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

euronorris

I was very fussy as a child. I am better now, having worked hard at it, but there are still things I can't or won't eat. Texture is a huge thing for me. Gristle, or 'bouncy bits' in meat (for example) just lead to me gagging and if I try to ignore it, I end up vomiting and then can't face eating anything else without gagging/vomiting again. I don't really understand why, but have found that me being in control of preparing the meat helps as I can ensure it's cooked how I like, and bouncy bits removed. Not frugal, I know, but better than it all being wasted.

DD is the exact opposite of me! We did try to give her as varied a diet as possible from weaning onwards, but honestly I think I'm just lucky that she takes after her Dad. She loves her veggies and chooses to eat them first anyway (especially broccoli), and is happy to try new stuff. She was eating other people's whitebait starter at my DH's 40th meal in 2019! Heads and tails, the whole lot, whilst I hid my disgust at the thought of it lol. The only things she won't eat is eggs, peanut butter and olives. Have tried over and over with the eggs, but she hates them. However, she has recently enjoyed a quiche, so that might be a way to get her to eat them. And peanut butter is a hangover from having an allergy to them when she was younger. Late last year they did some follow up tests to see if she had grown out of it, which included a 'challenge test'. She basically had to eat increasing amounts of peanut butter, over the course of the day whilst they observed and looked out for possible reactions. She did it bless her, and allergy now gone (wahoo), but she was so *over* peanut butter by the end of the day. I'm hoping, that in time, she will try it again and appreciate just how delicious it is! 😋 😂

General_Grant

London_1 said:

Woolsery said:

Sayschezza said:

Has anyone seen the vlog of Frugal Queen in France on u tube. The post called getting ready for rationing (or something similar) is well worth a look and is funny in a sad way. Can't do links sorry.

I can:

https://www.youtube.com/c/FrugalQueeninFrance

. . ..

I grew up with 1940s rationing until 1954 and because I knew no different, it was just a way of life to everyone .Nothing was wasted or thrown away, and we ate everything put in front of us whether we liked it or not .
(I loathed Tripe and its probably the only thing I honestly think I really couldn't eat today, no matter how hungry I was )

. . .

I don't believe I ever had tripe when I was a child but when I married (1974) discovered it and we liked it (made a white onion sauce), particularly the honeycomb type.  I think the attraction was that it was relatively quick to cook for a weekday evening meal.  I have seen some in Morrisons in the last year or so but not bought any.

Floss

I disagree with the theory that GYO doesn't save money. While I had my allotment from 2011 to 2019 even with paying for plot fees, petrol, time & seeds we were quids in against supermarket costs for the same volume of produce, and the freshness & flavour were incomparable.

I would focus on crops that we ate a lot of such as strawberries & raspberries, rhubarb & blackcurrants, pears, plums & apples, garlic, onions & leeks, potatoes, beetroot, cucumber & tomatoes, peppers & chillies, courgettes & aubergines and lots of herbs.

I would also grow stuff that was more expensive or came with air miles such as purple sprouting brocoli (first crop of the year!), fennel, shallots, blueberries, asparagus (grown in an old bath) and french beans (1 pack of seeds would give kilos that freeze very happily).

The plot would feed 2 of us eating a 60% veg diet and gluts of produce would be frozen, preserved or perhaps given away (mainly courgettes). 

JinJinBlue

Just watched the Frugal Queen. Wow! She doesn't mince her words. I especially liked the 2nd section about not being fussy and saying, "I don't care.......... about food snobbery, if you don't like it, you're not paying for it and putting food on my table......." 
She certainly gave me a lot to think about. 

I'm vegetarian and some things I wouldn't touch. I'm not fussy about if fruit and veg are wonky though and I try to not waste anything much.Thanks for posting the link. We'll worth a watch. 

Woolsery

General_Grant said:

London_1 said:

Woolsery said:

Sayschezza said:

Has anyone seen the vlog of Frugal Queen in France on u tube. The post called getting ready for rationing (or something similar) is well worth a look and is funny in a sad way. Can't do links sorry.

I can:

https://www.youtube.com/c/FrugalQueeninFrance

. . ..

I grew up with 1940s rationing until 1954 and because I knew no different, it was just a way of life to everyone .Nothing was wasted or thrown away, and we ate everything put in front of us whether we liked it or not .
(I loathed Tripe and its probably the only thing I honestly think I really couldn't eat today, no matter how hungry I was )

. . .

I don't believe I ever had tripe when I was a child but when I married (1974) discovered it and we liked it

As a post war child I loved it. Then my Dad told me what it was.

