Gingernutbizkit's quest to find a menu plan that eases her conscience!!

gingernutbizkit

Hi all,

Just ordered a weekly f+v box from a local grower. Decided to go with the fmaily size box to start with although will need to upgrade if it works for us. It's going to cost £12.50pw which seemed a lot cheaper than riverford or abel and cole but I guess that will depend on how much is in it.

As I'm likely to be getting different produce from different places I'm going to write a budget based on this now. I think initially I will work on my maximum of £300pcm and then reduce down if possible when I get used to it.

ging x

Valli

gingernutbizkit wrote: »

Valli - thanks for the tip about Lidl. Have one frame but coulddo with another. Are they the low ones you can put over the beds?


Catch you later, ging x

re the cold frame I was thinking it could be used either over a bed or with grow bags in. It is possible to vent it with two adjustable lift-up panes which work independantly. Metal frame and double wwalled polycarbonate - looks good value TBH

rice pud my two teens will eat half that each - it SHOULD serve four - maybe double it? I also grease the dish BTW and you should rinse the rice in cold water first. It's the Dairy Book's home recipe...

liz545

gingernutbizkit wrote: »

thanks, I had wondered about using cups instead of scales. If you don't mind me asking, where did you get the measurements for the portion sizes?

I think it was just off the back of the packet It says allow 75g-100g per person, and I've just weighed my half cup measure and it's exactly 75g, so that seems perfect. Same with pasta - the packet says allow 100g, which is equivalent to 1 cup. Couscous I did by trial and error - 1/4 cup is about 40g, which works for me.
The other nifty thing about measuring rice by volume is you can then work out how much water you need - 1 part rice to 3 parts water, works every time. You can get measuring cups like this for £2.95 in Sainsburys, so if it makes it easier you can decant your rice into a tupperware/lock & lock and leave them in the tub to act as a measuring scoop.

gingernutbizkit

liz545 wrote: »

I think it was just off the back of the packet It says allow 75g-100g per person, and I've just weighed my half cup measure and it's exactly 75g, so that seems perfect. Same with pasta - the packet says allow 100g, which is equivalent to 1 cup. Couscous I did by trial and error - 1/4 cup is about 40g, which works for me.
The other nifty thing about measuring rice by volume is you can then work out how much water you need - 1 part rice to 3 parts water, works every time. You can get measuring cups like this for £2.95 in Sainsburys, so if it makes it easier you can decant your rice into a tupperware/lock & lock and leave them in the tub to act as a measuring scoop.

Thanks for this. I already keep storecupboard stuff in tuperware boxes so this approach makes sense for me. At present I'm just trying to get my head around the difference bewteen portion sizes and serving sizes and theere's alot of conflicting info out there :mad:. These are my findings so far but please do comment on them.....

Starchy Foods = 6-11 portions per day
Examples of portions:
Bread = 1 slice
Rice/pasta/grains = 3 dessertspoons cooked
Fruit and Veg = 5+ portions per day
Exaples of Portions:
Fruit = 80g
Veg = 80g
dried fruit = 80g
Dairy = 3 portions per day
Examples of Portions:
Cheese = 1oz
Yoghurt = one small
Milk = 1/3 pint
Protein = 2 portions per day
Examples of Portions:
Eggs = 2 (max 7 per week)
lean meat or poultry = 2oz
Fish 3oz

Limit fats (esp saturated), salt, sugars

I don't plan to get too hung up on this just to ensure that we are following the general principles and getting a good balance.

Ging x

gingernutbizkit

Late decision to go to the caravan and boat show tomorrow so I've been baking ready so we don't have to buy any food there. Bread and muffins done. Realised that I am probably going to have to find a different recipe for muffins as they use a lot of ingredients, including a lot of milk which will be quite expensive if I'm buying organic. There's probably a lot of my recipes that I'm going to have to rethink.

Made 14, 12 left now so going to wrap them before anymore mysteriously vanish :rotfl:.

Ging x

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

When the organic/local veg is still fresh a week after the supermarket stuff is furry or oozing, you will realise that the additional cost of organic milk is mere pennies. As a Riverford head of broccoli (if you slice the base off and stick it in a jug of water in the fridge like flowers in a florist) is still fresh as fresh over 9 days after delivery, the cost of not throwing that one away covers the rise in cost of milk for the week.

Anyway, if the boys had to follow the 'eat it or go hungry' rule, why on earth doesn't Mrs Ging? Hardly seems fair that they have one rule and she is exempt from participating.

Other nations don't see animal product as the focus of the meal, but as a 'flourish' or garnish, almost. Some Japanese people regularly eat 12 - 15 small portions of plant based foodstuffs every day.

Investing in a mandolin for slicing things so finely adult women can't see vegetables is also very useful. It works for men who think that you only eat the flowery bit of broccoli too, and you can easily get fennel, kohl rabi, celery, carrot, onion, garlic, courgette, broccoli, red chilli and the usual suspects (tomato, tom puree, sweetcorn, peas) into a tomato sauce without anyone noticing you seem to have forgotten the mince!

gingernutbizkit

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

When the organic/local veg is still fresh a week after the supermarket stuff is furry or oozing, you will realise that the additional cost of organic milk is mere pennies. As a Riverford head of broccoli (if you slice the base off and stick it in a jug of water in the fridge like flowers in a florist) is still fresh as fresh over 9 days after delivery, the cost of not throwing that one away covers the rise in cost of milk for the week.

