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

Petlamb

No offence meant to those who have discussed such issues and shared their views, but I do agree with StG there. Sorry.

Floxxie

I'm still working my way through this thread (am up to 10/2 after a couple of hours reading :rotfl:) so apologies if this has been written already.

I see it's mentioned serveral times about teenagers being hungry; whilst mine aren't quite that age yet I do have one who is constantly hungry and have found that popcorn kernels (1kg for £2.50 from Asda) do the trick. It takes 100g to make a very large bowl of popcorn - I do not add any oil and I do not put anything on them. It's great as an added source of fibre and works out very cheap as it keeps three children going for a couple of days on each serving.

Meat - have finally reduced it to 2 servings a week, normally using the same type of meat but different dishes. DH doesn't have a problem with this at all.

Eggs - used to be FR for everything; have now gone for FR if eating them plain i.e. fried, boiled, scrambled, otherwise non-FR in cooking.

Really interesting comments and recipes :T

Floxxie

ceridwen wrote: »

Totally honest personal answer? For me personally - "perfect" would indeed be no highly processed food at all I guess.

I have to agree with you ceridwen; I was on a special diet years ago as I had to lose a lot of weight quickly for an op. The diet had a simple aim; get rid of anything artificial. It was a shock when I realised what I couldn't touch. I had to examine everything and that's when I made the discovery about food. My food bills certainly went up and I'm not in the position to do that now, but I try my best and there are certain things that I still can't touch. My ideal position would be no processed food at all

Floxxie

Wow popping corn is even cheaper at Sainsburys - 51p for 500g

nopot2pin

Okkkkkkkkkkk

I had quoted lots of stuff to find easier ...
But, hey, this is a dynamic thread.... so I decided against quoting the quotes :cool:

So...again, first things first....well you wouldn't have them last eh ?:p

And for my benefit, all my points, are in laymans terms

Ceridwen.... You are correct, in that, creating surveys for the masses is not an easy task ...


And the assumptions intially could be

• organic stoneground wholemeal or white
• organic free range or battery
• organic wine thats been cleared through time, instead of having isinglass/or other, added to aid the clearing process....

We all know, these points are very basic, but I think we all get the drift of the start of ranges, to the end of ranges .... I could go on, but I wont at this point...

These, and more, are questions, that should be standardised, for the survey
But please feel free to let me know, if there is anything, that I should be asking, that I may miss , Or, if something hasn't been covered, please left me know.... thanks :A

Sian, you may be quite right, in that there is a high level of politics involved in the discussion of the thread now....

To be honest, this does seem to be the norm, of many vegan/vegetarian threads, on any forum, as it involves many ethical questions, regarding animal welfare, genetically modified, animal testing, ect ect...

I would like to include a few very brief questions, on this, in the survey, and how individual perception is about this... ...

I know it may not suit all to be controversial on an open forum, but on an annoymous survey, there may be a few independant answers, that are not expected.

Weezl...
I have to agree with ISOM and arty...
In that a definitive first plan should be achieved before progressing to other plans.
I do believe Lesley, did provide, building blocks for the first plan and all other subsequent plans in their respective order......

For ME, my first and foremost task, at this time, needs to be completing the surveys for plan one.....
I will not be conducting anything else until I have completed this....
Having said that, I will be doing that later today... and possibly completion on Friday

I have not seen any meal planners for plan 2, 3 or 4 yet... so when plan one is finished, I will be researching the task in hand for the survey for THOSE INTERESTED IN PLAN 4......

Thats the way I see it... In my laymans terms
Let me know if anyone has seen anything I have missed, and I will rejuggle

Potty

nopot2pin

Floxxie wrote: »

I'm still working my way through this thread (am up to 10/2 after a couple of hours reading :rotfl:) so apologies if this has been written already.

I see it's mentioned serveral times about teenagers being hungry; whilst mine aren't quite that age yet I do have one who is constantly hungry and have found that popcorn kernels (1kg for £2.50 from Asda) do the trick. It takes 100g to make a very large bowl of popcorn - I do not add any oil and I do not put anything on them. It's great as an added source of fibre and works out very cheap as it keeps three children going for a couple of days on each serving.

Meat - have finally reduced it to 2 servings a week, normally using the same type of meat but different dishes. DH doesn't have a problem with this at all.

Eggs - used to be FR for everything; have now gone for FR if eating them plain i.e. fried, boiled, scrambled, otherwise non-FR in cooking.

Really interesting comments and recipes :T

Wow....
Floxxie, you seem to be doing so much already
I am sure Weezl would value your opinion on the frugal recipes followed on the link on page 2...

Then let her know how you got on, with those recipes, by filling in the survey, following the link on Post 4 :D:A

:whistle::whistle::whistle::whistle::rotfl::rotfl:


sorry, I just had too :rotfl:

Floxxie

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

The dangers of responding to a dynamic thread

lorietta

Hi

I would just like to say that I haven't read the whole thread- Although I will as I think this is amazing but I have a few thoughts about people cooking on a low budget. I know the origional plan is to help a family of 4, but I think those who struggle the most finacially with food are generally young single people or the elderly (again living on their own).