Don't think I've had any for about 65 years!

timehastoldme

Can't get on with frugal queen after she snark-posted about menstrual cups and then really rounded on someone in her comments who expressed the benefits of using them. There's more, but that was the main ick.

cuddlymarm

I work in a pie/cake shop and regularly see parents say “ no you don’t like that “ to kids when they want to try something new, but give into them when they scream and shout for cake, then others that will happily give their kids the same as they are eating. My kids had things they hated, DS1 hated Brussels sprouts and youngest doesn’t like anything with almonds in but apart from that would happily try anything we gave them.
When a child is hungry they will eat as long as they know that there will not be anything better offered if they make a fuss. 

Brambling

I'm sure Tripe for human consumption is bleach so it's no longer green so I'm not sure on the nutritional value once processed. I just remember my sister boiling green tripe for her dogs when I was a child it wasn't a pleasant smell 🤢

The butcher at our local farm shop sometimes has turkey drumsticks they're £1.50 regardless of size so can vary slightly but are usually quite big. I buy one occasionally and with added veg they will make six greedy size portions of soup (or 8 not so generous)  😋 with the added benefit of being from a local farm so no air miles. Usually I first make the stock in the slow cooker and then make the soup on the hob the next day but yesterday I skipped the stock process and made the soup in the pressure cooker from the raw drumstick and skimmed the fat today, it tastes just as good and has the benefit of less electricity used 🙂 

whilst the pressure cooker was out I cooked a small gammon joint in 18 minutes and today I made a 12 minute rice pudding using up a excess of milk dated today with a added half tin of coconut milk from the freezer, cheaper than yoghurt for a pud it just needed a grating of nutmeg over the top, thanks JackieO for reminding me I has pudding rice in the cupboard 🙂

DuranGirl

Florenceem said:

Woolsery said:

Sayschezza said:

Has anyone seen the vlog of Frugal Queen in France on u tube. The post called getting ready for rationing (or something similar) is well worth a look and is funny in a sad way. Can't do links sorry.

I can:

https://www.youtube.com/c/FrugalQueeninFrance

Elle n'est pas Francais!

Thanks - I loved reading her blog so videos to watch are great.

Just watched the rationing one - my first. Got a bit of a crush now... I've been feeling so out of step with almost everyone for ages now, thank goodness I got back on the MSE wagon and rediscovered my tribe! I'm definitely  not alone. 

Doom_and_Gloom

timehastoldme said:

Can't get on with frugal queen after she snark-posted about menstrual cups and then really rounded on someone in her comments who expressed the benefits of using them. There's more, but that was the main ick.

I've been watching the FQiF for at least a year, not religiously I'll admit, but if what you are saying is true it seems a bit hypocritical of her saying that when she did a full video about people shaming you for being frugal/saving money.
My reusable menstrual products, yes I have a type of cup along with reusable undies and my old home made reusable pads, save me money.
When I was working and reusables came up because we started selling them I openly said I use them themself and why a few of the older woman said they would too with what was available now if they still needed such items 😆. They understood how items such as these keep getting more expensive yet are a needed item you have to use, as such a one off cost if you can brunt it ends up saving over the long term. To be honest the fact that no one had been aware (no smell that people seem to associate with reusable or simular) proved a point to those who looked sceptical when mentioning them.

I do have to say that sometimes I do sense a "holier Than Thou" attitude from FQiF which can put me off her (she is not the only older youtuber I watch that this applies to, though she is the example I will use as mentioned) I have a habit of putting the videos on the faster mode when this happens and slow it again when it doesn't. While I agree she has points at times others I'm sure even my ma and dad would raise an eyebrow at.
An example of her is the saying of budgeting but also mentioning that their house in France is completely paid for, while I appreciate the honesty, it is a fact that rent/mortgage or housing however you pay for it if you need to is usually a fairly large chunk of the income of a household. While I understand that most of their veiwer-ship are likely to be my parents generation or older, who in general had a fairer chance of buying a house (although I know it wasn't a given as my dad's parents rented until a family member gave them a place to live free of charge as they honestly couldn't afford to rent anywhere!) there are those like me in their 30's, so a different generation watching also.  It can be disheartening to hear the budget 'they live on' and how much that they have that isn't all that much lower than your own has to stretch to pay for rent also while they save more than what your rent even is a month when converted (as such in the latest video)! While I know owning vs renting can incur different costs it does erk me when the generation before us who are rent/mortgage free think we don't budget and that is why we are in the situation we are in. I also 'pay myself first' as she puts it and the savings get slipped away before they are seen almost. However when you don't have a large income this saving is not a great amount. It is also something that I may have to adjust down if things keep as they are. There are many things we have no control over on cost and have to pay, some of which they didn't (my OH went to uni for a while for example. Something that was free in my parents generation but not for ours. Though I fully admit apprenticeship programmes for what my OH went to uni for were more likely in my parents generation  but that is a different tangent altogether 😞. The uni loan amount still owed comes though the door every year.)

Sorry that went on a rant....things are obviously compounding on me more than I thought.