What to you struggle with most when it comes to food?

Lulzaroonie

This could be buying, cooking, eating, anything.

My personal issue at the moment is buying.
I have a very small budget to feed three people on, and it really makes me feel ill that I can't always buy the best quality food.
I know that Change 4 Life say that tinned or frozen vegetables, and tinned fruit is just as acceptable as eating fresh fruit and vegetables, but it really bothers me that I can buy a bunch of bananas for a week and it costs me £1, but other fruit is SO expensive. Apples for a week would cost £3, a punnet of berries costs £3, things that we all love and eat in our house, but have to wait till they're "in season" so they'll be cheaper.
That said, I buy as much frozen and tinned veg (in unsalted water) as I can, peas, cauliflower, broccoli, sweetcorn, carrots as I can.

It also really bothers me that if I want to buy fresh minced meat, I can only afford the value brands, with 55% fat and god only knows what kinds of animals mixed in the meat. I've never been able to buy steak, or chops.
A 750g pack of beef mince costs £2.70. But a 450g pack of lean mince is £3.60. Why am I paying more for less fat and less meat??? I just drain off all the excess juice I can and cook the mince in water, since it produces its own oil to cook itself in, and a 750g pack feeds my family three times.

To eat and have a fully stocked fridge full of vegetables and fruit like I would love would add extra financial burden. I know it sounds like excuses, and people will probably put me down with things like "good nutrition doesn't come with a price tag!" or whatever, but when you're living your life in overdrafts and debts from week to week, and having to decide whats more important, being warm or being well fed, it's bloody hard.

I try my hardest to eat nutritiously, I home make all my own meals, so I can control what I can goes into my families food, but these things make me feel like I'm failing at being a good parent.

AngelUK1985

Chocolate and pancakes really. Also when im at work there's nothing healthy to eat around really that's enjoyable and nothing to cook anything with or warm things up with at work.

ingeh

on the mince topic I buy veggie mince from iceland for £2 for 650g and it lasts ages. I buy 4 a month for the 3 of us who eat. I buy the 1k bags of frozen veg from supermarkets for around £1 and fruit you can get from markets for £1 for big boxes but watch out as I got a big crate of peaches for £1 and the next day they were fuzzy and we couldnt eat them, but freeze them and it would be enough to last a while.
I struggle with tireness. My 5 month old wakes 12-1am then 3-4am then if my partners is on day shifts Im up at 5am with the baby and 2 yr old so by end of day im so tired and weak and nned more food

ron2e

I understand where you are coming from as we were in that place 30 years ago (fortunately things are a lot better now) and I well remember the cheap and probably rubbishy food we had to make do with, and I don't have a solution. Careful budgeting did help but also led to those dilemnas over food choices and the problems when my son needed new shoes or school uniform. Silly question, but do you have access to a garden or can get an allotment? Growing your own can be a way to supplement fresh fruit and veg and kids like to get involved. Good luck, hope things get better for you soon.

awake4777

Eating after 7 pm seems to be a big problem for me and forgetting to log some foods. At night I eat and really don't care (at the moment) if I log the food. It's guilt. Then I do it the next day and it looks really bad.

Lulzaroonie

Veggie mince? I've never even seen it in there! I'll have to look again, I tend to avoid frozen mince from Iceland as it contains mutton which grosses me out, but if they do veggie mince, I'll have a peep!
I hear you on the tiredness too. My son is 5 this year, and he still wakes up at 5:30 every day, when kids at his school are having to be woken up at half 7/8am! I don't miss those days of being up multiple times a night.

Lulzaroonie

I understand where you are coming from as we were in that place 30 years ago (fortunately things are a lot better now) and I well remember the cheap and probably rubbishy food we had to make do with, and I don't have a solution. Careful budgeting did help but also led to those dilemnas over food choices and the problems when my son needed new shoes or school uniform. Silly question, but do you have access to a garden or can get an allotment? Growing your own can be a way to supplement fresh fruit and veg and kids like to get involved. Good luck, hope things get better for you soon.

You have a very good point. We moved to this house last year, and we have a green house! We grew our own tomatoes last year, and they were abundant! We had more than we knew what to do with in the end.
The greenhouse soil needs refreshing, as it's all hard and dry. Not sure of the best way to refresh it though? I thought perhaps moistening it and mixing compost into the soil?

ingeh

Veggie mince? I've never even seen it in there! I'll have to look again, I tend to avoid frozen mince from Iceland as it contains mutton which grosses me out, but if they do veggie mince, I'll have a peep!
I hear you on the tiredness too. My son is 5 this year, and he still wakes up at 5:30 every day, when kids at his school are having to be woken up at half 7/8am! I don't miss those days of being up multiple times a night.

