Eating Well V's Eating Cheaply??

thriftlady_2

maltesers wrote: »

I have. I meant 'nutrition' does not seem to be a welcome topic in general - it seems to provoke argument and upset people. People will argue over how much protein, what kind, how much fruit and veg etc.

Well, of course they will If everyone agreed about the subject there wouldn't be any need to discuss it.

tru

maltesers wrote: »

I have. I meant 'nutrition' does not seem to be a welcome topic in general - it seems to provoke argument and upset people. People will argue over how much protein, what kind, how much fruit and veg etc.

The trouble with nutrition is there's no 'one size fits all' - just an average, which people seem to think is the 'right' amount. But to get an average you need lows and highs. I trained as a dancer, so my protein intake was high. If I ate the same amount now, I'd probably make myself ill

And if the info gets too specific, it can be bordering on medical advice (I know you didn't mention that, but the thought just came to me).

Me, I like to read about nutrition

Addiscomber

leiela wrote: »

Lead by example what do you want my shopping list/ meal plan and Macro breakdown?? because i can give you that but geeze it will be a long post...

I have read your blog, but you haven't updated it since 14th January when you still had loads of food in stock from your more extravagant shopping days. How are you going to manage when you no longer have that to draw on?

I don't know where you live or what shops/markets you have available, but I could not feed 2 adults and 2 young children for £50 a week from the shopping sources that are available to me. I can't even manage 4 adults for £100 a week.

I guess, however, that answers your original question in that what I feed my family is more important than eating cheaply. The only so called "value" or "Basics" food that I will buy are flour, oats, possibly pasta and fresh vegetables like carrots and onions that have a reasonable storage life.

Queen_of_NO_MATTER_WHAT

Gosh this post seems to have got really out of hand.

But not being one to avoid a good drama...

My 2p for what it's worth is that everyone is doing the best they can to feed their family how they feel is appropriate. I come on this board to find out how to make my money go further by adopting an old style way of life and by doing so I'm really enjoying it. I'm really grateful for everything I've learnt from reading the posts and I've always found that people are happy to help if I've got questions. Obviously not everything posted on here is going to apply to me and my family (not right now but I'm storing things up for the future) and I'm not going to personally agree with everything opinion that is written, but it'd be very boring if we were all the same.

leiela

Addiscomber wrote: »

I have read your blog, but you haven't updated it since 14th January when you still had loads of food in stock from your more extravagant shopping days. How are you going to manage when you no longer have that to draw on?

I don't know where you live or what shops/markets you have available, but I could not feed 2 adults and 2 young children for £50 a week from the shopping sources that are available to me. I can't even manage 4 adults for £100 a week.

I guess, however, that answers your original question in that what I feed my family is more important than eating cheaply. The only so called "value" or "Basics" food that I will buy are flour, oats, possibly pasta and fresh vegetables like carrots and onions that have a reasonable storage life.

Yeah i realise i did have alot of food to drawn on, however all thats basically gone now, i've got bits and bobs ... but nothing substantial left that make meals suitible for my husbands diet.. well execept nuts i still have tons of thoses left. :rotfl:

right up till last week i was spending alot less than £50 this week and next week are the first weeks where i have had to buy pretty much EVERYTHING from the ground up and i've still managed to keep within the £50.

Tbh i didn't update the blog because i decided people really couldn't care less what one crazy lady was feeding her family, if people are interested i'll keep posting.

One thing i've learn't though is that budgeting i Can feed my family for £50 ish sure some weeks are gonna go over thats life.. but on average im really really confident in my ability to budget to £50 or there abouts now.

lesley1960

To some extent I agree with the OP ,it does seem from a lot of posts on this forum that the first place to make economies is on food ,while I acknowledge that you can eat healthily economically,I do seriously doubt what some claim they spend on food each week .To me there are plenty of other things I would give up first..........mobile phones etc?

The one thread on this forum that really irratates me is the one promoting a web site that sells cheap past best date food ...........its not food !!

