"Eat Well For Less?" - thoughts?

andygb

I don't like the way that the last couple of programmes have shown them shopping in Tescos - I am sure that other supermarkets are available.
I think the only reason that she "doesn't have time" to cook, is because she goes to the supermarket two to three times a day!
I laughed when she said that she cannot cook, because she would have to practice the recipes two or three times before giving the food to someone to eat - priceless.
At one point I thought that she was going to hack her fingers off with the small, blunt knife.
I also couldn't believe how much sugar there was in a shop bought pasta sauce, so its a good job that we make our own from fresh tomatoes, basil and passata.

lessonlearned

I have a confession......

I watched the first programme feeling very superior and smug..until I totted up what I had spent in January:eek:

We do eat healthily, cook from scratch etc and I consider myself a reasonable cook, however I had got into the nasty habit of nipping to the local Sainsbugs metro "just for a few bits"

So it's back to the straight and narrow for me.

I guess it's just goes to show that none of us is perfect, even Old Stylers can slip up sometimes. Sometimes it's because we are busy, sometimes we don't feel too well and things just slip, so we take the easy option.

I loved her kitchen.......

I think both families so far have been nice people, just lacking the basic culinary skills, so even when they "cook" they still rely on prepared jars of sauces etc.

That's not really cooking, it's just "assembling" a meal. That's ok now and again when we are really pushed for time, or perhaps feeling a bit under the weather, but in the long term it's better to learn how to cook properly, cheaper, healthier and usually proper home cooked food does tend to taste better.

Except of course for me last Monday. I don't know what happened, must have a brain storm. I managed to burn both the potatoes and the veg whilst the fish was still raw in the middle. :rotfl:

I never said I was perfect:D

lessonlearned

andygb wrote: »

I don't like the way that the last couple of programmes have shown them shopping in Tescos - I am sure that other supermarkets are available.
I think the only reason that she "doesn't have time" to cook, is because she goes to the supermarket two to three times a day!
I laughed when she said that she cannot cook, because she would have to practice the recipes two or three times before giving the food to someone to eat - priceless.
At one point I thought that she was going to hack her fingers off with the small, blunt knife.
I also couldn't believe how much sugar there was in a shop bought pasta sauce, so its a good job that we make our own from fresh tomatoes, basil and passata.

Well she did admit she wasn't a confident cook.

I'm not the worlds most confident cook either, if I were entertaining I would always practice the dish first before unleashing my efforts on guests:rotfl:

As for cut fingers. Well let's just say I keep plasters in the kitchen, and I've lost count of the times I have burnt or scalded myself......

Oh and whilst I'm confessing my sins.......

I can cook a fabulous main course if I say so myself but I can't bake to save my life. My pastry either falls apart or you can break your teeth on it, the family calls my attempts at fruit cake "sunken treasure cake", my sponge cakes are a disaster, I can't cook rice, and I've totally given up with Yorkshire puddings.......

Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I am a domestic goddess;)

fairy_lights

I didn't even know you could buy pre-cut carrots so the programme was a revelation for me! What next, pre-buttered bread?

lessonlearned

One final confession - for your delectation......

A couple of years ago I decided to be clever and do something "cheffy" - involving pork steaks and alcholol.

I managed to set fire to the kitchen.

It would have been cheaper to eat out.......:rotfl::rotfl:

lessonlearned

fairy_lights wrote: »

I didn't even know you could buy pre-cut carrots so the programme was a revelation for me! What next, pre-buttered bread?

You can buy all sorts of pre chopped, pre-prepared fruit, veg etc.

They do come in handy at times - especially when you have your "chopping" arm in plaster.

Don't ask......

Goldiegirl

One thing that bothers me is the focus on sugar as the only bad guy in food.


I have a chronic health condition which I control by following a low sodium diet.


Yet most of the things the family were eating were riddled with salt - the pizzas, the sausages in rolls, the Indian 'takeaway', the home made cheese straws. Yet all this salt is being promoted as 'eating well'


The only time salt got a mention was an almost throwaway line by the nutritionist, when she was commenting on making your own tomato sauce for pasta.


The recommended adult intake of salt is 6mg per day, and between 2 mg and 5mg for children depending on their age. I limit myself to between 2.5mg to 3mg a day. That pizza would be the recommended intake for those kids, yet they would have had much more salt during the day - it lurks in all sorts of unexpected places


Everyone seems to concentrate on sugar in their diets. I was saddened to read on this board and elsewhere on MSE that people don't eat fruit because of the sugar in it. Yet this is a massive range of food that I can eat freely, and make sure I eat at least two pieces of fruit a day. When you are on a restricted diet, you tend to eat healthily, as everything needs to be made from scratch - so a bit of fruit isn't going to do me any harm!


My suggestion is, look at everything you are eating, not just the sugar.

lessonlearned

I forgot to mention I cant slice bread either. I've just sliced my finger with a bread knife - blood everywhere and it blimmin well hurts. .:o

Good job those plasters were handy......

I sound like a right disaster in the kitchen. Actually my sister is left handed and is even worse. She is fabulous baker though.

I think that the nutritionist on that programme is a total waste of space - I definitely take her findings with a pinch of salt......

She seems to have some very Odd ideas about what is healthy.

Last week she was trying to say that all breads are equal.......that cheap nasty mass produced Sliced white bread was as nutritionally sound as a home baked or artisan loaf made from good quality flour.

So neglecting to mention being careful about the salt content of convenience foods was no surprise.

[Deleted User]

Goldiegirl wrote: »

The recommended adult intake of salt is 6mg per day

Grams (g), not milligrams (mg). The recommended intake is 4g/day, 6g/day is the maximum, the average is 9g/day.

it lurks in all sorts of unexpected places

It certainly does, there's more salt in fresh mince than in the pizzas I eat.

[Deleted User]

Goldiegirl wrote: »

people don't eat fruit because of the sugar in it. Yet this is a massive range of food that I can eat freely, and make sure I eat at least two pieces of fruit a day. When you are on a restricted diet, you tend to eat healthily, as everything needs to be made from scratch - so a bit of fruit isn't going to do me any harm!

I eat 7.4 portions of fruit and veg a day, and my sugar intake is half the current recommendation.