Government lower than a snakes belly

Ok, this is a different discussion, but meat that you can be moderately confident about the animal welfare of is expensive.

I know I can reduce my expenditure, but I stand by my comment that £15 a week for all meals per person is not luxurious, nor is £30. It can be done. At least we agree that those parcels were shockingly bad.

 

So far today, Ive had 100g of porridge.

Going to have 4 large eggs scrambled. Four slices of toast. Smeared in butter. Big lump of cheese in the eggs.

Total cost is about 40p

Havent decided tea yet but Ive some chicken thighs to eat.

 

Bet the eggs aren't free-range. I've never seen 6 eggs for 60p .

 

Pork chops tonight, smothered in gravy with a bit of mash, sweetcorn, mint sauce. Wonderful.

 

Mint sauce with pork chops!!??

 

sweetcorn with pork chops!!??

 

Salmon and broccoli pasta tonight. Probably work out about £4.50 a portion.

 

That sounds on the expensive side!!

 

Slightly smoked salmon fillets are £6 for 2.

Add Boursin (chive and garlic soft cheese), single cream, broccoli, tomato puree and then pasta and i'd guess its somewhere between £4.10 and £4.50.

 

Its expensive down south!

 

I love a little drop mixed in with the gravy. And sweetcorn is just fantastic alongside mash.

 

They are taste the difference fillets (and you really can taste the difference!) but the price of those has gone up massively in the last 2 years. Used to be £3.50 and often 2 for £5. They got as expensive as £6.75, then they dropped the size and charged £4.50 and now we're back up to £6. If we have general salmon, we get frozen fillets from M&S through Ocado and the fillets work out £2 each.

 

This is what the govenment advises on their website for the packages to contain. This is supposed to be weekly rather than biweekly as they seem to be.


Most of the pictures I have seen seem to be variations of this load of rubbish. Bear in mind that at school they are entitled to a hot meal and dessert and, at primary school, additional fresh fruit and milk each day.

The packages are also the bane of our lives to hand out at the minute. School has enlisted support staff after school and various volunteers in the community to hand them out and it is taking all day, every day. Our school has a really low number of FSM eligible kids compared to the norm (although we are giving them out to anyone who asks, not just those who qualify) and it is still becoming a full time job to deliver, especially as some students live quite far out. I reckon it's costing more in petrol (not reimbursed as voluntary) to hand them out than what the packages contain if they are anything like the pictures. I haven't seen what is inside ours though.

 

Top tip - Make sure you cook the chicken thighs first.

 

My children's school have insisted parents collect them. As you say, it's impossible for school staff to deliver these on top of everything else they are expected to do at the moment.

 

Just stuck them in a freezer bag bit of olive oil, Jerk seasoning.

3 hours marinating in the fridge.

 

I knew he was a weirdo.

 

If that's calculated at 40p, then I think your £25 per week budget is really closer to £100

 

Look down this thread for those who haven't seen:

 

Food in MONEY BAGS, carrot, pepper and onion chopped up and wrapped in clingfilm, instructions say to run the oven for 90 mins for one jacket potato. One bottle of flavoured water to split over 2 days. This is for a secondary school pupil too, so 11-16 years old.