It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

euronorris

Its interesting that engagement even in the adults is a problem. I wonder what held them back from attending? Did they not think it necessary, or did they think they would be judged, or something else? (Just a random musing, not expecting anyone to know the answer)

leftatthetrafficlights

@KxMx and @freyasmum - thanks for the information about baks - I'll have a mooch 😉

EssexHebridean

Rosa_Damascena said:

EssexHebridean said:

I cant count the number of people who have asked me how to make pastry for instance. Ok  not especially healthy but filling and a pie can be strtched a long way.

I’ll challenge this statement to a degree. Take a pie, filled with some form of protein plus a heap of veggies. A gravy based sauce rather than one with a creamy base, perhaps. Potentially that’s going to be a great balanced way of someone getting carbs, protein and fats, plus several of their 5 a day. Serve it with a couple of additional portions of veg alongside, and follow up with yogurt and fruit. There is literally nothing “unhealthy” about that meal. 

Pie crust / pastry? Not good for you.

And probably won't stop me eating mince pies in December. The price might though!

On a separate note, I was sifting through the recycling and came across FF leaflet with vouchers and for once was less hasty to ditch it. I can see myself using the vouchers now if it means I can stock up on long life milk, juice, and other cupboard goods.

Absolute nonsense I’m afraid. Should someone be eating pastry on a daily basis? Probably not, as there are a wealth of other carbs out there that also form a great part of a balanced diet and eating the same food every day often indicates a lack of variety. Is pastry “bad” though? Also no. Classifying foods as “not good for you” without context is now well known to be extremely unhelpful - even harmful. Disordered eating, or worse - an eating disorder - delivers a poorer outcome for health than eating the foods that are demonised as “bad” in this way, ironically enough. The whole point of a balanced diet is that it allows unconditional permission to eat ALL foods - so far as allergies or other conditions allow - leading to a better relationship with food. The only reason anyone needs to exclude a particular food from their diet is where medical conditions, religious beliefs or moral stance comes into play, plus of course personal likes and dislikes! 😁 

@lefta@leftatthetrafficlights Both my Nationwide and Santander current accounts allow me to open associated e-savings accounts which can then be named as suits.  We use ours a lot - they’re invaluable for budgeting! 

@OrkneyStar I would say that a spin on that is “people are often in debt because they have never learned to budget” - we see that a lot on DFW. Not knowing how to - or being willing to - cook sometimes comes into play there too - it’s not unusual to be able to support someone to reduce their grocery spend by as much as 50% simply by signposting to resources like this board, making suggestions of easy ways of getting meals on the table fast…even meal planning can help as it reduces “thinking time” when someone gets in from work.

@freyasmum Getting the engagement often is the issue I suspect - and also where Foodbanks are concerned having classes that catered for everyone would be tricky too. It’s pointless teaching the person living with their three kids in a house with a kitchen the same sorts of recipes you might teach someone living in so-called temporary B&B accommodation where their only “cooking” facility is a microwave, for example. 

euronorris

I wonder if childcare is what held back some people from attending? If you're a single mum, already struggling to meet your bills, then you're not likely to spend out on a babysitter (even if it would help you in the long run). And they may not have a support network to call on.

Might be other reasons too, just one that sprang to mind.

maryb

My mother could not cook and I was never taught at school.  I learned to cook from Delia Smith' TV series in the 1970s.  That television series would never be made now, not sufficient drama or 'entertainment' and too leisurely.  But it would be a godsend for a lot of people

OrkneyStar

EssexHebridean said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

EssexHebridean said:

I cant count the number of people who have asked me how to make pastry for instance. Ok  not especially healthy but filling and a pie can be strtched a long way.

I’ll challenge this statement to a degree. Take a pie, filled with some form of protein plus a heap of veggies. A gravy based sauce rather than one with a creamy base, perhaps. Potentially that’s going to be a great balanced way of someone getting carbs, protein and fats, plus several of their 5 a day. Serve it with a couple of additional portions of veg alongside, and follow up with yogurt and fruit. There is literally nothing “unhealthy” about that meal. 

Pie crust / pastry? Not good for you.

And probably won't stop me eating mince pies in December. The price might though!

On a separate note, I was sifting through the recycling and came across FF leaflet with vouchers and for once was less hasty to ditch it. I can see myself using the vouchers now if it means I can stock up on long life milk, juice, and other cupboard goods.

Absolute nonsense I’m afraid. Should someone be eating pastry on a daily basis? Probably not, as there are a wealth of other carbs out there that also form a great part of a balanced diet and eating the same food every day often indicates a lack of variety. Is pastry “bad” though? Also no. Classifying foods as “not good for you” without context is now well known to be extremely unhelpful - even harmful. Disordered eating, or worse - an eating disorder - delivers a poorer outcome for health than eating the foods that are demonised as “bad” in this way, ironically enough. The whole point of a balanced diet is that it allows unconditional permission to eat ALL foods - so far as allergies or other conditions allow - leading to a better relationship with food. The only reason anyone needs to exclude a particular food from their diet is where medical conditions, religious beliefs or moral stance comes into play, plus of course personal likes and dislikes! 😁 

@lefta@leftatthetrafficlights Both my Nationwide and Santander current accounts allow me to open associated e-savings accounts which can then be named as suits.  We use ours a lot - they’re invaluable for budgeting! 

