Worried about family getting enough calories

[Tatoumorse]

We've been very poor lately, paying back debts, I have researched all of our entitlements where we live (abroad).

I'm constantly cold now it's winter as per last year, and my teenage boy and younger one are always hungry. Today googling other things I think we may be undernourished, never crossed my mind before.
I thought we have a healthy diet, porridge/yoghurt breakfast, boiled egg/peanut butter toast for lunch, with a small cereal bar each, then pasta/rice-based veggie dish or chicken for tea, occasional burgers and occasional cake.
But today I added up the calories and we get approx 500 max per day if I calculated correctly. I'm really worried this is way off what we should be getting and may be a source of several health problems now that I'm joining the dots.
I am not a bad parent but I had a poor upbringing, not to blame that, but I never learnt about nutrition, I was actuallly more worried about overfeeding my kids (unhealthy snacks, etc.) Now I feel awful.

On a VERY limited income, how can I boost our calorie intake in a healthy way quickly? I wonder about protein shakes, or noodle snacks? Any advice please, but not on the debt issue as that is in hand, I had expert advice on it etc. and am just having to do my best and pay back over a 2 year period

Our weekly budget for food is generally 50 euros. I have 60 but of this I need 5 for the launderette and 5 for dog food for our small pup.

Have a look at feed yourself for £1 a day and 50p a day Facebook groups - I know you're not in the uk but they're really inspiring and very supportive spaces. Really ingenious ideas & meals plans to help hit daily calories on a tight budget. Good luck

I don't know if baked beans are available in France but in calories per Euro they might not be that good value if they are more expensive than in the UK.

This is an American list but gives calories per dollar. You can also sort it so it gives protein per dollar. The prices will be different in the UK and in France but it's helpful to, say, look at something cheap and then see if it's also cheap where you are.

https://efficiencyiseverything.com/calorie-per-dollar-list/

Bootstrap Cook does have a few recipes that might help you use foods on that list that you wouldn't really think what to do with. For example, flour is cheaper than bread and if your cooking isn't too expensive she has a flatbread made in a frying pan, very quickly.

Oats are pretty cheap for the calories if they are cheap overall where you are, and lentils are cheap for protein. Whole milk is not actually that cheap for calories but it's obviously better for calories if it's the same price as semi/skimmed where you are.

Sorry you're struggling, op. Can you budget for some potatoes or sweet potatoes and add them to your dinners or lunches? Great source of vitamins, fibre and carbs

You can get baked beans all right in France - French brands so shouldn’t be too expensive. (Haricots blancs sauce tomate)

id really try to stretch to a bit more meat if your budget will allow - maybe sausages or something with the beans. Couscous merguez, cassoulet, carbonnades are all quite dense.

i also wondered about some cheap plain cake (quatre quarts or cake au beurre) for puddings, snacks or even an add-on to breakfast.

So, the taboulleh in the green cardboard box would be approx 800calories- split 3 ways is 270 ish. Get a rotisserie chicken from market for around 5 euros- use half one day with the taboulleh for about another 160 calories each, more with the skin and you’ve got a 430 calorie plus meal that’s dairy free and pretty balanced. Mashed potato and a bit of veg with it the next day and you’ve got similar, more if you add butter/ oil/ cheese to the mash (even if just for the boys)
A 3 euro tin of confit de canard (2 cuisses but easily stretches further) is 531 calories so 177 each- again, potatoes are cheap- a small jacket is 200cal before you add butter etc (for the boys). Tinned veg is cheap in France, or seasonal (so right now carrots, squash, spinach, broccoli).
Aim for 500 ish calories for evening meals. Possibly go with eggs for breakfast too, with toast. Or peanut butter toast. Cheese, bread , olives, saucisson all make decent lunches. Jars of cassoulet serve 2-3 for 900calories total so a decent protein filled meal either with bread or on a jacket.
pasta pesto is always cheap, and you can add veg or lardons/ chorizo for extra nutrition.
Nuts, fruit in season, toast or bread, cereal are decent filling snacks.

