Do I really spend to much on food?

hex2

Hi Crux,
If I was you I would decide how much I want to spend and follow the grocery challenge. Agree the things that matter most - for us it was decent coffee, free range eggs, good bread, butchers meat, etc. Our agreement is that I don't economise, I 'better buy' to get better quality ingredients for our money and sometimes that involves compromise on portion sizes and a lot of cooking from scratch. I have pure, solid respect for those who live on nothing (having been brought up that way myself) but until I absolutely have to I will not do it. Don't try and compare yourself to other or judge your budget that way. What is key is what can you afford to spend going forward and within that what matters most to you?

Bets of luck with whatever you decide to do.

bitsandpieces

If you can afford it, I don't see a particular problem. If you need to cut back, though, you could easily look to eat less meat and seafood (eating more veg etc. instead - pulses would also be a good idea if your wife can be persuaded...she eats falafel, so she can't be *that* negative about them ).

Using cheaper meat and seafood would also be easily done - mackerel, sardines, tinned salmon (really good in a salad with capers, actually), gurnard, mussels etc. when you're looking at seafood. With meat, you could look to switch to some cheaper cuts and stretch what you buy out (one chicken can make a roast dinner, plus several meals from leftovers and stock...)

Eggs are a cheap-ish, tasty option, too.

crux

stroppyjock wrote: »

crux, sorry for going off thread abit, but what is the recipe for halloumi and lentil salad? Thanks

Can't post a link, but it's on bbc good food web site, warm puy ;entil cherry tom and halloumi salad

I add baby spinach and use green lentils instead of puy.

250g cherry tomatoes , halved
½ red onion, finely sliced
½ garlic clove , crushed
½ lemon , juiced
1 tbsp olive oil
150g Puy lentils
250g pack halloumi cheese , cut into chunks
a small bunch coriander , roughly chopped

1. Toss the tomatoes, red onion, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil in a bowl. Cook the Puy lentils until just tender, drain and add to the bowl. Season well and toss.
2. Grill the halloumi until golden. Stir the coriander through the lentils and serve with the halloumi.

Per serving

346 kcalories, protein 22.4g, carbohydrate 21.9g, fat 19.4 g, saturated fat 9.7g, fibre 4.2g, salt 2.32 g

serves 4

~Chameleon~

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I am a qualified personal trainer, currently in the middle of a degree in my subject.

A well as a qualified pharmacy assistant and a qualified nutritionist and whatever else you also hold degrees in? Is there no limit to your qualifications sand expertise? :rotfl:

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I find clients on a low carb diet cannot work at as high intensities as the same person on a more balanced diet is able to and I am far from the only instructor to report this.

But according to you you're unemployed!

~Chameleon~

Love your menu Crux, just the sort of food I love to eat although I do eat a slightly higher amount of carbs. I aim to have carbs with two meals, usually breakfast & lunch and then a carb free dinner where possible.

The only advice I can offer is to shop around and bulk buy & freeze when special offers are on. Use mysupermarket.co.uk for price comparisons.

Fire_Fox

crux wrote: »

Wifey wants to lose 10 stubborn pounds and her dodgy thyroid makes it difficult. She wants to eat reduced carbs for a while. Personally I think she is fine but what the woman wants and all that... :P

I don't mind a lower carb diet for a month or two, it does not overly affect me, I lose a bit of bady fat and even though I don;t need to lose weight, less fat when your pushing 40 is not often a bad thing :rotfl:

As long as I eat before and after, I don't bonk and the only thing effected is a bit of endurance/stamina but it's marginal.

I love pulses but wifey hates them :mad:

This week we will have had, Salmon, Tuna, Mackerel.. that's enough oily fish for me

Having been a bit defensive I want to say I do appreciate your post, diet is always an evolving thing for us, and I do/will take into account what you say for future decisions.

The human body finds it far easier to convert animal fat to human fat than it does to convert carbs to human fat, and finds it a lot easier to convert carbs to glycogen than it does to convert animal fat/ protein to glycogen. :mad: If you wish to lose bodyfat you should perhaps review the amount of red meat and full fat cheese you are eating? Even if you replaced some of that with pulses in your diet you would save money, replacing some of that with low fat dairy in your wife's diet would increase her calcium intake.

