Eat well for less

[mark111757 Profile]

IMG_20190519_162945_500.JPG (49.6 KiB) Viewed 7839 times

Series six of this action packed nail biter starts Thursday night at 800pm London time on BBC 1

Fire up your vpn's for live fun. No doubt it will be available on the download circuit and BBC iPlayer.

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

I quite like this programme, Mark.
We just have it as our usual TV programming. It's daytime TV here - although it does have that evening slot. Perfectly watchable.

[Renee Profile]

I am enjoying that programme Mark!

[jeral Profile]

I'm not overly convinced that much is achieved. The result seems to be (a) don't buy too much food then throw it away, (b) change proprietary brands for cheaper own brands, (c) swap takeaways for home made.

Well, (a) isn't rocket science. (b) - Maybe, or do the families switch back to their preferred brands later? (c) Surely takeaways are the treat to avoid shopping (and potential wastage), prep and washing up?

The programme's heart is in the right place though. A consultant once told me that his biggest value was being a third party people had paid to listen to, thus overriding internal bickering which often negated implementation of the obvious solutions.

[karadekoolaid Profile]

The result seems to be (a) don't buy too much food then throw it away, (b) change proprietary brands for cheaper own brands, (c) swap takeaways for home made.

That sounds pretty good to me, given that many families need to be re-educated on how to cook home food! And whilst we are "foodies" (and therefore, take this advice as obvious), the majority of the population are not.
We have the same sort of problem over here in Venezuela. The poor believe that a meal is not a meal unless it has meat with it, so the economic crisis has caused huge problems. People need to be TAUGHT that vegetables ( and grains) are highly beneficial and nutritious, if used intelligently.

[strictlysalsaclare Profile]

I did feel for the blonde mum in this week's episode, I think I would have given up cooking if faced with so many fussy eaters! You can't help wondering of the kids were bottle fed when they were babies. I am sure that has something to do with it

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I think like all these things a large part of it is giving the family on screen the confidence to get on with it, and by association the viewers too

I quite enjoy it, but it does get a bit repetitive sometimes

[WWordsworth Profile]

And I really really wish they would stop throwing perfectly good food away purely because it is "out of date".

My pal's son lives with him and the boy's (lovely) girlfriend has moved in.
Pal is fed up of her patrolling the fridge and binning food due to dates.
He has had to have a word.

[strictlysalsaclare Profile]

Me too WWordsworth!

For example, one of my colleagues L lives with her friend S. L had to stop S from throwing a perfect good punnet of strawberries in the bin the other day. L brought the strawberries in to eat with her lunch. They looked absolutely fine. Only one has a dry blemish on it. S is in her seventies by the way!

[jeral Profile]

Aw, poor strawbs. I have found they sometimes go bad at the bottom, maybe lack of air, or weight above(?) so I wash/drain them soonest and store as a single layer on kitchen paper lined plate.

The programme seemed to do well, giving light at the end of the tunnel for one-dish meals being possible. With a good back wind, it might become easier when it becomes more normal to them all

[Pampy Profile]

I have a soft fruit storage box which has an insert with holes in it (like a colander) so you can wash the fruit and excess water drains away into the bottom of the container. It's quite a handy little device.

[jeral Profile]

That device sounds very useful, e.g. for defrosting a piece of fish or a few prawns or mussels etc. Do you know if it's still available please?

PS, I thought that improvised pancake mix jar in the Eat Well prog was a good idea. the one marked for flour and then for milk, then to add an egg and shake all like mad to mix.

[Pampy Profile]

Here it is Jeral https://www.addis.co.uk/berry-box.asp

My Mum used to have a jar-type thing that had different levels marked on the inside. She used it for anything that needed mixing, like Bird's custard powder, or cornflour and milk. It was very old - I think it must have been just post-ww2 - and was made of green bakelite (also known as polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride ).

[jeral Profile]

Thanks Pampy for berry box link. Unfortunately I can't open or close Lock'n'Lock boxes, but the idea is good so I can probably jerry rig a DIY version.

I do use a Pollywollydoodle jar for shaking salad dressing mixtures as many of us probably do, so surprising we don't all use a bigger baking version already isn't it?

[Pampy Profile]

I find that it's much easier to open and close the berry box than the normal lock n' lock ones.

[jeral Profile]

I've watched a couple of these BBC programmes and wonder if the programme should be renamed "How to kill the high street".

Most of the savings recommended seem to come from switching to a supermarket own brand even when fresh items were usually bought from the butcher, baker and candlestick maker.

The problem with a total takeover by global corporatism (which we're not far off) is that the choice of what we are offered to eat will be theirs, not ours. But hey, lets put speed to their heels right?

[Stokey Sue Profile]

No, that’s not really the case IMO, they certainly advocate the use of local butchers wherever available in my experience, I remember a long section of one programme where they went through the difference between buying from the butcher and buying pre-packed The family preferred the butchers sausages

[Pampy Profile]

I'm with Sue - I've seen a few times where they highlight that overall value and quality is better from an independent retailer even though the unit price may be higher.