Economy Gastronomy - new budget cookery programme; BBC

ifonlyitwaseasier

luckily for me hubby has decided that celtic don't have a hope (his words not mine!) so we can watch this!!

will get the lappy ready for the interactive [STRIKE]arguements[/STRIKE] discussions

:D:D

debtmuncher

ifonlyitwaseasier wrote: »

luckily for me hubby has decided that celtic don't have a hope (his words not mine!) so we can watch this!!

will get the lappy ready for the interactive [STRIKE]arguements[/STRIKE] discussions

:D:D

footie tonight and its celtic? better not be but just in case i have booked my programme!!:D

celtic....dh doesnt support them so pff to him now if it had been rangers i wouldnt be allowed near the tv!

craftynutters

Ok so if your other halfs want to watch football watch it in another room if you have another telly or you can record it or watch it on i player at least its on this week:j:j:j

ifonlyitwaseasier

craftynutters wrote: »

Ok so if your other halfs want to watch football watch it in another room if you have another telly or you can record it or watch it on i player at least its on this week:j:j:j

meh! no he got away with it before it's my turn, and we are down to only the bedroom telly atm so he can check the result after the show (actually think it'll still be on but i'll hide the remote! :P )

zippychick

I'm off sick at the moment and sat yesterday and read this WHOLE thread from start to fiinsh :eek:

There have been varied points of views put across and some unecessary snobbery, judgement, and "wholier than thou" attitudes. I felt i had to make comment on a few areas, and have today watched the first show , without any distractions!

Comments

Billy - yes, it seems he has been a little spoilt, but that is his parents fault, not his. Obviously he is a fussy eater, and is allowed to get away with spitting out food at the table. As stated before, we don't know the reasons behind this, or the journey he has been on with his parents. There could potentially be far bigger issues here than we are aware of. My friends little boy doesnt eat mince, vegetables or fruit, and this has been bred by his Dads example. His Dad screws his face up at this stuff, so now does the son.

What ever the reasons behind his fusiness, it's really not for us to judge how they deal with his lack of enthusiasm for new food. The Mum seemed quite petrified of cooking at the start. What great lessons will Billy have been taught about food and nutrition, when all he knows is ready meals?! And one of those ready meals he has 3 times a week?:eek: Personally it wouldn't be the way I would raise my children, but this is how they lived and thankfully , due to this show they now see the error of their ways.

By taking him climbing - I don't think it was a bad principle at all. Encouraging him to be adventurous outside of meals sure can't do any harm. How do we know they haven't been advised to try this approach by a professional - to encourage him to generally be more adventurous and break out of his comfort zone? Also, they could have paid for that one day on a weeks food savings, so I don't see why so many people kicked up such a fuss about it!

It is possible there is a medical condition, or behavioural issue behind all this? It's all very well saying "i'd give him a slap across the head" , "he would just go hungry" etc - but unless we know the full ins and outs, it really is a tad unfair. I think some people here need to learn a bit more tolerance.

Artichokes - I have seen lots of comments how Artichokes are not part of a normal store cupboard and how they are expensive. Allegra didn't make out for one second they were in everyones cupboards, or they were dirt cheap! She said she thought the Mum was "scared of different ingredients" so wanted to try to curb her "fear" of different foods. I thought this was great, she took an unusual ingredient, and showed how to infiltrate it into an every day dish (or not, as you choose). Win win - the Mum tasted something new, and possibly slightly overcame her fear of unknown foods. Great stuff.

Navin of lamb - £2.64 a head for Gastro food - brilliant. He made it perfectly clear the Navin of lamb was about making gastro at home for much less than you would pay out. He never stated it was the cheapest way to feed your family.

The terms "Tumbledown" and "bedrock" - ok, leftovers, what ever. Doesn't matter what they're called, the principle is making the food go further than you would normally, saving money and time with an initial dish. When you look up the definitions of the two words, it's kinda cute I think they way they are labelled like this! Makes perfect sense and doesn't sound so "poor" as "leftover dinner"

The chosen demographic - yes, they selected people who spend a huge amount of money on food, and who could make drastic savings. Truth of it is, I think people in this "OS world" don't always see the side of those who are non OS. I would love to know statistically how many people cook from scratch compared to how many buy pre prepared and ready meals. I would say the majority of people I know use pre packed. One friend has a real interest in cooking so we bore each other senseless about food :rotfl:

The rest would think nothing of buying a jar of white sauce, bolognaise sauce, etc to make lasagne. I do have a lot of friends who range in age from teens to 50s and I honestly can't name anyone who cooks from scratch like I do. In fact, I think they all think I'm a bit nuts for doing it . I would have bought bol sauce years ago and all the pre packed stuff. Now i could't entertain the idea. Actually I bought M&S pasta sauce as a treat and found my own much much tastier!

The point I am badly trying to make is not everyone is educated in how to cook! And please please do not judge them for that. They made a HUGE amount of saving already. If Allegra went in with a bag of mince and said , ok , we need to feed the family for a week on this bag of mince - operation failure. Too much too soon. Do you get my point? LIttle baby steps. I would be interested to know if they are still decreasing their grocery budget? I am sure they are and that's where they will maybe be lucky enough to find places like this forum and be able to make even more savings.

