Its very easily achieved, or are people far too lazy or worse, simply plain ignorant ?
A new effort to convince families in England that they can eat healthily on a budget is beginning.
R.F.
Hi Mick, Do you mind if I also post this on PoliticsUK England as well
D.B.
Far too lazy! It is also a fact that unhealthy food can be cheaper than healthy food. I could easily feed my family on crap for less than a fiver, but no way could I do a "proper" meal for less than that.
Ri.F.
Debs has a very very good point
M.C.
Why so negative, Mick?
S.S.
Debs, I am not sure how many you are feeding but I bet you could cook shepards pie for less than a fiver.
C.N.
The Tories criticised Labour for encouraging a "Nanny State".
Diane Abbot says that the Tories are simply pandering to their friends in big business.
However, I say... "If people are too dumb to work these things out for themselves, surely that's natural selection?" ;O)
M.C.
Should people need to work it out for themselves?
C.N.
Debs - I trained as a chef in Spain and can easily make a healthy two course meal for four on £5...
A.K.
I did shepards pie for 5 adults and two children...the mince alone cost 7pounds 50p....I could have got cheaper mince but it would be far more fatty which would not be so healthy....Potatoes are expensive now also....It must easiliy cost more than ten pounds and then there is the fuel for cooking....
M.C.
I imagine restaurants can get much better deals on ingredient costs than the average person can, Chris.
C.N.
£7.50 Anita? Blimey. I can buy enough prime mince for 6 people for £4 from my local butcher - and the lean meat is cut and minced in front of me. Maybe the supermarkets aren't as cheap as they claim? *shock horror*
C.N.
Mark - people manage to work out when to wipe their backsides and when to sleep etc. Surely what to eat, how much and when shouldn't be too much of a stretch? ;O)
R.F.
Mince is expensive, but a neccessary cooking resource
Mi.C
Debs, you need to go buy veg with mud on, its really cheaper than Tesco :lol.
I could feed a familiy of 4 or possibly more with Shepards pie and 2 veg, for around £6. Thats less than £1.50 per serving.
Its cheap, healthy, but requires some imagination, limited skill, and know how.
M.C.
Are there still butchers in business? I thought the supermarkets had killed them off.
A.K.
Chris I did get it form my local co-op they do tend to be more expensive but it is good meat and very little fat....Best give me the name of your local butcher......
R.F.
I have a good one near me. If your passing Birmingham
M.C.
So the high street is where it's at for better value. I guess convenience of supermarkets does come at a price.
C.N.
I don't work in a restaurant Mark - I'm just a humble home consumer as are most of us. Anita - I can't pronounce the name of my local butcher! LOL
M.C.
Would high street butchers have capacity to deal with demand if everyone stopped using supermarkets I wonder.
S.S.
Plenty of butchers out there Mark.
R.F.
Should always shop local if you have the opportunity. Supports your shops. Hopefully their source local on the whole so less miles on the food.
Get much less processed goods and live healthier.
I fail to do this far too much. . . but I know it is the right thing and do try from time to time
Mi.C
In my small town we have 1 x largish Tesco Supermarket, 3 x Tesco Express, 1 x Lidl, and 2 x family butchers.
In the surrounding area with a 5 mile radius there are at least 4 farm shops
The scope is endless
M.C.
Does everyone have time to get food from the multiple high street sources or do they have little choice but to rely on supermarkets?
R.F.
It's not laziness, just bad habits, and the desire to cut corners where possible to relieve a bit of the pressure on people's lives.
Mi.C
And keep a few chooks, cheap to feed and year round supply of eggs, and we also are totally self sufficient in veg and salads in the summer months.
So anyone with a garden, clear the crap out, get off your arse, and make it work for you, but that does require effort.
No excuse what-so -ever to those unfortunate not to have jobs at the moment, they have all the time in the world to do such things Mark
R.F.
What did we do before supermarkets?
M.C.
Richard, to my knowledge we had thriving high streets before the supermarkets dominated.
Mick, as you said, that's great for people with gardens, sadly not everyone does. Perhaps we need to expand on allotments a lot more.
R.F.
Are allotments over subscribed at the moment? (I genuinely don't know)
S.S.
Richard, before supermarkets we shopped in the high street, or in rural areas, where I live, we had a mobile buthers, mobile greengrocers and a small local shop where you could buy just about everything. I have to add that I am as old as methusalah by the way.
M.C.
http://www.allotment.org.uk/articles/Allotment-History.php
"Decline in Allotment Numbers
Following the peak of 1,400,000 in 1943 there was a sharp decline in allotment provision to around 500,00 in the 1970s. The decline continued during the 1970s but at a much slower rate. During the 1970s there was a huge upsurge in interest in self-sufficiency and home food production epitomised by the television series The Good Life which ran from 1975 to 1978.
