day 14

8.45am: Colleague donates half a packet of sugar-free muesli she has decided is horrid.

8.50am: Tastes fine to me. Feel quite spoiled with unexpected upgrade from plain porridge oats.

1.10pm: Trip to Sainsburys. Determined to make sensible and healthy purchases.

1.45pm: Leave Sainsburys with:

three carrots 30p
bag of value rice 73p
chopped value tomatoes 32p
tin of value kidney beans 19p
one onion 11p
small poppy seed baguette 35p
bag of six mini Cathedral City cheddar cheese £1

Total = £3

Money left = £17.30

Plan = make vegetable chili type thing (without any actual chili powder) to have in different ways over next two or three days.

1.55pm: Halve baguette. Slice up one little cheese and make cheese roll. Leave the other half of baguette for tomorrow's lunch.

6.30pm: Turn Guns n Roses 'Sweet Child of Mine' on full blast, chop up one onion, two carrots (recklessly eat the third whilst cooking/dancing) and saute before adding chopped toms and kidney beans.

6.40pm: Add generous amount of value salt and pepper I procured the other day. Finely chop sprigs of thyme that my Mum cut from her own garden, sealed in a sandwich bag, and posted to my work after hearing her daughter's numerous complaints about bland food. (Thanks Mum!)

6.45pm: Boil enough rice for two meals.

7pm: Dollop of rice, topped with large dollop of chili-less vegetable chili, topped with one Cathedral City portion (grated).

7.10pm: That was bloody nice (relatively speaking, of course).

7.30pm: Box up portion for tomorrow's dinner, and definitely have enough veg mix to have with a jacket potato or rice on the day after tomorrow.

7.32pm: Smug.

7.35pm: Realise I've still not eaten the 9p noodles. Decide to save for emergency - my 9p chicken flavour instant noodle security blanket.