The definition of OS - I am not even going to comment, as it seems to be a slight bone of contention in this thread. People claiming to be "more " OS than others etc? I don't get that bit and will leave it well alone!

Pros of this episode - the family saved money, learned how to cook some basics and has given them more of an idea how to properly cater for their family. Allegra and the Doc are both amicable friendly approachable people - they didn't pass much judgement and just got on with it. They have learnt how to eliminate waste by using leftovers and what ever is in the fridge. They can now meal plan , write a shopping list and their kids no longer have ready meals and takeaways - only on rare occasion. They are growing their own veg and I believe over time, they will become more and more OS about stuff.

For the general public, meal planning and shopping lists aren't necessarily an every day occurence. Yes to you it might be - you may have been raised by the parent who took you under wing and showed you how to cook. You may also have been lucky enough to learn more basics in HE at school . Great for you, really. But do you know what? Not everyone has been raised like this. I only properly taught myself how to cook in the past few years. I never eat a courgette until i was about 24 as my Mum simply had never bought them, and to me they were exotic. Now i love them . I introduced my Mum to butternut squash.

We need to remember if people are embracing an OS style of life, then fair play to them. It doesn't matter how they got into it, or how late, or how little they know - isn't it all about learning and improving our families diets? There seems to be a lot of oneupmanship in this thread , and how "obvious " the stuff is. Well, things are only obvious if you know them.

Cons - I was surprised there was little mention of the amount of preservatives etc going into ready meals and takeaways. Yes the Mum now knows how to make Mac cheese, but there isn't a lot to stop her giving in from time to time, and giving him packet rubbish (IMO). It was nice Allegra and the doc, didn't judge , but at the same time, they could have placed a little emphasis on the nutritional benefits of cooking from scratch .

Also felt the fried bananas were a bit unhealthy. Baked bananas would have been so much easier, healthier and just as tasty.

TInned hotdogs - yes I balked at these, but some people will eat and use these and that is their choice - whether voluntary or monetary. So i can almost see why these were included as part of a recipe. As already mentioned, adapt it using "proper" sausages from the butcher, or value sausages, or what ever your familys choice and alternative is.

We should be applauding this concept and show, not ripping it to pieces where ever possible! At least they are trying!:T


Something to remember - At the start of the show, Allegra nails the aim

"it's about delicous meals without breaking the bank. People think it sounds like dull food and cheap ingredients, it't not , it's about great ingredients and making them go further "

Roll on tonights show ! ALso need to rewatch the last one.

cw18

I've only just remembered that I still needed to watch the second part of this series - totally forgot it was on, and my machine won't kick in the record timer unless it's on standy (I was watching a different channel!)

Loved the way the whole family immediately got stuck into the cooking, but was shocked to see a 7 year-old (and even the older ones) sitting down to eat at 9pm - especially when they apparently went on to cook the Bakewell Tart after they finished eating. Heaven knows what time they actually got to bed that night, as the next job was baths all round :eek:

Was really pleased to hear that they'd further shaved the grocery bill down by the time they were visited again 2 months later - so well done the family :T :T :T (And I'll totally forgive them for still spending what I think is a lot, as it's a HUGE improvement and reduction in such a small space of time)


MUST remember it's on tonight, as I'd wanted to record the whole series to refer back - but am now going to have to resign myself to not having a copy of the second one as they don't seem to be repeated anywhere on the TV

Hadley

Zippychick who is the Doc?I thought Paul Merrit was a chef.

Nitha

Totally looking forward to tonights (whilst guiltily eating my ready made asda sp pizza - I'm on my own tonight and hate cooking and doing the pots for one!)

I've asked my little brother for the book on my birthday, think it's a fab series. I love the way they make gastro style food instead of the usual cheapies like good old spag bol!

debtmuncher

cw18 wrote: »

I've only just remembered that I still needed to watch the second part of this series - totally forgot it was on, and my machine won't kick in the record timer unless it's on standy (I was watching a different channel!)

Loved the way the whole family immediately got stuck into the cooking, but was shocked to see a 7 year-old (and even the older ones) sitting down to eat at 9pm - especially when they apparently went on to cook the Bakewell Tart after they finished eating. Heaven knows what time they actually got to bed that night, as the next job was baths all round :eek:

Was really pleased to hear that they'd further shaved the grocery bill down by the time they were visited again 2 months later - so well done the family :T :T :T (And I'll totally forgive them for still spending what I think is a lot, as it's a HUGE improvement and reduction in such a small space of time)


MUST remember it's on tonight, as I'd wanted to record the whole series to refer back - but am now going to have to resign myself to not having a copy of the second one as they don't seem to be repeated anywhere on the TV

it gets repeated on a fri night/sat morning at something like 3am. i know that as i do nightshift and tend to watch it lol. unfortunately you have probably missed it till the repeats come back on....it is on iplayer but no idea if it can be copied onto a cd.

debtmuncher

cant wait for tonights episode!! wonder if i should go and make myself a pan of popcorn!!:rotfl:

its that guy shoving good food down the waste disposal in a temper that makes me wonder whats going on!!

bums on seats folks and happy viewing!!!