"Eat Well For Less?" - thoughts?

Maitane

Have you tried burgers with grated courgette that's been squeezed then cooked off a little with onions, garlic and harissa? They're pretty good.

Out of 500g of reduced lamb mince, I got 4 burgers and a good amount of little meatballs to put in a pitta (cheaper than bread) with some salad, youghurt and mint sauce for lunch the next day then they went with gluten free couscous and veg for dinner the next day too.

Pollycat

prosaver wrote: »

I tried burgers with half pork mince and half beef ... put chilli in tooo and egg and bread crums of course..:)

Half pork & half beef is something they do in Greece.

I asked in Lindos how they got their meatballs so soft and was told that.

I find that if you use good quality mince and get your hand in and really modge the meat up well, it breaks down the fibres and you don't need to add anything to bind it.

But - I do use a Tupperware burger press that I've probably had for about 40 years.

So mine are just mince - plus whatever I decide to add.
Usually some herbs, sometimes a dollop of Dijon mustard or horseradish sauce, grated onion - whatever takes my fancy.
Thinking about the family last night, they could have done that and added a bit of tomato sauce.

I showed my sister (who used to buy lots of processed foods) how easy (and cheap) it was to make her own burgers - she was converted.

hilstep2000

I've just watched the programme, and it didn't teach me anything. Why did they have to swap everything when there was all that food in the house anyway? Surely, making them use that lot up first should have been a priority?

I buy my sausages and burgers from our local butcher, they are not more expensive than the supermarket, but the taste is certainly superior.

Interesting to see the Morrisons cornflakes though. I have tried some value brands, but always go back to Kellogs, maybe I should try those?:rotfl:

Be interesting to see how the series pans out.

ash28

Floss wrote: »

Just watching the latest BBC monry-saver offering, "Eat Well For Less?" and wondered what other MSE'rs thought?

I was pleasantly surprised to see the boys eating sausages with boiled new potatoes, broccoli & gravy, albeit with mushy peas _pale_, but was quite tickled to see top-up shops at Booths, a Lancashire chain similar in range & prices as Waitrose ...we can spend £s in there quite easily!

The taste tests are quite revealing, and some results surprised those taking part...bet regulars on here weren't at all surprised

I thought the kids were good and ate pretty much anything that was put in front of them and on the mushy peas front, tinned mushy peas, even smart price or basic, count not only as part of your 5 a day but are high in fibre.

Ken68

Hardly anything about nutrition, although the programme was a lot less cringy than some. And a nice family it seemed, apart from weighty parents.

[Deleted User]

Ken68 wrote: »

And a nice family it seemed, apart from weighty parents.

possibly the result of too many burgers and bangers and bread and butter and jam on top of OJ and cereal for breakfast.
The little boys were smashing kids and seem to enjoy lots of outdoor playing which possibly meant they emptied their plates.:D

fairy3

I watched it and did not learn a lot either - on a budget of £260 a week would have expected a bit more gourmet food on offer! Orange juice was interesting and was also surprised about the cheap bread.
Greg could have come up with something more interesting than meatballs and where was the salad?
Agree the boys were lovely and ate most things without complaint. Menu planning was non existent and with that spend there was probably a lot of food wastage which wasn't highlighted. Perhaps it will get better as the programme continues?
For HM burgers I make two thin burgers with a slice or lump of blue cheese/cheddar in the middle which makes a lovely melt in the middle burger and goes down well.

redmel1621

I was really interested in the orange juice lesson.

I'm not sure the original spends weren't a bit exaggerated though. They seemed shocked by the initial spend of £150, even though this was apparently a 'normal' shop for them. Surely if it was 'normal' they wouldn't have been shocked by the amount?

Anyway, aside from the not Greg Wallace guy having a patronising voice and being crap at meal planning, it wasn't an awful programme but I can see it becoming a bit boring.

ash28

I thought the programme was quite interesting for what it was and I quite enjoyed it. It wasn't trying to change lifestyles, it was just demsonstrating that with a few changes you could keep your existing lifestyle and spend less money at the same time.

One of the first things MSE tells you to do is not to be a brand snob....that seems to be the message from this weeks programme and that brands are not necessarily the best, for instance the sausages, 44% meat by-products from a leading brand or 72% real meat from a butcher.

Years ago I used to be like that....3 kids and we both worked fulltime - money was not an issue, I always bought brands, I used packet mixes for casseroles, chilli, etc. Jars for curry and bolognese.....It wasn't until I was older and life was less frenetic that I started properly cooking from scratch. I still don't batch cook.

The first none brand I bought was a tin of tesco everyday essential baked beans...a friend recommended them as her son preferred them to Heinz. That was years ago and for years that was the only none brand item I bought. I went round the supermarket on a Saturday morning on autopilot. I knew exactly where everything was and I more or less bought the same things every week. I spent a small fortune and if OH was with me it was worse....he used to put things in the trolley just like the guy on the programme....if he fancied it, in it went.

With hindsight we wasted a fortune, there was not only the weekly shop but the visits to our local corner shop for milk, when something that should be a £1 ends up costing at least £10!

So, if that family can save £70 a week and not impact the way they want to live their lives, then that's a result. I'm not going to judge them for their eating or spending habits.......

charmed1318

Doubt I'll watch anymore as it looks as though it will be the same format, but it wasn't boring

I have deffo learnt more on here than I could have watching it. Although, mentioned before if you are not watching what you are putting in your trolley/making lists and sticking to them then you could take a few things away.

The OJ thing surprised me, as did the bread, but 7-10 LOAVES A WEEK FOR A FAMILY OF FOUR is that right?

Also, the whole programme to shave off £70 odd a week? Could have easily halved that surely to £130 a week and eat similarly.

Also 'Eat well' the only fruit and veg I saw was the tin of mushy peas and the bag of frozen broccoli.

It was funny watching the reaction to the jam and the alco free beer though :):):):)