As The Workhouse Approaches....How To Do Everything To Avoid It, the Old Style Way

redlady_1

Share the Kale??? I will be pinning her down and force feeding her the stuff!!!

I am back in the pub at the end of the week so that will mean extra cash. They have put me down for a Sat evening but at least I should get some decent tips and I get a full shift in . I had lost focus on repaying a few bits and my aim is to have repaid everyone by the end of the year.

Plus I will be hitting the gym with some vigor once the exams are finished. I cant believe I have put two stone on since being single! But then, I was a gym bunny and since being on my own I havent been able to afford to go until recently. Still, thats not much of an excuse as I could have go for a run instead.

Broomstick

I'm in the middle of a job reorganising the kitchen. The fridge has been looking exemplary for weeks :T, I'm running the freezer contents down ready to defrost so now I'm tackling the cupboards and putting all the dried stuff into jars.

It's been making me realise that, when I meal plan, I subconsciously start with what protein foods I have available and then look at how I can use them given the veg we have had delivered (we get a box). We eat veggie with occasional fish. There's no protein foods left in the freezer now. The stuff in the fridge is easy to find but the store cupboards have been all over the place because I'd been sorting the food out in terms of packaging: tins with tins, all the dried pulses together, dried soya somewhere else, dried milk with the drinks etc.

Yesterday, I disregarded the packaging and gave a section of the cupboards over to protein: dried peas and beans, dried lentils, dried soya mince and chunks, tinned puy lentils, tinned chick peas, tinned baked beans and tinned fish, emergency dried milk powder, (we are nut-free but, if we weren't, nuts should go in this section too) and, when I restock, soya flour and soya milk will go there as well. Obviously, a meat-eater would put any of their tinned meat products there too.

Having done this it makes it really easy to see what we have as the starting point for meals and is a reminder that I actually had more very cheap options in the house (eg baked beans) for things like the protein content of shepherd's pie or that soya flour in pastry could up the protein there as well.

Protein is usually the most expensive bit of a meal and I think this is another way to look at how to get the prices down overall. I know that people don't need to eat that much protein but when you have growing children, as I do (older teenagers and very active) you can't cut corners too much here although you can find cheaper ways of eating eg veggie.

B x

mama67

redlady_1 wrote: »

OK...I can report I shall now be buying all my meat from Waitrose because it is bloody lovely!!!! I dont care if I can only have meat once a month there really is a difference.

Unless of course I go home to mummy and I hit her local butcher who does the yummiest Lincs sausages :D

which butcher is that Redlady ?

Charis

Broomstick wrote: »

Protein is usually the most expensive bit of a meal and I think this is another way to look at how to get the prices down overall. I know that people don't need to eat that much protein but when you have growing children, as I do (older teenagers and very active) you can't cut corners too much here although you can find cheaper ways of eating eg veggie.

I have unstable blood sugar, so should eat protein at every meal. Attempts to calculate how much are worse than learning calculus, which would prevent me ever becoming a total vegetarian. An example, from http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/nutrition/a/protein.htm is:

Our protein needs depend on our age, size, and activity level. The standard method used by nutritionists to estimate our minimum daily protein requirement is to multiply the body weight in kilograms by .8, or weight in pounds by .37. This is the number of grams of protein that should be the daily minimum. According to this method, a person weighing 150 lbs. should eat 55 grams of protein per day, a 200-pound person should get 74 grams, and a 250-pound person should eat 92 grams.

Sounds easy enough, until you realise that food varies as to what percentage of its weight is protein. For example,

Chicken Breast

Chicken breast is a staple of bodybuilding building diets because it’s considered very high in protein. Here’s what a 50 gram serving of chicken breast looks like from a protein perspective:

Fat: 0.6 grams
Carbohydrates: 0 grams
Protein: 11.5 grams

So someone weighing 10stone 10lbs should eat 55grams, or almost five chicken breasts a day...? And this is the daily minimum. I shudder to think how many beans would make the equivalent of five chicken breasts. Has someone written software that can calculate all this for us?

Reverbe

funkystarfish wrote: »

Yea its not really a pound a day because it excludes her rent. She talks about a landlady in the book so i think all her bills are included in the rent too.

I could never manage it because i've got a 30 mile trip into newcastle for work each day, she was very lucky to be able to cycle or walk around bristol. you gotta be brave to hitch hike!

Since i've read it i have looked for free events and found a couple but not with free food unfortunatly!

is that the Kath kelly? have been trying to get hold of that for years..

saveabobortwo

Thankyou Rainbow i bare that in mind i dont want to make noone ill with my fish cooking because i am going sea fishing to catch some Mackeral soon so thanks for the tip. Im glad iv made you laugh Jackie i do like to do that all the people on here have got so many things to sort out daily i think they really need some fun/ humour and a giggle i get that from my mum when the chips were down she would crack a joke or make you laugh i remember trying to lift a bed down the stairs with her well we re both only short ladies so had both taken on this mighty task only to get the bloody thing jammed completely stuck on the narrow landing she kept saying LIFT LIFT and the more she said it the more i laughed and the weaker i became we were just laughing in a heap in the end we did manage eventually to get it down the stairs but it was a bit scratched up.Well today after using my homemade face pack i have now 5 large spots all over my face . :rotfl:mmm very attractive. today im going to make a chicken stew to put in the freezer and cook 1 gammon steak got for 39p whoopsies. having decided to have another treat im not the Bionic women and i feel i have juggled and sorted out a multitude of problems and concerns lately everybody needs enjoyments how ever small they are even if its a cup of tea and put your feet up so im going to climb up in the loft and get me little Rockie tent out and over the next couple of weeks probably go Spontaneous camping :rotfl:which basicly means go outside the front door and dont forget your packed lunch someone says north east southor west then you just head that way and go on an exploration road trip:rotfl:i feel i have to have a break sometimes from all the sorting out it does you GOOD.Have you ladies decided what to put in your pie? yet i hope what ever you choose turns out tasty. Hope you all have a super day i dont know who you all are but i think Your all great:rotfl:now for some coverup makeup me thinks:T

thriftymoo

Reverbe wrote: »

is that the Kath kelly? have been trying to get hold of that for years..

yep thats her! took me ages to find it too! finally got it from amazon.

saveabobortwo

we ve decided for everything we sort or difficulty we overcome we have a non expensive or minute low cost treat picnic , sweetie , nice walk in woods visit seaside something nice to conteract the horrible thing you know like ying and yang otherwise you will get !!!!ed off i should know because i have so think about what to do nice for yourself if your overcoming a difficul:rotfl::)ty because we re worth it:T yes we jolly well are there now that has typed that:rotfl:

redlady_1

mama67 wrote: »

which butcher is that Redlady ?

Jacksons in Holbeach for the meat and also trusty Tommy Laws for the sausages. Can't beat those sausages anywhere!

Primrose

Have just come across a wonderfully cheap Neapolitan recipe which uses pork scratchings (yes !) as a substitute for pork, and it tastes unexpectedly good. You wouldn't realise it didn't necessarily contain any meat.

Fry some chopped onion,garlic & chilli in olive oil until soft. Add the pork scratching, breaking up any large pieces (or you could use pancetta or chopped bacon). Add fresh or canned tomatoes. Break them down & simmer until the pork scratchings are soft. Serve with pasta & some sprinkled grated cheese.