advice to cut down on food budget?

Fire_Fox

ceb1995 wrote: »

In all honesty, I m only a fan of veg, can't stand brown rice or most pulses. I have had a vit d deficiency in the past so do try to get as much of that as I can.

This used to be my work and my passion, sorry if it reads as a lecture. I also used to be the fussiest eater ever, except for my sibling who literally spat out everything (even mashed potato or mashed banana) as a hungry weaning baby! :eek:.

You really can train yourself to eat and enjoy a wider variety of cheap and healthy wholefoods, by working out what it is you like or hate, and by HIDING them! The Old Style crew are masters and mistresses of that.

It took a long illness in adulthood to force me to change my eating.. I still cannot handle cooked root vegetables or cooked squashes (courgettes/ aubergine/ butternut/ raw cucumber/ raw melon). _pale_ Squishy texture and sweet. _pale_

What are you eating for vitamin D and how often?

Vegetables are great.

But they supply different essential nutrients to wholegrains, beans and lentils, nuts and seeds (minerals and different fibres).

Your evening menu - post 3 - and lunch suggests you are eating a lot of refined white wheat (bread/ wraps/ noodles/ pasta). Is that right? Obviously switch some to brown/ wholemeal, as well as having much more variety of grains.

Other grains you might try: Porridge oats, steel cut oats, pot barley, pearl barley, rye, brown rice but as noodles (yes!), wild rice, gram flour, teeny tiny weeny little red lentils. Any of these can be used to thicken a stew or soup if you don't like them as they come.

Do you have any brown rice lurking in the back of a cupboard because you HATE IT? If yes .... steam absorption method, do not boil it. Cook it long enough so it is not too chewy. Only if you have it lurking though.

I am a mean bully!! Pretty please pick any couple of ideas, not expecting you to do them all.

PipneyJane

Fire_Fox wrote: »

This used to be my work and my passion, sorry if it reads as a lecture. I also used to be the fussiest eater ever, except for my sibling who literally spat out everything (even mashed potato or mashed banana) as a hungry weaning baby! :eek:.

You really can train yourself to eat and enjoy a wider variety of cheap and healthy wholefoods, by working out what it is you like or hate, and by HIDING them! The Old Style crew are masters and mistresses of that.

It took a long illness in adulthood to force me to change my eating.. I still cannot handle cooked root vegetables or cooked squashes (courgettes/ aubergine/ butternut/ raw cucumber/ raw melon). _pale_ Squishy texture and sweet. _pale_

What are you eating for vitamin D and how often?

Vegetables are great.

But they supply different essential nutrients to wholegrains, beans and lentils, nuts and seeds (minerals and different fibres).

Your evening menu - post 3 - and lunch suggests you are eating a lot of refined white wheat (bread/ wraps/ noodles/ pasta). Is that right? Obviously switch some to brown/ wholemeal, as well as having much more variety of grains.

Other grains you might try: Porridge oats, steel cut oats, pot barley, pearl barley, rye, brown rice but as noodles (yes!), wild rice, gram flour, teeny tiny weeny little red lentils. Any of these can be used to thicken a stew or soup if you don't like them as they come.

Do you have any brown rice lurking in the back of a cupboard because you HATE IT? If yes .... steam absorption method, do not boil it. Cook it long enough so it is not too chewy. Only if you have it lurking though.

I am a mean bully!! Pretty please pick any couple of ideas, not expecting you to do them all.

Excellent advice as always, Fire Fox.

May I add Bulgar Wheat to your list? Cook it by placing 1 part bulgar wheat to 2 parts boiing water in a saucepan with a tightly fitting lid. Bring back to the boil, switch off and leave for 15 minutes. All the water will be absorbed and the bulgar wheat will be cooked. (1 cup wheat to 2 cups boiling water makes 4 generous portions.) It's high in fibre and B vitamins.

CEB1995, studies have shown that it takes 6 goes before the average human acquires the taste for something. Even our response to textures change.

