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Eat well for less - series 4

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  • joedenise
    joedenise Posts: 16,481
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    esmy wrote: »
    I make a version of the ratatouille lasagne regularly and it goes down well with meat eaters and veggies alike, similar to the recipe online but with real onions, aubergines, courgettes and peppers, blobs of light cream cheese in place of sauce and a yoghurt and egg topping. That's tomorrow's tea sorted, then!

    I've tried doing a yoghurt & egg "sauce" but can never get it to work! The yoghurt always curdles on cooking so won't use it again. It always looks revolting!

    Denise
  • Pollycat
    Pollycat Posts: 34,578
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    catkins wrote: »
    I wish they would show properly what the substitute items are. Sometimes I manage to see but other times, despite rewinding several times, I just can't make the name on the product out.
    What I have noticed is that the substitutes often come from a range of different shops - Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons, Lidl, Alsi, Asda, Waitrose.
    I wonder if all the shops are local and convenient to the families.
    No point in getting them to agree that a bottle of home-brand ketchup which saves them £1.81 per bottle is just as good as the one they were previously buying if it's going to cost them time and money to make a special journey to buy it.
    catkins wrote: »

    I wanted some rice the other day and the shelves were full of packs of instant rice with various things added. There was barely any packs of just rice to cook yourself. I did manage to get brown rice but also wanted red which they didn't have.
    Rice is my bugbear.
    I don't want 'easy-cook' rice - it's already been part cooked.
    I had a hell of a problem finding non easy-cook brown rice.
  • esmy
    esmy Posts: 1,341
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    joedenise wrote: »
    I've tried doing a yoghurt & egg "sauce" but can never get it to work! The yoghurt always curdles on cooking so won't use it again. It always looks revolting!

    Denise

    Hi Denise - I've never had it curdle. I use 0% fat greek yoghurt (like Total but from Aldi) which is a bit thicker - maybe that keeps it more stable?
  • MandM90
    MandM90 Posts: 2,246
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    Pollycat wrote: »
    What I have noticed is that the substitutes often come from a range of different shops - Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons, Lidl, Alsi, Asda, Waitrose.
    I wonder if all the shops are local and convenient to the families.
    No point in getting them to agree that a bottle of home-brand ketchup which saves them £1.81 per bottle is just as good as the one they were previously buying if it's going to cost them time and money to make a special journey to buy it.


    Rice is my bugbear.
    I don't want 'easy-cook' rice - it's already been part cooked.
    I had a hell of a problem finding non easy-cook brown rice.

    This is why I love Lidl so much. They have a few convenience foods in a separate section but in my local branch there are just four types in the 'main' section: white, brown, basmati and risotto. They tend to have less choice so I can find what I need.
  • joedenise
    joedenise Posts: 16,481
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    esmy wrote: »
    Hi Denise - I've never had it curdle. I use 0% fat greek yoghurt (like Total but from Aldi) which is a bit thicker - maybe that keeps it more stable?

    I actually use the Tesco 0% fat greek yoghurt and wondered if it was because it was fat free and it would work better with the full fat version but that apparently isn't the reason! Have bought some cottage cheese to try that as a sauce tonight in a fish pie - hope that works!

    Denise
  • Prinzessilein
    Prinzessilein Posts: 3,257
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    I use Quark in sauces....so cottage cheese SHOULD work!

    (I also use joghurt, never had it split yet!)
  • Wednesday2000
    Wednesday2000 Posts: 7,281
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    I thought the blueberry and mango pudding looked horrible!:D It probably tasted nice.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 17,413
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    ! And why do they feel the need to put them all in plastic bags/ tubs? I am sure paper bags and cardboard trays would be much cheaper, not to mention they can be recycled.

