meat & veg boxes

vixtress

i have made a decision! (doesnt happen very often)
although i am on a budget i have decided that the shopping i was doing was false economy and i am going to try to eat/cook simple but better quality food!
i have drastically cut my grocery shopping (thanks you guys :beer: ) from £400 :eek: to £200 pounds a month.
there are 2 adults and 2 young children. OH often eats at work and the vixettes eat at the child minders a couple of evenins a week. with this in mind do you think it is realistic to stick to the same budget but eat better quality?
i have ordered a mixed, organic fruit & veg box for £16, thats should last us the week. i have looked into various options for meat and am thinking of bulk ordering for the freezer. i have found a supplier that sounds good, its a traditional, natural, family run farm (free range but not organic) and i can get 1/2 a lamb (ready butchered) for £59 including delivery. this works out at £5.90 a kg. i thought this sounded good value but i really dont know what i am talking about! what do you lot think? this would easily last a few months and i would alternate with a similar beef package and lots of cheaper/veggie meals.
even though we dont eat a lot of processed food i am starting to think about the hidden additives and stuff that cant be good in 2 for a fiver chickens :eek:
what do you think, am i being realistic or am i living in a dream world!

mouseymousey99

Hiya Vix(great name)
I think boxes are pretty expensive, but if you are going organic go for it. I shop at our local market for fruit & veg - non organic, and my main criteria is the budget. Your lamb works out at £2.45 per pound which sounds good but what do you get for that? I think the main thing is to get things that you can use so that you dont end up throwing anything away. I get a lot of help from the local library - getting out cookbooks etc so I can use whats in season. My only worry here is that you may get sick of lamb, but you could always swop with friends?? With all best wishes - Mx

vixtress

mouseymousey99 wrote: »

Hiya Vix(great name)
I think boxes are pretty expensive, but if you are going organic go for it. I shop at our local market for fruit & veg - non organic, and my main criteria is the budget. Your lamb works out at £2.45 per pound which sounds good but what do you get for that? I think the main thing is to get things that you can use so that you dont end up throwing anything away. I get a lot of help from the local library - getting out cookbooks etc so I can use whats in season. My only worry here is that you may get sick of lamb, but you could always swop with friends?? With all best wishes - Mx

i did think about getting sick of lamb but like i say i have also looked at the beef box and also buying the odd (reduced) organic chicken. the plan was that hopefully after the intial outlay i would have a good selection in the freezer to keep topped up as necessary. we also have quite a few egg based meals and i am lucky to have someone at work who lays them (metaphorically speaking :rotfl: )
i am just looking at various ways of improving quality without increasing cost too much!

Penelope_Penguin

Hi, vixtress! I've had veg and fruit boxes from Farmaround North, amongst others. Farmaround, IMHO, are the best for value and quality. We now tend to buy srom the local farm shop - fewer *food miles*, but we now don't get the weekly puzzle of *what's this in the veg box*!

Today I ordered my first meat box. It's local grown beef, 4.5kg *fore-meat* and 2.8kg *hind-meat* for £35. I've had their sausages, and they're delicious.

I've also taken the view that I want to provide good quality food for my family. We now eat only good meat, and enjoy vegetarian food for 3 or 4 meals a week. Try a look at Gingham's latest Veggie Thread for loads of ideas. It's really easy at this time of year - a bit of protein and loads of delicious fresh fruit, salad and veg with it.

Have you tried growing your own veg? We can't move for potatoes, carrots, herbs, salad, snap peas, atm, with cucumber, tomotoes, strawberries, sweetcorn, beans to come.

There are recent threads here:
My meat box
Fruit/veg delivery
Nationwide box scheme
Organic veg box - good value for OSers?
What's in my organic box today?

HTH, Penny. x

vixtress

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

Hi, vixtress! I've had veg and fruit boxes from Farmaround North, amongst others. Farmaround, IMHO, are the best for value and quality. We now tend to buy srom the local farm shop - fewer *food miles*, but we now don't get the weekly puzzle of *what's this in the veg box*!