You don't have a toaster but you do have a hob and pan so could do:

Grilled cheese sandwiches (make sandwich, butter outside of bread or oil in pan and fry till delicious brown and melty)
Pancakes (can substitute egg for banana or apple sauce if that's cheaper)
Drop scones
French toast
Eggy bread

If you can buy bread cheaper from a bakery at the end of the day, even if it's a bit stale then it's good for any fried bread stuff above

• croutons - just chop it into chunks and fry in a little oil, add to soups or casseroles for extra filling
• bread and butter pudding should be a way to do this in slow cooker
• crumbled into breadcrumbs to bulk out meatballs/home made burgers/fish cakes which can all be cooked on the hob

Soups have been mentioned a few times but specifically these ones use really cheap ingredients

• French onion
• leek and potato

Potatoes in general are a good cheap bulky food and on the hob you could easily make a big pan of mashed potato, I like to make loads and then use any leftover for fish cakes, potato pancakes or as a pie topper instead of pastry. Other than mash, you can grate it and make hash browns/rosti or boil, chop into little cubes and fry with some butter and rosemary

Casseroles are great, you can buy the cheapest scraggiest toughest cut of meat and as long as you cook it long enough in liquid you'll end up with tender flavourful meat.

I haven't got to the end of the thread but I would recommend hummus as a cheap, filling, tasty food. It's easy to make if it's not available locally or is expensive (I know it's not as mainstream in France as in the UK).

Also, bulk things out with lentils and chickpeas- filling, nutritious and cheap. And in France, nuts are often inexpensive too

Meal Plans and Feed Your Family for £20 are sister sites, with meal places and low cost recipes. It's based in Scotland , so it may not be entirely suitable for France, but there should be plenty of crossover and ideas.

Drop a little olive oil into the smoothies for calories.

If you like to eat cheese, can it be sheep's or goat's cheese, or does that contain lactose too?

Can you buy lard there? It's animal fat, I think. You could see about incorporating that into cooking, for the calories. I only know of it's use for frying, it is out of fashion now with the focus in recent decades being on low fat, but I'm sure it has many more uses.

Maybe look into 1950's cooking too, with rationing after the war people wouldn't be wasting anything and had to get adequate nutrition from minimal food. There may be recipes people don't bother with now made from the scraps we usually throw away in modern life. Perhaps you can adapt things for the slow cooker?

You've given some helpful advice but where are you if you can find a rotisserie chicken for 5€ at the market? They are 15€ here and very definitely a treat rather than a luxury.

I think you should probably put your standards aside for now and buy eggs that aren't free range so you can increase the quantity.

Baked beans are "haricots blancs en sauce tomate" not quite like British baked beans but cheaper. Add a touch of sugar and ketchup and they are palatable.

You can get big trays of chicken thighs for about 7€/kg. Cook them in the slow cooker, I just add some flavours like mustard or soy sauce. No liquid. Cook on high for 4 hours. Should do several meals. Knachi sausages are pretty cheap.

Try and chase the social security number. Is the teaching you are doing for a French company? If so get their RH to help chase.

I would make porridge with water as you are but take out your portion then add a bit of milk into child’s. They can also have glass of milk with it.
For child that just eats yogurt for breakfast, will they eat some dried oats, granola, crushed nuts or raisins and banana with it?

Can you free up some budget by getting rid of the dog? Vet expenses would cripple you so in that sense he’s a ticking time bomb. And if you’re under feeding your kids to the point of illness, a puppy isn’t the most sensible use of funds. Sorry if that sounds harsh but kids come first.

OP, I think your DC need a bit more than peanut butter on bread for lunch. That is perhaps a good time to give them soup and bread or an open sandwich. Cheesy beans on toast would be a better option, and not too expensive. If you put it on wholemeal bread, it's a really good, loaded meal.

