Old Style vs the USDA head-to-head challenge...

weezl74 · 23 April 2008 at 6:41PM

Hi, thanks for the support and compliments chaps, I really appreciate it!:o:cool::D

Scrimperjan, I do remember posting that, how funny, I’d got in a real huff one day reading the grocery challenge, thinking, well I just can’t do it any flamin’ cheaper, how do they manage?:mad: Discovering I can make my own bread for 9p a loaf really helped. That's back to what tesco value white loaves were in 1996!!!!:money:

Been doing a little surfin about phosphorus….
Found this here:

'Physical Symptoms of Low Phosphorus: Fatigue….Lack of energy….Muscle weakness….Unstable blood sugar levels…..Bone weakness

Psychological Symptoms of Low Phosphorus: Inability to concentrate….Irritability….Slowed thought processes. (ooooh I've had a deficiency for years!)

Causes of Low Phosphorus: Alcohol abuse….Dieting….High fat diets….Too much magnesium or iron

Use of antacids, white sugar and foods that contain phosphates (soda, meats) create an imbalance in phosphorus-calcium ratio….Abnormalities of the intestine and kidneys…..Low levels of phosphorus cause the kidneys to produce more active vitamin D'

Not much literature or webspace is devoted to low phosphorus diets because so many of the dietary studies have been done on American participants. Significant sources of phosphorus are carbonated drinks, and beef. The classic, burger, fries and coke meal supplies you with 2 days supply of the mineral,:eek: so no wonder it’s never really been found lacking in these studies.

But, the bad news for us more healthy (?!) Brits, and especially for the veggies is that :’The phosphorus in all plant seeds (beans, peas, cereals, and nuts) is present in a storage form of phosphate called phytic acid or phytate. Only about 50% of the phosphorus from phytate is available to humans because we lack enzymes (phytases) that liberate phosphorus from phytate (9). Yeasts possess phytases, so whole grains incorporated into leavened breads have more bio available phosphorus than whole grains incorporated into breakfast cereals or flat breads’ more about that here

Good sources of phosphorus: adult men and women are aiming at 700 mg a day...

Milk, skimmed, 8 ounces 247
Yoghurt, plain low fat 8 ounces 385
Egg 1 large, cooked 104
Bread, whole wheat 1 slice 57
Lentils 1/2 cup, cooked 178
Oats 1 cup, cooked 250

Bulghur wheat and buckwheat again feature very highly, these are not grains I have ever considered buying. Anyone want to tell me how they taste?!

The absolute best bang for your buck phosphorus rich food is baking powder: 2 tspns providing a whole day’s serving! At 2p I think that’s excellent. Now just have to think of a recipe for it…. Any ideas? How many pikelets would you have to eat to get 2 tspns baking powder?!
One cup of polenta or couscous will supply half your RDA, as does a cup of cooked lentils.

Again, if we’re careful, I think the super-thrifty budget can accommodate enough phosphorus. I think my difficulty is going to be in combining these all into some kind of meaningful, cheap meal plan. Feels tricky!

Has anyone done the alternative nuts pesto yet, intrigued by how that tasted...
What shall I research next, I'm a bit bored of minerals. Shall we have a vitamin?

Take care,

Weezl x

purpleivy · 23 April 2008 at 6:51PM

Bulgur wheat is good as tabbouleh, doing the run to drums, will try and find recipe later.

ceridwen · 23 April 2008 at 6:57PM

Bulgur wheat and buckwheat taste - well what I can say except that I find these sort of things as basic and as adaptable as pasta. Cuscus is a frequent thing chez ceridwen - hassle-free cooking. Just put a cup of it in a pan of boiling water. Turn off heat. Leave 4 minutes and serve with whatever you want - savoury or sweet. I've done a sort of cuscus cake before now I seem to recall - just using hot fruit juice instead of water and then throwing in some berries (strawberries as I recall actually) and then leave to set. Cuscus automatically sets if left to get cold.

