When SHTF Meal Plan: 7 Days for 7 People

By Becca Wright

£24.95 ( £25.70 if you wish to add an extra 1kg porridge for suppers ) based on Tesco prices.

Note – This is for an EXTREMELY TIGHT budget, portions are calculated as all being given the same portion size but you can use smaller portions for smaller children and top up the adult’s portions with what’s left.

This is an emergency plan so isn’t glamorous, doesn’t fit in with 5 a day and is in no way luxurious/suitable for the long term but it will see you through an extremely tight week.

Shopping list

• 2 x value 1kg oats £1.50
• 6 x value wholemeal bread £3.30
• 1 kg red lentils £1.80
• 2 x 1.16kg frozen mixed vegetables £1.90
• 2 x 2.5kg potatoes £2.70
• 1 pack cooking bacon 60p
• 2 x value curry sauce 60p
• 3 x value 500g bags pasta 90p (using value spaghetti instead would be 60p freeing up 30p)
• 1 kg value rice 40p
• Value gravy 25p
• 2 x value pasta sauce 78p
• 1 value baked beans 25p
• 15 eggs £1.25 Small block of cheese £1.40
• Jam 39p Value frozen sausages £1.29
• 14 loose bananas £1.96
• 1.6kg willow farm chicken £3.18
• Value vegetables stock cubes 50p
  Total £24.95

Meals

• Breakfast – 40p oats per person every day made with water. Small spoon of jam if you wish.
• Lunches – make a huge pot of bacon and lentil soup using the cooking bacon, 1 kg lentils and approx 4 litres of vege stock ( adding more water as needed ) this will make 28 servings of a thickish blended soup and will serve 4 days worth lunch. 1 day of 2 slices of bread / toast with a boiled egg/scrambled egg/ fried egg – could put a small amount of jam on the toast if you wished as no spread is included in this plan. 2 days of cheese sandwiches ( grate cheese and use small amounts to do all sandwiches ) and a banana each
• Mains – cook the chicken ( slow cooker if you can ) and split into the following Chicken roast – shred 1 breast and one full leg between the 7 plates, 700g vege ( 100g per person ), boil and mash or roast 1 bag of the potatoes & gravy. Chicken and vegetables curry – 700g vege, 1 full leg shredded finely, 2 jars curry sauce and 700g dry weight rice ( 100g per person ) Chicken and vegetables stew/casserole – shred the last chicken breast, 700g vege, 2 kg potatoes. Carcass broth/soup – boil the carcass to make stock, then tomorrow the stock add chicken scraps including the wing meat, 1 tin baked beans ( rinse off the sauce if you wish ) 300 rice, 500g potatoes cubed, 700g vege, vege stock for more flavour. Blend if you wish. IF you have plain flour you could make wraps to dip in. * Tomato pasta – cook 750g pasta dry weight & 1 jar of sauce mixed with some vegetables stock, simmer until as thick as you like. Top with any left over cheese if there’s any. Sausage, egg and toast – 1 egg each or make all 8 left into scrambled egg, 2 sausages each, 1 and half slices bread each ( doesn’t sound much but the high protein count makes it very filling ) Sausage pasta – boil the last 750g pasta, grill and finely slice the last 6 sausages, add stock to the left last jar of pasta sauce to make enough sauce add sausage and serve.

Adding an extra 1kg bag of oats will allow you to have supper if you need/wish it at 20g each or more if not everyone eats supper. Making the total £25.70

Adding plain flour to make wraps put the total at £25.50 without extra oats and £26.25 with the extra oats.