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

Rolling your eyes? Rude! Particularly given your utter lack of common sense around feeding your own children nutritionally adequate meals.

if you crating plenty of veg, porridge etc you are eating low calorie foods but foods that are good for you. If you are that worried get kids a blood test for vitamin deficiency etc. I’m sure they are doing fine and you are doing your best

I think it’s you that’s being rude. This is a cry for help. I’d roll my eyes if someone told to get rid of a dog that was a member of the family.
I definitely rolled my eyes and thought the word twaunt when I read your reply. But hey ho we are all welcome to an opinion no matter how wrong it is.

Sorry, all, I still havent calculated how many calories we are getting per day. I have it on the weekend to do list. But I think the majority of people on here who gave said my maths are a bit wrong are right but also, as others have said, that we are abit under or could make some adjustments particularly for the teenager, and the other boy is nearly teen too so for both really.
I feel supported by all the positive comments and helped my all the advice. I am making a careful note of it for the next shop and am more confident we are on the right track eating healthily on a low budget and can manage to improve abit too.
Thanks :-)

Your calculations are prob a bit off but at the beginning people were also thinking you were serving sandwich AND yogurt, whereas in reality you were serving sandwich OR yogurt. I would guess growing boys prob need min 2000 cal per day but I'm no expert.

I really liked the link someone posted about the cost of each calorie. When I'm busy I do "quick pancakes" for myself, which are a half cup of flour, half teaspoon of baking powder, pinch of salt, half cup of milk. Stir with a whisk and then cook as for store-bought pancake mix. It makes 3 reasonable-sized pancakes. It doesn't have the egg so the protein is a bit less than a normal batch, but it's quick, easy, and cheap so if you're looking for ways to add calories that are cheap, it might be helpful. I don't put the egg mainly because with just a half cup of flour, a whole egg will taste too eggy. If you double the recipe to 1 cup of flour (scale up the rest also) then the recipe tolerates addition of an egg, although it's not as fluffy as storebought pancake mix once you add the egg. As long as you use butter for the pan it'll taste palatable. You can add a half-teaspoon of sugar to the mix if the kids won't eat it without a little sweet taste in it.

People aren't born with knowledge, including you. Don't berate those who seek to acquire it. You had to learn it once. If someone taught you when you were young, consider yourself blessed.

OP lots of people have pets, including piss poor people, so don't feel bad. You'll give your dog the love and care he needs while you can. When the time comes you can't afford treatment for whatever, don't shy away from PTS because of your own feelings, do the right thing and call a halt to any suffering. There's no law says pets must be treated for everything just because it's possible. If yours, like many others, ends up with a slightly shorter life due to your financial situation, there's no shame in that as long as he's adequately cared for whilst he's alive. [awaits bashing from pro-life-at-any-cost folks 🥱]

I think you'll be really pleasantly surprised when you do sit down to calculate those calories. MyFitnessPal is amazing but you do need to weigh your ingredients to get an accurate estimate. Dieters chronically underestimate the amount of dry goods and just about everything else until the kitchen scales come out. You may be overestimating?
All I can say is that when I've dieted on 1500 calories a day, what you're describing sounds pretty much like what I'd be eating then.

So for foods in France, stuff like baked beans were mentioned as possibilities though they aren't so much of a thing here. I've seen haricot beans in a tomato sauce but not tasted to compare to the uk version but branded are imported so now expensive. You do have other bean type stuff available here though. Tinned and frozen flagelets are something you can use as a side veg or in a sauce. you can also buy tinned haricots blancs (those are baked beans without the sauce) which are great with tinned tomatoes as the basis to a meal. Dried green lentils will also be filling and provide some good nutrients, though you would probably want to add a stock cube or something for flavouring if you're not cooking it with sausages (which while nice will be more expensive).

I've seen others recommending talking to the mairie and I would second that. There will be stuff like the banque alimentaire available but they will be able to advise you on how to access it.

Our local supermarket (auchan, but I imagine others do too) have a section in the fruit and veg aisle with a lower price which will be based on what is seasonal and might help with getting a bit more nutrition. The frozen section can be of interest too compared to fresh (assuming you have a freezer, I don't remember if that was listed).

I don’t think shakes really satiate like a meal does so I wouldn’t waste money on getting this fixed. Curries and stews are relatively inexpensive to make and can be bulked out with nutrient rich foods like lentils or barley. Minced beef and chicken thighs are relatively inexpensive and a full chicken could furnish forth a nice roast followed by either a hearty chicken stew or curry for two more days. Things like cereal bars are expensive and usually sugar laden/lacking nutrients, buying meat or eggs would be far more nutritious and economical. Things sound really tight for you and I feel so bad for you but Googling low budget nutritional meals could mean that you would all be able to get the nutrients you need.

Skint dad (muns welcome) for cheap food recipes and advice on maximising a limited income.
Halogen oven, cheaper than a microwave but works similar to an air fryer. In the UK you can often pick them up for a tenner or so in a charity shop.
Older kids can help income with little jobs, walking instead of bus rides etc.
Good luck, I think once you are over this hurdle things will seem alot easier.

Smoothies are not calorie dense enough.
Whatever the calorie counter tells you, if your boys are thin and always hungry then they do need more food. They are putting down bone growth now and boys have large and rapid changes in size and shape, not enough food at this stage will affect how they grow, so it is really important that they have enough calorie dense food and enough protein. The cheapest proteins are pulses, which are also filling. To up calories you need to make sure they are getting enough fat too, so butter and cheese are important.
Yoghurt is not a big enough breakfast for a growing teenager. Could you make cheese on toast in the morning ? Scrambled eggs and baked beans on buttered whole grain toast ?

What you've described couldn't be less than 1500 calories unless you're eating a mouse's portion

How good is your French, OP? I lived in Paris when I was younger and very poor, but I spoke good French and managed to eat reasonably well by making friends with local market traders / the man at the boucherie / the local boulangerie.

By shopping close to the end of the working day, I'd get good bargains on slightly wonky fruit and veg, day-end bread etc. I'm vegetarian these days, but back then I metaphorically held my nose a bit and ate quite a lot of offal (which is very good for you) and cheaper cuts of meat.

Also, soup is your friend: it's amazing what you can make with a packet of stock cubes, some wonky veg and a handful of fresh herbs.

To add: it's also quite common in France to rent flats without fully-fitted kitchens - my little studio had a two-ring tabletop electric hob (although I think it had a grill) and a sink and that was it!

Oh the memories! I had two electric burners and a sink. One burner was a rolling boil at its minimum heat and the other was simmering at maximum.

I had to choose between a microwave and a countertop oven with limited countertop space. I settled for the oven.

My best recent food bargain was 500g of Morrisons " cooking bacon". All the packets are different but I chose one that was obviously smoked bacon and not too fatty, it seems to be streaky rashers that are "untidy" iykwim, some of them quite chunky. I'll be letting DS1 eat some and turning the others into lardons, perfect for adding flavour to cheap filling food, eg, lentil and bacon soup.

You need to reduce your debt payments to your friends until you get a bit more settled. Even €20 a week less will help

I would alway prioritise my children eating and not having deficiencies than keeping up a good debt payment plan with friends.

Your children need to come 1st.