Challenge update.

The 'eat what we have' challenge went well. Towards the end of the week, some staples run out, e.g. Onions, potatoes, bread, tinned tomatoes. It was an interesting experiment, and probably something we should be mindful of in general - using what's available before buying more.

The 'eat for £1 per day' challenge hasn't been a success. My daughter and I both did day one, and compared notes. We concluded that it was extremely difficult to get enough nutrients, although we know we could survive a week. We still had items to use up which would have perished had we had to count their value in the £1, as there wasn't a way to justify the expense. E.g., violife soft 'cheese' = 25p per 20g. So that's a quarter of a day's budget.
Porridge was a good option, at 4p - 5p, depending on serving size. That's made with water though, so add extra for milk substitutes or sweetener.
Fruit was barely affordable, although I managed to get half price apples at 15p each and bananas were 12p each.
All in all, a useful exercise, but difficult to achieve.

The 'shop local', planned for next week poses an interesting question: how much difference does time of year make? Does it just alter what's available? Is cost affected? What counts as 'local'?
Interestingly, I stumbled across a book a few days ago called 'A Life Stripped Bare' by Leo Hickman. I'm only a couple of chapters in, but so far, subjects such as food miles, fair trade versus organic, local versus supporting farmers abroad etc. have been looked at. I'm finding it incredibly interesting so far, and I think it's particularly topical whilst attempting these challenges.

One last thing for today ... here's a picture of today's lunch, featuring some of my alfalfa sprouts - the first crop!