"Eat Well For Less?" - thoughts?

ash28

lr1277 wrote: »

One thing that did confuse me was that the first shop seemed to be in Tescos. However the own brand products at the end of the show seemed to come from Waitrose.
Are they saying you need to buy from Waitrose own range to match the taste of branded products?
Or were they saying the could shop in Waitrose and still save a lot of money?

I think the shop for the camera is done in Tesco but it looked as if the family usually shopped in Waitrose. And shopped there 17 times a week! The proliferation of Waitrose products was probably because that was where they preferred to shop.

Waitrose is expensive, I know, I used to shop there. However, some people think you get what you pay for but that isn't always the case.

I liked the bit with the marinated chicken where they were convinced it was a cheap product that she didn't even like seeing on her plate and it was actually what they usually bought but with a different marinade.

Pollycat

candygirl wrote: »

Lazy cow, moaning about chopping carrots:eek:

candygirl wrote: »

Can't believe Greg justified her laziness, by saying it's cos she has 4 kids!:mad:

I couldn't work out if either of them worked.

I'd guess not if they can manage to go to a supermarket 17 times - seventeen times, FHS! - in a week!

She might have been better using a different knife to chop the carrots - well pointed out, Greg.

Ken68 wrote: »

Again a nice family, surprised they shop so silly.
And ever so comfortable in front of the camera, maybe all actors.

I thought the kids were nice, but not the parents.

Ken68

The parents this time were not overweight, yet their shopping said they should be.The man was self employed on contract work, think he said IT.

ash28

Pollycat wrote: »

I couldn't work out if either of them worked.

I'd guess not if they can manage to go to a supermarket 17 times - seventeen times, FHS! - in a week!

She might have been better using a different knife to chop the carrots - well pointed out, Greg.


I thought the kids were nice, but not the parents.

He gave up fulltime work and became a contractor to be able spend more time with the children. Apparently didn't used to see them during the week and it was full on at weekends and he thought she needed a break.

Contractors (depending on what he does) can earn a small fortune. And he wasn't working when the programme was made and they were still spending £350 a week. A friend of ours can earn £1k a day contracting. I wish.

One of the things that got me, was she had a kitchen to die for, had a fabulous range cooker and didn't even have a decent knife, and bought baton carrots (£1 for 400gms or £2.50 a kilo, and while it's 80p a kilo for whole carrots in Waitrose it's 49p a kilo in Aldi), the mind boggles.

Proper brand snobs......

[Deleted User]

I'm trying to work out what she actually did during the day.My youngest DD works full time as does her OH.She has five children,One has now left home and one is at Uni so leaves her with three boys aged 14,13 &10 yet all of her kids have grown up with a cooked dinner every night. Pizza's are considered a birthday treat and not a meal as in her house its a meat and veg house .They have a pudding on a Sunday, but not the rest of the time Wednesday night they had a roast chicken with all the trimmings and yesterday the left overs made a chicken pie with mash and veg Her shopping bill comes in around £125 per week for them all.I'm also included for dinner on a Sunday and sometimes I stay during the week.If during the week she is running late I will prep the veg for her as she sometimes doesn't get home until gone six after leaving for work before 8 in the morning.In the programme the lady doesn't appear to work so I'm not too sure why she doesn't have the time to cut a few carrots up. Cooking isn't rocket science and if your stuck usually its just a case of asking someone. As another poster said most of the meals seemed to be processed stuff which is hardly haute cuisine at the best of times.

aurorahelios

I'm quite enjoying this program probably because I feel quite smug throughout it. I don't think it really reflects reality for most people though, as what that family were spending on food in a week is more than many people earn in a week! Personally my monthly budget for 4 people is less than the amount they were spending in a week and we eat a lot healthier and better than them.

I am finding some bits interesting, the pasta sauce was of interest because I do use them sometimes. I can and do cook my own pasta sauce using tinned toms but sometimes like last Tuesday we had a 45 minute window to cook and eat a meal a ready made option is preferable. I wasn't shocked at the sugar in them but I was surprised at the difference between them.

Butterfly_Brain

OMG I would kill for that kitchen, it is three times the size of mine and I would love a range cooker, but no room. Yet I cook from scratch every single day.

I couldn't believe that she didn't cut up her own carrots, and the amount of processed muck that she was feeding her children was grotesque.

I was PMSL when she was turning her nose up at mince from the butcher.

Butterfly_Brain

dizzytina wrote: »

ooooo missed this show completely. When is it on guys? i will try and find it on catch up :-)

It is on BBCiplayer
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0516tjh/eat-well-for-less-series-1-2-the-warner-family

Out,_Vile_Jelly

£350 a week on food? You can buy a Fortnums hamper for less and at least trough on something decent: http://www.fortnumandmason.com/p-4843-fortnums-classic-luxury-mayfair-hamper-includes-chocolate-smoked-salmon-and-champagne.aspx

natlie

I think the programme should be called 'eat the same for less' but it does kind of do what it says on the tin - this is just about people who can't cook and don't budget - and her last night she just couldn't be bothered to make the effort.


I don't think we can diss the programme as they are achieving what they set out to do - reduce their food bill.


It would be nice to see an extreme version of this on catering for strict budgets and meal planning etc and it would also be nice to see a cookery programme that teaches people how to cook basics but this wouldn't be for everyone either