Great British Budget Menu-BBC

cornishchick

not read the whole thread, but the general gist is that the program did not do what we all thought it should do.
what we need is to find an independent program maker and get them to make some sensible money saving program. but that's not gonna happen,..
all we can do as a group is keep sharing the info we have gained here, talk to people and let them know this resource is out there.

mcculloch29

I spotted an Aldi pack of butter in the family house, so it foxed me as to why a clueless Richard Corrigan didn't take his lead from the family and shop there! There are about 480 Aldi shops in the UK, and looking at their website they plan to move into more areas, so there is the possibility of having an Aldi nearer you. We got Aldi in Nov. last year.

Re smoking. I know of someone on a very low income who would love to give up but she cannot cope without her crutch.
I wish these programmes would use someone who really has a clue on how to make money stretch. Bring back Shirley Goode.

siegemode

Have just watched the programme and haven't read whole thread yet.
My thoughts seem to echo many though. I felt upset for them at first, but then also a bit cross. It also made me feel incredibly fortunate in that I have life skills passed from my grandparents who I practically lived with till I was 10 and then skills learnt from mum and at school. At the time I hated the theory side of home economics that later became food and nutrition all I wanted to do was cook. I now look back and realise how important some of it was.
I grew up with an abundance of fresh fruit and veg which was lucky. I was also encouraged to try everything and anything on camping trips at home and abroad so I now have a love and appreciation of food.
What struck me by the programme is the importance of education. Teaching about food and cooking is as crucial as general budgeting and how to shop. It often annoys me how many say how expensive Waitrose is. I am on a restricted budget but cook from scratch and prefer quality when ever possible. All supermarkets now have such regular offers and ys items that if you shop around it's still worth checking out Waitrose if you have one nearby. It concerns me that people have preconceptions of different supermarkets and shops and are unaware of how to use the various loyalty schemes to their advantage. Sometimes I think it's a lack of knowledge, but sometimes it's laziness.
I think it's wrong to judge people by what luxury items they may have in their homes as often these things have been acquired during better times. I was shocked at how little they had to spend on food and it would have been interesting to see how they had arrived at that figure.
It's the children I feel for. If the parents are without the knowledge of budgeting and cooking how will they learn from example.
The politicians and big wigs from the supermarkets are so detached from the reality of low income living that their empty words and gestures are meaningless. At the end of the day they have the power and influence to make changes, but I fear money and shareholders dictate.
Another thing that struck me was that with 4 kids and a reasonable garden why were they not already or for that matter encouraged to grow their own fruit and veg.

Bring back real life skills into the education I say or is it that the gov really doesn't want us to be too informed, savvy, self reliant and able to look after ourselves and think independently. After all the more we rely on the system and follow the media the easier we are to control.

It's such a shame that so many children and young people are gifted the latest gadgets and wrapped up in consumerism when the most important gift a parent could or should give their offspring is the ability to be as self reliant and responsible to themselves and others as they can.

MrsE_2

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

I know there is a thread about the programme itself and I think most oldstylers aren't that impressed TBH :rotfl:.

BUT there is a list of low cost recipes that actually look pretty good here:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/programmes/b036x3pv


So wondered what people thought about these and if any are useful for a change to the usual standby recipes (we all have them lol).

The sausage and butter bean casserole with a herby crumb topping by TK sounds pretty good and easy to make.

Nice to see some top chefs actually doing some meals with more basic ingredients that are based on a low budget.

The basic storecupboard items are a good idea for someone just starting out and look like pretty much what we have in all the time-I'll bet most OS peeps have the same.

Ali x

Lovely - thank you, I was searching for the programme link.

MrsE_2

ska_lover wrote: »

I thought that exact same thing - about the salmon, Me and OH sat wondering what he was trying to prove with that, other than make the families feel worse.

Definitely with you on the meal planning, its the best thing ive learned in the few years I have been on these boards, saved me so much money, and its actually nice to be organised

I was really annoyed about the salmon.

What he said was "no a decent meal can't be cooked on your budget, here's what a decent meal tastes like, but you can't create this"

Trow

That's not entirely fair - he did say that it could be done much cheaper using frozen fish.

I suspect that all chefs were told to go over budget. Make cheap meals seem harder than they are to produce.

patchwork_cat

Trow wrote: »

That's not entirely fair - he did say that it could be done much cheaper using frozen fish.

I suspect that all chefs were told to go over budget. Make cheap meals seem harder than they are to produce.

There is going over budget and there is ignoring your brief. I think James Martin made a fair point going over buying spices/rice and pointing out that for one a bag of rice is a big chunk of the budget, but will last for quite a few meals.

tessie_bear

i take this is a merged thread....onn the subject of the nick and margaret programme i thought it was very interesting, i thought that lad who worked with the carer lady needed a rocket under him and it made me sad how his family were helping him but not helping him iyswim

i thought the chefs on the other programme seemed very nice and gave it a go...i loved mr kerrigan having to buy the salmon himself...i felt for the single mum and agree with posters who said neither of them looked very well

-taff

Education about diet, budgeting, meal planning, batch cooking and actual cooking seem to be the main points that most of the people they used are missing.

