Organic food in supermarkets

Kirri

^ Yes same They sound ideal, if I can manage to just eat one at a time..!

On offer @ Ocado till 12/3 - that's weird, I added them in last week when they were on offer for £4 but just looked and they are now showing at £3.66 so I just deleted them and re-added to get the even cheaper price.

Edwardia

Hi Parisian thanks for that :T I keep the Mediterranean Vegetable and Korma sauces in the larder for TKTC (Too Knackered to Cook) nights.

Ocado has an organic Dolmio bolognese sauce 500g 2.50 :eek:

http://www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Dolmio-Organic-Bolognese/41096011?from=search&tags=%7C20000&param=dolmio&parentContainer=SEARCHdolmio_SHELFVIEW

8.3g of carbs per 100g of which 8.1g is organic cane sugar. so that's 40.5g of sugar per jar. Think I would find that too sweet.

I'm gonna hit Rococo when in London.. 40 types of organic chocolate.. hope to find some 90% cocoa.

Am eating Clive's organic classic houmous 200g 1.99 from Buckfast Organic Bakery in Devon www.clivespies.co.uk which I found on Ocado.

Why have look at me trendy environmentally friendly packaging and proclaim your houmous tobe made with love.. and then put sunflower oil in it eww. Not enough garlic, far too much lemon juice, and compared to Riverford's or even Sainsbury's SO organic it just had an industrialised overprocessed feel. Won't be buying that again !

Parisian

Kirri £3.66 is a bargain! Which did you go for?

Hi Edwardia! I've been AWOL for a while and just catching up on the thread - thanks v. much for sharing your low carb tips a few pages back, much appreciated

Also, I know what you mean about the Dolmio sauce - I tend to find all their sauces on the sweet side tbh. My all time favourite is Loyd Grossman tomato & chilli - I have been known to eat it on its own I'm hoping the Seeds of Change tomato & chilli is a good contender as I would prefer to use an organic sauce...
.... Have you tried the San Amvosia houmous, Edwardia?

Kirri

^ I added in both the milk/white choc selections, am not keen on dark choc (except for the Maya Gold). But feel bit guilty putting best part of £8 on choc into the basket! I won't be placing the actual order for a while though.

I haven't had either in ages but ^ I prefer Lloyd G (friend cooked it for me then I bought it) to Seeds of Change sauce. I do like Seeds of Change pasta though.. (currently on offer at Ocado but still expensive). Never had Dolmio, don't like the idea of the brand for some reason.

I've had the San Amvosia houmous (from Olivers or As Nature Intended) and also their pinto bean dip. I do still prefer non org M&S Moroccan though M&S also do a plain org houmous.

I do use sunflower oil too.. it's good for roast potatoes.. I feel like I'm confessing bad things on here

Edwardia

Noo don't feel like that Kirri it's just that houmous should have olive oil cos it's from the Middle East.

OH rarely does roast spuds now but if he does generally olive oil or dripping. He seems to prefer his carbs as bread !

OH keeps a look out for offers on Lindt Excellence 90% on offer at Sainsbury's, bulk buys and hides them for my Having a Bad Day moments. Only 14g carbs the whole bar ;)

The one with the G&B fetish is OH who lurves the organic chocolate ice cream. Luckily it's on offer at Ocado ATM 2 for $6 saving 2.38

Parisian re low carb you're welcome. Nope not had that houmous no Olivers or As Nature Intended here Don't have a Marks & Spencer here either, and I visit one near my mother. It's big enough to have two floors, an elevator, cafe and loo but hardly anything organic. Kirri mentions things, I look.. and it's not there

My houmous faves
1. Home-made but only because Al Wadi-Al Akhdar tahina from Lebanon is 100% sesame no additives, nothing I do myself !
2. Riverford houmous runnier than Abel & Cole but coarser, more garlic
3. Abel & Cole nearly as good
4 Sainsbury's SO organic houmous best of mass produced ones IMO

Edwardia

Hi there WBQMS stop lurking come and join in

Soo.. thanks to dasophster on the I'm eating out of the freezer and cupboards challenge thread, I found a vegan shop in London called VX www.vegancross.com which does mail order (ships worldwide).

There aren't many organic snacks out there so OH has been getting toddler snacks from the likes of Organix and Plum.

VX sells vegan snacks made mostly from organic ingredients eg CLIF Luna bars and Builder's bars. OH isn't overly macho despite being ex Armed Forces. He doesn't back away in fright if he meets a gay man and he will eat quiche, especially if a Higgidy. However I just cannot see him ever eating organic tofu pate somehow and he'd be more than happy to whip out a Builder's bar on the Tube rather than a Organix Goodies bar !

kanimisso99

***cupcake*** wrote: »

I'm loving this thread - ty to all who post

I've gradually shifted my shopping habits and am now considering riverford or Abel and cole for a regular veg box. I'd be swayed by a deal but can't find any ATM! Id appreciate knowing if anyone have a preference either way?

