Do I really spend to much on food?

crux

weezl74 wrote: »

crux- I've noticed recently that asda have started doing ingredients which I usually consider a luxury at a much more affordable price point. Tesco have started doing this too. 2 examples would be balsamic vinegar for only £1, and mozarella balls at 49p:money:

perhaps trying to build a meal round the luxury ingredients that are being sold quite cheaply could be a way forward?

Chameleon, I've had debates about nutrition with firefox and I don't agree that she asuumes an 'I'm an authority' stance. I feel she offers her opinions open-handedly and is respectful of others' points of view. Just wanted to add my experience of the debates we've had, to balance things.

*hides head in mild embarrassment and mutters under his breath* I used to spend big, big money on Aged Balsamic Vinegar and top end EV olive oil.

Actually I now use £1 Balsamic form Morrison's, yes there is a difference, but.. I can live with it on my day to day salad :cool:

No trying to win master chef after all :rotfl:

floss2

wssla00 wrote: »

RE the fruit thing... could you not bag it up in smaller bags? You can get little zip lock bags on ebay for about a few pounds which would do one portion of fruit or nuts. That's the way I do it usually. Or I stick them in a teeny tupperware dish.

Maybe your wife could learn to put a clip on the bag so she isn't tempted? Or decant her "ration" into a box or bag as others have suggested - to borrow a phrase, every little helps if she wants to go to South Africa on holiday

cooking-mama

wssla00 wrote: »

Hiya,

It's for two a week. My shopping budget also includes all takeaways (which are minimal), cleaning products and stuff for the cats, but obviously not the meat budget unless they are very lucky lol.

. Again with the chicken curry it's about adding bulk and I would say that lentils are your friend. As is potatoes. I shred the chicken through it or cut into small pieces. I don't have a morissons close enough to me to make a comparison, but certainly from the point of view of the big supermarkets near me, my butcher wins out every time.

I think perhaps I look at it the way Zippy does as I rarely have say a piece of meat and then some veg (i.e. a steak or chops)
With a chicken again I can push that to three meals, perhaps four but again it's about using the meat as an intrinsic part of the meal and not as the meat bit next to the veg bit.

Thanks for this,I think this way of thinking may just be what im needing to do,ive been wanting to reduce our meat intake anyway,im gonna try the lentils in with mince(must admit i only buy lower fat steak mince,but at least theres no waste),ive also been told porridge oats can be used to bulk out mince...anyone tried this?..would i substitute the lentils gm per gm?..Eg if i want 400gm mince,but decide to only use 300gm do i add 100gm lentils?...and ,do i cook the lentils with the mince or seperately then add later?
This has turned into a very interesting topic,and for me anyway much more realistic than "eat for a week on £12 etc"..Im actualy looking forward to trying the mince with lentils...ive also decided to make chilli with less mince and more kidney beans(or maybe il add some baked beans with the kidney ones)..Hhhmm,,,got me thinking now:rotfl:
Is there already a topic on using cheaper substitutes,?

Kimitatsu

I often make chilli without any meat at all, I make up a basic tomato sauce add some extra garlic onions and any veg that are about to go over, then add red kidney beans chick peas and tinned mixed beans, add chilli to taste, season and last of all add a tablespoon of balck treacle - adds womderful depth to the sauce.

In our household they really dont notice that there is no meat in it

Penelope_Penguin

cooking-mama wrote: »

This has turned into a very interesting topic,and for me anyway much more realistic than "eat for a week on £12 etc"..

To be fair, the Eat for £12 thread was set up over 4 years ago We all know that prices have increased markedly since then

Penny. x

ceridwen

I think this thread is fulfilling a useful purpose though - ie for those who wish to save money on their foodbill whilst still eating a HEALTHY diet.

There are many many threads that come up on MSE on the topic of "how cheaply can I eat?" or "I've only got £x for food until payday". On those style of threads health isnt that much of a consideration sometimes.

In the case of O.P. they are trying to cut their grocery bill - whilst still making it high priority to eat healthily. This thread fills a gap that was there on MSE on the "I need to save money on food - but still want to eat healthily (ie GENUINELY healthily)".