Today I ordered my first meat box. It's local grown beef, 4.5kg *fore-meat* and 2.8kg *hind-meat* for £35. I've had their sausages, and they're delicious.

I've also taken the view that I want to provide good quality food for my family. We now eat only good meat, and enjoy vegetarian food for 3 or 4 meals a week. Try a look at Gingham's latest Veggie Thread for loads of ideas. It's really easy at this time of year - a bit of protein and loads of delicious fresh fruit, salad and veg with it.

Have you tried growing your own veg? We can't move for potatoes, carrots, herbs, salad, snap peas, atm, with cucumber, tomotoes, strawberries, sweetcorn, beans to come.

There are recent threads here:
My meat box
Fruit/veg delivery
Nationwide box scheme
Organic veg box - good value for OSers?
What's in my organic box today?

HTH, Penny. x

thanks for that, it was actually one of your posts that inspired me to look into the meat and veg boxes!
i havent actually ever tried to grow my own, we only have a front garden (the back is all decked) but i have heard of people using pots, is this reasonable? it seems a bit pointless for 1 or 2 potatoes??
where are you getting the meat from, that sounds good value?
i must admit i am a bit excited about the 'whats in the vege box'
thanks again
vix

Penelope_Penguin

vixtress wrote: »

thanks for that, it was actually one of your posts that inspired me to look into the meat and veg boxes!
i havent actually ever tried to grow my own, we only have a front garden (the back is all decked) but i have heard of people using pots, is this reasonable? it seems a bit pointless for 1 or 2 potatoes??
where are you getting the meat from, that sounds good value?
i must admit i am a bit excited about the 'whats in the vege box'
thanks again
vix

Gee, I'm overcome by someone being inspired by something I said! :beer:

2 potatoes in a pot is entirely reasonable. You should see what veg and fruit some friends of mine have crammed into a small York courtyard, with all the soil down to flowers.

I'll PM you details of the veg box - you may not be so far from me

Penny. x

Curv

Hi, can I just butt in with a question... last year I had a weekly veg box from a local organic farm. I found that despite fridging as much as I could and storing it all properly, it started to go off if I didn't use the stuff up within the first two or three days, thus leaving me with no fresh stuff for approx half the week. How do you make it last all week?

Penelope_Penguin

Hello Curv - another one from Yorkshire! Salad might not last a whole week, but root veg and onions should last longer.

Lakeland do *Stayfresh bags* which claim to keep fresh food fresher for longer. Might be worth a try.

Penny. x

Curv

Cheers, Penny

*sigh*

What a pity...


I've been trying ever so hard to resist pulling a Lakeland order together for a few days now (Lakeland is one of my many vices! Just love those Munchy Seeds) but I think I may just have to give in and try the bags out.

If they work, I might go back to the veg box rather than my twice weekly Tesco shop for half price f&v.

Thanks again

Curv x

p.s. I wonder what proportion of the posters on here are from Yorkshire, what with our reputation for frugality...

vixtress

Curv wrote: »

Cheers, Penny

*sigh*

What a pity...


I've been trying ever so hard to resist pulling a Lakeland order together for a few days now (Lakeland is one of my many vices! Just love those Munchy Seeds) but I think I may just have to give in and try the bags out.

If they work, I might go back to the veg box rather than my twice weekly Tesco shop for half price f&v.

Thanks again

Curv x

p.s. I wonder what proportion of the posters on here are from Yorkshire, what with our reputation for frugality...

just outside skipton here!
if you think we am frugal you should meet my father!! he would barter in tesco given the chance !

thanks for the pm penny, sounds lovely but a bit far from us.deff think i will give the half lamb a go. OH will be thrilled, he would eat it every meal if he had the chance

vix

missminnie_2

I have been lookiing for Veg and meat boxes online and am quite interested in Riverford since they're local. (I'm in the SW)

Has anyone ordered anything from them before? I just wondered what sort of amount of each vegetable that they give you in the boxes.