1- At least some of this is assuming a lot of freezer space. What if you live in a shared house, so all you have is one freezer shelf (or less). Ditto for Fridge Space.

2- Buying in bulk means things will go out of date, also, you can't store things because you have limited kitchen space. This also applies to people living in studio flats or with small kitchens (this may apply to a mythical family to some extent too)

3- Access to shops. Not all branches of the same shop will stock every product. Not everyone has every shop within walking distance. I know this has probably been done to death but it bears repeating. Also, some people may be able to negotiate cheep food- eg fruit of a market stall. Also, carrying shopping is an issue if you don't have a car.

4- I genuinely believe that a family, or person, with such a limited food budget won't have the concerns of many of the posters on this board. When a student I knew had maxed out his over draft and had the spare change in his bedroom to spend on a weeks food his first concern was not "am I getting my 5 A Day?"- It was "Is this going to fill me up?" then "Is this going to have any major health risks?". Free range eggs I really don't think genuinely comes into some-one's head when they really actually only have a tiny food budget. I know for the long term the diet must be sustainably healthy but I am sorry, the animal's quality of life vs me going hungry- I win every time.

5- Tea. Not everyone in the country drinks tea, and caffine is pretty bad for you. I don't know if this has been dropped or not but I know it was in at the begining. Incedentally, I asked a couple of my male friends who are all dedicated tea drinkers and like to have meat regularly if they would choose tea or a bit of extra meat in their diet. They all said they would have the meat. Ok so it was only 5 people, but does everyone really love tea that much, and does something with a limited nutritional value belong in a budget planner like this.

I know this will be a great resource and I really admire what you are doing, but I just thought I'd point out some issues, I'm sure you've considered them before, but I really do feel the shopping lists do at least require a lot of storage space- not a luxury everyone has. I also believe that a family for four for £100 is a lot more doable than a single person for £25.

Finally, I hope at some point I can make a useful contribution to this thread by testing some recipes or whatever, but I'm not a brilliant cook, so we shall see. I also agree that the first planner should be sorted before subsequent ones are attempted, and it should obviously be as healthy and balanced as possible.

nopot2pin

Floxxie wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

The dangers of responding to a dynamic thread

Indeedy
Get testing, get surveying, get posting ...



Simples :cool:

nopot2pin

lorietta wrote: »

Hi

I would just like to say that I haven't read the whole thread- Although I will as I think this is amazing but I have a few thoughts about people cooking on a low budget. I know the origional plan is to help a family of 4, but I think those who struggle the most finacially with food are generally young single people or the elderly (again living on their own).

1- At least some of this is assuming a lot of freezer space. What if you live in a shared house, so all you have is one freezer shelf (or less). Ditto for Fridge Space.

2- Buying in bulk means things will go out of date, also, you can't store things because you have limited kitchen space. This also applies to people living in studio flats or with small kitchens (this may apply to a mythical family to some extent too)

3- Access to shops. Not all branches of the same shop will stock every product. Not everyone has every shop within walking distance. I know this has probably been done to death but it bears repeating. Also, some people may be able to negotiate cheep food- eg fruit of a market stall. Also, carrying shopping is an issue if you don't have a car.

4- I genuinely believe that a family, or person, with such a limited food budget won't have the concerns of many of the posters on this board. When a student I knew had maxed out his over draft and had the spare change in his bedroom to spend on a weeks food his first concern was not "am I getting my 5 A Day?"- It was "Is this going to fill me up?" then "Is this going to have any major health risks?". Free range eggs I really don't think genuinely comes into some-one's head when they really actually only have a tiny food budget. I know for the long term the diet must be sustainably healthy but I am sorry, the animal's quality of life vs me going hungry- I win every time.

5- Tea. Not everyone in the country drinks tea, and caffine is pretty bad for you. I don't know if this has been dropped or not but I know it was in at the begining. Incedentally, I asked a couple of my male friends who are all dedicated tea drinkers and like to have meat regularly if they would choose tea or a bit of extra meat in their diet. They all said they would have the meat. Ok so it was only 5 people, but does everyone really love tea that much, and does something with a limited nutritional value belong in a budget planner like this.

I know this will be a great resource and I really admire what you are doing, but I just thought I'd point out some issues, I'm sure you've considered them before, but I really do feel the shopping lists do at least require a lot of storage space- not a luxury everyone has. I also believe that a family for four for £100 is a lot more doable than a single person for £25.

Finally, I hope at some point I can make a useful contribution to this thread by testing some recipes or whatever, but I'm not a brilliant cook, so we shall see. I also agree that the first planner should be sorted before subsequent ones are attempted, and it should obviously be as healthy and balanced as possible.

Interesting :think:

I am sure Weezl, will welcome you in due course