Staring it in the eye

patman99

C.W. if you ever watched 'Food Unwrapped' then you would know that there is more to kebab meat than you think. The UK's main supplier makes it from mincing the less popular cuts of meat after trimming off as much fat as they can.
This is then mixed with herbs and spices and formed around a central pole.

The way it is made and cooked makes it the leanest meat you can get.

I noticed you have an IVA. I hope you used someone like 'National Debt Line' or 'Stepchange' rather than one of the commercial companies

C.W

ZTD wrote: »

Yes, I know. Sweeteners are my personal bugbear. Kombucha tea is for people who want something a little more healthy - oh look - there's aspartame in it. Full-fat lemonade (premium) with enough sugar to kill a lion by diabetes at a full 40 paces away - oh look - it has sorbitol in it *as well*. Drink too much of that and you'll be glued to the toilet...

Tell me about it! And how many millions of people that thing sweetener is better for them when there's no proven link between sweeteners and weight loss. Not to mention sweeteners being sweeter in taste than sugar, making it harder to ditch the habit of eating or drinking sugary things. Then there's low fat and reduced fat items that add sweeteners to replace what was taken out... barstewards!

ZTD wrote: »

So what tricks have you been teaching her? (Yes I know - youtube is a bad influence)

haha. No tricks yet though I have taught her to sleep on the chair rather than on me/my bed, despite being told by many people that I'd never manage it - that you are owned by your cat etc. Only took 2 nights, no problems by the 3rd. She tried jumping on me last night. Two attempts and she accepted it, stopped crying and went to sleep. I think of it very much like parenting a toddler... haha.

ZTD wrote: »

Incidentally, take a look at this site before making any decisions on cat food. I'm not saying it's right, I'm not saying it's wrong - the decision is yours to make given your personal circumstances and beliefs.

Thank you for the link. I was wondering about that but Mum bought the food (since I couldn't afford it when I got her) but did want to research options that I could afford. I will look into it further. It makes sense to look at alternatives to processed since I don't even want to eat processed.

C.W

patman99 wrote: »

C.W. if you ever watched 'Food Unwrapped' then you would know that there is more to kebab meat than you think. The UK's main supplier makes it from mincing the less popular cuts of meat after trimming off as much fat as they can.
This is then mixed with herbs and spices and formed around a central pole.

The way it is made and cooked makes it the leanest meat you can get.

I don't watch TV so I haven't seen 'Food Unwrapped' but I'm sure you're right that it is incredibly lean but it doesn't appeal to me at all. Not a fan of processed foods of any kind, where I can help it. If I eat meat at all, it tends to be cuts I can clearly identify its origins.

patman99 wrote: »

I noticed you have an IVA. I hope you used someone like 'National Debt Line' or 'Stepchange' rather than one of the commercial companies

I don't know which companies you consider 'commercial'. I'm with PayPlan. I've had no issues with them and I found them very supportive. I've not actually spoken to any of the advisors since, but that's more because I was often on crappy shifts that meant I was unable to, but there's always email.

C.W

Well, I did speak of doing a party tonight to earn a little extra cash but they cancelled. No extra pennies for me. Someone's coming around today to view some of the books so hopefully that'll bring in a few quid as I don't get paid until 20th but my bus pass runs out tomorrow.

Because the party cancelled, I offered to do 6 hours work today which will be an extra £30 (I think) on next month's wage. Overtime isn't that regular at our place but there's a strong possibility someone will not turn up today so I offered to work as a buffer in case that turns out to be the case.

TO DO LIST:
*Finish meal plan draft
*Tweak to ensure there's minimal chance of food waste
*Write a shopping list based on this
*Amend meal plan if shopping list is too close to budget
*Look at options for Poppy
*Add Poppy's expenses to the budget
*Set notepad up as spending diary to take with me when I leave the house

ZTD

C.W wrote: »

Tell me about it! And how many millions of people that thing sweetener is better for them when there's no proven link between sweeteners and weight loss. Not to mention sweeteners being sweeter in taste than sugar, making it harder to ditch the habit of eating or drinking sugary things. Then there's low fat and reduced fat items that add sweeteners to replace what was taken out... barstewards!

If it's low fat, then I've often found they use genuine sugar to replace the taste. If it's low sugar, then fat goes in, along with sweeteners.

That was one of the things when "Sunny Delight" (or Sunny D as it is now) first came out. I looked at the ingredients and saw "vegetable oil". Hmm...I prefer my vegetable oil on the rocks...

