Balancing not just the budget

ZTD

redofromstart wrote: »

I spat tea over my laptop at the point of 'mystery meat' :rotfl:

But did you sing it?

doingitanyway

Mystery meat...makes you think.

Rosa, no need to have ready meals so much. When I don't want to cook I make scrambled eggs with salsa and sliced avocado, or veggie sticks and tub of (shop bought) humous. Come on Rosa, think outside of the ready meal box

EssexHebridean

Oh heck - I neglect to visit for a few days and before I know it your thread has degenerated into a discussion of unlayering dating profile pics! :rotfl: marvellous!

Can I administer a kick up the proverbial on the rady meal thing? And some honest questions -
- how often are you currently getting your 5-a-day at the moment, with all this pre-prepared stuff going on?
- How much are you currently spending per month on food?
- Does a ready meal actually fill you up? Or do you end up eating more after your meal or sitting there feeling hungry?

Some thoughts - pasta - 10 minutes to cook. For the last 5 throw in some frozen peas. Drain it, chuck on a drizzle of Olive/Rapeseed/other good oil of your choice, and toss with some bacon (You're not veggie are you?) that's been fried off in a pan with a few chopped mushrooms* and some sliced peppers* - these will have been cooked while the pasta/peas were cooking.
- Soft cheese (philly but own brand to avoid needing a second mortgage) makes a rather excellent pasta sauce.
- Couscous is the quickest and easiest food known to man. Cover with an identical quantity of boiling water, slap a plate on the top and leave it for a few minutes - voila! Thrown in whatever you fancy - pomegranate seeds, chickpeas, lentils, chopped up fresh tomatoes, chopped up cucumber, toasted seeds are all favourites of mine. Best bit is you can make it in industrial quantities as it keeps fine in the fridge for a few days.
- Beans on toast is perfectly acceptable as a meal once a week.
- Scrambled eggs, as above.
- Soup? Big pan made at the weekend and portioned off? Similarly you could make a big chopped salad type thing at the weekend and eat it over a few days (I did this last weekend with peppers, beetroot, red onion, carrot, tomato, sweetcorn and lots of fresh coriander - leave it free of dressing and dress a portion at a time as otherwise it goes a bit soggy/slimey. Pop a sheet of wet kitchen paper over th top to help it stay crisp.

*buy both of these frozen to save waste as it's just you to buy for.

Just some thoughts/ideas - when time is short sand pressure is high sometimes the actually thinking of ideas can be as tough as the carrying them through can't it!

(I'll also say I tried avocado toast for the first time at the weekend - O.M.G. where have I been?!!!! Lushness!)

RosaBernicia

doingitanyway wrote: »

Mystery meat...makes you think.

Rosa, no need to have ready meals so much. When I don't want to cook I make scrambled eggs with salsa and sliced avocado, or veggie sticks and tub of (shop bought) humous. Come on Rosa, think outside of the ready meal box

Thanks DIA, when I have next interview out of the way and spare brain power I will do that. I did have houmous, veg and mozzarella last night, but there are times when even the 15 minutes to think of, prep and cook something - quite apart from remembering to shop for things that can be co-ordinated - is both time and brainpower that's needed elsewhere. Which is also not ideal because when I do have time to cook it relaxes me as well as feeding me better. Something to consider in my next set of goals in a few weeks time


Rosa xx

RosaBernicia

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Can I administer a kick up the proverbial on the rady meal thing? And some honest questions -
- how often are you currently getting your 5-a-day at the moment, with all this pre-prepared stuff going on?
- How much are you currently spending per month on food?
- Does a ready meal actually fill you up? Or do you end up eating more after your meal or sitting there feeling hungry?

Thanks EH of course you can...

I do OK on my 5-a-day as I usually have pressed fruit juice at some point in the day, and I buy the MnS Balanced For You meals which have at least two portions of fresh veg in - so even on the days I end up with one for lunch at work and another in the evening I am at least eating enough veg. This is where gluten free is actually a help since I can't resort to pizza or fish & chips!

I do spend usually over £200 a month on groceries which is all food except eating out plus household basics - I've never separated out meals from chocolate and cleaning stuff etc. It's obviously more than I could spend, but on the other hand I can afford it at present and for me it's a sanity saver when swamped with other things. If I gave up more time at evenings and weekends then I'd have less time for my social life which isn't ideal either. And that cost also reflects gluten free basics and buying to reflect my ethics - I get meat in Waitrose (on offer or YS when I see it) because I trust their supply lines slightly more than others, and similarly I have a bit more faith in Mn5 buying their meat from farms in the UK that hopefully treat their animals well, than I do in some other chains that buy their chicken from Thailand etc. I don't buy organic veg from supermarkets any more because so much of it is really high in food miles - and I CBA with a box of unpredictable contents so just buy British in the shops. Longer term aim is to grow my own veg again but that will take a while

Hunger wise I am fine with the BFY meals, though I do need to work on actually eating breakfast. I occasionally have cheese on toast if I'm staying up late but if I'm hungry it's usually because I am one of those people who forgot to eat at any sensible hour!