(The number of times I hit my head with a "Doh" expression on my face at people saying they are eating healthily - whilst, in actual fact, they are quoting off some distinctly unhealthy foods the next minute are legion....). I've often thought we need a thread entitled "The REALLY healthy cheap eating thread"...so this thread does rather fill that gap.

thriftlady_2

ceridwen wrote: »

I've often thought we need a thread entitled "The REALLY healthy cheap eating thread"...so this thread does rather fill that gap.

I don't know about that, I've lost count of the numbers of times I've listed cheap but healthy food on threads here. I'll do it again:)

All pulses
Basic UK grown veg like carrots and cabbage
Barley
Oats
Ryvitas
Homemade wholemeal bread
Fresh herrings and mackerel
Tinned sardiens and mackerel
Coley, pollack
Chicken livers (even orgsnic are cheap)
Fruit in season
Dried fruit
Eggs
Milk
Cottage cheese, low fat soft cheese(own brand Philly)
Homemade yogurt

Penelope_Penguin

ceridwen wrote: »

(The number of times I hit my head with a "Doh" expression on my face at people saying they are eating healthily - whilst, in actual fact, they are quoting off some distinctly unhealthy foods the next minute are legion....). I've often thought we need a thread entitled "The REALLY healthy cheap eating thread"...so this thread does rather fill that gap.

ceridwen - have you missed weezl's experiment to feed a family for £100/mth on a healthy basis

You really do need to be careful in judging other people's lives - when you're on your uppers, finding enough calories for your family is paramount - healthy eating will have to wait

crux

Well I don't know whats gone before and I'm sure that every topic has been covered more times than I've had pizza for dinner, but I'm enjoying this thread quite a lot and hope I don't judge anyone's chosen lifestyle.

Quick update.

I swapped Lamb and apricot with Chinese beef as I forgot to buy the lamb till this morning

Anyhow with my new found awareness of price labels I ventured into tessco's early doors.

Healthy eating diced lamb that I normally brought in the past = 14.74/kg from memory.

Normal diced lamb = £10/kg but... It was obviously from Shoulder or even belly as it was stuffed full of fat in the meat.

So...

Found a 1/2 leg of lamb, 705 gm's for £5.62.

Went home, de-boned it, took out the tendon and some obvious fat from the outside and diced it.

End result 560gm of meat for £5.65 = near as damn it £10/kg for healthy lean diced lamb.

Froze half of it for next time and chucked the other half in the slow cooker :rotfl:

I checked the frozen section, the half leg of lamb was virtually the same price as fresh :eek:

It may be a small step but I was quite chuffed with myself :rotfl:

zippychick

crux wrote: »

Going to start costing out my meals as well as calorie counting them, I will set up a spread sheet for this as the cost could change depending on how costly the ingredients are. The aim is to balance a week not just calorie and nutritionally wise but cost wise too.

I think it will be a big task but in the end worth it.

When I look at the recipes in my regular cooking arsenal, it is obvious that the ones that are based around, rice, pasta, spud etc, are going to be considerably less expensive than meat based meals. Gives me hope that once we are done with this lower carb diet, that the costs can be reduced further without altering things radically.

I do wish the rest of the family liked Lentils and pulses as they are a much better source of slower carbs, will see if I can start adding them to things as bulk filler.

That's a great idea - costing your meals. I do this all the time and it really is quite amazing! That should help you make morie informed decisions as when you compare with other meals, then you decide if it's worth paying twice the cost just for that piece of *insert expensive meat here*

I made my brother dinner last night and was joking and shouted "That'll be £7.50 please" but he thought I said £1.50 , so he said "is that per person or for all 3 of us" :rotfl:I'm really encouraging him to cost out his meals, so it just tickled me as it seems it's finally sinking in! Incidentally it probably was around that mark for home made potato wedges for 3, and "home made" pizza made from whoopsied ciabatta far from the healthiest I admit, but it was unexpected , and i was feeding two guys so went for filling power!

crux wrote: »

It may be a small step but I was quite chuffed with myself :rotfl:

Baby steps - no rush