2022 Frugal Living Challenge

FreshStart20

We all spent yesterday feeling a bit grotty. Covid has now got 3/4 of us. Everyone at home and poorly means heating on more, tv and devices on more, snacking more. Also due to need of my youngest who needs constant supervision and attention, it means I have had to leave my decluttering mission for now. Instead I’ll use the time to make plans with the girls. I’ll get the seed catalogue out later and we’ll order our veg seeds and then when we are well enough we’ll get out and prep the beds together.

spudsmum

EskarinaWeatherwax said:

@spudsmum I’m veggie too and when i started cycling distance in earnest last year, before, my injury, I was eating loss of protein. I buy peanut butter by the kilo and dried chickpeas which I then soak and boil in bulk, and freeze in can sized portions. I’d often make hummus - ideally with a lot of chickpeas left whole - before going out and just tear through the lot when I got back. It id have a tbsp or two of PB from the kilo tub which depletes it slowed than those smaller jars. Butter beans also work for hummus type dips though to be honest I eat them and chickpeas like peanuts!

Thanks @EskarinaWeatherwax

Sadly it's for my son who is extremely fussy - I really struggle to feed him sometimes as he's a Veggie but doesn't like cheese, mushrooms or nuts (or indeed most vegetables) which most Veggie meals are based on  - I've only just managed to get him to eat eggs - and even then only scrambled or fried - I despair sometimes 

Primrose

My OH recently experimented with Scrambled egg porridge!  He's not vegetarian but microwaved porridge with very little milk and then stirred in egg and a little grated cheese plus a few dried herbs.  I was surprised how filling and good to eat it was.

I wonder if your son won't eat cheese, whether mixing in a few baked beans would work?

spudsmum

Primrose said:

My OH recently experimented with Scrambled egg porridge!  He's not vegetarian but microwaved porridge with very little milk and then stirred in egg and a little grated cheese plus a few dried herbs.  I was surprised how filling and good to eat it was.

I wonder if your son won't eat cheese, whether mixing in a few baked beans would work?

Thanks @Primrose - I don't think it will work as he disects everything but I'm willing to try anything at this point as he's constantly eating - he comes home from school and has 2 sandwiches (4 slices of bread) Crisps and a sausage roll, then his tea, pudding then a massive bowl of cereal and fruit fir supper along with snacks too - he doesn't gain any weight as he's super active and plays sports 4-5 times a week. 

The quorn for his sandwiches alone has gone up to £2.50 a pack and lasts 2 days max as he also has it for pack up. 

The only thing I've managed so far is sneaking a handful of Lentils into his quorn Mince. Even then he was suspicious 

He used to ask me for money for snacks at school too but I knocked that on the head and make him take stuff from home as it was getting ridiculous 

Primrose

Gosh, that sounds a real challenge.  I,d be pulling my hair out to try and find imaginative meals, or even basic ones to fit that criteria.   I suppose you couldn,t adopt a tactic where he's  so hungry that he,d be prepared to try almost anything?

I do recall as a wartime child when rationing was so severe and there really weren,t many alternative food options around that most mothers were forced to treat their kids into an "eat it or leave it and go hungry" way of eating, and believe me, when you get hungry enough you'll try most things!      Just think long term what a problem  such a fussy eater might  prove to be to a future daughter in law ! 

spudsmum

Primrose said:

Gosh, that sounds a real challenge.  I,d be pulling my hair out to try and find imitative meals, or even basic ones to fit that criteria.   I suppose you couldn,t adopt a tactic where he's  so hungry that he,d be prepared to try almost anything?

I do recall as a wartime child when rationing was so severe and there really weren,t many alternative food options around that most mothers were forced to treat their kids into an "eat it or leave it and go hungry" way of eating, and believe me, when you get hungry enough you'll try most things!      Just think long term what a problem  such a fussy eater might  prove to be to a future daughter in law ! 

I've tried it believe me. 

It didn't work. He just lived on fruit which I can't really ration but it gets even more pricy. 

