April 2008 Grocery Challenge

Sunnyday

Sharon_1970 wrote: »

For carrots they need to be 10 litres and about 12 inches deep. It also depends on the variety you grow

For the best yield try Primo. They are good, plump, stump-ended carrots - rinse off the compost and pop them straight into boiling water.

Thanks Sharon, i`ll look around for some pots this size when i go back to wilco.
Question for all the free range egg buyers out there.

When i first started buying free range eggs i noticed that they were easy to shell when they had been boiled, i do this a lot as i make egg mayo for sandwiches. Just lately i`ve noticed that they are hard to peel again and the shells break up into little bits just as they did when i used to buy the cheapo eggs. The last lot i had the printing on the eggs was all blurred and i couldn`t read it, the ones i`ve just boiled a few minutes ago had no printing on but both were labelled free range on the packaging.
I`m starting to wonder if i`m being conned but it could just be my imagination so i wondered if anyone else had noticed this?
SD

tq16

Over budget this month and had to do a shop today-no milk, and daughter insists on mackeral for tea on mondays! (shes only 3-wouldn't normally let her dictate but mackeral so good for her can't refuse spent £21.43 (bogof offers that I just couldn't resist, but they should mean less spending in may)-freezer so full I can't fit anything else in, so we must start eating it. Having to re-write may meal plan now though to accomodate the great offers. Hoping to have great May, trying to make savings across the board-though lots of birthdays this month!

tq16

Sunnyday wrote: »

Question for all the free range egg buyers out there.

When i first started buying free range eggs i noticed that they were easy to shell when they had been boiled, i do this a lot as i make egg mayo for sandwiches. Just lately i`ve noticed that they are hard to peel again and the shells break up into little bits just as they did when i used to buy the cheapo eggs. The last lot i had the printing on the eggs was all blurred and i couldn`t read it, the ones i`ve just boiled a few minutes ago had no printing on but both were labelled free range on the packaging.
I`m starting to wonder if i`m being conned but it could just be my imagination so i wondered if anyone else had noticed this?
SD

Do you buy free range eggs in supermarket? - found much cheaper to buy from sides of road and then can usually see hens for yourself therefore more guarantees as free range? now get from same person when needed at £1 for a dozen

clair2305

Sunnyday wrote: »

Thanks Sharon, i`ll look around for some pots this size when i go back to wilco.
Question for all the free range egg buyers out there.

When i first started buying free range eggs i noticed that they were easy to shell when they had been boiled, i do this a lot as i make egg mayo for sandwiches. Just lately i`ve noticed that they are hard to peel again and the shells break up into little bits just as they did when i used to buy the cheapo eggs. The last lot i had the printing on the eggs was all blurred and i couldn`t read it, the ones i`ve just boiled a few minutes ago had no printing on but both were labelled free range on the packaging.
I`m starting to wonder if i`m being conned but it could just be my imagination so i wondered if anyone else had noticed this?
SD

Sunnyday, it's funny you should say this, I was wondering the same thing, but not really because of date stamping, etc, but because there was an item on the news Friday when I was on my way home from work which said the number of investigations about fraudulent food and drink items, eg dodgy vodka, etc was up by 30%, it didn't really go into detail, as many news stories don't do they, but does anyone know how we prove the free range eggs you buy are just that, free range?

getting-sorted-sarah

razra wrote: »

Ive got my parents coming to stay for a weekend and they spend every waking minute thinking about what they are going to eat so it costs me a fortune when they come to stay:o

Are we related?!!