The rate of decline again increased encouraged by the continuing increase in land and housing costs, which created an incentive to hard pressed local authorities to sell allotment land for high prices to housing developers.
Current Situation
By 1996 there were around 297,000 plots available and, although definite figures do not appear available, since then the rate of decline appears to have decreased whilst at the same time there has again been an upsurge of interest in growing food crops. Concerns about genetic modification of foodstuffs, chemical pollution and contamination of our food and the desire for the ultimate in freshness has seen empty plots filled and waiting lists appear for sites that previously had high vacancy rates.
It is possible that this increase in demand combined with a willingness to demand provision of allotments as allowed for under statute will see numbers rise from present levels."
Allotment History, A Brief History of Allotments in the UK
www.allotment.org.uk
A brief explanation of what an allotment is and the history of allotments in the UK
·
R.F.
I have to say I mainly shop in supermarkets because they are convienient and I honestly find it enjoyable (in comparison to smaller shops - not that i like shopping at all).
I make a point at shopping in local shops at the cost of my time sometimes to support the community and I like to have a local line of shops.
However I am not sure this is the right motivation. Local shops need to improve with the modern times.
M.C.
So looks like currently high demand.
R.F.
So appears you are right. More allotments would easy be filled. Then that would be a good thing to campaign for as it would promote better lifestyles
R.B.
Anita Aldi do a lean Steak Mince for £2.49 for 500g and it hardly has any fat and i Think lidl will do similar ! co-op are one of the most over expensive places in my opinion !
Mi.C
Overall they are Richard, sometime with waiting lists years ahead
Mi.C
Mark, veggies and salad grow in pots and buckets which will fit on the smallest patio or back yard
Mi.C
Herbs will happily grow on windowsills
M.C.
Would that be enough to come anywhere near self self-sufficiency, Mick?
R.F.
I do know a person who grows a lot of their food in a allotment. I often get given some as they are very proud of it.
Still I need steak in my life and I won't be keeping herd of cows
Mi.C
No-one is suggesting self-sufficiency, you need a Hugh FW mentality to achieve that and a lot of land.
But what we do is enough to cut our costs significantly during the growing season, and in an estate garden !!.
The chooks are year round providers, they could offer more if we also ate them, but we chose not to
R.B.
Well Ive just applied on-line for an allotment so just waiting to hear back fingers Crossed !
R.F.
I have a monsterous garden so I may just make my own allotment this year.
A.L.
before the agricultural revolutiojn the land was divided into strips, it was grossly inefficent way of producing food, hence the revolution. turning the country into a wasteland of allotments would be a backward step. we need to get producers to produce better food and stop the supermarkests controlling the producers and the cost. it is possible to make good nutritious food at a reasonable cost, but we really need to educate people about ingredients and how to use them..
R.B.
we have a greggs 'bakerey outlet' where they sell the stuff for about half price you can get 3 small loaves for 90p and most of their pies and pasties etc you get 2 for between 85p and £1.20 ..not the most having said that steak bake with veg mash n gravy..not the worst meal in the world
A.L.
and we need to get rid of obsession with meat, which is a very inefficent way of producing nutrition
R.R.
Are they taking the micky ? Ainslie harriet telling us how to cook for under a fiver !
I cant bear to watch nigella jump into her black taxi , Popping down to tesco express to spend 30 quid on just seasoning .
When they can tell us how to make a family meaL For under a pound then ill listen !
J.S.
slimming world reccomend the bags of ready cooked frozen chicken from iceland and other foods which are quite economical and other stuff. I would love an allotment but as they are now quite trendy they are over subscribed : ( ...i dont have a garden but a courtyard n do try and grow as much as i can s it's a natural suntrap. I buy the veg off the reduced shelf to save pennys and would love some chickens but dont think my neighbours would lol. It is possible to eat well at a low price. My weakness tho is not drugs or alcohol but homemade treats and jaffa cakes
M-H.G.
But would the ready cooked frozen chicken from Iceland be free range Jayne because I couldn't bear to eat battery ones! I have seen with my own eyes what they do to battery hens.
R.B.
There's a Ban Coming in on battery hens not sure when though or how much better the alternative is .
J.S.
I dont know marie.....i suppose you could get free range. The waiting for an allotment in my area is 2 to 3 years...good job i have me name down i could get it before im 50 lol
C.S.
i don't buy meat i buy Quorn cheaper less fat and ultimately tasty. The local MIND group run an allotment co-op where i buy all my veg. I cook every single day. All of these things i consider myself VERY fortunate with and would never assume that others have the same luxuries.