You may have disliked something as a child - God knows I hated pumpkin - but try it again, now that you're an adult. It will be much nicer. Also change the way you cook it. I first started liking pumpkin when my flatmate made me curried pumpkin soup. Now I have it in curries, roasted (like potatoes) and in "pumpkin bread" (cake). Yum!

HTH

-Pip

ceb1995

Sea_Shell wrote: »

How much are you spending on groceries as a percentage of your total monthly expenditure??

Have you already tackled the "low hanging fruit" of savings in your budget elsewhere?

We spend approx £200-£210 per month too (Aldi, 2 adults) and have been asked WOW, how do you spend so little!!?

i suppose it's about 11% of the total monthly spend. I m working on cutting down the rest where I can.

ceb1995

euronorris wrote: »

Make your own pizza bases?


Recipe I use:

• 800 g chapatti flour (because I accidentally bought 20kg once and now I am working through the stash! Lol) – 28p (£3.50 for 10kg in Tesco at the moment)
• 200 g fine ground semolina flour – 40p (£1 for 500g in Sainsburys)
• 1 level tablespoon salt – Less than 1p (18p for 500g in Lidl)
• 2x7 g sachets of dried yeast – 15p (44p for a pack of 6 x 7g sachets in Lidl)
• 1 tablespoon sugar – 1p (64p a kg in Lidl – thought you can currently get Tate & Lyle for 49p/50p a kg in Savers/B&M)
• 650ml tap water
  Total per batch – 85p. Makes 8 pizza bases, so 10.6p per pizza base.

i'd certainly consider giving that a go for a weekend meal

ceb1995

Fire_Fox wrote: »

This used to be my work and my passion, sorry if it reads as a lecture. I also used to be the fussiest eater ever, except for my sibling who literally spat out everything (even mashed potato or mashed banana) as a hungry weaning baby! :eek:.

You really can train yourself to eat and enjoy a wider variety of cheap and healthy wholefoods, by working out what it is you like or hate, and by HIDING them! The Old Style crew are masters and mistresses of that.

It took a long illness in adulthood to force me to change my eating.. I still cannot handle cooked root vegetables or cooked squashes (courgettes/ aubergine/ butternut/ raw cucumber/ raw melon). _pale_ Squishy texture and sweet. _pale_

What are you eating for vitamin D and how often?

Vegetables are great.

But they supply different essential nutrients to wholegrains, beans and lentils, nuts and seeds (minerals and different fibres).

Your evening menu - post 3 - and lunch suggests you are eating a lot of refined white wheat (bread/ wraps/ noodles/ pasta). Is that right? Obviously switch some to brown/ wholemeal, as well as having much more variety of grains.

Other grains you might try: Porridge oats, steel cut oats, pot barley, pearl barley, rye, brown rice but as noodles (yes!), wild rice, gram flour, teeny tiny weeny little red lentils. Any of these can be used to thicken a stew or soup if you don't like them as they come.

Do you have any brown rice lurking in the back of a cupboard because you HATE IT? If yes .... steam absorption method, do not boil it. Cook it long enough so it is not too chewy. Only if you have it lurking though.

I am a mean bully!! Pretty please pick any couple of ideas, not expecting you to do them all.

I'm dyspraxic so i m a bit averse to certain textures, took me a decade to make myself like cheese that wasn't on pizza but i do try to make myself try new things. I am not a sandwich person, hence the meat and veg or pasta for lunches.

ceb1995

falcieri wrote: »

I have a policy of never buying brand foods - saver and own brand only. Aldi only challenge branded products so instantly you are paying more than you need to anyway. I buy mostly from Morrisons and mostly yellow sticker items which saved me £52 this month. I also buy certain items from Lidl that are regularly cheaper than Morrisons. My food budget is £70 max a month. I have recently moved from a low calorie diet to a low carb diet and I have found cutting out all the cheap refined crap has not impacted my budget though I am buying a lot more yellow sticker foods.

To keep in budget I always stick to my list and my set rules about yellow sticker buys and I keep a spreadsheet for my monthly shop. I didn't think Aldi were very impressive. The only thing they sell which I found challenged prices in my regular supermarkets was chorizo so I've stopped bothering with them. Lidl challenge most of Aldi's prices anyway.

