Economy Gastronomy - new budget cookery programme; BBC

MrsTinks

To be honest I can't remember the last time I went to the supermarkets meat isle... :eek:
I only venture there if I have forgotten something from the butchers and they've closed
My butcher will not only advise me on how to cook stuff, he'll cut the meat how I want it, the size I need (and not in the size the supermarket THINKS I need!), and if I need inspiration he'll often give me suggestions too!
And very MSE... He's cheaper too!!!
As it is I want to try that recipe and see how we do... - there's only 2 of us so I'll only need half that mountain of cubed beef! (Oh which I could ask my butcher to cube for me but hey - I'm sure even I can manage to chop up a wee bit of beef )

MrsBartolozzi

I found this article about Paul Merrett. He spends about £60 a week on his family groceries.
I say well done to him, practise what you preach and all that!! (Oh and I like his style regarding kid's breakfast cereals - my 2 are exactly the same!).

Money_saving_Diva_2

Hi there

I have been enjoying the programmes and it's one that I can actually get my OH to watch too which has helped enormously, as he was actually inspired to try one of the recipes, but I do feel that some people on this thread are being a trifle harsh..

Yes, some OSers can keep a family for a month on a weeks money for the family last night but this programme is about people who have never economised or even maybe even cooked from scratch in years.. so the programme does what all the threads on here say to newbies - 'Start slowly, one step at a time'. And THAT is the point of the programme surely? To show people who have never really looked at their food shopping or cooking habits that things can be changed without anyone feeling deprived or hard done by.

Obviously they could steam in and make the families live on what 'we' would call a more realistic budget but that might end up with the families feeling it was too hard or too strict and giving up.. Look at the family this week, they had continued to money save and had dropped their spending down more, and I bet if you went back in six months it would have dropped again.

Yes it would be nice to see people managing on small amounts of money, but I really think this programme gives people a good place to start to save money and think about cooking from scratch and despite them spending a lot more money than I could afford, I still think it's a worth-while programme and deserves a little praise.

By the way, I thought Allegras list of essentials is a little rich by my standards too - all those vinegars and oils (I have two types of each that work for most recipes) and though I have lemons in the house, it's usually just to add to drinks, I wouldn't think to squeeze it into my main dishes.:rotfl:

Diva.x

ALIBOBSY

MrsBartolozzi wrote: »

I found this article about Paul Merrett. He spends about £60 a week on his family groceries.
I say well done to him, practise what you preach and all that!! (Oh and I like his style regarding kid's breakfast cereals - my 2 are exactly the same!).

Brill article he actual explains how he feeds his family on £60 a week.
So at least he knows his stuff.

It actually reads like a meal plan from on here, using leftovers, cheap meal options (some veggie) etc.

ali x

Gigervamp

What I found interesting about that article is that his wife takes a cup-a-soup to work for lunch!

floss2

Gigervamp wrote: »

What I found interesting about that article is that his wife takes a cup-a-soup to work for lunch!

And that he can only get 2 meals / 8 servings out of a "large" chicken.....even I can do loads better than that with a rubber chicken!

dizziblonde

If his wife's a teacher I can well understand why she takes something that can be done and down the hatch quickly to work for lunch - there are days where it gets to the end of lunchtime and I realize I've been so busy I haven't even had the time to remember to have a wee I like the fact he's open enough to admit she takes a cup-a-soup for lunch rather than pretending to live in some fancy cheffy bubble.

debtmuncher

skiTTish wrote: »

Tuned in last night and was really disappointed
They were not your average family on an average budget ,no fair
Hope as the show goes on they show more paupers like us:rotfl:

Did anyone spot the use of ready roll pastry ?!?!?!!?:eek:

lol whats wrong with the ready made pastry? life saver imo esp puff pastry!!

purplegirluk1

Does anyone know if they will be doing a vegetarian family at all? Last nights show was great but not much I can use for my family. The tortia (sp?) looked nice but no recipe :-(

frivolous_fay

I think I have a horror of going into somewhere and asking for some wackily-named cut of beef (chuck? Who dreamed that up) and them looking at me like I'm mental. Or I'd get the name wrong. Or one way or another I'd end up looking stupid. The fish and veg stalls on the market are bad enough... I fiond them all intimidating... maybe it's the one-on-one service I can't cope with...

Am I weird?

When I went sailling I was too embarrassed to use the lingo 'ready about'? again... !!!!!!? And as a result I capsized us