There is also a halfway house in buying prepped stuff like gluten free pies and meat ready to stick in the oven - so eg this week was BFY twice on Monday as out of the office and a long day travelling, yesterday was cold stuff taken to work for lunch and Waitrose Cook For You chicken thing with steamed veg in the evening. Today I've been very good and managed porridge for breakfast, been fed a proper hot meal at the meeting and will stick another prepped chicken thing in the oven tonight. Tomorrow and Friday I'm in the city all day, so that will mean taking something for breakfast on the train, picking up sandwich or wrap en route because that way it's covered on expenses, and evening meal will just depend how tired and grumpy I am when I leave - if I get out early I may pootle about and make risotto, if I get held up and am shattered I'll either pick up evening meal on way back or yank something really easy out of the freezer.

Next set of goals is also going to include exercise though, so will need to work around more evenings out! I may need to think about replacing the freezer, which currently has one drawer unusable, if the space would help.


I don't get the avocado thing, I just find them slimy... is it just me?


Rosa xx

ZTD

doingitanyway wrote: »

Mystery meat...makes you think.

That could be the start of the next verse! :T

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Oh heck - I neglect to visit for a few days and before I know it your thread has degenerated into a discussion of unlayering dating profile pics! :rotfl: marvellous!

"Degenerated"? What do you mean? This is multi-layered highbrow stuff (with delayering as well), much better than single-layered monobrow stuff... :eek:

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Can I administer a kick up the proverbial on the rady meal thing? And some honest questions -
- how often are you currently getting your 5-a-day at the moment, with all this pre-prepared stuff going on?
- How much are you currently spending per month on food?
- Does a ready meal actually fill you up? Or do you end up eating more after your meal or sitting there feeling hungry?

Some thoughts <snip...>

That is all really useful stuff for me (can't speak for Rosa) - thanks for that. :beer:

RosaBernicia

OK quick :money: round up to help keep me on track...

Done...

• Accounts checked and all is OK
• Tax form done - it wouldn't let me get to a tax return, I have had to tell them there is a change first and apparently then they will tell me if I need to do one. Which will be interesting, since when I phoned them I got contradictory answers, but at least now I can't be accused of avoiding my responsibilities!
• Chased up switch bonus and it isn't due as soon as I thought - need to transfer money over on payday but after that it should be paid by mid Feb.
• Looked for the letter I drafted on a sort of PPI claim and can't find the darn thing anywhere.

To do...

• Must find or rewrite PPI letter - needs doing asap, as six year limit up next week.
• Must review home insurance as renewal is expensive. For some reason it looks like the excess is set to zero which could be why - I sorted it over the phone in a hurry while moving so probably didn't realise. Really happy with provider so would rather stick with them, but will see if I can get it cheaper by altering excess and trying cashback sites.

• Must claim mileage and expenses on Monday

Filing is a total mess, mostly due to the move, but is at least being addressed now.




Rosa xx

RosaBernicia

Sunday shuffle checked and no change since last belated update... payday this week, so will review everything then.

EssexHebridean

woo hoo to completed shuffles and definitely to payday. Mine will be start of next week but all good.

Home insurance - I usually let them have their "default" excess if it's £100 or less, and then add on to it as a voluntary the sum that takes it to £150 as I figure that would be a small price to pay if something needed claiming for, and quite honestly if it was less than that I'd not be claiming anyway! Might be food for thought anyway!

Avocado - I think it's an acquired taste, a bit like Olives. (I've acquired that one, too)

With you on ethical meat - I avoid T's meat for the most part, but will buy from Mozza's as theirs is all British. Chickens are always FR anyway, ditto eggs. Farmers markets are really good if you have one locally - there's often really good value bits and pieces that you'd not expect, and even more so when you get to know the suppliers a bit!

RosaBernicia

EssexHebridean wrote: »

With you on ethical meat - I avoid T's meat for the most part, but will buy from Mozza's as theirs is all British. Chickens are always FR anyway, ditto eggs. Farmers markets are really good if you have one locally - there's often really good value bits and pieces that you'd not expect, and even more so when you get to know the suppliers a bit!

I used to get to one of our local farmer's markets but tbh didn't think the quality matched Wa1tro5e and they were even more expensive, so rather gave up on it. Might be worth looking for one in local town now I'm out of the city though - closer to the farmers and not in the posh area!