Weezl's phase 1- recipe testing and frugalisation- come one, come all!

ceridwen

weezl74 wrote: »

so it would be very low calorie and fruit and veg would go from the diet for you C if the worst came to the worst? What about when you reached quite a low body weight (not that I think you have any to lose) and had to add stuff back in? Would the coffee with milk go, or the organic, or the FR eggs?

Sorry I'm being dense this morning and can't picture how your 80p in a day would get spent, but I'm really interested, because I think it is very creative to be a refusenik!

This is where the coffee rationing would have to come in and I'd be thinking "Who put me in this position?" Okay - lets assume that I myself was the one responsible for putting me in this position (grammar?):

- then I would think "Well - its my own stupid fault - so I'm prepared to make some sacrifices temporarily in that case".

Push coming to shove (and assuming it was my own fault I only had 80p per day for food):
- then I guess the coffee would have to go totally (not even my little ration of one at breakfast time would survive)
- I'd get all my Vit. from vegetables and only have what fruit I could manage to get for free
- I'd have to grit my teeth and do without organic temporarily
- the free-range eggs would stay - but I'd simply have to cut back on the number of eggs I had. I'm thinking, for instance, that I would do pancakes with dried yeast in, rather than standard pancakes. A higher proportion of my protein would have to come from dried beans and lentils (yep...I've done that before...)

In extremis before - I've just eaten a lot of bread/porridge/cheap vegetables/dried beans and lentils.

- I can sympathise re the bullying - as I have been on the receiving end of bullying myself - so know what its like - and of course you are worthwhile/interesting/creative Weezl. I think that would be one poll with a likely 100% result if we ever ran one on "do we think our Weezl is an interesting/worthwhile/creative" person. I know full well about getting defensive if bullying is in prospect:(

weezl74

in case anyone doesn't want to bother with the DT thread,

here is a quote from a poster who makes a great point.

he/she is saying something very different from the 49% of poll answerers who ticked the eggs:

JBD wrote: »

No, my family would never eat what you describe. You can't actually buy battery eggs where I shop [Sainsbury's]. I used to buy eggs only when they were marked down to 80p [they would still have afew days left on their best before date]. My children would never eat porridge, they would just not eat breakfast if that was all there was.
Personally I used to buy mainly reduced food so it would be difficult to do a menu plan anyway as you never know what is reduced until you get there. Personally I would find it impossible to follow nutritional guidelines eg 5 a day on £25 .Any menu plan has to be based upon what your family will actually eat. I would be more concerned with actually putting food in their bellies so they don't feel hungry.I have been there and it doen't feel good.

ceridwen

weezl74 wrote: »

'I didn't get myself into this so I darned well won't overhaul my diet to get out of this!' Understandable, but very sad, because this Bob will be in debt much longer than the other chap who actually got himself into it in the first place

Not that I ever believe it is Bob and Shirley's fault.

No-one taught them to fish (live within means)

I thought it worth mentioning that viewpoint - because I AM that person. I DID sit there and think "I didnt get myself into this - so blow it - it aint my fault". Yep - I guess/I know that meant that I was in debt for longer (errr....a LOT longer actually I suspect) than I otherwise would have been.

A plan like this would have been very helpful to me during those (..<cough> far too many) years that I was in debt. It did worrry me a LOT being in debt. You really dont want to know JUST how many years I was in debt for:o:mad::o:mad:. But because it wasnt my own doing basically - then I took the view that I would stick to what I felt I reasonably could to get myself out of that debt. So I would certainly have used a plan like this as a basis for my foodplanning - but still put in most of my non-negotiables. Part of the reason for being vegetarian is all those years I spent in debt - as I realised I couldnt afford meat and fish of a standard I would find acceptable and now I simply dont miss it any more and would rather save any spare money than introduce it back into my diet
(though I also have other reasons anyway for being vegetarian - moral/health/etc).

Hence - my comments that I feel a lot of people will use this Plan as a "rock on which to build" and then introduce a few other things on top of the Plan to bring it to a level they personally feel they can live with. But it will still have helped them a LOT - as they might not be spending 80p per day on food.....BUT...chances are they will be spending, say, £2 per day on food (whereas previously they would have spent, say, £5 per day on food).