I've not bought branded foods in months, DH does sometimes but I try to discourage him from it. Unfortunately, we're stuck to an aldi and asda it's a bit of a drive to the nearest aldi and morrisons. I meal plan and keep a track of spending weekly but i ll give monthly a go to see if it helps.

Fire_Fox

ceb1995 wrote: »

I'm dyspraxic so i m a bit averse to certain textures, took me a decade to make myself like cheese that wasn't on pizza but i do try to make myself try new things. I am not a sandwich person, hence the meat and veg or pasta for lunches.

:T Blimey, ten years but you got there. :T

You have inspired me to have another attempt at something on my _pale_ list next time I get to Lidl or Aldi _pale_ It is months since the baby cucumbers. _pale_

Horrible feeling there is a candidate lurking in the freezer.

Anyway, do you like eggs at all?? They are well priced in larger packs, long lasting, very nutritious, work with all kinds of vegetables, and many different textures depending how you cook the eggs.

I am trying to master 'omelette in a sandwich bag'. Can confirm, not foolproof. :rotfl:

suki1964

ceb1995 wrote: »

I'm dyspraxic so i m a bit averse to certain textures, took me a decade to make myself like cheese that wasn't on pizza but i do try to make myself try new things. I am not a sandwich person, hence the meat and veg or pasta for lunches.

I so understand that

I hate things like mash, custard, porridge etc, not because of the taste, but texture

I can however make and enjoy blended soups

I can't eat roast potatoes, not boiled nor mashed, But Ill happily eat bubble and squeak

I can eat cottage pie, but not mince and potatoes

Go figure lol

But we are how we are and so its just a question of trying different ways of cooking until there's a way of getting what's good for you/can afford, down the neck and to stay there

Fire_Fox

PipneyJane wrote: »

Excellent advice as always, Fire Fox.

May I add Bulgar Wheat to your list? Cook it by placing 1 part bulgar wheat to 2 parts boiing water in a saucepan with a tightly fitting lid. Bring back to the boil, switch off and leave for 15 minutes. All the water will be absorbed and the bulgar wheat will be cooked. (1 cup wheat to 2 cups boiling water makes 4 generous portions.) It's high in fibre and B vitamins.

CEB1995, studies have shown that it takes 6 goes before the average human acquires the taste for something. Even our response to textures change.

You may have disliked something as a child - God knows I hated pumpkin - but try it again, now that you're an adult. It will be much nicer. Also change the way you cook it. I first started liking pumpkin when my flatmate made me curried pumpkin soup. Now I have it in curries, roasted (like potatoes) and in "pumpkin bread" (cake). Yum!

HTH

-Pip

Oooh yes, bulgur wheat is a great addition!

Food texture can be such a passion-killer. And so much more so for some on the autistic spectrum or, as I learned today, with dyspraxia.

A 'lightbulb moment' for me in the early days was realising how many more vegetables and fruits I could tolerate if cut fairly small and drenched in a sauce. Curry, stir fry, homemade gravy, more curry, canned evaporated milk ....

Raw v. cooked was another LBM. Pretty much the only vegetable you cannot eat raw is regular potatoes (toxic)! Crunchy and fresh v. squishy and sweet?

Amazing what can go into a soup or smoothie too. _pale_ Including the freezer-burned butternut squash. _pale_

ceb1995

Fire_Fox wrote: »

:T Blimey, ten years but you got there. :T

You have inspired me to have another attempt at something on my _pale_ list next time I get to Lidl or Aldi _pale_ It is months since the baby cucumbers. _pale_

Horrible feeling there is a candidate lurking in the freezer.

Anyway, do you like eggs at all?? They are well priced in larger packs, long lasting, very nutritious, work with all kinds of vegetables, and many different textures depending how you cook the eggs.

I am trying to master 'omelette in a sandwich bag'. Can confirm, not foolproof. :rotfl:

I like omelette but not egg in any other form.