They may look like doing exactly the same thing - delivering organic veg, meat, dairy etc, but their business model and concepts are very different. It's not like one is better than the other (their food quality should be more or less the same), but it's rather the issue of which suits you more. Their websites reflect their differnet styles, so have a look at them to feel which site is more comfortable for you, and that's probalby where you should go! Listen to your instincts and if you still cannot see the difference then try both or choose based on practical things like delivery area, price, product variety, flexibility, etc. You won't regret regardless of which one you choose.

Sorry for the vague description, but I didn't want to say any bad things to either of them. They're both much much better than supermarkets, but their customer base is probably very different. Buying organic veg is not only about quality but like buying in concepts or people behind it. They both have very typical organic veg concepts, just very different ones. I clearly like one of them but know that some others may prepfer the other concept - so just the personal preference .

Edwardia

Hi kanimisso99 welcome to the thread.

Actually, I think it would be helpful if you gave your opinion on Abel & Cole and Riverford.

The more info and opinions we have, the better able we are, to make informed choices and I reckon that's good.

Sometimes, people who may not even buy organic food themselves will pop in to the thread to post that they've seen organic stuff in H&B or on offer somewhere, which is great and they get a thank you for their thoughtfulness.

Still waiting for people who don't normally buy organic to pop in and review yellow stickered organic stuff they've bought.

If people don't usually buy it they can say well I didn't think it tasted any different to my usual brand, or it was fine but I wouldn't pay that price for it or OMG it's the best yogurt/carrot cake (whatever) I've ever tasted. That can be more objective than someone who always buys say organic yogurt, trying a different brand of organic yogurt.

I've only done two or three orders with Riverford. I didn't realise they delivered here until recently. So far I'm happy with the things I've bought although I don't think the milk is as good as A&C's. I'm still getting to know them, as it were.

Kirri

Agree, I'd like to hear an opinion on both, I will use both and make my own mind up anyway as we all have different likes etc but I find other people's opinions on things really useful. I'm just confused by the post tbh!


I had the Riverford eggs in an omelette earlier, were very good. Had the watercress and lettuce as a salad on the side this morning with garlic mushrooms on top and last night had it as straight salad, really fresh quality, very pleased and the mushrooms were very good, much better than the last lot I had from Waitrose, they cooked better too.

I didn't however like the variety of potatoes when I had them last night, texture and taste wise wasn't that great, nowhere near as good as the Ocado ones last week (or as good as my own lol!). I will try them cooked in a different way though. There is a good mixture of sizes so will choose a big one and try a jacket potato.

GPigs enjoyed the tomatoes this morning and the carrots though they seemed to snaffle the Ocado tomatoes quicker (fussy gpig has left part of the tomato even today, she is a very discerning tomato eater...). They didn't seem to have a preference on the Ocado vs Riverford carrots, ate both as quick as each other - I fed them one of each at the same time. I did like the fact Ocado supplied rainbow carrots - grew them myself last year. They LOVE the Riverford lettuce, that has the edge on Ocado one as it was slightly fresher due to arriving in plastic.

rufydoofyM

I love this thread so thanks everyone for posting. I love Abel and Cole and get all excited on delivery day. Had my 4th box free almost 2 weeks ago and choose the lge fruit and veg one. Played about with the likes and dislikes and was very pleased with what arrived, sorry but can't remember all of what was in it. If I had one niggle it was the spuds, not many, not great tasting and by the time the were peeled and bad bits removed only enough for the two of us for one meal. However everything else was tip top. Also ordered the purple sprouting broccoli and it was much nicer and better quality than supermarkets £2.45 for 350g (big bag full) one of my favourite veg.

Also got a veg box from ocado last week, ordered when on offer so only £14.39 again very impressed other than the baking spuds which were so damaged that they gave me a credit of 3.88 so more than happy with that. |Used the dirty carrots last night and once they were clean I discovered they were poor quality too but everything else was fine. Managed to salvage enough for dinner.

Ocado have a third off on Laverstock gammon and pork joints. Can reccommend both as I have recently been gettting them from A and C. Had given up on pork years ago but it has now become a firm favourite.

Green and Blacks chocolate ice cream has become another favourite since I discovered it in Sainsbobs for £2.12 Had a red sale sel and have got 2 tubs in reserve but hoping it will still be there next week.
Thanks for the heads up on the mini bars, have added a couple of packs to ocado order but may have to add a couple more for presents.

Have been considering Riverford but should I wait for a special deal ? Do they have them ?