I sense an opportunity

lessonlearned

siegemode wrote: »

Have just watched the programme and haven't read whole thread yet.
My thoughts seem to echo many though. I felt upset for them at first, but then also a bit cross. It also made me feel incredibly fortunate in that I have life skills passed from my grandparents who I practically lived with till I was 10 and then skills learnt from mum and at school. At the time I hated the theory side of home economics that later became food and nutrition all I wanted to do was cook. I now look back and realise how important some of it was.
I grew up with an abundance of fresh fruit and veg which was lucky. I was also encouraged to try everything and anything on camping trips at home and abroad so I now have a love and appreciation of food.
What struck me by the programme is the importance of education. Teaching about food and cooking is as crucial as general budgeting and how to shop. It often annoys me how many say how expensive Waitrose is. I am on a restricted budget but cook from scratch and prefer quality when ever possible. All supermarkets now have such regular offers and ys items that if you shop around it's still worth checking out Waitrose if you have one nearby. It concerns me that people have preconceptions of different supermarkets and shops and are unaware of how to use the various loyalty schemes to their advantage. Sometimes I think it's a lack of knowledge, but sometimes it's laziness.
I think it's wrong to judge people by what luxury items they may have in their homes as often these things have been acquired during better times. I was shocked at how little they had to spend on food and it would have been interesting to see how they had arrived at that figure.
It's the children I feel for. If the parents are without the knowledge of budgeting and cooking how will they learn from example.
The politicians and big wigs from the supermarkets are so detached from the reality of low income living that their empty words and gestures are meaningless. At the end of the day they have the power and influence to make changes, but I fear money and shareholders dictate.
Another thing that struck me was that with 4 kids and a reasonable garden why were they not already or for that matter encouraged to grow their own fruit and veg.

Bring back real life skills into the education I say or is it that the gov really doesn't want us to be too informed, savvy, self reliant and able to look after ourselves and think independently. After all the more we rely on the system and follow the media the easier we are to control.

It's such a shame that so many children and young people are gifted the latest gadgets and wrapped up in consumerism when the most important gift a parent could or should give their offspring is the ability to be as self reliant and responsible to themselves and others as they can.

The problem is though that we are now into at least 2 generations of people who do not know how to budget, shop, or cook or who have few "life skills".

I learnt nothing at school. We had no cookery or any kind of home economic lessons. (1960's) and my mother wouldn't let me into "her" kitchen. I taught myself - no yube tube, just cookery books and trial and error. Same with DIY, knitting, sewing. I am entirely self taught. If you want to learn then you find a way.

I did however make sure that my children - both boys - acquired proper life skills. They learned simple cooking as children, "helping:eek:" in the kitchen as toddlers - more pastry on the floor than in the tin but they loved making jam tarts, stirring cake mix etc from when they were around 2 years old.

They were given dusters, allowed to load the dishwasher and the washing machine from a similar age. They had their own patch of garden.

They were allowed to emulsion paint their own bedrooms when they were around 10 years old.

By the time they were 12 they were learning how to lay laminate flooring, channelling out plaster work for electrical cabling etc, laying stone patios, landscaping.

They were of course always supervised and taught the proper way to do things with all due care and attention paid to health and safety issues.

Now that they are young men in their 20's they are not afraid to tackle anything. Many of their peers and contemporaries are utterly clueless. They can't cook or take care of themselves let alone attempt decorating and simple diy. They often tell my sons how they wished they had been taught to do these things.

At times it would have been far easier, quicker and a darned sight less messy if I had just done the jobs myself. My mother did this with me. She couldn't tolerate mess and disorder so she would not allow me to learn to cook because she could not bear to have her kitchen messed up or risk the inevitable inedible burnt offerings.

Yes there were times when I would have to set to and give everywhere a damn good clean when the boys had finished, when perfectly good ingredients were wasted because they had messed up a recipe. Some of their early decorating jobs were a bit rough and ready, but they learned and practised and gradually they got better.

The sad thing about all those people in the programme was they just hadn't got a clue. Admittedly they didn't have huge food budgets, but with a bit of knowledge and a bit of care they were do-able.

The single mum and her daughter had £30 a week. The poor woman went without food so that her daughter could eat. That was so sad, because £30, whilst not exactly a king's ransom, should be enough for 2 people. The family of 6 - 2 adults and 4 children had around £60 to £70. I admit that £60 would be tight, especially with hungry teenagers, but it can be done, especially if they had used their large garden to grow some fruit and veg.

The poor old boy was in a sorry state though. My father is similar although my dad does have enough money to feed himself - he just doesn't know how. My mother did everything and now she is in a nursing home he is having to try and learn to fend for himself.

I think the old boy in the programme and my dad are just part of that generation who left all domestic matters to their wives. The tragedy is when something happens to their womenfolk, the men have no idea where to start.

I did find the programme very frustrating because I'm sure that with a bit of knowledge these people could have done so much better for themselves.

As has been said if parents are not able or willing to teach their children decent lifeskills then perhaps the educational system needs to pick up the slack. Far more useful than all those empty degrees or a bunch of worthless GCSEs.