The ironic thing for me, is that none of the sweeteners actually taste like sugar to me. Saccharine tastes like saccharine, sorbitol like sorbitol - etc. I even tried Stevia, and although it has quite a nice taste, it's not sugar. Tastes a little like liquorish to me, which is not quite appropriate for tea.

C.W wrote: »

haha. No tricks yet though I have taught her to sleep on the chair rather than on me/my bed, despite being told by many people that I'd never manage it - that you are owned by your cat etc. Only took 2 nights, no problems by the 3rd. She tried jumping on me last night. Two attempts and she accepted it, stopped crying and went to sleep. I think of it very much like parenting a toddler... haha.

It is just about. Though I've always made the comparison the other way round. Cats can be trained, and apparently Siamese cats are the best of all, pretty much like a dog - though I must admit I haven't seen that. Even on youtube...

C.W wrote: »

Thank you for the link. I was wondering about that but Mum bought the food (since I couldn't afford it when I got her) but did want to research options that I could afford. I will look into it further. It makes sense to look at alternatives to processed since I don't even want to eat processed.

It will be processed in some way, even if it is just cooked. But at least that way it is something the cat would have even anyway, if she'd been just that little bit bigger...

C.W wrote: »

I don't watch TV so I haven't seen 'Food Unwrapped' but I'm sure you're right that it is incredibly lean but it doesn't appeal to me at all. Not a fan of processed foods of any kind, where I can help it. If I eat meat at all, it tends to be cuts I can clearly identify its origins.

My personal concern about kebab "lumps" is that although the surface may be sizzling in the heat, an inch down, it's a bit cooler - probably just the right temperature for bacterial growth. Not really a problem in a popular place where the "lump" probably only lasts for a couple of hours, but somewhere less popular, it could be days old.

I know where you're coming from in the "clearly identify its origins" thing though - have you ever seen "mechanically recovered meat"? :eek::eek::eek:

C.W wrote: »

Originally Posted by ZTD View Post
I noticed you have an IVA. I hope you used someone like 'National Debt Line' or 'Stepchange' rather than one of the commercial companies

I didn't say that!

C.W

ZTD wrote: »

The ironic thing for me, is that none of the sweeteners actually taste like sugar to me. Saccharine tastes like saccharine, sorbitol like sorbitol - etc. I even tried Stevia, and although it has quite a nice taste, it's not sugar. Tastes a little like liquorish to me, which is not quite appropriate for tea.

I've not really gone around tasting various sweeteners. I didn't like the taste of stuff like Splenda, I've never tried Stevia though I know a few people who seem to recommend it... For people who are adamant they want to reduce their calorie intake of sugar but don't want to decrease the portion, I usually recommend fruit sugar as I know there's a couple of brands that claim to be lower calories than cane sugar. I'd rather just reduce where possible or replace with something natural. Such as using spices instead of sugar when baking, but I haven't tried that yet as I'm not sure on quantities to replace and how much altering a recipe's ingredients in that way would affect texture, for example.

ZTD wrote: »

It is just about. Though I've always made the comparison the other way round. Cats can be trained, and apparently Siamese cats are the best of all, pretty much like a dog - though I must admit I haven't seen that. Even on youtube...

I'll take your word for it. I've never tried training them in terms of tricks, but much easier in terms of potty training, bed training, where they can and can't go... So far anyway. She could prove me wrong.

ZTD wrote: »

It will be processed in some way, even if it is just cooked. But at least that way it is something the cat would have even anyway, if she'd been just that little bit bigger...

I'm sure she can deal with cooked meat. I was talking to Mum before and she agrees that it seems like the best option to switch to wet food given that, whilst she is eating, she is drinking a lot of water and she's started to bloat so it must be that dry food isn't the best choice for her.

ZTD wrote: »

My personal concern about kebab "lumps" is that although the surface may be sizzling in the heat, an inch down, it's a bit cooler - probably just the right temperature for bacterial growth. Not really a problem in a popular place where the "lump" probably only lasts for a couple of hours, but somewhere less popular, it could be days old.

I know what you mean! I used to work as a waitress and it really does put you off going into food places, or more so with the food chains and busy pubs. I feel quite comfortable in places with open plan kitchens or little country pubs though...

ZTD wrote: »

I know where you're coming from in the "clearly identify its origins" thing though - have you ever seen "mechanically recovered meat"? :eek::eek::eek:

Not personally though I have seen the process on a video. Knocks me sick.