    I have an abiding hatred of anything wrapped in plastic an will rather not buy it if I can I know its used for 'convenience' sake but I don't need more plastic in my life Last week I was at a charity quiz night at a local healthy sports centre.I went o buy a coffee and they had cups and saucers there and also thos long glasses that you have coffee in When I asked for a coffee the young mand went to get a cardboard cup to pour it into When I said no I want it in a proper cup please he said No its easier to use cardboard .Well it may have been easier but as the bar in the hall was also selling beer in proper glass tumblers and obviously would have to use a dishwasher to wash them up I couldn't see why i had to drink coffee from a bit of cardboard which has a plastic liner and told him so.I said politely as I could 'no thank you I would rather do without as there is far too much garbage that is unnecessary already in the world' he jus grunted rather rudely and I did without at £3.00 a cup he had lost potentially two sales.I think if I can be bothered to take my own bags when I go shopping then why shouldn't I have a cuppa in a proper cup.I could understand if it was perhaps a take away one (heaven forfend I cannot understand why folk have such 'busy' lives that they can't take five minuted to sit down to drink a cuppa) but I suppose its a generational thing. Folk walking along with a cup of scalding coffee in their hands slurping it as they go for some reason reminds me of when you would see babies with bottle stuck in their hands walking along next to their mums .I am probably old -fashioned in that to me if I am eating or drinking I believe I should be sitting down to do so :):):).

    Fruit and veg in supermarkets wrapped in plastic are my bugbear and as supermarkets insist they are 'saving ' the planet buy discarding the use of plastic carriers it would be nice to see less of the unnecessary plastic wrapping around their fruit and veg as well.Bananas come with their own skin as do most stuff and cucumber shrink wrapped are revolting especially as they seem to get very soggy very quickly Rant over chums, I shall return to being a sweet and light old lady once more :):):)

    But I agree a lot of supermarket shopping isn't for the benefit of the customer its for the benefit of the large supermarket. The basic food commodities that we want to buy is all wrapped up in silly packaging. I don't need a packet of pasta/ric inside a box I just need an ordinary packet of pasta /rice etc. We buy sugar in a paper bag why not pasta/rice /couscous etc and far too much is highly flavoured I prefer to add my own flavours thank you

    JackieO xx
  • Prinzessilein
    Prinzessilein Posts: 3,257
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    JackieO wrote: »
    Fruit and veg in supermarkets wrapped in plastic are my bugbear and as supermarkets insist they are 'saving ' the planet buy discarding the use of plastic carriers it would be nice to see less of the unnecessary plastic wrapping around their fruit and veg as well.JackieO xx

    Last week I bough myself some pears....four pears... which could have gone straight into my carrier bag...or, if the store wanted into a paperbag and THEN into my carrier....instead these four pears were on a cardboard tray...with a plastic lid on top....then covered in a plastic coating....and when I got to the checkout I had the option of a plastic bag!!!!

    On the way back home, I spotted a few stalls set up outside a local church...intrigued I went to have s look....assorted books....herbs...flowers...and fruit...I spotted some gooseberries and went over to the chap at that stall....When I decided to treat myself , he simply grabbed a single bag and dropped a few handfuls of berries into it.

    When I got back home and put away the shopping, the cardboard tray WAS reused...the plastic lid and the plastic shrink-coating were binned...the gooseberries were in a plastic carrier that will be reused a few times.

    If local traders can minimise packaging in a sensible way, then why not the big supermarkets?
  • Grumpygit
    Grumpygit Posts: 362 Forumite
    I've often wondered about all the swaps - in the last series they used to show more but only seem to show a few now.

    And I did notice about the range of shops that the swaps have come from and the hassle and money/time spent going from shop to shop to get one or two items.

    Also, what happens to all of the food they already have? Are they encouraged to use it all up before they go for the cheaper options?

    On the last show, the cupboards were stacked full of nibbles, crisps and sugary items which she didn't now want her girls to eat because of the content....totally understandable but what happens to it all?

    I also don't think having a stock pile of certain items is a bad thing but obviously it's more about knowing what you have before you buy more of the cheaper options.
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