Food - Back to basics!

KarrieBee

rachbc wrote: »

Leeds - we are one of the few colleges that does butchery I think. We also do Hair and Beauty so I get cheap cut and colour and facials for free!

That's very helpful. I work in Leeds so I might have a gander!
OP I get our veg from the local organic veg box scheme or the farmers market. once i got used to only eating what was seasonally available i have certainly broadened my repertoire of what I cook and eat- ( and I go to the coop when I crave peppers or aubergines in winter - woman cannot live by parsnips alone!). We get our meat from the local farm and they sell fish and other random items. We are very lucky that Yorkshire seems to have a pretty thriving market culture. When we lived in lancashire we didn;t have as much choice.

ALIBOBSY

KarrieBee wrote: »

That's very helpful. I work in Leeds so I might have a gander!
OP I get our veg from the local organic veg box scheme or the farmers market. once i got used to only eating what was seasonally available i have certainly broadened my repertoire of what I cook and eat- ( and I go to the coop when I crave peppers or aubergines in winter - woman cannot live by parsnips alone!). We get our meat from the local farm and they sell fish and other random items. We are very lucky that Yorkshire seems to have a pretty thriving market culture. When we lived in lancashire we didn;t have as much choice.

I live in lancashire and find local produce is easy to source, it may depend on which area you lived in though. We have a local farm shop that has been here for years for fruit and veg plus home baked cakes, local cheeses and eggs (plus a fish van twice a week).
We used to get our meat from butchers, but now have found a local farm shop for that as well. The farm have beef and lamb, and although not licienced as organic the animals are in the fields, and fed on hay and grass only and are slow growing "old fashioned" breeds. In fact when we went yesterday the farmer invited us to take our kids in to see the new lambs with their mums in the lambing pens. the animals look healthy and the place was very clean.
They also sell free range eggs and chickens from a farm about 5 miles away and pork/bacon from the farm up the road (less than 1 mile) where again although not classed as organic the pigs range outside. The bacon is cured on the farm and is gorgeous.
Price wise we got a lamb shoulder joint (big enough that we split it into 2 to freeze), a decen piece of brisket (will feed us 5 for at least 2 meals), 1pound packs of beef mince, stewing steak and free range chicken cubes (mostly breast but some thigh) a medium to large size whole chicken, 2 packs of bacon, plus 2 packs of their yummy sausages for £38, she also threw in a pack of 4 burgers for free and one little bun for each of the kids to eat for free whilst we shopped :T. The service is wonderfully old fashioned and pleasant, we chatted and advice re joints, cooking etc was given the kids saw the lambs and had a lovely trip out. The meat is beyond delicious, and puts the supermarkets to shame.
Go Local!!!!!

ali x

KarrieBee

That sounds great Ali! Where we lived in Lancs it was very expensive and hard to source good veg, the meat wasn't bad but we don't really eat a lot of meat. I totally agree that local shops if you have them beat supermarkets hands down!

Fozz

I feel just the same about supermarkets, I really don't want to shop in them any more if I can help it!
I do use my local Co-op, which is only a small one, more like a corner shop really! We do have a good market here, with a fish stall, and a lovely bread stall which I haven't sampled yet but intend to. This week I am going to order a freezer pack of meat from my local butcher and really try to buy from local producers and not supermarkets from now on.
I find that if I go into a really big supermarket now I feel overwhelmed by all the stuff available and just want to get out as quickly as I can!

natc

Hello everyone,

Just to say that i havent been to do a full shop at my asda supermarket for 3 weeks now! Im loving it, and so is OH, we both hate shopping in the supermarket. He actually looks forward to going to the market for the meat and veg now!!! We have been going to Morley market, and a green grocers there for our meat and veg. The butchers are in the indoor market, and they are very helpful. We live in Dewsbury, west yorks (sure the country has heard of it with it being in the news every other week!) which has a really big (compared to others) market. But we tried it last week and was disappointed, it felt quite mucky, and the meat at the butchers didnt look very appealing. So we decided to go back to morley market! I know we should be going to our very own local places, but we just cant. Seems ridiculous that we have it all on our doorstep, but we choose to go farther afield. Thats not good, they need to clean their act up!

