Organic food in supermarkets

Kirri

I'm not actually sure what it is, I'm having a bit of trouble with the nhs - they keep misdiagnosing me and being really useless all while I get worse :mad: after a lot of appts and keep being discharged/fobbed off/told I had something they plucked out of thin air... I was given meds to try after I suggested what could be wrong which they disagreed with but gave me them anyway (I think to shut me up really) and they have worked so with that helping I'd researched a bit on diet, food intake/symptom timing etc before I started taking them, to back up my thoughts, went back and now they have said I may be right.. I won't know for sure what exactly is wrong unless I have endoscopy..

Didn't know that about the sugar/ph, thanks. I'll have to read some more about it. I'm not getting any food related support from the nhs. Going to really have to try and cut it out/reduce it (for a while) then.. I've found it reasonably easy, if boring, to cut out the acidic/spicy foods. I guess it's just a case of getting used to very bland food.. There doesn't seem an awful lot left for me to eat though!

Am still having granola with yoghurt, dairy is supposedly off the list but then yoghurt is supposedly good - even so I'm having one 120g pot per day and some days that is all the dairy I've had. It's hard to find interesting replacements for all meals and still make sure I get enough nutrients. The granola I'm currently eating has no 'sugar' listed but does have agave, apple juice, treacle!



Here's one organic place to avoid :mad:

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/vegetarian-caf-owner-let-cows-freeze-to-death-on-smallholding-9048607.html



https://www.hookandson.co.uk have organic raw butter ghee available for very limited time. They sell at some farmer's markets but also available online. Email says it's from their organic butter but I can't see that on the website.

Edwardia

Watched the trailer for the documentary The Moo Man and when I get a new debit card must get that :rotfl: Thanks Kirri :T

http://www.the-mooman.co.uk/

Here's another video http://vimeo.com/46614117

If you're thinking you have an ulcer, the latest theory is that they are caused by bacteria

Amico Bio an organic veggie resto gets a mention in Evening Standard
http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/restaurants/londons-best-restaurants-for-healthy-eating-in-january-9004007.html

Shocking about the cows left to die !!

Kirri

^ I was offered the bacterium test only after I'd been taking the meds and went back to say they had helped, so now I can't have it till I come off/have a break from them, otherwise it can give a false negative result, shame they didn't bother to offer it in advance..

There are a few natural foods/supplements that are supposed to help but no idea how much that is true in reality - am eating lots of organic bananas though!

I posted in the freezer thread but was surprised at the small size of the Waitrose frozen sweetcorn and pea packets, they must be half the size of conventional packs! The sweetcorn was nice and sweet - although comes from Hungary, not sure how good their organic farming is monitored (even if it is SA certified).

alfsmum

kirri I've bought organic frozen peas and sweetcorn from WF a couple of times but can't remember the provenance. Must pay more attention next time - when I have cleared enough freezer space

Edwardia

Costcutter https://www.costcutter.co.uk to 25/01 Princes tuna chunks in spring water 160g four pack now 3.69

Spar http://www.spar.co.uk/offers/freshandfrozenoffers/ offers to 22/01 include Innocent drinks 250g £1 (and a competition to win a smoothie maker and Innocent recipe book) plus New Covent Garden Soup Co 600ml soups for £1

Budgens https://www.budgens.co.uk offers to 22/01 include New Covent Garden Soup Co 600ml soups half price, Innocent Smoothies 750ml half price, Yeo Valley organic whole/semi skimmed milk 2 litres was 2.22 now 1.79, Evian 2 litres 2 for 1.20

Booths https://www.booths.co.uk to 28/01 John West tuna chunks in spring water 160g four pack was £6 now £4, Ecover dishwasher tablets 1.4kg was 11.99 now 8.99, Ecover fabric conditioner 750ml save 1/3rd, Booths organic brown basmati rice 500g was 2.30 now 1.53, Innocent juices 750ml were 2.89 now £2, Laverstoke Park Farm organic black pudding 250g was 2.65 now £2 (mmmm), Evian 6 x 50cl half price, Clipper organic white tea bags 45g were 1.49 now £1

rufydoofyM

:hello:Hi all,

Just popped by to say I'm still waiting for Sainsburys to get back to me about the disappearing organic lines.

Had to call Riverford again today as the apples delivered yesterday were cox and not the crimson crisp as stated on their website. Had ordered 1.5kgs as they are one of the few apples we really love especially with cheese. They sent cox instead and Iwe were really disappointed. They apologised and refunded immediately. The cox they sent I gave to next door since we hate cox and the kids love all apples.

Tried a few things extra at Christmas. Instead of various chocolates and sweets we had the Montezuma organic chocolate library from A & C. All the flavours were good especially the lime and chilli. Added the orange and geranium flavour bar to the ocado order but it's our least liked.

Also from A & C the organic cowslip garlic and herb cheese which was really good.
Another hit was the Luscombe Strawberry Crush. OH can't drink alchohol so I'm always on the look out for nice alternative treats and this got the thumbs up from both of us. He prefers the Bevoir organic ginger beer to the luscombe ones. Next week I've ordered the mixed pack and look forward to taste testing the other luscombe flavours.
Again from A & C is strawberry jam, the nicest when we run out of homemade. Have tried various others incl Duchy and WR but none met with OH approval.