Two nutrients have been particularly implicated in fat loss, especially in the abdominal region: omega-3 EFAs and calcium especially that from dairy products. :cool: Sorry but tinned tuna does not count as oily fish - something to do with the processing (IIRC it is cooked then canned). Magnesium deficiency and changes in calcium levels have been linked to hypothyroidism. Magnesium is deficient in modern soil as it is, sources include: beans and lentils, some nuts and seeds and wholegrains. Given that nuts tend to eaten in moderation, your wife is not a fan of pulses AND is limiting carbs, she may find that she is sabotaging her own goals.

If you wish to lose bodyfat then you might also look at replacing the dried fruit with lower GI/ GL vegetables, as higher intakes of fructose (fruit sugar) has been implicated in weight gain, especially in the abdominal area. Vegetables (esp. frozen) are far cheaper per portion than either salad or fresh fruit so where you get than seven to nine portions will make a huge difference to that budget.

At the end of the day it is up to you, if you start looking at the price per kilo of different fruits and vegetables and at different sources of protein maybe what we are saying will seem clearer. A healthy and delicious stir fry or curry can be made quite cheaply, depending which vegetables you use. It is the texture of the veg and the flavour of the sauce which makes the meal ... and it sounds like you have the skills to make that happen.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Can you adopt me? Your cooking sounds lovely!

Notwithstanding, a lot of 'fresh' fish has been frozen on the ship to keep it fresh before it is defrosted for the supermarket. Mackerel, sardines and the like are very cheap and yummy (especially with tomato based sauces). Prawns and crab will have been prefrozen. Perhaps try some of the less well known/marketed fishes - Gurnard, Ling, Coley, even trout is close to salmon but about £1 cheaper per kilo.

Meat (other than pork - but try a Polish deli for cheaper versions of parma - or Lidl for Blackforest ham - or sausages that contain meat rather than fatty junk) is usually much cheaper and better quality in the ethnic food places. I get shoulder of lamb for £4 rather than £12 in my Turkish Food shop. Feta is cheaper too (and keeps longer in tubs of brine), as well as Halloumi, olive oil and pasta. Even tomatoes and cucumbers are cheaper than the supermarkets (and taste of what they are, rather than of water or nothingness)

You seem to eat a lot of Greek food - if you enjoy it, perhaps you could look at the food Cypriots, for example, use on fast days - lots of pulses, vegetables and legumes and again, very healthy as it is usually vegan. Yalaji/Dolmades is lovely as a snack and you can keep vine leaves in the freezer if you want to make them from scratch.

ETA: Oooh, and if you don't already, you could try adding a sprinkle of cinnamon into your savoury dishes - it's lovely and is supposed to help with maintaining blood sugar levels.

nuttybabe

Hiya

Like everyone else i think your menu looks amazing! If you still want to eat like that, why dont you do 3 days eating that sort of thing and 4 days eating more budget food!

I cook a huge bolognaise in my slowcooker with a small amount of mince, grated carrot, tinned toms, sweetcorn, lentils and oats (and whatever else i have to hand to throw in), garlic, herbs and sometimes a jar of basic sauce and then freeze in meals what is left so its usually 4 meals for me and 3 kids (dh wont eat mince). same with cottage pie. As bitsandpieces said you can roast a chicken then use the leftovers for sandwiches, salads, pasta dishes, sweet & sour dishes, stirfry, curry and my kids fav at the moment is chicken pieces in HM bbq sauce. I currently have a huge chicken in freezer which will do a roast, sweet & sour chicken, chicken in bbq sauce, chicken and bacon pasta and hopefully some sandwiches for lunch. And boiling the bones for homemade soup which is nice with homemade bread. cheap and filling depending on what you use.

oh yeah and i dont like lentils or pulses but you cant taste it in bolognaise or cottage pie!!!!!!!!!!

