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

System

homegrown_life wrote: »

So I assume from 1 500g bag we'd get 25 portions? And from a 500g bag of dried pulses we'd get 12.5 portions.

That's certainly my interpretation of the figures for pulses. However, I'm not sure of the distinction between "dried" and "dried - ready to eat" fruit. Some fruit definitely needs to be soaked before eating, but which category do sultanas fall into? My interpretation is that if I have to soak it (e.g. dried figs or those gnarled little prunes) then a serving is 20g, whereas if I can just eat it from the packet (either dry or squishy) it is 30g. On that basis, your sultanas would be 30g per portion, so you would get just under 17 portions per bag.

There is an interesting article on vaguely related issues (including perception of consumption) on the World Health Organisation web site, at:
http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/f&v_intake_measurement.pdf

weezl74

Avocet wrote: »

That's certainly my interpretation of the figures for pulses. However, I'm not sure of the distinction between "dried" and "dried - ready to eat" fruit. Some fruit definitely needs to be soaked before eating, but which category do sultanas fall into? My interpretation is that if I have to soak it (e.g. dried figs or those gnarled little prunes) then a serving is 20g, whereas if I can just eat it from the packet (either dry or squishy) it is 30g. On that basis, your sultanas would be 30g per portion, so you would get just under 17 portions per bag.

There is an interesting article on vaguely related issues (including perception of consumption) on the World Health Organisation web site, at:
http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/f&v_intake_measurement.pdf

Aaah! Right, OK. So we'll have to have more raisins. Not sure what to do about the shops which don't have value raisins... Purples will then be missing. We will need to probably use the more expensive kind and lose meat.

OK I haven't got loads of space today, so do people mind if we try to make some headway on the asda version first. I know our mythical family may not live near one, but there are over 400 stores in the UK (only topped by tesco (but this includes tescos pricier metro and express stores which our family won't be able to use)) so I think it still has pretty much mass appeal!

re the colours: I don't know much and like yourselves for my own diet am pretty happy with trying to keep it colourfulish.

From reading and participating in lots of threads on old-style though, I do know that it matters to lots of people. And I think the resource would come under a lot of fire if it didn't try to get a good mix of the colours. Does that make any sense?

xxx

nicki_2

weezl74 wrote: »

Hi nicki, are you thinking of an alternative version for people who will sacrifice other things in order to make the meal plan even healthier, that's fab! I wonder how many standard British users would click that option?

I was thinking of this option as I desperately need to loose weight & have very high blood pressure. I've been trying to cut back on the grocery budget as well because over £200 on food for just me and DD is ridiculous :eek: I thought I could use this planner as the basis for a healthier yet cheap menu and just vary the ingredients slightly.

homegrown_life

I just stuck some sultanas on my DD's cereal and weighed a heaped tablespoon while I was at it and it came to 20g. My scales aren't hugely accurate though. I understand your thinking on it though :cool:

Happy to stick with doing Asda for now. You can't do everything! Also agree that trying to keep as colourful as possible is a good idea as if you don't you can guarantee someone will pipe up and say it's not healthy as it won't contain these things. Might be tricky to do it completely, but giving it a go makes sense.

I have to get going now but will pop on later on today.

ceridwen

been thinking further on this theme.

I think the important phrase is "think Rainbow" - as in food being as multi-coloured as possible (errr....weell....the choice of fruit/veg that is....I'm not planning on dying cake green for instance:cool:).

There ARE only 7 basic colours in the rainbow - so eating 7-9 portions of fruit/veg per day will almost certainly mean a lot of colour duplication. Pah! So what!

The important thing too is for food to be visually appealing too - after all that phrase of "we eat with our eyes" comes to mind. How often do we look at food and say "That looks nice" - frequently if you are a visual person like me...

So - if I'm doing salad for instance - I might throw in 2/3 different types of green leaves and yellow peppers and red tomatoes etc - rather than just having green leaves only. Its down to the person which way they play that.

The important thing that the Government researcher shoulda said is "have as many varieties of fruit and veg as possible" NOT "have as many colours as possible" I think. Guess they were trying to "sex up" their report/bring in an USP (Unique Selling Point) to plug their own talents personally. Aint that how these things often are?:p

Emptynester

Cheeseless Onion Tart

I made a half size one yesterday and had my share cold at suppertime. I was pleasantly suprised and will make it again but will add any fridge bits that need using up and might enhance it. I was interested as it showed me that our mythical family could make it without cheese if they found themselves out of cheese. (I know the protien and calcium would be lower but I am talking about the very odd occasion not regularly). Anyway I will try it on OH (a cheese eater) tonight and pass on his comments.

weezl74

ceridwen wrote: »

The important thing that the Government researcher shoulda said is "have as many varieties of fruit and veg as possible" NOT "have as many colours as possible" I think. Guess they were trying to "sex up" their report/bring in an USP (Unique Selling Point) to plug their own talents personally. Aint that how these things often are?:p

I think it's to do with the different antoxidants that the colours represent.

Our bodies are meant to be better equipped to fight fre-radical damage which causes cancers when they have access to different antioxidants. If you eat all tomatoes in one week and all carrots the next, your body won't have all the weapons it needs to fight the free-radical damage.

HTH xxx

nicki_2

I've just been looking through mysupermarket list (my amended one) and discovered that 1 bag of smartprice pears (6 fruits) have 480 portions apparently :rotfl: I think thats one that is going to have to be added at the end :rotfl::rotfl:

Sian_the_Green

weezl74 wrote: »

Chutney-wise SG, I've not come up with anything yet but if you'd be willing to that would be grand, I need it to not involve any ingredient not already on the asda list, so I was thinking the sweet vinegar from the pickled cabbage jar, no more than half of same cabbage (rest for Borscht) apple, onion, raisins, sugar, tinned toms garam masala.... I've seen most of those things combined in chutney before, so I think it could work! If that seems too vague or risky I'll have a tinker here first and then put it out there for more testing

Pick me, pick me, I want to experiment!
So the aim is for something to serve with the sweetcorn fritters? Does it need to serve for anything else like sandwiches?

aless02

note about the onion tart: for people that don't like the "very oniony" taste it has (like me), it tasted MUCH BETTER when cold. And cheesier.