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

Sian_the_Green

weezl74 wrote: »

or she may decide she's a £105 a month person because of the tea. And that's ok too

A family I know where they are careful with money, as Mum has chosen to stay at home with the 4 children, each of the adults have an 'allowance' of £20 a month. I guess B+S could do something similar. So if they have a chocolate obsession they would buy that with their £5, or it could be tea, or mangos.... Doesn't mean you need to change the plan for those things, just that if people have something like that they can add it in, knowing it isn't an 'essential' and so wouldn't be in the plan!
At work we have a kitty that is £1 a week for tea and coffee and I would find it very very hard not to be part of that, tea and coffee in our office is a bit of a social thing. I wouldn't include for that in a planner and if I was really cutting costs I would get rid

I do hope you take time to sit back and recognise how well you have done! I mean look how many pages of content there are!

Please don't worry too much!

aless02

hiya weezl - I didn't miss the call for Recipecaling the bean curry a few days back. I'll try and go back to see if other recipes need it, but no guarantees as feeling a bit like death warmed over today .

I agree with what everyone else said...don't be so hard on yourself - you've done amazing, especially considering it's a project of LOVE in your SPARE TIME.

oldMcDonald

FrankieM wrote: »

weezl About the scrutiny on 'cheap' meal plans. I can remember Black Saturn posting her very low budget meal plan and being lambasted about the lack of fruit and veg and goodness knows what.
I wonder if we baulk against the idea, that in reality, we could spend alot less on food and it still be just as healthy or even perhaps more so, than someone who spends £500.

I remember that - it became quite an ugly thread.

In fairness, there was a lack of fruit and veg in her plan, but she said she and her children got bad tummies from F&V. It was a plan that worked for her.

FrankieM

weezl Just a quick thought on the sweet snacks v savoury snacks.

For my family, my children would happily eat more sweet snacks. Its my DH who is more savoury, so I would be inclined to just give him more of those type. Also I know that perhaps some of the cakes certain of my children would prefer than others, so I would give them their preference.
The same with the breakfasts, I think.

Does that make sense?

Sian_the_Green

For some reason I can't get the quote thing to work..

When you say there are people telling you to give up, what are they asking you to give up? The whole idea? The budget? The sweet snacks? Surely not the whole thing? I think that would be ridiculous and I don't think anyone who has read this thread from the start and who can see your good heart would say that. So if I'm Bob and Shirley and I need to cut back and I need to save my family all this money and I read your planner and think, ooh, that sounds good, but my family HAVE to have some cheese every day or they die (well, not really but they like it that much) I would adapt for my family, it is not a fault of the planner at all. I mean, just because people feel that certain things are now essential doesn't mean that they are.

If people find it hard to accept that it is 'healthy' because their definition is a little awry, perhaps it needs a different term in the planner, or people need to read what you count as healthy at the beginning. I can't see that anyone should have a problem. I have been talking to a friend of mine about you and last night she expressed complete incredulity that someone would say your planner was unhealthy!

You're fab!

ceridwen

weezl74 wrote: »

About white sugar having no nutritional value, I disagree. And I am happy to explain why and why I believe the planner is still healthy if anyone would like me to.

Then perhaps it would be good if you explain further re white sugar then...:) and it would be useful if you could give links to the websites/books that the information came from..

(ooh...gets headaches myself reading this conflicting nutritional info. Just been reading a website about how some peoples have managed to remain perfectly healthy and scurvy-free with no Vitamin C from fruit/veg at all - ie the Eskimos. Went off wondering whether a high-meat diet might actually be a very healthy one then - but Governments are hiding that fact because there are too many people on the planet for everyone to eat that way - all that land required for animals........). The more I read - the more I wonder if we are being persuaded to accept lower-grade food to cover the fact that there are now too many people for everyone to eat a high-grade diet.........
(whoops...sorrees...could be said to be "politics"....)

FrankieM

I completely agree with what sian said.

Who are these people saying these things to you and why can't they post their queries etc on the thread rather than giving, you personally, such a hard time, which is how it seems?

weezl74

ceridwen wrote: »

Then perhaps it would be good if you explain further re white sugar then...:) and it would be useful if you could give links to the websites/books that the information came from..

yes I will, of course I want people to be reassured.

I will only be able to spend 2 hours writing my essay on sugar tough , and so it won't be my full justification, or exhausively referenced and cited. I'm sorry about that.

If I agree to do this, will that be able to please be the point at which we can all agree to differ and I can carry on putting the planner together?

I'd love it if we could come to some kind of compromise so I don't have to give up. (since others don't want me to give up.) Would that be ok, or is there another compromise you can think of, I'm genuinely open to suggestions.

I'm genuinely trying to do the greatest good for the greatest number. That's all that's in my heart here.

I'll wait to hear if you think that's the best compromise before spending the time writing it all out. I hope that's ok:)

oldMcDonald

Sian_the_Green wrote: »

For some reason I can't get the quote thing to work..

When you say there are people telling you to give up, what are they asking you to give up? The whole idea? The budget? The sweet snacks? Surely not the whole thing? I think that would be ridiculous and I don't think anyone who has read this thread from the start and who can see your good heart would say that. So if I'm Bob and Shirley and I need to cut back and I need to save my family all this money and I read your planner and think, ooh, that sounds good, but my family HAVE to have some cheese every day or they die (well, not really but they like it that much) I would adapt for my family, it is not a fault of the planner at all. I mean, just because people feel that certain things are now essential doesn't mean that they are.

If people find it hard to accept that it is 'healthy' because their definition is a little awry, perhaps it needs a different term in the planner, or people need to read what you count as healthy at the beginning. I can't see that anyone should have a problem. I have been talking to a friend of mine about you and last night she expressed complete incredulity that someone would say your planner was unhealthy!

You're fab!

Great post, Sian The Green:T

I'm hoping that this plan is going to be the backbone for our meal plan. There may be some meals that we wouldn't eat, and on those days I would probably play around a bit with the main ingredients in B&S meal plan and see what I would come up with. I also have one or two non negotiables that I would add to the plan (TEA!!!).

The idea behind this is amazing - a plan that people could follow for £100 a month that is quite probably more nutritionally balanced than the diet they have beforehand. They can then stick to it, tweek it, or add in a few non negotiables and still be shaving a large amount off of their food bill.

This is a great thread and the amount of work that people are putting in is amazing - well done all of you and a huge thanks from me.

grandma247

Ceredwin I have made oat flour many times by putting it in the food processor. A coffee grinder should make it even finer.
Also you could use chickpea flour instead of soya, I think it is still safe.
Sorry I am a bit quiet at the moment I have a chesty cold so not doing much but I am reading.