Have been shocked at some of the price differences of fruit and veg recently and find A & C shockingly high on some things. At chrimbo I ordered the sprout stick and again last week. I was shorter than expected and only had 420g of sprouts at a cost of 2.49:eek: Not impressed. I don't like ordering fruit and veg from Ocado as I can't be sure where it's from and will not buy from Africa, USA or Middle East.

Does anyone else avoid produce from certain counties or areas of the world. I've mentioned my concerns about fish especially caught in the pacific due to the radiation pollution still spewing and spreading from Japan and it's for the same reasons we avoid the fruit and veg and my wine from the USA. I don't trust those that decide safe limits etc especially when the goal posts are moved so often. There seems to be a general media black out on the situation and risks unless you research a little.

Kirri, I really hope you get to the bottom of your health issues soon, I can't imagine how frustrating your restrictive diet must be.

aliwali

Had my A&C delivery this week and the box had my name on but the wrong contents:( They have refunded and let me keep what they did deliver, but now I am left with soya yoghurt, halloumi cheese, tofu and sprouted seeds! Bearing in mind it should have been butter, double cream and lamb mince. I don't want to waste the food but I haven't a clue what to do with tofu or halloumi as I've never had either. Any ideas?

Just want to add that A&C customer service has been faultless every time I've needed to ring them, this is why I use them again and again even when things like this happen.

bornintoit

aliwali wrote: »

Had my A&C delivery this week and the box had my name on but the wrong contents:( They have refunded and let me keep what they did deliver, but now I am left with soya yoghurt, halloumi cheese, tofu and sprouted seeds! Bearing in mind it should have been butter, double cream and lamb mince. I don't want to waste the food but I haven't a clue what to do with tofu or halloumi as I've never had either. Any ideas?

Just want to add that A&C customer service has been faultless every time I've needed to ring them, this is why I use them again and again even when things like this happen.

Maybe the box was supposed to go to Kirri instead :rotfl: but I'm sure she will have a few ideas on what you can do with your unexpected ingredients. I agree about the customer service, Ocado also has fantastic customer service. I needed a refund once and they didn't quibble at all just gave me the refund and quickly.

Kirri

^ rofl, must admit I like the sound of the mistaken contents better. I wouldn't be too happy though to get totally the wrong things!

The soya yoghurt will probably taste much the same. If it's one of the sojade branded items I've tried a few and they are quite good.

Haloumi is lovely, slice or cube it and dry fry it. Add it to salads, couscous/roast veg, veg kebabs, sliced/griddled with courgettes in a sandwich. It's got a lot of flavour and doesn't melt like other cheese so is really versatile and doesn't need any flavours added.

Tofu - Drain it on lots of kitchen towel in the fridge for a few hours then I portion the blocks into 3/4 chunks and freeze - it firms up the texture a bit. Can cook from frozen - I usually then cube it and fry it then add to stir fry or with cooked roast veg/salad type dishes or in fajitas with a seasoning. Does need some flavourings, either Mexican or Chinese are good or is really good in HM satay sauce with celery and peppers. Can also be used as a quiche filling but that may be a step too far for a meat eater!

Sprouted seeds - nice on burgers! I started eating them that way from a visit to a Hard Rock cafe in USA pre veggie days.

alfsmum wrote: »

kirri I've bought organic frozen peas and sweetcorn from WF a couple of times but can't remember the provenance. Must pay more attention next time - when I have cleared enough freezer space

I'll have a look next time I'm in WF.
I checked and the Waitrose org packs are only half the size of most conventional packs, no doubt for price reasons.

rufydoofyM wrote: »

Have been shocked at some of the price differences of fruit and veg recently and find A & C shockingly high on some things. At chrimbo I ordered the sprout stick and again last week. I was shorter than expected and only had 420g of sprouts at a cost of 2.49:eek: Not impressed. I don't like ordering fruit and veg from Ocado as I can't be sure where it's from and will not buy from Africa, USA or Middle East. Does anyone else avoid produce from certain counties or areas of the world.

Kirri, I really hope you get to the bottom of your health issues soon, I can't imagine how frustrating your restrictive diet must be.

The A&C prices are getting really shocking aren't they! I wouldn't actually be using them much but I keep getting appts on my Riverford days so have no choice but to use A&C. I don't understand why their prices are suddenly so much higher. Also their watercress/little gem weren't that great this week. I saw some of the romaine reviews on Ocado stating they had been from USA, that would be totally unacceptable to me hence why I am not keen on using them for veg. Though when I had the veg box it was Europe iirc and v good.

I avoid most veg from outside Europe, apart from fruit where there is no choice. I just don't really have a lot of trust in org veg regulation outside of the UK esp from places like Morocco/Egypt that you see a lot of in Morrisons. Though I have to buy salad stuff for the pets in the winter so do buy from Spain etc. I prefer not to eat most stuff out of season myself ie I'd never eat beans from Kenya or wherever they are coming from this time of year - the taste is just awful unless they are fresh. I've got a lot more specific on things like this since growing my own as the taste differences are a lot more obvious. Even the gpigs don't really like the taste of winter bought tomatoes.

Thanks rufy, I'm really missing tomatoes and onions the most, it's quite hard without lot of my basic ingredients.

aliwali

Thanks Kirri, it's like a whole new world of food out there. I shall look forward to trying your suggestions. Xx