[I]Oh My God Dinner: one of several main dishes that costs as little as 37p a serving[/B]


Starting on Monday 29 April, 5,000 Britons will be challenging themselves to live on just £1 a day for five days, as part of a campaign by the Global Poverty Project.

But is it possible not just to survive, but also to eat a balanced and healthy diet on that sort of budget?

Over five days, I set out to see if it was possible to include sufficient fruit, vegetables, protein and carbohydrates in my food to do that, spending no more than £1 a day - while trying not to lose sight of the fact that eating should be a pleasure, not just a necessity.

Coffee, alcohol, cakes and even salad are just too expensive. But there are plenty of surprising goodies that are very much on the menu.

Day 1: Amount spent 97p

Did you know you can buy an egg for just 8.7p? It may not be an ethical egg, and of course you have to buy 30 to get that price.

But when you are on a real budget, it still gives you valuable protein and great vitamins.

So including one piece of toast, with margarine and a cup of tea, my breakfast costs me 14p.

Lunch is a ham sandwich, at a cost of 29p. Good protein, but that is nearly a third of my daily budget gone in just a few bites.

And come 3pm, a nasty thought is already beginning to insinuate itself. At first just a question mark, it develops more and more into a certainty. To start with it is mere peckishness. Then, undeniably, it reclassifies itself as hunger.

So I gorge on a value scone (5p) with jam (1p), and feel better. And I eat an apple.

Contemplating dinner, it is time to consult an expert.

Jack Monroe spent a year and a half out of work, and learnt to survive on next to nothing.

According to her blog, Oh My God Dinner is the result of surprise discoveries of anything left in the bottom of the fridge.

With cubes of melting Brie on top and scraps of bacon, it is full of varied flavours. We added peppers for extra colour and texture.

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