ZTD wrote: »

I didn't say that!

Whoops! Sorry *blush*

ZTD

C.W wrote: »

I've not really gone around tasting various sweeteners.

Well I didn't really - you just meet them in day-to-day life. The only one I did actually seek out was stevia.

C.W wrote: »

I didn't like the taste of stuff like Splenda, I've never tried Stevia though I know a few people who seem to recommend it... For people who are adamant they want to reduce their calorie intake of sugar but don't want to decrease the portion, I usually recommend fruit sugar as I know there's a couple of brands that claim to be lower calories than cane sugar.

Yes, but I think they get their claim from the fact fructose is almost twice as sweet as sucrose, so you'll use (so the theory goes) only slightly over half as much.

Pound for pound, the calories are pretty much the same.

C.W wrote: »

I'd rather just reduce where possible or replace with something natural. Such as using spices instead of sugar when baking, but I haven't tried that yet as I'm not sure on quantities to replace and how much altering a recipe's ingredients in that way would affect texture, for example.

Try looking around diabetic websites. They will probably already have done much of that work.

C.W

ZTD wrote: »

Well I didn't really - you just meet them in day-to-day life. The only one I did actually seek out was stevia.

Certainly more often than I like - they're way too accessible. I dislike that they sneak them into children's foods and label drinks as being 'healthier' options for children when full of artificial chemicals. And many people don't know any different.

ZTD wrote: »

Yes, but I think they get their claim from the fact fructose is almost twice as sweet as sucrose, so you'll use (so the theory goes) only slightly over half as much.

At least it's not artificial, so I suppose it's heading in the right direction.

ZTD wrote: »

Try looking around diabetic websites. They will probably already have done much of that work.

A lot of diabetic recipes seem to use artificial sweeteners. I've found some useful recipes on a wholefoods site though, as they tend to avoid white sugar and the like. The only time I've actually seen sugar is when it uses Molasses. Generally they recommend using spices instead or replacing sugar with organic honey/organic maple syrup. The honey's no problem but the organic maple syrup is so expensive! I love the stuff but can't justify spending that just to make a few treats.

ZTD

C.W wrote: »

A lot of diabetic recipes seem to use artificial sweeteners. I've found some useful recipes on a wholefoods site though, as they tend to avoid white sugar and the like. The only time I've actually seen sugar is when it uses Molasses. Generally they recommend using spices instead or replacing sugar with organic honey/organic maple syrup. The honey's no problem but the organic maple syrup is so expensive! I love the stuff but can't justify spending that just to make a few treats.

I just get normal maple syrup from Aldi. It's not the cheapest thing out there, but tastes nice. I usually just have honey though - more convenient.

I can't actually see the point of organic maple syrup. Maple is a tree. Who in the hell fertilises trees? Disease control on a tree consists of lopping off the diseased bit with a chainsaw - not getting all caring over it. They grow in forests, and if it dies it has a dozen mates close by. Plant another and move on for 20 years until it grows up.

But then again "Organic" is another one of those things that sells well, so has been stretched beyond the bounds of rationality. I've seen "organic cotton" T shirts.

Like I'm going to eat a T shirt...

C.W

ZTD wrote: »

I just get normal maple syrup from Aldi. It's not the cheapest thing out there, but tastes nice. I usually just have honey though - more convenient.

Tell me about it! Definitely prefer maple to golden, anyway. Love the flavour. I'll have to put the Aldi one of the stepdad's shopping list I do love honey on toast though. Yum!

ZTD wrote: »

I can't actually see the point of organic maple syrup. Maple is a tree. Who in the hell fertilises trees? Disease control on a tree consists of lopping off the diseased bit with a chainsaw - not getting all caring over it. They grow in forests, and if it dies it has a dozen mates close by. Plant another and move on for 20 years until it grows up.

Some info on why organic maple: http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/nutri/matter/2006-08.asp I think though, if organic maple is too high in price, I'm not AS concerned about purchasing it since the risks are lower compared to other foods from what I can tell.

ZTD wrote: »

But then again "Organic" is another one of those things that sells well, so has been stretched beyond the bounds of rationality. I've seen "organic cotton" T shirts.

What annoys me is that organic doesn't mean the best choice. If it's not 100% organic, it can still contain GMOs. And products like UHT are a bit pointless being organic, in my opinion, and they're kind of devoid of nutrients anyway (most vitamins actually being added).

ZTD wrote: »

Like I'm going to eat a T shirt...

Depends on how desperate we get... :P