@OrkneyStar I would say that a spin on that is “people are often in debt because they have never learned to budget” - we see that a lot on DFW. Not knowing how to - or being willing to - cook sometimes comes into play there too - it’s not unusual to be able to support someone to reduce their grocery spend by as much as 50% simply by signposting to resources like this board, making suggestions of easy ways of getting meals on the table fast…even meal planning can help as it reduces “thinking time” when someone gets in from work.

@freyasmum Getting the engagement often is the issue I suspect - and also where Foodbanks are concerned having classes that catered for everyone would be tricky too. It’s pointless teaching the person living with their three kids in a house with a kitchen the same sorts of recipes you might teach someone living in so-called temporary B&B accommodation where their only “cooking” facility is a microwave, for example. 

EssexHebridean said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

EssexHebridean said:

I cant count the number of people who have asked me how to make pastry for instance. Ok  not especially healthy but filling and a pie can be strtched a long way.

I’ll challenge this statement to a degree. Take a pie, filled with some form of protein plus a heap of veggies. A gravy based sauce rather than one with a creamy base, perhaps. Potentially that’s going to be a great balanced way of someone getting carbs, protein and fats, plus several of their 5 a day. Serve it with a couple of additional portions of veg alongside, and follow up with yogurt and fruit. There is literally nothing “unhealthy” about that meal. 

Pie crust / pastry? Not good for you.

And probably won't stop me eating mince pies in December. The price might though!

On a separate note, I was sifting through the recycling and came across FF leaflet with vouchers and for once was less hasty to ditch it. I can see myself using the vouchers now if it means I can stock up on long life milk, juice, and other cupboard goods.

Absolute nonsense I’m afraid. Should someone be eating pastry on a daily basis? Probably not, as there are a wealth of other carbs out there that also form a great part of a balanced diet and eating the same food every day often indicates a lack of variety. Is pastry “bad” though? Also no. Classifying foods as “not good for you” without context is now well known to be extremely unhelpful - even harmful. Disordered eating, or worse - an eating disorder - delivers a poorer outcome for health than eating the foods that are demonised as “bad” in this way, ironically enough. The whole point of a balanced diet is that it allows unconditional permission to eat ALL foods - so far as allergies or other conditions allow - leading to a better relationship with food. The only reason anyone needs to exclude a particular food from their diet is where medical conditions, religious beliefs or moral stance comes into play, plus of course personal likes and dislikes! 😁 

@lefta@leftatthetrafficlights Both my Nationwide and Santander current accounts allow me to open associated e-savings accounts which can then be named as suits.  We use ours a lot - they’re invaluable for budgeting! 

@OrkneyStar I would say that a spin on that is “people are often in debt because they have never learned to budget” - we see that a lot on DFW. Not knowing how to - or being willing to - cook sometimes comes into play there too - it’s not unusual to be able to support someone to reduce their grocery spend by as much as 50% simply by signposting to resources like this board, making suggestions of easy ways of getting meals on the table fast…even meal planning can help as it reduces “thinking time” when someone gets in from work.

@freyasmum Getting the engagement often is the issue I suspect - and also where Foodbanks are concerned having classes that catered for everyone would be tricky too. It’s pointless teaching the person living with their three kids in a house with a kitchen the same sorts of recipes you might teach someone living in so-called temporary B&B accommodation where their only “cooking” facility is a microwave, for example. 

My tired brain doesn't know whether you are agreeing with me or not, in short my view is that there is no one size fits all for helping people budget/reduce spends, so various suggestions can be put forth (in a non-judgemental way), while also bearing in mind that we don't all come from the same start point (resource-, knowledge-, time-, disability-, or physical/mental health-wise). It's also hard for some people to even ask for help, I guess that is an issue too. 

ZsaZsa

freyasmum said:

Around 25 years ago, my local council ran classes that were aimed at young, single mothers to show them how to cook, budget and look after their children. 

The only people who actually turned up were my mum (a trained chef), my uncle (retired and a keen cook), his wife (hadn't worked outside the home and never liked to cook!), my aunt (former school cook), the owner of the local Chinese restaurant (elderly) and various other older people from the village. 

Years later, my daughters nursery also ran a little class for a few hours for maybe 6 or so weeks? Yet again, barely anyone turned up.

The council can run these things, but it takes people actually turning up.

Maybe the classes were empty because the “young single mothers” didn’t actually need lessons on how to look after their children? 

CatieE

I just thought I would share this as it may help someone. An elderly neighbour made comment about how our daughter had grown in the last year. She then explained to me that during the war years many of her dresses were lengthened by simply adding a piece of fabric to the bottom of the dress. It sounds so obvious I guess - but had never dawned on me to do this. However, times have changed and I 'gave it a go'. I'm so glad I did as the dresses have turned out well and now a few of my friends are doing the same

ladyholly

My mother made most of my dresses when I was a child and they tended to have deep hems so they could be let down. The mark that was left was then disguised with rick rack braid. 

Greenqueen_2

Yes, many of my dresses had a strip of lace added to eke out another year or two!

I worked in a crèche attached to an Adult Education college, (looking after babies and pre-school aged children of students). Lots of the courses were free to attend and the crèche was also free but getting people signed up was always a struggle. We could never work out why.