Great tip about the broccoli.. hadn't heard this before so thanks x

Anyway, if the boys had to follow the 'eat it or go hungry' rule, why on earth doesn't Mrs Ging? Hardly seems fair that they have one rule and she is exempt from participating.

I guess the difference is that the boys were wanting to continue with a very unhealthy diet and as their responsible adult it was my job to make a decision for them that they were not old enough to make. If they had resisted this for longer than one meal then we would have rethought it. Mrs Ging on the other hand is an adult capable of making her own choices. I believe in equality in our relationship and therefore we make our decisions together. I have no doubt that there are a lot of my 'ways' that bug her. Also, I find the fact that I can serve her king prawns but have to cut them up small so they don't taste too fishy really endearing

Other nations don't see animal product as the focus of the meal, but as a 'flourish' or garnish, almost. Some Japanese people regularly eat 12 - 15 small portions of plant based foodstuffs every day.

True and having been veggie for a while I find this less daunting then someone who was bought up on a meat and two veg diet.

Thanks for posting though,
Ging x

Fire_Fox

gingernutbizkit wrote: »

Hi all,

Just checked out http://www.eatatease.com/foodgroups1.html which gives some details about portion sizes and the number of portions of each food group that should be eaten in a day/week. I thought some might find it interesting as it's much clearer than some of the stuff I've been reading. Would love to know your views esp from you Firefox.
Ging x

That link looks in line with current UK guidelines, other than there is no mention of oily fish which has numerous health benefits. Although I agree with JoJotheTightfisted regarding animal products not being the 'main attraction', protein is a key nutrient for growth and weight management. Spare amino acids (building blocks of protein) cannot be stored in the body so these must be included at each meal. Are the children happy to eat pulses?

If money is part of the equation (we are on MSE!), then you might consider only having butter and cheese as organic but milk and yoghurt not as it's the fat where the nutritional differences lie. IMO this would be better than removing dairy from recipes. You will still be making a major contribution to animal welfare by limiting meat and including some organic dairy. Eggs do not need to be limited for children and can be a good source of essential omega-3 if you choose enriched eggs or those from seed fed hens.

gingernutbizkit wrote: »

Thanks for this. I already keep storecupboard stuff in tuperware boxes so this approach makes sense for me. At present I'm just trying to get my head around the difference bewteen portion sizes and serving sizes and theere's alot of conflicting info out there :mad:. These are my findings so far but please do comment on them.....

I don't plan to get too hung up on this just to ensure that we are following the general principles and getting a good balance.

Ging x

This sounds pretty much spot on, other than to say that as many carbohydrates/ starchy foods as possible should be wholegrain as these are an important source of minerals. You do not need to limit the fat naturally found in dairy products, nuts and eggs for young children unless they are overweight, but aim to remove all trans (hydrogenated) fats from the diet of both adults and children.

Part of the reason number of portions differ is that many websites are aimed at dieters rather than healthy eating. There is also a variation depending upon how much exercise each person does, this should be a minimum of one hour per day at moderate intensity for children and half an hour five times a week at moderate intensity for adults. :j

mumto1_2

gingernutbizkit wrote: »

Hi all,

Just ordered a weekly f+v box from a local grower. Decided to go with the fmaily size box to start with although will need to upgrade if it works for us. It's going to cost £12.50pw which seemed a lot cheaper than riverford or abel and cole but I guess that will depend on how much is in it.

As I'm likely to be getting different produce from different places I'm going to write a budget based on this now. I think initially I will work on my maximum of £300pcm and then reduce down if possible when I get used to it.

ging x

The Riverford box which is closest in price (no fruit) is the seasons box, the one I usually get. It doesn't have potatoes, but the boxes that do have about 1KG. (Carrots are usually 1.2KG), we got 5 leeks, 5 beetroot, 4 onions, 4 large parsnips, a punnet of mushrooms, enough french beans for 4/5 servings, enough brocolli - 2 crowns for 4 x 2 meals - and potatoes this week. The fruit box had: 5 bananas, 4 oranges, 7 apples, a punnet of green grapes, and 6 pears.
The boxes are always full - and we got a bonus punnet of tomatoes this week. There's a freebie once in a while, could be fruit/veg/berries/a bunch of herbs - usually if there's a glut.

This will do us for at least a week, usually 9-10 days, with a few frozen veg like peas and corn.

The large box has the same quantity of veg, just more variety - 14 kinds. If we are having peeps over for dinner i will get that one.

The pears will actually ripen unlike the cheapie ones I got from tesco a month a go, the never did ripen and I ended up cooking them to use up. Still had no flavour!

JayJay14

Mumto1 - thanks for that info, I've just ordered that box to be delivered Thursday.

I've never had anything like this before and these companies haven't delivered here. I just went on the website and when I put in the postcode they came up trumps. It's an experiment so it's nice to know what to expect.