We will be doing a monthly shop from now on, for cleaning stuff, toilet rools, tins of food, cereals, pasta, rice etc etc, then each week will be off to morley market. Even just over the last few weeks, we have saved about £50. The meat sometimes appears to be more exp, but then others its a bit less, and veg is less, so it balances itself out, and find that you actually save overall. But for me, its not just about saving, its about better food, and helping local businesses. The saving is just an added bonus. Just for example, we get baking pots from the green grocers now, 22p each, and they are huge! In the supermarket, its been costing about £1-£1.50 for 2 x smallish ones! A punnet of grapes, £1 offer in grocers, £2.50 in supermarket! A whole chicken is £3.30 at the butchers, only the smart price ones can compare to this price, but they will be the manky, badly kept, water/crap injected chickens!

Sometimes, veg may seem more exp, but ive checked old asda receipts and it is cheaper, and better qualiity from grocers/market. Im not used to all this price per lb etc, but will get used to it!

:j

Chuzzle

SKINT MUM OF 3 - Funny sounds like you live in the same small town I do...on the norfolk/suffolk border??? We have 3 supermarkets within spitting distance of each other. Honestly you stand in Mr M's car park and you can see Mr T to the right and Mr Somerfield to the left!

We are fortunate enough to have an allotment so all our fruit and veg is homegrown. I am now looking into getting meat and fish online, or maybe visiting a farmers market for it. DH and Mum would both love that trip out, except by the time they've both finished on the allotment at the weekend the farmers markets are usually over.

natc

Ruthibe73 - Am i not supposed to be saying the supermarket name out loud on here??? oops, just noticed ppl putting mr t/m/s etc

Chuzzle

natc - don't think it matters what you call the supermarkets on here...lol

leiela

I have a local butcher i sware by, he always cut's me a good deal because my family eats alot of meat and i buy so much off him and always throws in a couple of bones for my dog haha.

He's lovely, i go, we chat, he ask's me how my family is... he tells me what he has on offer.. we haggle and i come away feeling very pleased that i a) got a good deal b) know that the meat is good quality and c) with the satisfaction that i helped a small business rather than buying in the big shops that really don't care about me or my family.

Like others have said, some things come out slightly more pricey but it all levels out and i usually save a fortune in the long run. These days the only time i buy meat from the big stores is if i pick up a whoopsie or bag a bargin, like the £2 chickens in asda a few days ago.

Veg im the same ... i buy from a little farm store who deliver. They actually collect fruit veg etc from alot of farms etc in the area and distribute it.

Again they don't really work out much cheaper than Asda/Tesco but the service is much better and it gives me satisfaction to know that the end farmer who is doing all the work is getting a bigger % of the profits than asda or tesco would be giving them

The guy on the phone always has a nice chat with me, as does the driver who delivers. They text me when they have Whoopies (something i asked them to do :rotfl: :rotfl:) which is great, last week i got a whole sack of rhubarb for £2 enough to make enough filling for 10 crumbles which i made up and stored in the freezer.

Only problem is they only sell local / seasonal fruit and veg ... and i have kids who love banana's. So i buy most of my things from them and supliment my shop with a trip to the market (which is where the butchers is anyway) to a greengrocer there to get anything i can't get get out of the farm shop.

All in all i find that asda/tesco's can't match my butchers for quality v's Price.. sure alot of the "value" meats may be cheaper but i don't think you can compare lean steak mince to value *more fat than meat* mince.. all in all i get good quality meats at slightly above "value" meats price.

Veg costs are comparible, much the same tbh but personally i think you can't put a price on the satisfaction i get helping the farmers and the benifits of using small family run business's where "I matter".

natc

Leila,

All you said - agree. i have only been using the butcher i use now fo a few weeks, and he is lovley! I told him we went to our market and was disgusted so went to Morley market to see him instead, he was chuffed, and he now rounds everything down we get, and yes, the quality is sooo much better, and is usually only a lil more than the cheap value studd in supermarkets. Im so glad we do this now, and avoid the big supermarkets as much as poss. The market in Morley we go to, has a wilkinsons, home bargains and a b&m there all within short walking distance, so we sometimes stop off in those places to see if there are any bargains to be had. :j