Peanut butter on toast (can you toast it on the hot ring?) with a sliced banana on top is highly nutritious and something that I eat for breakfast when I am training. It's also nice to cut up a banana and spread a bit of peanut butter on as a snack. My breakfasts are usually an alternation of PB on toast with a banana, 2 eggs on toast, or porridge with a banana or blueberries.

I use my slow cooker most of the time these days. I use half the quantity of meat and bulk up stews with beans or lentils and lots of carrots. The beans provide protein and are filling. As pp have said, potatoes are good value and you can add them to the stew in the slow cooker.

You’ve had some great advice here. You may just about be eating enough for you, but your sons will need more calorie dense food.
A ninja can really help with this - I’ve had to gain some weight recently and I put in high calorie foods (some may be too pricey but this is an idea & it’s about 500 cals when put in to my fitness pal.
milk, 30g oats, 20g peanut butter, banana, 10g protein powder, 5-10g carob powder (but you can use cocoa), a date to sweeten, 5g desiccated coconut.

The 5euro chicken was rural Occitanie towards the end of the (small) market

How long is it since you moved @Tatoumorse ? It’s not unusual to have a run of minor illness in a new place as the body adjusts to all the slightly different bugs. In a years time you’ll probably all have fabulous immune systems.

There’s a lot of great advice on this thread, but it is UK centric and it’s important to get to grips with the habits and ways of the place you’re in. Get nosey about what other people are putting in their shopping trolleys. Every country has some version of cheap and nutritious food that is plentiful locally. Trying to stick with your old staples can get expensive.

It’s very hard to admit that you’re hard up, particularly when you’re trying to find your feet and make a good impression. But there are other ways to attract support from colleagues and friends. It’s perfectly acceptable to roll your eyes and complain that your teenagers have hollow legs and eat you out of house and home - and that sort of comment generally attracts a bit of advice (in the uk you’d be told about the trick of bulking out mince with lentils). You can also say you’re trying to be more adventurous and try classic French recipes and ask what people are growing up - lots of ways to get advice and pointers without feeling like a charity case.

Another thought: there’s actually two issues here - undernourishment is a lack of calories but malnutrition is a lack of nutrients. A good multivitamin will help but try and get greens into the diet as well.

You can grow herbs on a windowsill - a packet of cress lasts for ages and grows in a few days. And it’s nice in egg dishes and sandwiches. A spring onion will grow again if you put the end back in water which is twice the value for money. Parsley is rich in iron and vitamin c too.

Carrefour market sells small ones 7,50. But actually better to buy from Lidl, or whenever on promo from as low as 3,50. Not greatest quality. I know nice rotisserie 15 and fermier 18 where we are. (Côte d’azur)

If you buy packs of 30 eggs under 5eu (carrefour) great value as loads of protein. Even if you eat 6 a day will last 5 days. Think eggy bread, pancakes (with cheapest flour) boiled, scrambled, omelettes with veg. Remember buy biggest 1kg bags of grated emmental. 9/10 kilo Will last easily a week in fridge (always check dates, and take packets at back, as they generally put newest ones there) can be frozen. Monoprix, carrefour auchan, offer free delivery first order and discount. Monoprix lots of offers of half price, just buy the discount and offers. And best advice leader price, discounts up to 70% huge reductions, and constant offers. Box’s bit damaged quick delivery. Only pain, is they tend to deliver in several goes. At this moment free delivery. No minimum order and 70% discount on some items. Anti gaspillage. If anything breaks (even if still usable) complain and refunded.

If you can find your nearest Leader price. This will double your basket. It beats lidl. Do compare every single price before buying anything. In any super market : Go potatoes, I remember they sold by 25kg. around 12 euros. That will do the month. They also sold the yogurt per kilo full fat.

Monoprix is the most expensive shop, I would stay clear.