Sunnyday

tq16 wrote: »

Do you buy free range eggs in supermarket? - found much cheaper to buy from sides of road and then can usually see hens for yourself therefore more guarantees as free range? now get from same person when needed at £1 for a dozen

I bought the last 2 lots from different supermarkets but they were packaged the same, 18 eggs in a cardboard tray with a plastic lid wrapped in cellophane ( i wanted the boxes for propagators) i do know someone who gets farm eggs but they are £1 for 6 which is on level with the more expensive supermarket ones.
Unfortunately there`s nowhere else near here that i know of that sells them at the side of the road or i`d be there like a shot.
Clare2305 thanks for the reply, i didn`t know anything about food fraud :eek:
it`s making me wonder whether or not i`ll continue buying the free range ones, things are tight enough as it is.
SD

getting-sorted-sarah

frankerooney wrote: »

I have very rarely used mince but would like to start using vege mince more for bolognaise/chilli/pasty type dishes. Can anyone offer opinions on which sort is nicest? My local Mr T sells quorn mince and 'textured soya protein' mince. Thank you!

My favourite frozen mince is made by Realeat and where I live sometimes Tesco have it but more often Sainsburys. I'm a recent convert to TVP (the soya stuff) and this is much cheaper but my kids have moaned, so I am using Realeat and bulking out with the soya. I have found Quorn mince pretty tasteless, but I do like the pieces... we're vegetarian btw.

tq16

getting-sorted-sarah wrote: »

My favourite frozen mince is made by Realeat and where I live sometimes Tesco have it but more often Sainsburys. I'm a recent convert to TVP (the soya stuff) and this is much cheaper but my kids have moaned, so I am using Realeat and bulking out with the soya. I have found Quorn mince pretty tasteless, but I do like the pieces... we're vegetarian btw.

Tesco's own a fav in our house :-)

getting-sorted-sarah

clair2305 wrote: »

Sunnyday, it's funny you should say this, I was wondering the same thing, but not really because of date stamping, etc, but because there was an item on the news Friday when I was on my way home from work which said the number of investigations about fraudulent food and drink items, eg dodgy vodka, etc was up by 30%, it didn't really go into detail, as many news stories don't do they, but does anyone know how we prove the free range eggs you buy are just that, free range?

I don't think free range means much, other than the chicken is not crammed into a cage smaller than it's body.
I only buy organic - this is also the only label that ensures that the chickens have been fed on what I would call chicken food, rather than all kinds of yuck that works out cheap for the farmer....and it means that the eggs have not been injected with food colouring (yes, they really do that). I think buying from a farmer you know would be the ideal thing if you get chance.
Sorry if this upsets anyone, not intentional - trying to do the best for the planet, animals, our health.... and save money - it has me in knots!

Editing this to add the following - seems things might not be so bad for free range chooks: (Wikipedia)


The European Union regulates marketing standards for egg farming which specifies the following (cumulative) minimum conditions for Free range method:

• hens have continuous daytime access to open-air runs, except in the case of temporary restrictions imposed by veterinary authorities,
• the open-air runs to which hens have access is mainly covered with vegetation and not used for other purposes except for orchards, woodland and livestock grazing if the latter is authorised by the competent authorities,
• the open-air runs must at least satisfy the conditions specified in Article 4(1)(3)(b)(ii) of Directive 1999/74/EC whereby the maximum stocking density is not greater than 2 500 hens per hectare of ground available to the hens or one hen per 4 m2 at all times and the runs are not extending beyond a radius of 150 m from the nearest pophole of the building; an extension of up to 350 m from the nearest pophole of the building is permissible provided that a sufficient number of shelters and drinking troughs within the meaning of that provision are evenly distributed throughout the whole open-air run with at least four shelters per hectare.[8]

Otherwise, egg farming in EU is classified into 4 categories: Organic (ecological), Free range, Barn, and Cages, each category being more progressive (in sense of animals' well-being and consequent egg quality[9]) than the next. The mandatory labeling on the egg shells attributes a number (which is the first digit on the label) to each of these categories: 0 for Organic, 1 for Free range, 2 for Barn and 3 for Cages.

getting-sorted-sarah

Ok, that's me all caught up. Declaring £223.10 for April and Mrs M please put me down for £200 for May - hope springs eternal......