One more thing, look for offers on veg and plan around it. aldi and lidl do good offers. i still have loads of cabbage that i froze from lidl when it was on offer, i have frozen onions as well as a fridge full of onions to make onion chutney! Carrots, if you think you can, go for horse carrots!!! i am going to try them after we eat our way through the frozen ones (again on offer somewhere!!).

crux

zippychick thanks! lots of good links and solid ideas.

is76 small town only 2 supper markets, but i will keep receipts and check the market prices for veg & fruit

hex2 wrote: »

Hi Crux,
If I was you I would decide how much I want to spend and follow the grocery challenge. Agree the things that matter most - for us it was decent coffee, free range eggs, good bread, butchers meat, etc. Our agreement is that I don't economise, I 'better buy' to get better quality ingredients for our money and sometimes that involves compromise on portion sizes and a lot of cooking from scratch. I have pure, solid respect for those who live on nothing (having been brought up that way myself) but until I absolutely have to I will not do it. Don't try and compare yourself to other or judge your budget that way. What is key is what can you afford to spend going forward and within that what matters most to you?

Bets of luck with whatever you decide to do.

Your post makes a lot of sense, I agree.

bitsandpieces wrote: »

If you can afford it, I don't see a particular problem. If you need to cut back, though, you could easily look to eat less meat and seafood (eating more veg etc. instead - pulses would also be a good idea if your wife can be persuaded...she eats falafel, so she can't be *that* negative about them ).

Using cheaper meat and seafood would also be easily done - mackerel, sardines, tinned salmon (really good in a salad with capers, actually), gurnard, mussels etc. when you're looking at seafood. With meat, you could look to switch to some cheaper cuts and stretch what you buy out (one chicken can make a roast dinner, plus several meals from leftovers and stock...)

Eggs are a cheap-ish, tasty option, too.

Are veggies or meat the more expensive? Things I need to find out


Sorry if i missed anyone, it is impossible to reply to everything, although I am reading every post and thank you all for contributing.

crux

Fire_Fox wrote: »

The human body finds it far easier to convert animal fat to human fat than it does to convert carbs to human fat, and finds it a lot easier to convert carbs to glycogen than it does to convert animal fat/ protein to glycogen. :mad: If you wish to lose bodyfat you should perhaps review the amount of red meat and full fat cheese you are eating? Even if you replaced some of that with pulses in your diet you would save money, replacing some of that with low fat dairy in your wife's diet would increase her calcium intake.

Two nutrients have been particularly implicated in fat loss, especially in the abdominal region: omega-3 EFAs and calcium especially that from dairy products. :cool: Sorry but tinned tuna does not count as oily fish - something to do with the processing (IIRC it is cooked then canned). Magnesium deficiency and changes in calcium levels have been linked to hypothyroidism. Magnesium is deficient in modern soil as it is, sources include: beans and lentils, some nuts and seeds and wholegrains. Given that nuts tend to eaten in moderation, your wife is not a fan of pulses AND is limiting carbs, she may find that she is sabotaging her own goals.

If you wish to lose bodyfat then you might also look at replacing the dried fruit with lower GI/ GL vegetables, as higher intakes of fructose (fruit sugar) has been implicated in weight gain, especially in the abdominal area. Vegetables (esp. frozen) are far cheaper per portion than either salad or fresh fruit so where you get than seven to nine portions will make a huge difference to that budget.

At the end of the day it is up to you, if you start looking at the price per kilo of different fruits and vegetables and at different sources of protein maybe what we are saying will seem clearer. A healthy and delicious stir fry or curry can be made quite cheaply, depending which vegetables you use. It is the texture of the veg and the flavour of the sauce which makes the meal ... and it sounds like you have the skills to make that happen.

Ok, personally the point of the low carb diet is not in the nutritional efficiency or the fat burning/storing properties but rather that I find it harder to get enough calories inside me during a day (no added calories form spuds or rice or bread) and therefore I lose fat as a rule.

At the end of the day a calorie is a calorie, use more than you eat and most people lose something.

Please let me assure you again, I ain't looking to lose weight or fat, I'm just cooking one diet that my wife wants to try so I don't have even more work in the kitchen during the good weather.

If I get a carb craving I will eat carbs without guilt or hesitation.

But let's not argue about which diet is best, I fully agree that whole foods, veg and complex carbs cut out the processed stuff and less red meat are the best way for a healthy lifestyle.

Remember your only seeing one week out of my eating habits.

Canned tuna not oily? well I never knew that and will admit it.

I will focus on prices of veg, protein etc and try and get a better idea of which cuts are better value and I expect that next week will be a little less meat :A