Bizarrely since he's gone Veggie he is a bit more more adventurous - he'll eat lasagne, curry, chilli etc when he would never entertain the meat based versions - he was strictly a chicken nugget and fries type kid (despite all my efforts) its just the fact the meat alternatives are so dear. 

He will also eat basic tomato pasta in huge quantities so I tend to do that once a week to keep costs down.

Luckily my daughter (5) will eat anything at all but my fussy Veggie and my autistic son who'll only eat cheese, crisps and pasta frequently have me tearing my hair out 

Primrose

I can imagine your frustration.  Perhaps you need to start a new thread on the forum for Fussy Vegetarian Eaters!  It might help people with your problem share some different ideas!   

Bluegreen143

I think the issue with the picky eating is, that food isn’t genuinely scarce like it was in war time and children can come by stuff they like so easily that they know that. It’s such a different world around us where food is just so plentiful and abundant. In reality we all exercise our ability to be choosy as I know if it was like wartime and food was scarce I’d not be so demanding about stuff being healthy and getting the flavours/spices I love - and kids being picky is essentially the same thing, they can easily hold out for something they like so don’t understand why they should eat stuff they don’t. 

Eg my kids hold out on dinners they dislike as so much food is on offer at nursery/school they’d never go hungry so they just fill up all day! And they are well aware the house is groaning with food though personally I am strict about having set snack/meal times and no alternative meals offered, but I’ll make sure there is something they like on the table even if veggie sticks or bread or a glass of milk. Once they start getting pocket money and earning little bits and are old enough to go to the shop or make their own food then I can imagine there’s no real way to keep them hungry enough to force trying things.

I have no answers but am all ears! Mine aren’t terrible but they do drive me nuts! I’ve gone down the route of bribing them to eat with pudding but I don’t feel very comfortable with the sweet tooth they are now developing 😕

spudsmum

Bluegreen143 said:

I think the issue with the picky eating is, that food isn’t genuinely scarce like it was in war time and children can come by stuff they like so easily that they know that. It’s such a different world around us where food is just so plentiful and abundant. In reality we all exercise our ability to be choosy as I know if it was like wartime and food was scarce I’d not be so demanding about stuff being healthy and getting the flavours/spices I love - and kids being picky is essentially the same thing, they can easily hold out for something they like so don’t understand why they should eat stuff they don’t. 

Eg my kids hold out on dinners they dislike as so much food is on offer at nursery/school they’d never go hungry so they just fill up all day! And they are well aware the house is groaning with food though personally I am strict about having set snack/meal times and no alternative meals offered, but I’ll make sure there is something they like on the table even if veggie sticks or bread or a glass of milk. Once they start getting pocket money and earning little bits and are old enough to go to the shop or make their own food then I can imagine there’s no real way to keep them hungry enough to force trying things.

I have no answers but am all ears! Mine aren’t terrible but they do drive me nuts! I’ve gone down the route of bribing them to eat with pudding but I don’t feel very comfortable with the sweet tooth they are now developing 😕

Yes I agree with that and also from speaking to people I know who lived through the war in their words "there was no such thing as spice - we just didn't have it" so everything was a lot blander and therefore probably more palatable to a wider audience.

They also said that vegetarianism was practically unheard of so it wouldn't even have been an option.

As I said I'm not sure if fussy is exactly  the right word for my lad  - he will eat lots of things - sadly all the things he likes seem to be expensive.  I try to be supportive of his choice to be Veggie  but I wish he liked some cheaper stuff like mushrooms 

EskarinaWeatherwax

@Bluegreen143 I know exactly how you feel about those domestic pleasures - I cal it nesting and honestly enjoy nothing more than pottering about at home in the same way. I’m off work today and have had a lie in, done some gardening, done some cleaning, boiled some chickpeas, sat with the cat and a book- lovely frugal pleasures!

in other frugal news I was VERY proud of myself when my bootlaces broke. I reluctantly thought, well I shall buy some, and then remembered I have an old, very dilapidated pair of boots I wear as slippers (frugal!) while working from home with good laces. So I swapped them over and my outdoor boots are good as new!