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

YorksLass

A quick look in my cupboards shows that practically everything is non-branded, other than coffee (an instant middle-of-the-road, so not too expensive and a jar will last us a full year since we're not big coffee drinkers), Oxos and a few items that were subs when what I wanted was out of stock.  The SM refunds the difference in price so I sometimes keep them, but not always.  Oxos are another high price item (currently £3.10 for a box of 24, thankfully I don't need any yet) and I fully agree about the exorbitant prices of Heinz products, be it beans/soup/ketchup/salad cream or whatever.  We're happy with own brand beans etc and hm soup.  One thing we have ditched is fizzy drinks - Corporation pop is a lot cheaper!  

We do still eat meat, poultry and fish but less of it, although I doubt we'd ever be completely vegetarian.  As for vegan, well that's a definite No for us.  I do think everyone should have a choice but I get a little bit fed up when things I want are being ditched by the SMs while they push new vegan and plant based lines.  Pity they don't have elastic shelves so we can all have what we want!    Apologies in advance to any vegans out there.

Dinner today is cooked chicken slices from the freezer, carrots, the last of the sprouts, mash and mini Yorkies, some of which I'll freeze for another time.  The SC is doing its stuff with mince beef and veg that will make the bases for two cottage pies.

amber03

Ha, we used to drink corporation pop all the time when we were growing up. Today went to SM and noticed they were selling veg oil the same price as Al@i, well according to the shelf end label. After going through the checkout, noticed I had been charged 20p more. So off to customer service and a 20p refund. But if you think of all the customers buying it due to the incorrect label, how much the SM is making. Money better in my pocket than theirs.x

General_Grant

amber03 said:

Ha, we used to drink corporation pop all the time when we were growing up. Today went to SM and noticed they were selling veg oil the same price as Al@i, well according to the shelf end label. After going through the checkout, noticed I had been charged 20p more. So off to customer service and a 20p refund. But if you think of all the customers buying it due to the incorrect label, how much the SM is making. Money better in my pocket than theirs.x

The 20p higher price was probably correctly matched to Aldi and programmed into the checkout prices.  It was probably that the SEL had not been updated by store staff.  

That's not to defend the SM but it is good that you spotted the difference and CS refunded the difference.

tooldle

elsien said:

Our “plant based” ice creams (no non-vegan options available) at the theatre were £9.20 for two.
Can’t help thinking that I’m subsidising people’s life choices - I’m fairly sure they could have got non-vegan options cheaper and given the rest of us the option. 

The Vegan ice-cream may well be part of the operation's drive to meet Net Zero. Sustainability is a hot topic for creative industries.

Siebrie

@Toonie I always make my own granola:

some honey, same amount of oil (any, but not olive), mix well (maybe soften the honey for a bit in the microwave).

add oats and any extras

spread on baking sheet

bake for 10 minutes at 160C

stir

bake for another 10 minutes (add any coconut only for the last 5 minutes)

cool

don't add dried fruit other than raisins.

Stores for about 2 weeks, add the dried fruits to your bowl, not to the mix you are storing; it will go soft and chewy.

Play with amounts of honey and oil, ingredients and oven temps and time until you are happy. Keep track of your experiments until you have found your happy place

Floss

tooldle said:

elsien said:

Our “plant based” ice creams (no non-vegan options available) at the theatre were £9.20 for two.
Can’t help thinking that I’m subsidising people’s life choices - I’m fairly sure they could have got non-vegan options cheaper and given the rest of us the option. 

The Vegan ice-cream may well be part of the operation's drive to meet Net Zero. Sustainability is a hot topic for creative industries.

It's also a requirement for non-creative public bodies such as the NHS.

tooldle

Floss said:

tooldle said:

elsien said:

Our “plant based” ice creams (no non-vegan options available) at the theatre were £9.20 for two.
Can’t help thinking that I’m subsidising people’s life choices - I’m fairly sure they could have got non-vegan options cheaper and given the rest of us the option. 

The Vegan ice-cream may well be part of the operation's drive to meet Net Zero. Sustainability is a hot topic for creative industries.

It's also a requirement for non-creative public bodies such as the NHS.

Indeed it is a requirement for all, although people tend to think of it being the preserve of engineering industries. Theatre being an example of an industry where the carbon footprint is perhaps, more hidden to the  audience.

jDelight

Siebrie said:

@Toonie I always make my own granola:

some honey, same amount of oil (any, but not olive), mix well (maybe soften the honey for a bit in the microwave).

add oats and any extras

spread on baking sheet

bake for 10 minutes at 160C

stir

bake for another 10 minutes (add any coconut only for the last 5 minutes)

cool

don't add dried fruit other than raisins.

Stores for about 2 weeks, add the dried fruits to your bowl, not to the mix you are storing; it will go soft and chewy.

Play with amounts of honey and oil, ingredients and oven temps and time until you are happy. Keep track of your experiments until you have found your happy place

I used to avoid recipes that are arbitrary (the amounts) and some improvisation is needed, but now I'm much braver. It sounds great, so I'll dare and do some baking this week! Thank you for sharing!

pumpkin89

elsien said:

Our “plant based” ice creams (no non-vegan options available) at the theatre were £9.20 for two.
Can’t help thinking that I’m subsidising people’s life choices - I’m fairly sure they could have got non-vegan options cheaper and given the rest of us the option. 

Sadly I'm not sure it would have been cheaper!  Last time we went to the theatre the (dairy) ice creams were £5.50 each.  It's quite clever really - if we fancy sweets we'll bring them with us, but that doesn't work so well with ice cream 

Toonie

Thanks @Siebrie I'll give it a go tomorrow. I also have some barley flakes to add in which will give it a nice flavour.