup- added half tin butter beans, toast with cheese melted on.
Saturdayv	Porridge/banana	Pitta bread pizza, salad. Apple and yoghurt	Fish, baked with crunchy herb topping, 1 jacket potato and tin mushy peas. Piece swiss roll and large orange.