Could you cook Christmas dinner for £1($1.24)?

morning glory said:
Gosh, I don't know. I was only reporting a news item. I'm not an advocate for this...:laugh: I'm impartial. Just like the BBC!

I think the idea may be that there are certain things you are likely to have and use over time (like flour or bread). It might be better to think about a weekly budget - but hey, its not so catchy as a £1 ($1) meal! This guy got famous with his instagrams and will no doubt have a recipe book out soon.
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We don't do a weekly budget per se. We do monthly, quarterly and biannual budgets.
Last month we spent nearly $500 on groceries. But that is at least 3 months worth of meats, 6 months worth of canned goods and depending on how much I bake 2-3 months of baking goods. Plus the usual perishables. And updated my spices.
We usually spend less than $25 a week on our staples. Unless we catch good sales.
 
Where's the Cranberry stuffing on that list, along with sausages? Both of which he claims he'll be serving at a family get together, before Christmas day!

The biggest single cost will be that of cooking it, not any of the food itself.
 
classic33 said:
Where's the Cranberry stuffing on that list, along with sausages? Both of which he claims he'll be serving at a family get together, before Christmas day!

The biggest single cost will be that of cooking it, not any of the food itself.
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Actually, cooking it is not that expensive for me. Gas is fairly cheap and I could multi-task the stove/oven for both cooking and heating.
 
morning glory said:
I think the point of the instagram one pound meals is to show that it IS possible to cook meals for £1 a head 'over time'. There will be certain things you buy and use a bit at a time. Other things you buy just for the recipe. So its kind of 'costed out'.

In the UK you can buy gravy granules for 20p for 200g ($.25). I'm not saying they are much good - but you can get them that cheap!

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You only need 30g though, one & a half a pence! He's using the "good stuff" at five pence though.
 
Cinisajoy said:
Actually, cooking it is not that expensive for me. Gas is fairly cheap and I could multi-task the stove/oven for both cooking and heating.
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Based on information from the U.S. Energy Information Administration: $1.01 per turkey(2014)
The average cost, nationwide USA, of cooking a 9-10 lb turkey in a gas oven

Throw down the challenge, here.
Three items only buyable. Maximum spend £2. Christmas Dinner for two plus one
Can you match or beat that?


And this does take into account the cooking costs.
 
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classic33 said:
Based on information from the U.S. Energy Information Administration: $1.01 per turkey(2014)
The average cost, nationwide USA, of cooking a 9-10 lb turkey in a gas oven

Throw down the challenge, here.
Three items only buyable. Maximum spend £2. Christmas Dinner for two plus one
Can you match or beat that?


And this does take into account the cooking costs.
Click to expand...
Please note you gave an average which has absolutely no bearing on my energy costs.
New York is on the high end of the scale. Texas is on the low end.
That average also has both energy-efficient and non-energy-efficient gas stoves. Mine is fairly energy efficient.
I just looked at my gas bill and it would cost me less than 25 cents to cook a turkey.

Now on your challenge, how many courses and any specific foods?
If you just mean a protein, a bread, a couple of sides and a dessert, I can do that easily and actually without leaving the house.
 
classic33 said:
Based on information from the U.S. Energy Information Administration: $1.01 per turkey(2014)
The average cost, nationwide USA, of cooking a 9-10 lb turkey in a gas oven

Throw down the challenge, here.
Three items only buyable. Maximum spend £2. Christmas Dinner for two plus one
Can you match or beat that?


And this does take into account the cooking costs.
Click to expand...
And where are they finding a 9 pound turkey? Most here are 12 or bigger.
 
Cinisajoy said:
Please note you gave an average which has absolutely no bearing on my energy costs.
New York is on the high end of the scale. Texas is on the low end.
That average also has both energy-efficient and non-energy-efficient gas stoves. Mine is fairly energy efficient.
I just looked at my gas bill and it would cost me less than 25 cents to cook a turkey.

Now on your challenge, how many courses and any specific foods?
If you just mean a protein, a bread, a couple of sides and a dessert, I can do that easily and actually without leaving the house.
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To include:
Turkey(fresh), stuffed (20lb)
Potatoes
Parsnips
Carrots
Carrots
Sprouts

Main course basically.
 
classic33 said:
To include:
Turkey(fresh), stuffed (20lb)
Potatoes
Parsnips
Carrots
Carrots
Sprouts

Main course basically.
Click to expand...
Turkey cost 77cents a pound here so that would be $8 minimum (of course that would feed us for 10 days).
Potatoes are generally sold in 5 lb bags or overpriced. So outlay of cash $2 but that would be 5 meals.
Don't do parsnips here, sprouts and carrots aren't popular either. So I will sub sweet potato, stuffing and green beans.
Sweet potatoes 25 cents
Stuffing $1 a box
Green beans 50 cents a can.

I see $11.75 outlay. And if we just count the meals $2.95.
 
Cinisajoy said:
Turkey cost 77cents a pound here so that would be $8 minimum (of course that would feed us for 10 days).
Potatoes are generally sold in 5 lb bags or overpriced. So outlay of cash $2 but that would be 5 meals.
Don't do parsnips here, sprouts and carrots aren't popular either. So I will sub sweet potato, stuffing and green beans.
Sweet potatoes 25 cents
Stuffing $1 a box
Green beans 50 cents a can.

I see $11.75 outlay. And if we just count the meals $2.95.
Click to expand...
Includes cooking costs. What else were you thinking if counting?
 
classic33 said:
Where's the Cranberry stuffing on that list, along with sausages? Both of which he claims he'll be serving at a family get together, before Christmas day!

The biggest single cost will be that of cooking it, not any of the food itself.
Click to expand...
The cranberry stuffing is listed as:
  • Stuffing mix: 10ml cranberry sauce 3.2p (80p for 250ml), stale bread, and half an onion 5p (six onions for 55p)
Sausages he doesn't claim to be serving (does he?) - instead, 'pigs in blankets' made without sausages:
  • Pigs in blankets: 30g dried stuffing mix 6p (170g dried stuffing mix 35p) and one rasher of streaky bacon 7.5p (14 rashers of streaky bacon £1.05)
 
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