Feed a family of four for £20 a week challenge

RAS

Feral_Moon wrote: »

I'm not criticising the ideas, they're are some very good ones in the thread. But BB just needs to keep it real regarding portion sizes and costings. Feeding a grown adult a portion fit for a toddler and producing 20 meals for less than £5 is hardly realistic.

You are criticising BB directly. You do not know her exact circumstances and are not in a position to see what she is actually doing IRL.

This discusses portion sizes to maintain weight https://www.bupa.co.uk/health-information/Directory/P/portion-size

Bear in mind that this thread started three years ago, so some costs will have increased (some dramatically).

And that some families eat smaller portions and remain fit on that; not everyone is 6 foot or expends a lot of energy. And between YS deals and HG veggies, a lot of costs can be stripped out.

When i was younger our family of four ate chicken roast on Sunday (thigh or drumstick and wing each plus a little breast meat), cold with baked potato and salad Monday - one breast. Curry, fricasse with rice or italian based on Tuesday with loads of veggies and any left-over gravy. Noodles were a bit unusual then.

Carcasse roughly stripped and boiled for stock, with any remnants of meat picked off to make soup for Wednesday.

Roast were stretched with potatoes, stuffing, veggies and Yorkshire puds.

One member used to stay elsewhere occasionally, where they ate half a chicken each at one sitting. The rest of us were appalled.

FairyPrincessk

Just chiming in to say that ButterflyBrain I think your meal planning skills are excellent. We don't make every single one of them, nor do we do things the exact way that you do, but I get lots of inspiration from you, and I knew straight away which packs of noodles you were referring to and YES, that portion would be appropriate. We'd probably consider that a lighter meal but we have higher than normal calorie needs which I always take into consideration when reading people's posts. You know what I do with posts that won't work for me and mine? I hope they'll help someone else! Your always one of the people who chimes in when someone is struggling and you offer practical suggestions for how to cope with often very difficult situations. I aspire to be as skilled as you are at working what what is in my hand!

For the record, when we eat a roast chicken I always buy the small size. We eat one of the breasts, split in slices between the two of us and usually with some left on the carcass. The rest of the meal consists of veg and potatoes/carbs. We always leave the table sated. The rest of the chicken is usually split between 4 and 6 adult portions, none of which leave us hungry.

Upsidedown_Bear

Butterfly Brain, from someone else who reads and appreciates all the time and effort you put into this thread (and others).

Lindlou

Butterfly Brain. Please keep the ideas and your recipes coming. I have tried a few and found them lovely. I really missed your posts when you were unwell a while back and I'm glad you're back here. Ideas and suggestions are just that - ideas and suggestions! Some you use, some you dont. I admire your resourcefulness, I really do.

Caterina

BB I love this thread even if I just lurk, but I had to come out of lurkdom to tell you that you are doing brilliantly and helping a lot of people.

Please don't lose heart, there will always be the odd criticiser, online! Just do what it feels right for you and your family. Thank you for your lovely contribution. (((hugs))) xx

ejbg2001

Hi all, just de-lurking for a quick comment. I once thought like Feral Moon did about some food amounts until 2 things changed my buying and cooking habits. First was OH developing T2 diabetes. This meant all of my meal padding out by using potatoes, pastry, bread, cakes and biscuits and rice and pasta went out of the window. Second was us deciding to go on the 5:2 intermittant fasting diet. It widened my eyes to the amount of meat we should eat and the amount of veggies to equal the calories of meat.

Since then I have started using the pre-cooked noodles in lesser amounts. I use 1 portion for 2 adults which is about 100 cal each, 1 portion of meat (57g) is about 112 cal and the rest of the veg and dressings (I always use lots which OH complains about lol) comes to about 80 cal and it fills the big bowls we use. We get a big meal for under 300 cals on 500cal days and OH never complains about the amount of food we have.

BB I love the ideas you have and many thanks for the time you spend on putting them out here for the rest of us to share.

FM, thanks for being concerned about the quantities and querying it, because others may have wondered too.

judi24

Don't normally post on this thread as guilty of over shopping and over feeding my family - but doo look in and thing BB your meals and ideas are great do help me think more creatively about what I do - so I too just want say thanks and keep posting please!!

Butterfly_Brain

Thank you all for your kind words.:beer:

Don't worry I will still post up recipes in spite of what some may say.

I am having to use the tablet at the moment because my hard drive has gone to the great beyond

So if there are any spelling mistakes because of predictive text please forgive me xx

A lot of recipes are adapted from wartime ones so yes quantities can be small, everyone knows what their own family eats.

On the price front, some things have come down in price , some have stayed relatively the same but an awful lot has gone up in price, especially meat over the last three years, so as I said in an earlier post, we can push to an extra £5 to keep up with price rises. :eek:

Goldiegirl

I happened to read this thread yesterday, and I've been thinking about it.


Everyone has something that drives them with food, whether it's pennies, calories, carbs, fasting days, gluten, dairy, sugar etc.


My personal driver is salt, or to be more precise, sodium. I eat a low sodium diet to control my Meniere's Disease.


Therefore, I can't be bothered to count pennies or calories or whatever. The bottom line is the sodium content of food. I eat within a framework of a balanced diet and spend an amount that I'm comfortable with.


The BUPA link given in an earlier post suggests that a portion of meat is 100g raw, and two to three portions can be eaten a day.


I think my meat portions vary between 100g to 150g, but I only eat meat once a day, so within a balanced diet, I feel this is acceptable for me.


Therefore, I feel that the weights quoted in this thread for meat portion size are on the low side.


Fair play if a person has a financial need to cut their meat consumption, or simply enjoys creating budget meals.


But I feel the majority of the population would feel that 57g of meat per portion is on the sparse side, and would feel rather unfulfilled with this portion size.


I wouldn't criticise people who eat less meat than me, but in the same way, I don't expect people to criticise what I do - I eat a balanced diet, which is low in sodium.


It keeps me healthy and happy.

jackel

Hello all - Have been AWOL for a day or two and have just caught up. I felt I must post to agree with the people who have expressed support for BB. We are a pensioner couple on basic OAP, no "credits" of any sort and because we have flogged ourselves stupid we have savings(limited) so have to pay full rates,dental charges etc., leaving us with a very tight food budget.This(and others)thread has been a Godsend to me,although I have always had to manage on next to nothing and BB has been particularly helpful She lives in the real world . I think she feeds her family very well and helps us all too. jac.xx