The Spreadsheet Diva's MF Diary

Karmacat

Hello Sue!

You're trying to work really hard on the food, aren't you ... though it sounds like as well as quality, you like the high end meats and fish too? Is that right, or am I maligning you??? Knowledge is power .... if thats your decision, then at least you know where its going.

I'm much, much more downmarket than you in terms of food but my sister, for instance, isn't. I was surprised to learn, though, that she shops the Essentials range from Waitrose - we know a lot about Waitrose food and where it comes from, I suppose, and we trust it because of that. I buy organic honey from Sainsbo, but when my new Waitrose opens next spring, I'll be buying ordinary honey from there. I have wonderful memories of the Waitrose orchards, which is where their honey is "manufctured" too, I think. Lovely

And good for you for working on those refunds, btw! Great news!

SueP19

My meat is from D Russell in Scotland, we didn't eat mince before we got theirs OH always found it gritty and greasy so it does give me lots of options now.

We eat lots of fruit and veg plus yoghurts, my only junk is W*lkers crisps, to which I buy a 12 pack a week.

All my sauces are Mr S or Mr M basics but OH does tend to eat 2 yoghurts a night plus cuts a chunk of cheese..........it's a bit of a sore subject because he does get upset if I point it out (before we met and married he live on tomato soup and cheese sandwiches because his step dad passed comment on every thing he did eat, he even used to go on about how much cheese he ate, it was virtually the only thing he ate)..................we don't eat out or takeaway either.

Just wished it was a bit cheaper that's all

Karmacat

But that *does* sound like its under control, Sue! I like lots of protein too, btw

Watty1

One way I've found of getting cheaper veggies in the summer is to shop local at farm gates and local houses who sell their excess home grown stuff. Not so good at this time of year and into winter though!
Good going on getting the refunds.

SueP19

Karmacat wrote: »

But that *does* sound like its under control, Sue! I like lots of protein too, btw

Yep meat n 2 veg for my man (cough cough) I do buy as cheap as possible and try to make things last. I think health is important and it's alright eating 9p noodles but eating that type of thing all the time and over a long period can't be that good for you. PLUS I like to think my cows in Aberdeenshire have had a super hand fed luxury life :D

Watty1 wrote: »

One way I've found of getting cheaper veggies in the summer is to shop local at farm gates and local houses who sell their excess home grown stuff. Not so good at this time of year and into winter though!
Good going on getting the refunds.

I would love this but rarely see any, which is hilarious as we live in the middle of nowhere, nearest farm shop is 10 miles away :(

SueP19

Lots n lots to do today.

First baking, cottage pie for tea, stew from yellow sticky veg, pizza bases 2 ingrediant receipe, quiche to use left over tomatoes and ice cream from bananas :rotfl:

Then its onto fleabay listing, further spured on by my neighbour who sold a little switch for £150 :eek:

Sort DDs bed out I had to get sheets in the end, bet they will turn up now

Walk the dog i am lacking in my miles as my eye held it up this summer but am at 205 miles since April :T

Then hopefully i might have a wee bit of sewing time this afternoon :j:j

What you all upto this weekend, have a good one xxx

Eager_Elephant

I think food is quite an emotive subject on MSE in general - everyone talks about getting the food bill as low as possible because it is one of the only ones we can really control day to day (unlike mortgage, ctax, utilities etc) but surely it is each person to their own.


Just because Mary feeds a family of 6 on £5 per week does not mean we should all aim for that.


I agree that the feed a family of four for £20 per week thread is handy if for some reason you are skint that week due to an unexpected expense but long term it is not sustainable. The thread has some great ideas for meals I had never thought of.


Sue - if you are happy with your food spend then it's fine. I think the batch cooking will save you time and hopefully a little bit of money.


I don't batch cook although I am lucky in that I rear my own meat so I don't have to worry about buying meat from shops during the year (except mince which we get from Lidl - we are not rearing cows!!). Also DH is onion intolerant, I am gluten intolerant and only eat meat we raise so generally I am vegetarian.
We also have a great greengrocers a few villages away so if I can't buy from people who sell outside their house I pop along to him. His prices are brilliant and his produce always lasts for ages.


Sorry for the waffle but wanted to say how great you are doing and not to get too caught up with what everyone else is doing with their food bill.

SueP19

To me food is like breast feeding (apologisd for the pun non intended lolol)

I feel so inadequate in these groups its like a sin to eat well, the cheaper the naffer the better is what comes across on faceache. Its great for receipes but most of the time its makes me feels how those midwives did years ago.......a failure.

I made casserole today and meatloaf so thats great BUT the real hit was banana ice cream!!! WOW just blitz bananas add summer fruit and freeze its amazing without any extra sugar as well ��

A_Frayed_Knot

Well done on the o/p :j and as for clearing the o/d :T :dance::dance::dance: amazing :beer: stick with it, it's working I am also very new to batch cooking, didn't think it was "my thing" but I love it, I'm eating much better than usual with the food I love, instead of either a quick snack or a ready micro meal, after a long day at work, might even lower my BP over time :rotfl: Had a look at your butchers website, did you know they have their mince on a excellent special offer atm, :doh:of course you do.

Banana ice cream, believe it or not is my favourite is it the recipe best made in small batches, and just blitz and blitz and blitz it, although not heard of adding summer fruits to it. Sounds yummy, could eat that at any time of the day or night

You must be well on your way to having enough meals for the next month
Great work with the lentils, too. :rotfl:

Made some lazy empire biscuits last week, 1 packet of rich tea biscuits bought, raspberry jam, icing sugar and cherries I had in the cupboard. 20 empire biscuits cost 25p

Make good use of your "extra" :rotfl:hour tomorrow, well today really.

Karmacat

Eager_Elephant wrote: »

I think food is quite an emotive subject on MSE in general - everyone talks about getting the food bill as low as possible because it is one of the only ones we can really control day to day (unlike mortgage, ctax, utilities etc) but surely it is each person to their own.

Sue - if you are happy with your food spend then it's fine. I think the batch cooking will save you time and hopefully a little bit of money.

Sorry for the waffle but wanted to say how great you are doing and not to get too caught up with what everyone else is doing with their food bill.

Totally agree with EE :j

Sue, if you've found the trade-off between price and quality that you like, then stay with it. I have no income right now, or pension, I'm living on savings, but I still buy organic honey (as I mentioned above) and I also buy organic free range eggs (I'll change to Waitrose's own for both of those when my Waitrose opens in the spring, as I trust their practice, but for now, thats what I'm doing).

What I *don't* do is follow what seems to be general practice on here and practically drown myself in sugar and chocolate - as you know, I'm not particularly well anyway, and sugar and choc, much as I love them, act as a poison to me

Horses for courses. It's your life, and your money! Make sure you're spending the amount you want, on *what* you want to buy, and thats it. Don't take any criticism, and don't let your self esteem get bashed, please :kisses3: