what one food thing couldn't/wouldn't you compromise on- when it came to the worst?

HowlinWolf

I voted for high quality/free range meat as I could probably feed family for a month without using eggs but would not be able to do it without meat. Long term I would have to have both

But if using eggs they would have to be free range, that would be a deal breaker for me.

With 7 f&V per day I could live without one piece of fruit a day but not long term especially not with a toddler, I'd much prefer not to have sweet treats although I am not sure that this would go down that well with the rest of the family.

I would also avoid transfats or as many transfats as possible even if really skint and would sacrifice other things to do this - particularly as the frugal menu plan features so much home baking

Not fussed about having branded things

weezl74

kezlou wrote: »

Hi weezl,

I voted for fresh fruit/veg once a day. In all the dire times we've had financially, which has meant i've had to sacrifice and some battery eggs. I tend to buy eggs off people i know who breed/raise chickens.
Meat - my boys and OH would kick up a fuss but i can make plenty of meals without it and my OH knows fresh veg comes first health wise.
Last year for about 6 months we ate 2 kilo's of mince and 1 kilo of chicken wings all i could buy my limited budget but we dealt with it. To be honest OH + boys didn't really notice.

The few things we won't compromise on is cheese, milk and fair trade products. As far as i'm concerned they is always someone far worse off than us so the least we can do is by fair trade.

HTH weezl x good luck with the book.

Hiya and thanks,

I'd be really interested if you didn't mind saying a little more about the non-compromise of something fresh?

This question is for anyone who feels the same really. And it would really help with the frugal meal planner if I could get my head round this a little more. :A

I know that there's no way a bag of frozen carrots tastes or feels as nice as a fresh one, but if you're going to cook with it and make a soup and nutritionally they're both the same (if not better frozen as preserved straight from picking rather than machine scrubbing heat-drying, cellophane wrapping and a 3 week transit time to the supermarket :rotfl:) I just wondered what it was that people didn't like to swap for cheaper alternatives?

Thanks loads to anyone who's prepared to give me an insight into this...

ceridwen

Just spotted this thread of yours Weezl.

Well....in dire dire DIRE straits (it would have to be downright DIRE for me to do without my coffee for a while:rotfl:) - then my diet would be:

- cheapest "filler" foods possible (ie potatoes, wholemeal flour, oatmeal)
- cheapest organic dairy produce (milk/basic cheese/yogurt simply HAVE to be organic in my book)
- free-range eggs
- cheapest possible dried beans and lentils
- cheapest possible nuts
- cheapest grains possible
- plenty of vegetables

I tend to think that vegetables and fruit are basically interchangeable to a large extent - that both would provide my Vitamin C requirements. So - as veg. do that more cheaply than fruit - then I guess I'd have to do without my fruit until things were back to normal.

I know I probably (almost certainly) think more in "food value" terms than most other people. I'm prepared to eat some pretty wierd combinations of foods here/pretty "basic" foods there if I absolutely have to - as long as they fulfil my four Basics:
- have I got a full stomach?
- have I got enough Vitamin C (from one source or another)?
- have I stayed with the "non-negotiables" of organic dairy produce/freerange eggs?
- is it vegetarian?

kezlou

Hi Weezl,personally i prefer fresh food to frozen food, tried frozen carrots , defrosted into a salad just doesn't taste right. Everyone in our household loves salad with peppers, carrots mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumber etc. One day last week we had a revolt because we ran out of cucumbers. You'd think the world had ended, never seen a 5 yr old demand to go to a supermarket before.

I used to have a very bad diet when i was growing up filled with sugar and nasty processed and branded food . My health was appalling and vowed never to let that happen to my children.
The only constant i had was meat ,which i did not particularly like, i was left with the alternative of eating micro chips and pizza.I couldn't cook when i left home, 37 weeks pregnant with DS1 and my signature meal was beans on toast. So i taught myself how to cook by buying fresh ingredients and having a go.My children, both boys, can cook a few meals from fresh ingredients and they both really enjoy getting involved in the whole process. My boys can both make (from fresh) pasta + HM cheese sauce, white sauce, HM bread, burgers, fish cakes and they know exactly what goes in them.

Over the years my health has improved dramatically, and my children are both very fit, healthy, happy and full of energy.My sisters children have the same diet as i had as a child, one of my nieces is 6 yrs old with hardly any teeth due to them being rotten with sugar. The ones she does have are full of fillings, which for me is horrifying.
So now we always have fresh food in the house, the fruit bowl generally full of apples, pear, bananas etc. If the fruit is not eaten then its made crumble/pie etc. so nothing goes to waste.
I also buy lots of reduced veg and freeze it ready for meals.We very rarely eat sweets, crisps, lemonade, coke, and generally if we have deserts they are all home made.so snacks are generally fruit, chopped up veg, toast, HM chickpea or lentil pate.

My post has turned into quite an essay, oops sorry weezl.

CCP

weezl74 wrote: »

Hiya and thanks,

I'd be really interested if you didn't mind saying a little more about the non-compromise of something fresh?

This question is for anyone who feels the same really. And it would really help with the frugal meal planner if I could get my head round this a little more. :A

I know that there's no way a bag of frozen carrots tastes or feels as nice as a fresh one, but if you're going to cook with it and make a soup and nutritionally they're both the same (if not better frozen as preserved straight from picking rather than machine scrubbing heat-drying, cellophane wrapping and a 3 week transit time to the supermarket :rotfl:) I just wondered what it was that people didn't like to swap for cheaper alternatives?

Thanks loads to anyone who's prepared to give me an insight into this...

For me at least, fresh veg wouldn't be so much of a problem - fresh is visually and texturally more enjoyable, particularly when eaten raw, but, as you say, once it's cooked there's no real difference.

Fresh fruit is different, though - if I'm going to have a snack it will almost invariably be a piece of fruit, and tinned or frozen fruit just isn't as tasty or convenient as fresh, particularly when I'm out of the house.

I don't know if that's the same for everyone, though.

cyclingyorkie

i can't bring myself to buy any eggs except free range. If I can't get free range I change my plans!