Weezl and friends Phase 2 -giving it a whirl for Shirl! Testing meal plan for a month

weezl74

FrankieM wrote: »

I made the porridge today.

I'm not a porridge fan but I found it ok.

Eldest DD liked it

Youngest DD didn't so I'm going to have to give her toast every morning.

Youngest DD's friend liked it.

DS is still in bed so I'll let you know

We'll be back on the plan proper tomorrow.

good feedback thanks

Shanks said a similar thing to you frankie, it is a little different to regular porridge so some non-porridge fans may like it.

I'll be interested to know if people feel full up til lunch.

I am quite keen to pursue the idea of a muffin alternative-it feels that there are quite a few non-porridge lovers out there!:D

testers - how would you all describe motivation levels on day 2?

Allegra

weezl74 wrote: »

Allegra I've emailed you the current full spreadsheet in case that helps The questions you are exploring are fab, I think they are making things much clearer for all the testers. If there's a way you can think of that we can make other parts of the enormous spreadsheet more easily viewable by the testers, I'm open to that! We'll keep putting it on the workspace too as it gets updated

:eek: Eeeek ! That is one scary mamma of a spreadsheet ! I know I have said this before, but I don't think I have said it enough - I am truly, truly amazed and grateful by the amount of work you and Lesley have put into this in order to make this possible.

I will have a look over and see if there's any additional info that would help the testers - well, there's tons, but not all I can easily translate into at-a-glance info !

FrankieM

weezl I feel pretty motivated I've got a bit more baking to do and I'm coming to the realisation that it may be a case of doing something each evening as opposed to one big batch cook.
I'll be able to tell better next Monday, I hope.

I think my children are getting used to being told what they are having for breakfast and lunch or at least not minding having a choice of a couple of options.

I'm hoping by the end of the month, this will feel completely normal to them.

Allegra

weezl74 wrote: »

testers - how would you all describe motivation levels on day 2?

More excited than ever :j

hornetgirl

Update after last night's dinner - we were both full enough that we didn't need any snacks during the rest of the evening, just a cup of tea. We may have eaten a small piece of Easter choc, but only because it was there.

I shan't be able to join you for dinner tonight as we're out for MIL's birthday, but will be cheering you on from the sidelines.

Think I've worked out how to do photos now, so here's what the omelette looked like last night. I hope I don't make the thread go all wide - if I do I'll take them off again.

artybear

Morning guys- I am currently waiting for my shopping to arrive.
:eek:
Weezl-Mr artybear does have one of those but hes away till Sunday and I dont have a key to his flat and cant wait till next week to start this as am I working.

Thanks for all the answers to my questions:)

Those piccies look noommmyyy
xxxxxxxx

weezl74

Allegra wrote: »

More excited than ever :j

I'm glad you and frankie feel that way

Frankie if this does start to feel normal, I hope it will lead to good things for future grocery challenges for you all I was reading last night that after rationing finished the majority of people in the uk carried on heating pretty healthy and moderately.

The people who didn't tended to be those who had viewed it as a troublesome hardship inflicted on them. Those people rebelled and ate lots of sugar/fat etc after the war. The ones who fared better were those who took a more pragmatic view and who trusted that the ministry of food had created plans which were healthy and non-wasteful. I wonder if that makes sense? What I'm thinking is that shirley will fare better if she doesn't have a 'victim' mentality. She will need to see that this is a resource which is for her and her family's benefit.

I feel you and Allegra are great examples of this good attitude.

I'm less scared myself too (and no wine required!)

Allegra, finicky point, but you've got 15 serves of porridge and I've got 16, (first and last days and every other day of a 31 day month)

might be worth just tweaking that in case it confuses anyone :A

hornetgirl

A little thought on quantities. Making a half-sized omelette called for 80g onion. None of mine were this weight. The nearest was just over 90g so I just used that. Should I have chopped a bit off and saved it, or does the plan allow for little variances like this?
I know it sounds nitpicky, but would hate for Shirley to get to the last week and have run out of something even though she bought the specified amount.

FrankieM

weezl I completely agree with the points you have made.
I've generally worked on a budget of £60 per week for the 6 of us for everything but I have noticed recently we've started buying lots of 'reduced' items and then extra things we like the look of...the budget has got a bit out of hand.

Hopefully this will get us back on track.

I was wondering if I could keep it this low even after the month is finished, so we'll wait and see.

weezl74

hornetgirl wrote: »

A little thought on quantities. Making a half-sized omelette called for 80g onion. None of mine were this weight. The nearest was just over 90g so I just used that. Should I have chopped a bit off and saved it, or does the plan allow for little variances like this?
I know it sounds nitpicky, but would hate for Shirley to get to the last week and have run out of something even though she bought the specified amount.

Wow HG thanks for the photos your dinner looked loverly

This is a good point about the onion. 80g is the portion size needed to count as a '5 a day' it is quite titchy isn't it?

At the moment, I haven't asked shirl to buy extra to accomodate this, but there are a few recipes which use such a lot of onion that they could take the strain of the omelette IYSWIM? The onion and potato soup for example... Shall I write in the method that the amount can reduce if she's used them up earlier?

xxx