watching cheap food on tv.

[goldy1]

things they put in the cheap brands is yuck.

[greannancrafts]

It's not only food!
Read the preservatives that go into fabrics/carpets/toiletries etc.
Read the label - never put in your hand what you wouldn't put in your mouth.

It's not easy being green

Jane

[xrheax]

bum...I meant to watch this!

[auntynet]

I deliberately didn't watch it as I don't want to know.

I know I should care but I have to shop on a tight budget and I really don't want to "not eat meat" because of being put off by celebrety chefs that don't have to worry how much a meal costs.

Sorry if I offend anyone but I just cannot afford to have some of the principles that (if I'm being honest) I know I really should.

[goldy1]

it was good as they had one family shop not using the supermarkets and she said she saved loads.

[beckyboo]

one of my sons is a chef in a very upmarket hotel near us ( used by all the media when they are in the area !) and believe me they don't use organic veg or top grade meat.

As A.Net has said shopping on a budget means you really can't afford to be to fussy. If I was on tv chef wages then maybe I could afford to be more choosey.

[matt.chatterley]

things they put in the cheap brands is yuck.

Missed the programme, but yep. It's disgusting. What's more disgusting is the number of people who don't care, because it's cheap.

I frequently get into heated debates with people which result in me making points like: Chicken was never cheap! It's only been cheap since an industry grew around mass producing and pumping up rubbish quality, battery raised chicken - to MAKE it cheap!

Besides, living off frozen food and the like isn't as cheap as people think!

[Cat'seyes]

I hate using food already prepared. So I do try to eat from the main shops rather than supermarkets and I have to live on a very tight budget, I just fill up on bread LOL hence the weight problem.

I remember reading a few years ago the MacDonald story and just how they went around getting the flavours. I never ever went into a MacDonalds after that!

[Delta]

We tend to use the cheaper foods, if I didn't we would all starve. So my cupboards are a feast of green and white. I personally love the Asda Smartprice burgers, we decided to treat ourselves and buy some (maybe birdseye) 100% beef burgers, and I couldn't eat them, the tasted horrible and felt wrong in my mouth, we tried one of the other quality burgers, and it was just the same. I don't know, maybe my tastebuds are now conditioned to cheap stuff, but the SP ones are definately better.

I know they pump up meat and such like, but I also know that the value brand of squash/fizzy pop is made at exactly the same place, with the same ingredients as the finest brand. Same with breakfast cereals, from what I remember, there are only two companies that make corn flakes, one being Kellogs and the other Nestle, supermarket own brands are usually the mis-sized and mis-shaped ones.

[matt.chatterley]

I know they pump up meat and such like, but I also know that the value brand of squash/fizzy pop is made at exactly the same place, with the same ingredients as the finest brand. Same with breakfast cereals, from what I remember, there are only two companies that make corn flakes, one being Kellogs and the other Nestle, supermarket own brands are usually the mis-sized and mis-shaped ones.

Sorry, I should probably qualify my mini-rant a bit more.

Where things more-or-less must come in packets, I tend to use cheap brands - we don't have any of the major supermarkets here, the Co-op is the nearest we get - so I buy Co-Op Bran Flakes, for example (half the price of Keloggs).

I also try to buy local products where possible (e.g. butter, yoghurts - slightly more expensive, but nicer, more environmentally concious - and vitally these days - supporting the local economy, which is worth a few pennies more).

What I _should_ have said was along the lines of: We avoid processed food. So in the burger example, I would buy a cheapish cut of meat from the butcher, mince it, add onions, peppers & garlic, and then press into burgers and freeze them - tons nicer, and probably no more expensive than a half decent frozen one!

The same goes for making stocks, even my own pasta + bread at times. That said, it does take up a lot of time - I work from home, so I am privileged enough to be able to use my "commuting time" to cook

[[email protected]]

Its a case of 'you get what you pay for' and its just recently that I've been able to add more pennies onto my shopping budget but while Wyatt was unable to work my local supermarket Aldi was the main place I shopped for three years.

Have to admit that I have never been keen on beefburger or sausages no matter what they cost, they are just not my cup of tea but when needs must its amazing how you can turn a packet of pasta and a packet of sausages into a meal for a few pennies.

I can fully understand those on a budget and large families with many mouths to feed and my grip is with those that produce such <have no word here> meals knowing a lot of families have to buy them.

What they were trying to prove last night was for just a penny more in some cases they could make them better and give them more meat <or apple> content and its a shame with the millions of profit they make they can't do that.

Thankfully everything they use is edible and passes the health stadards and when it comes down to it those budget meals are a godsend to a heck of a lot of people!.

And now I've lost the plot and I think I've rambled to the point where I don't know what I'm saying

Pauline

[Kiamyka]

The programme was interesting and the chef was more having a go at the supermarkets - they got a lab to show how they could improve things at very mininmal cost and was suggesting the supermarkets could cover the cost themselves.
The 2 families were from Leeds and the one who had to buy away from supermarkets saved a fortune by going to Leeds market. I shop on a tight budget as well and working from home have the luxury of being able to cook - and save a fortune. For example 12 Yorkshire puddings made by yours truly cost about 40p - Asdas own are £1. I also use a slow cooker to make lots of casseroles - A pack of chicken thighs form Nettos cost about £1.50 and would feed a family of 4 with some veg chucked in.
I admit I'm fussy when it comes to food and don't eat ready meals (apart from Asda curries which are yummy) and even when I was out there working I would come home and cook from scratch. I suppose it was how I was brought up as a child in post war Britain and those principals have stuck with me.

[janetdc]

I am fortunate enough not to worry too much about costs but having been raised in a very working class family I know the value of money and I can't bear waste. Although I do most of my shopping in Sainsbury's and the like I am more than happy to buy their own brnads of cleaning materials, drinks, cereals, etc. I always take advantage of BOGOF's or three for two offers and any specials for the week. I think its great that the likes of Jamie Oliver and others (incl my stepson) are trying to educate us about food as long as they don't lose sight of the fact that people - increasingly - are not all in their fortunate position.

[beckyboo]

As a child I used to moan and moan because I felt like we were the only family who didn't have things like beefburgers and fishfingers and even shop bought jam !. ,my mum and dad made everything including bread,pork pies and pickles......now I am eternally grateful to my parents for teaching me to cook everything from scratch, I admit I don't make my own jam ,lol, but I could.
yes I buy cheaply but I my family eat well, so much so my chef son uses a few of my recipes at work !!

i should claim royalties ,lol

[beadsbydesign]

We shop at Aldi and Asda every week. Our asda trolley is full of green and white products. They are all unprocessed food though and we then make our own meals. After all a potato is a potato even if it's misshapen and an apple that isn't the perfect shape still tastes the same.
cheep loo roll still gets covered in the preverbial!

I have to say though, round here people tend to use sainsburies and waitrose and I have had many a laugh at people at school slating Asda customers. The common conception is that asda Customers are all burger guzzling, boozing fish wives! I love to get one over on them when they go on about Sainnsburies ready meals!