The shopping trip went well. I managed to spend just under budget although I had to
retrace my steps after finding I was 1p over the £10 allowed for myself and partner. I had a list and knew what I was going to buy as I’d planned my meals. I know that I could have got a couple of items cheaper in Tesco than I did in Lidl, but that would have meant a drive to a different shop (I live in a village and have to drive 7 miles to get my shopping) and I figured that defeated the object.
Soup for lunch every day with some bread and spread; beans on toast two nights after
running (we will be late home); pizza and two pasta dishes. I know that I can make three loaves of bread and a pizza base out of a bag of bread flour so we can have bread
with our soup and enjoy the luxury of a pizza one night.
We made the decision not to buy anything for breakfast as I have recently started
eating in a shorter window each day (usually between 12 and 8pm). How I will
manage without snacking through the afternoon I don’t know, as I usually still eat three meals in that period. However I have just realised that I have bought a large bag of potatoes and will only need them for thickening the soup, so I am going to treat us to oven chips with one of our pasta meals. It may be a bit carb high, but chips go with
anything right?
We also went without tea or coffee. Although this scares me a bit, we have followed Hannah’s thought process and decided that if anyone offers to make us a drink at work we will accept, but we won’t make any ourselves. I drink a lot of water anyway
so this won’t be too much of an issue, although I fear I may miss an occasional bottle
of beer in the evening
I have a confession to make; I am going to cheat a little bit. As we were away
camping at the weekend, I haven’t been able to use up all the perishables in the
fridge. There are a couple mushrooms, a few small tomatoes and a mini pepper;
they were all supposed to be used by the 6 March so I know they can’t be left. As food waste sits so badly with me, I have tried to find them other homes, but as they are past their best they seem to be unwanted. I have made the decision that I will use them on the pizza and while I do feel slightly guilty about the cheating, it’s not as bad as how I would feel putting them in the bin.
END
National charity FareShare and local charity Norwich FoodHub, both work by redistributing food ‘waste’ to charities and groups who can make use of items that day, including passing them on to people they work with or see. National charity FoodCycle also collect food ‘waste’ and pass it on to people in the form of a free community meal in a particular place (in Norwich, it’s Friday night at the Quaker Meeting house in the city centre).
Norwich foodbank collects / receive donations from these charities a combined total of 7 times during the week, meaning the non-perishable food parcels are supplemented by fresh items including bread, cakes, fruit and vegetables.
The waste is in inverted commas, because it’s food that’s best before that specific date, but still perfectly safe to eat – therefore not really waste at all! We’re delighted that we’re both saving edible food from the bin and supporting our clients with a little bit extra.
Norwich foodbank blog 