(cant remember if cuscus is Italian or English spelling:o - could be couscous)

ceridwen · 23 April 2008 at 7:14PM

You might like - nutrition-wise to see this webpage (its from a veggie website - but think you might still find it useful for meat-eaters even):

www.vrg.org/nutrition/index.htm

though - of course - it is true (recalling your 5 veggie meals per week) that one gets the most "bang for your buck" from vegetarian food - it is a cheaper way to get protein. One of the reasons I can manage to pay that :eek: organic price premium is I'm not spending at all on meat or fish (though I know some fish - such as canned sardines or tuna is very cheap).

purpleivy · 23 April 2008 at 8:27PM

Hi

I promised my cheap chocolate sauce recipe a little while ago. Ceridwen, it would suit you as you could used organic cocoa powder, presumably sugar of choice as well.

I have imperial measurements as it's my mother's recipe, she used to do it on her HM ice cream when we were young. I can't imagine how sweet it must have been, the ice cream was made by whipping up evaporated milk till it went thick and then I think she just sweetened with icing sugar, but can't be sure. It was yummy to the small (hmm, not sure I was ever 'small') child. The sauce can be made in the time it takes to get your coat on to go to the shops and costs less than a small bottle of something inferior.

Chocolate Sauce

6 oz granulated sugar
1/4 pt water
2oz cocoa powder.

Dissolve sugar in the water and wimmer for 1 minute. Take off the heat and whisk in cocoa powder. Mix till smooth. Cool for 15 mins.

I guess for a touch of luxury you could add a drop or two of cream.

Magpye · 23 April 2008 at 8:57PM

I've been lurking and following this thread with interest... anything which will bring the food bills down is appreciated!

Where do most people pick up dried pulses? I've had a look locally but can only find yellow split-peas and red lentils, which are very nice but I could do with some variation in my diet

.

weezl74 · 24 April 2008 at 6:21AM

Hi Magpye,:)

D'you have a big tesco or asda nearish who could do an enormous 'storecupboard filler' delivery for you, loads of variety of pulses and grains then, and you could get the delivery for free, if you use a voucher?

Is there an asian supermarket anywhere where you go once every few months you could stock up at? Most UK cities have a few now...

HTH,

Weezl x

ceridwen · 24 April 2008 at 7:25AM

Magpye wrote: »

I've been lurking and following this thread with interest... anything which will bring the food bills down is appreciated!

Where do most people pick up dried pulses? I've had a look locally but can only find yellow split-peas and red lentils, which are very nice but I could do with some variation in my diet .

From what I call "grain shops" in my case - ie health food shops (one-off little shops only selling health foods). One can also use "health food shops" (ie Holland & Barrett comes to mind as one "chain" of "health food shops"). i put the inverted commas - as a large proportion of what they sell is diet supplements (usually their own variety) - but they do also sell a noticeable amount of health foods (good choice of lentils, dried beans, nuts, dried fruit, seeds). (NB: You will need to check the list of ingredients in readymade foods in shops like Holland & Barrett as carefully as you check those in supermarkets - as theres lots of additions - like chemicals and sugar - in the food they sell)(Hence - why I favour what I call "grain shops" - as I know I rarely have to reject anything on the grounds of what ingredients it has in it).

mummysaver · 24 April 2008 at 11:54AM

Magpye wrote: »

I've been lurking and following this thread with interest... anything which will bring the food bills down is appreciated!

Where do most people pick up dried pulses? I've had a look locally but can only find yellow split-peas and red lentils, which are very nice but I could do with some variation in my diet .

Sure I saw on grabbit that Julian Graves had a half price sale, they must sell pulses?

Our little Tesco has a pretty good selection of diff pulses though, and like others have said, if you can find an Asian shop there will be a huge selection and it'll generally be a lot cheaper.

BigMummaF · 24 April 2008 at 5:46PM

Yep...Julian Graves sell a good selection of pulses, dried fruit, herbs, fair trade & sweeties:p & their prices are a lot better than H&B. *note to self...check out possible sale *

We've a couple of those 'scoop & weigh' places, but you need to watch the price-per-gram cuz they can be more than supermarkets.

I'm really gunna have to try the pate & houmus recipes, but not sure how the offspring will take to them:o They have very traditional taste-buds; I've only recently begun putting peppers in stuff:(

Could I ask what the difference is between red & green lentils? I'm trying to 'smuggle' more stuff like it into their sheep pie, but don't want to blow the cover with too out-there tastes:D

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Old Style vs the USDA head-to-head challenge...

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