Mick seems to have (yet again) strong feelings about this cooking from scratch thing so maybe Mick you could 'get on your bike' and show some less fortunate than you the basics?
R.B.
Many people seem to believe its cheaper to use jars of sauces and rubbish thinking it's cheaper ie to cook a chilli 1 jar of sauce about a quid.. replace that jar with a couple tins of tomatoes some chilli powder and herbs there you go..It may cost a bit more to buy the chilli powder and herbs but then they last a lot longer so in the long run it works out cheaper
M-H.G.
My daughter does 12 hours shifts and I doubt that she would find the energy or the time to cook from scratch everyday as well as looking after a toddler. Fortunately, she has me who has all the time in the world to cook from scratch!
J.S.
I do that robert make my own sauces....quark makes a good sauce/dip/topping
C.S.
Robert your point is brilliant my friend ! But tomatoes and chillies are well easy to grow inside/outside/window boxes and without all those dam chemicals in them they taste nicer too. However we need supermarkets as coffee for me is a crucial ingredient of life and locally i can only buy this wonderful delicacy in the supermarket.
C.S.
whats quark?
R.B.
TBH I Find cooking some simple things such as spag bol are just as quick and easy to prepare from scratch than use a jar of sauce
J.S.
Fat free soft cheese...mix a few herbs n garlic in then stir into pasta...yum
C.S.
All the jars of sauce i have ever looked at seem to have sugar in them or salt so i have no idea of the taste-how do they compare Robert?
R.R.
Making from scratch is the best , Sauces like described is the best way , Tomatoes are easy to grow . Making bread is so easy as is pizza doe , oatcakes , Even mince from chuck I mince at home ,Though cake making is a chore and i restrict that to Birthdays , But its so easy to make flapjacks and put em in as your sheperds pie is doing .
Though I feel like Mrs bridges in upstairs downstairs at times , You look at the stuff in the supermarket freezers and know u cant go back cause they aint worth a fart !
C.S.
lol Robb feel free to visit me anytime!
C.S.
Would there be anywhere on this page to swap/share wholesome cheap recipes? Or is food not political?
R.R.
A recipe corner would be excellent , Also brewing since Duty is political , Though I dont endorse Distilling officially !
Mi.C
I have 3 freezers full of stocks (animal and vegetable) soups of numerous kinds, stews, remnants of frozen summer veg from last year, chili con-carne, mince for shepherds pie or mash etc etc etc.
Using time as an excuse is a very lame and pathetic one.
One day's cooking in bulk all of the above, will last for months, and on the day, only needs a bit of thawing and preparation.
However, anyone unsure how to achieve this, simply do as I did, LEARN HOW TO DO IT for yourself
M.C.
Nice that you have space for and could afford 3 freezers.
C.S.
Community minded as ever then Mick (*tuts at the utter disgrace of selfish self righteousness from the 'older generation')
Robb will you talk to our Alan J B Wyllie see if it can happen? Be a nice thing to share something productive i think
C.S.
LOL i hope they all have an A rating Mick
J.S.
3??...how many people do ya feed
C.S.
Me or Mick ? or Robb the master baker? (SORRY ROBB COULDN@T RESIST XX)
Mi.C
Mark, please dont act ignorant all your life, you do yourself a huge disservices.
Biut as you clearly havent a clue or any idea what your on about, let me explain as simply as I can
2 x fridge freezers, 1 is ten years old, the other second hand, 1 x chest freezers 8 years old, all are in the garage .
And you may be surprised to learn, a lot of people do actually have a garage or shed for such modern day bits of kit.
J.S.
I have neither.....i manage to fit all mine in one fridge/freezer.....bet you get the random frozen ice clump that was once a chip alot in yours lol
R.R.
Im with Mick on this but I wonder how much of the contribution time the beloved Mrs constable plays a part in all this , As Mick spends his much spare time giving us his wonderfull Pearls .
Though the thing with all this is it kinda defeats the object storeing all this in multiple freezers with all that lecci .
We need to start looking in to pickleing , and salting and burying for storage more , arts that seem to have disappeared .
Mi.C
Oh dear, seems that last of the festive bevvies are being consumed today :lol
Live long and suffer :lol
R.R.
Ill have you know cindy my loaves come out like the ones you see in the farmers market , dusted with flour and platted , Just they dont cost £3 a loaf lol
C.S.
not A rated then at that age Mick shame on you for not thinking this through! You could be undoing a lot of the good you try and achieve with these dated white goods. I wonder if you might consider bottling the fruit? Mine is delicious or pickle some of your vegetables rather than freezing? saves energy and taste actually and after all you are taking a rather virtuous stance here
C.S.