EDIT: Sitting here thinking to myself "I've only been up for about an hour and already I must have thought several times "Thank goodness I'm clear of debt now" and by the end of the day I will have probably got well into double figures as to how often I've had that thought...so I know just how much being in debt can impact on one's peace of mind.

.....goes off muttering "thank goodness I'm not in debt any more""thank goodness I'm not in debt any more.............................................................

weezl74

ceridwen wrote: »

I thought it worth mentioning that viewpoint - because I AM that person.

I think it's an extremely valid point. I'm very glad you made it.

Please help me understand how we help shirley if this is her view too.

Example 1, man is not looking where he's going and falls into a hole. We throw him a rope, he thinks 'fair play! and hauls himself out.

Example 2, man is pushed down a hole (by his employer, the government, ludicrous banking system). We throw him a rope and he thinks: why should I have to use it? and stays in his hole.

My worry is that he is the one who is doubly punished.

weezl74

another quick question re the vegetarian planner,

home made lasagne pasta sheets? Too much of a faff for shirley? Or OK?

ceridwen

weezl74 wrote: »

another quick question re the vegetarian planner,

home made lasagne pasta sheets? Too much of a faff for shirley? Or OK?

Ummm.....well I dont tend to do lasagne personally myself (despite the large-ish amount of pasta I eat) - as I can never quite work out how to cook it properly (ie without hard ends poking out and the main bit of the lasagne not being quite right either somehow...).

But - give me a recipe for homemade lasagne pasta sheets - and what to do with them - and I'll give it a go and tell you my opinion:)

ceridwen

weezl74 wrote: »

I think it's an extremely valid point. I'm very glad you made it.

Please help me understand how we help shirley if this is her view too.

Example 1, man is not looking where he's going and falls into a hole. We throw him a rope, he thinks 'fair play! and hauls himself out.

Example 2, man is pushed down a hole (by his employer, the government, ludicrous banking system). We throw him a rope and he thinks: why should I have to use it? and stays in his hole.

My worry is that he is the one who is doubly punished.

I understand what you are saying.

I can only say what I myself was thinking. That was along the lines of "How long do I see this situation going on for - even if I try my hardest to get out of debt asap?" When I thought about it - I decided that, even with the best will in the world, it was definitely going to go on for months and most probably years. That gave me my answer - "Well - in that case - I cant go sacrificing adequate nutrition for that long - as goodness only knows what health problems I will have at some point (maybe not right away - but later on in my life) if I eat absolutely as cheaply as possible and only focus on just filling my stomach". So - I made a deliberate decision to ensure that my diet was healthy-ier than just a case of "filling my stomach" knowing that that meant I would be in debt for even longer - but at least I would come out the other end with my health intact and I could then carry on with the rest of my life in normal fashion.

weezl74

I've just discovered we're not to link from a post to a blog. I'm sorry, I've been doing this a bit to show you guys the photos of the recipes.

I'll try to remember to just say: photos and recipe details on m'blog and then you'll be able to find them if you like

weezl74

ceridwen wrote: »

So - I made a deliberate decision to ensure that my diet was healthy-ier than just a case of "filling my stomach" knowing that that meant I would be in debt for even longer - but at least I would come out the other end with my health intact and I could then carry on with the rest of my life in normal fashion.

so as long as we show shirley that everyone stays healthy, she will hopefully relax a bit on some of her other food rules, like fresh milk?

aless02

Lasagne sheets - wayyyyyyy too much faff. Also, you can get value ones so darn cheap that embarrassingly, I'd say it's worth it jsut to buy them.

Weezl, I'm happy to help out with Recipecal as well - I'm afraid my Excel skills are shamefully inadequate though I am quite good at maths/logics/analytical skills . Also happy to test since I'm roughly basing this month's shop off you latest menu planner and almost all of those recipes will feature for us! Assuming you will be posting recipes for the above i nthe coming days or am happy to make it up from the ingredients given.

I had thought of the battery eggs thing sooner...in 2012, they will be outlawed completely so supermarkets ARE starting to phase them out slowly.

If I were eating vegetarian, I think I'd like more cheese/dairy introduced back into the diet. Maybe a spot of yoghurt?