xnatalie81x

TIBBIE'SMUM - my kids are close to yours in age lol boy 5 in march girl 2.5 son 14mths - i must be mad 2 lol - and my 3 are like gannett's - they just walk around the kitchen eating anything that isn't bolted down. I go to the toilet and have about 8 oranges and come down to a pile of orange peel!!! And the baby stuffin a banana! ARGHHHHHHH

betterlife

my family consists of 2 adults and 4 children (8yrs,4yrs,2yrsand 6mths) i manage to feed my family for around £50 a week and i think we eat well. i`ll give you an idea of this coming weeks meal plan. tomorrow we will have a roast which will consist of free range local chicken, potatoes (of which i buy a large sack from local farm £7.50 last 3/4wks) home grow runners from freezer, carrots, cabbage, pea`s and swede, gravy. tea will be hm rice pudding.
monday will be a chicken and veg soup made with the carcess lots of local seasonal veg and lentils, served with homemeal bread. the kids take pack up of wholemeal cheese sarni`s, juice, hm banana cake and a yoghurt. (they get free fruit and water supplied at school) baby gets whizzed soup, mashed bananas/fruit purees. breakfast is always toast, cereal/porrage, hm pancakes. tuesday will be fish which i have plenty of in freezer as im lucky to have a fisherman husband, kids generually have same lunch every day as thats what they want at mo. me and hub and kids at home have beans on toast, mackeral, eggs etc.
wednesday will be chic and leek cobbler which left over chicken, and veg, thursday will be spag bol with hm tom sauce and quorn (tom sauce is toms, onions, garlic, peppers and mushrooms) friday will be mushroom omlette, saturday not sure. we have hm flapjacks, fruit cakes etc and dessert most nights, rice pud, hm fruit pies, blamanche etc. this year i intend to be completely self sefficient in fruit and veg, this will allow me to spent my money on more free range local meat. i think i feed my family well, i have a tight budget like most people, but i buy seasonal local farm veg and fruit, i buy free range and again all local, we have plenty of fish, i make from scratch and i stretch by using everything and wasting nothing. my children are healthy and no where fruit and veg come from and how its grown.

xnatalie81x

wow £50 is brilliant for 2 adults and 4 kids. I manage about £60 for 2 adults and the 3 kids (so young eat little....) but that does include nappies and wipes and washing/laundry. Your food menu tastes yummy. I think my meals are healthy - it's the bits in between lol. My son takes a lot of tinned fruit to school in lil pots. Tinned value pineapple is 41p a tin and we all love it. I also make lil fairy cakes for him and jelly. Along with his hm bread sarnies.

annie123

taken from eatwell.gov.uk



Protein is essential for growth and repair of the body, and 15% of the calories we eat each day should come from protein. If you're eating a balanced diet you're probably getting enough protein.

Men need about 44 to 55g a day and women need about 36 to 45g protein each day.

Children also need plenty of protein to help them grow and how much will depend on what they weigh. As a general guide:

• children aged 4 to 6 need about 15 to 20g protein each day
• children aged 7 to 10 need about 23 to 28g protein each day

Most adults and children in the UK have more protein than they need.

The following foods are all good sources of protein:

• poultry (an average portion of roast chicken breast contains 27g protein)
• lean meat (an average portion of bolognese sauce contains 28g protein)
• fish (a small can of tuna and an average portion of poached cod fillet each contain 24g protein)
• cheese (an average cheese sandwich on white bread contains about 17g protein)
• eggs (an average-size boiled hens' egg contains about 6g protein)
• milk (a 150ml glass of semi-skimmed milk provides about 5g protein)
• pulses (three tablespoons of boiled red lentils contains about 9g protein)
• tofu (100g tofu contains about 23.5g protein)
• bread (a slice of wholemeal bread contains about 3g protein)

Don't forget that you need a healthy balanced diet including:

• meals based on starchy foods, such as bread, rice, pasta and potatoes – these types of foods should make up about a third of the food you eat
• lots of fruit and vegetables, also making up about a third of your diet – aim for at least five portions of a variety of fruit and veg each day
• some meat, fish, eggs or pulses
• some milk and dairy products, such as yoghurt and cheese, choosing lower-fat varieties when you can

It can be harder for vegetarians, and especially vegans, to get enough protein. So if you're vegetarian, try to eat a mixture of foods that are rich in protein every day, and vary the types you choose. For example, you could eat:

• pulses, such as lentils, beans and chickpeas
• nuts and seeds
• eggs
• soya products, such as tofu, miso and soya drinks
• mycoprotein, sold as QuornTM
• wheat proteins, such as cereals, bread, rice and maize
• milk and dairy products

reading through the above and meal plans, I would say most folks on here do feed their families well for the money they are spending.

I've been skint...50p in the elec meter or a bag of chips for sons dinner...that was 26 years ago we sat in darkness with a candle and eat our chips:D to well off household income over 60k:D
I'm unemployed now, I was the main breadwinner, DH downshifted some years ago so now we have an income of 18k 'little smiley' will only buy free range meat so we adjust elsewhere i.e. eat less of it.

There are lots of healthy meals posted on here OP just ignore those that offend you, you dont know everyone's circumstances so best not to judge;)