So Robb will you talk to Alan J B Wyllie or shall i?
J.S.
Robb i love maing bread....i think of something that miffs me off whilst im kneading : )
R.R.
All yours cindy , The mad thing is sticking a ready meal in the microwave feels like a chore , but creating something yourself is a pleasure , especially when you evolve and create the recipe"s yourself .
R.R.
Thats the best bit , the more effort you put into that bit Jayne , the better it is . 1 knead is enough , Its just fighting the temptation to not put it in the oven before its proven enough !
J.S.
Same...plus you know whats in it
C.S.
i messaged the big man so we wait and see
Mi.C
I also do my own pickles Cindy, no white goods harmed in the process apart from the cookers, and glass jars, which are not white.
And home produced pickled eggs (disgusting things that they are ).
Robb, since retiring 85% of the cooking is done by myself, its only right after having being cooked for , for all of those years when I was working.
Infact, I’m thoroughly enjoying the whole process, and still have loads of time to do the things I also enjoy
C.S.
Lol Mick i meant the harm you do by using dated energy sucking white goods of course. You really have been finishing your Christmas booze haven't you!
Did you and your family find the same time and energy when you were both working and had a young family? Or when you were a single man struggling to find a secure 'home'?
Now all this stuff i read from you stating the negativity from the 'left footers' how about you stop being so negative yourself and share some recipes? Possibly even bearing in mind for some of them the time/energy/motivation constraints some of us mortal humans have in our lives?
R.F.
perhaps trying to live on a reduced amount of cash for a month and try to eat healthly would give people an idea of how difficult this is,....... try it? and remember the reduced cash is to pay for everything, see how many can eat healthly if its that easy.
C.S.
i live on limited cash Richard as do probably everyone else here the point is its cheaper !
J.S.
You should share your wisdom mick : )
C.S.
*silence speaking volumes here for me
R.R.
Yeah share some recipes Mick , I dont know if my family would approve of me tucking into just jars of pickled eggs , But I would love to know how to pickle and more importantly what can be done to make edible dishes out of pickled foods , apart from the obvious jams of course lol .
Somewhere we still have jar of home made pickle from 1977 from my gran , How long can it last ?
C.S.
bit of advice Robb if you do choose to eat that pickle then do n ot share your bed that night. Imagine the wind power you might generate?
Mi.C
If it was a cookery site I’d happily share, but sorry, it aint rocket science, and as for any ladies who may be struggling with this simple concept, what more can be said really ??
R.R.
Your right Cindy or I just might get Chris Huhne slapping a carbon tax on me !
J.S.
Dont be a stoneage grump mick....i know how to do most but its good to learn more. Start ya own page
J.S.
The 70's rang mick...they said there missing your winning ways : )
S.S.
I hate to state the obvious but we all have access to thousands of recipes via google.
C.S.
o Mick you are such a grouch sometimes for goodness sake relax and stop taking yourself so seriously for a short time! Don't share then but don't slate those of us that want to share either poisoning everything positive is not big or clever just plan childish!
Robb i will PM you some pickle recipes tomorrow when i can get to a scanner BUT i want that bread recipe in return fair deal?
C.S.
we do Shelia just trying to share good ideas that have worked for us personally .......hang on Mick never said anyone LIKED his produce wonder if thats why he is being coy?
J.S.
I get a lot from google but you cant beat peoples experiences ..there better
Ben Zebedee Perfit It is a myth to think you can't eat healthy on a tight budget!
C.S.
totally Mr P totally its cheap to eat healthy food than junk keeps you full for longer cheaper to buy and by golly tastier
D.B.
With 5 kids plus myself and my husband to feed, a fiver doesn't go far. I've just made a blognese and a chilli and the extra lean mince alone cost £12, admitedly it will feed us tomorrow as well). As for fridges etc, we have one "normal" sized fridge freezer but bought a small extra one when ours broke to fill the gap (as we could take it away on the spot) and thought it would be great to have an extra one in the garage, sadly no-one pointed out that it wouldn't work unless the tempertaure outside was between certain boundaries! lol.
J.S.
Thats cos you have about 30 kids debs lol
Mi.C
Debs, halve the costs, cook the fat out of the cheaper mince before use.
Simples
D.B.
Mick - I used to do that but I'm on Slimming World (don't get me started!!) and I have to have the extra lean one!! Baked potatoes is always a good option (especially as my kids won't eat them, so I don't have to cook them anything!! lol)
J.S.
Know what ya mean debs....so ive stopped eating mince. It'll be worth it by the summer when were slinky : )
Mi.C
theres always quorm, if you dont mind eating a shoe box
J.S.
Quorns awful...*shudder*
Mi.C
How much is a loaf of bread ? (I’m being serious)
R.F.
£1.50 now.
When I was a student 10 years ago a value loaf was 17p
J.S.
Cheap white about 40p...decent up to £2
J.S.
Bread machines are cheap now days and the mix
Mi.C
Right, 6 months ago I purchased a breadmaker from Lidl for £40.
To make a loaf, a sachet of yeast =20p, baking flour = 15p, 1 egg= free and a pinch of salt.
Chuck it all in the machine at once, switch it on (AA rated) and ignore until it bleeps when its finished after 2 hours.
Home made loaf =60p ?? inc electric and better than anything that comes wrapped in a plastic bag.
Watch this space for tomorrows economical cookery tip
J.S.
You make me chuckle mick : )
J.S.
You should try the focaccia one..its lush
C.S.
thanks Mick x
J.S.
Should have gone to argos mick...cheaper there
Mi.C
I chuck in a handful of fresh finely chopped herbs and grated cheese just before it starts cooking.
You cant buy one of them in a supermarket !! and it makes great bacon & egg sandwiches
J.S.
herb and sod bread sre one of my weak spots...i wanna try some funky homemade ice cream flavours this year
J.S.
Soda not sod
C.S.
Mick have you ever tried to make tomato ketchup ?
M-H.G.
Mick, my daughter works hard for a living (something you would encourage), she is also a single mother so on her days off, she wants to spend quality time ( something you also bang on about), not spend it bulk cooking. Stop pretending that life is black and white...
M-H.G.
* Spend quality time with her son.
C.S.
But Marie she is luckier than some as she has a fab mum!
M-H.G.
I don't know about fab but I try my best! It just makes me mad those assumptions that people are lazy because they don't cook from scratch.
M-H.G.
My daughter has very little interest in cooking although she likes eating, I have no interest in pop music, does that make me an old fuddy duddy?
H.A.
says it all really....http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16140670
Obesity: Supermeals Campaign Aims To Tackle Obesity As Survey Suggests Britons Are In Denial | UK Ne
news.sky.com
Britain is a nation in denial about obesity, according to a new survey.
Mi.C
"Mick have you ever tried to make tomato ketchup ?”
No, its something we dont use apart from using to mix with mince etc.
As we normally grow a glut of toms we do make a lot of tom soups and a tom sauces with is used as a base for other meals, particulary Italians.
H.A.
What a wonderful thread :) I have done my own veggie patch and I'm doing so again this summer. People all around me are growing their own - even if its something small.
Look at allotments..the waiting time for these is longer than it has been for a long time., People are growing veggy from their own backyards. The supermarkets have strangled local competition and are one of the few cash rich sources in our country. This gives them enormous power - to the point where they can quite literally financially control how a council spends our money. They engage in a marketing policy designed to make us spend every penny we have and rely on us being vague and not having disciplined shopping lists or weekly menued food.
They are now going into life insurance, buildings insurance, car insurance, mortgages, pensions, bank accounts. We let them.
..and guess what? The food they give us is irradiated, preserved, coloured, watered down, diluted and most of the time IT ISNT FRESH AND ITS EXPENSIVE! Why is it expensive? Because of their corporate profit margins. Why do we buy from them? Because 'its convenient'. Sorry guys but that is the reality. You want decent food? Grow your own! In whatever way you can. If you have a garden, dig a veggie patch. If you are in a high rise flat, grow herbs, strawberries or tomatoes.
We are going to potentially lose 40% of our retail outlets this year. That doesn't need to happen next year as well if we make the effort to support local businesses, local shops, local trade.
Mi.C
The only really expensive veg etc is this rip off organic stuff.
H.A.
Those of you who are my FB friends, have a look at my wall :) lol
J.S.
I have to agree mick...but dont get diane gyves started lol
R.R.
Mick you dont need all that kerfuffle to make a loaf of bread , And for Cindy .
Make a pot of tea ,
With a little kettle water put a 1-2 Tspoon of yeast and 2 Tspoon sugar in little kettle Kettle water with some cold to make it luke warm.
When tea drunk stick 450g plain flour and a 4 Tspoon salt in bowl , add the yeast solution and some extra water if needed to bind together into doe
Kneed for 10-15 mins , Leave half hour then Divide into two , put on tray spinked with flour
Gas mark 4 Aprox 15 mins . job done !
Add a little cooking oil to doe if u want softer not crusty bread .
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