Dont say he still wakes 530am!Im hoping my 2 yr old grows out of it lol, Its good mince, its very filling so you dont need much of it in a meal

hubbart25

When your at the supermarket do you ever look o their butchers counter? When ever I go to tescos or sainsburys and I see their meat is on offer I always bulk buy a load up. Especially when the lean beef steak mince costs me £2 for 500gm . much cheaper.

I struggle with cheap healthy lunch ideas. Other than a sandwich

ron2e

I understand where you are coming from as we were in that place 30 years ago (fortunately things are a lot better now) and I well remember the cheap and probably rubbishy food we had to make do with, and I don't have a solution. Careful budgeting did help but also led to those dilemnas over food choices and the problems when my son needed new shoes or school uniform. Silly question, but do you have access to a garden or can get an allotment? Growing your own can be a way to supplement fresh fruit and veg and kids like to get involved. Good luck, hope things get better for you soon.

You have a very good point. We moved to this house last year, and we have a green house! We grew our own tomatoes last year, and they were abundant! We had more than we knew what to do with in the end.
The greenhouse soil needs refreshing, as it's all hard and dry. Not sure of the best way to refresh it though? I thought perhaps moistening it and mixing compost into the soil?

I don't know the answer to that, not an expert gardener and I've never had a green house but I'm sure you'd find advice via Google. Root veg can be relatively easy to grow outside if you have space.

Tdacks

You have a very good point. We moved to this house last year, and we have a green house! We grew our own tomatoes last year, and they were abundant! We had more than we knew what to do with in the end.
The greenhouse soil needs refreshing, as it's all hard and dry. Not sure of the best way to refresh it though? I thought perhaps moistening it and mixing compost into the soil?

You can do that or if you don't want to dig there is a method called lasagna gardening, where you layer the compost on top of the ground with leaves/cardboard and plant in that.

Also, some veggies you buy at the grocery store can be eaten but also replanted. For leeks, I chop off the root and part of the white portion of the stalk and replant it. The remaining white/green is still enough to cook with, and you get bonus leeks in a few weeks. If you buy bell peppers, you can save and dry the seeds for replanting. Stuff like that makes gardening and maintaining a stock of veggie a bit cheaper. I also like to plant greens that can be "cut and come again" so you get multiple meals out of a single plant.

Sorry to butt in!

8Sam12

When your at the supermarket do you ever look o their butchers counter? When ever I go to tescos or sainsburys and I see their meat is on offer I always bulk buy a load up. Especially when the lean beef steak mince costs me £2 for 500gm . much cheaper.

I struggle with cheap healthy lunch ideas. Other than a sandwich

Oh that's a really good idea, I never thought the butchers counter might be cheaper.

I always try to buy in bulk/when meats are on 3 for £10. I found that turkey seems one of the cheapest meats so that might be worth trying to eat more. Also, check out the supermarket websites. Some supermarkets don't always have everything in stock, for example on the Sainsbury's website it says they sell frozen chicken fillets for cheaper than fresh ones but my local Sainsbury's doesn't stock it. It might be worth ordering online rather than buying in store to make the most of deals like that. I prefer frozen veggies to tinned ones and if you look around you can get quite good deals on things like spinach, peas, cauliflower and onions. I'm a student and also finding it hard to eat healthy on a budget. Good luck.

ron2e

Something I remembered which can make a cheap meal is soup. I get chicken carcasses and bacon bones from my butcher for very little and boil them up to make stock. Soup I make with a base of potatoes and leeks or onions then add other stuff like a packet of frozen peas to make a lovely pea and ham soup, or squash, or mushrooms, broccoli, whatever is available really. Takes a bit of work but then I store in the freezer for a quick and easy lunch defrosted and in the microwave for a few minutes.

amyosullivan124

With regard to the mince, I have been eating Turkey mince rather than beef - much lower in calories, fat and cheaper as well! Tastes different but its not a bad different. Would definitely recommend.

Lulzaroonie

Thanks everyone, you've given me some awesome ideas

73Freckles

making bad choices when i haven't planned ahead. i'm an instant gratification kind of person so weight loss is hard right off the bat. i have to plan ahead or i'm screwed! i have zero will power!

Lulzaroonie

making bad choices when i haven't planned ahead. i'm an instant gratification kind of person so weight loss is hard right off the bat. i have to plan ahead or i'm screwed! i have zero will power!

I really understand that! This week I've set myself the mini-goal of developing my will power and discipline. Following work out schedules, eating as well as possible. Doing well so far!

WendyTerry420

Buying groceries on a budget and then turning them into meals that the family will enjoy. That is definitely the hardest part. The second hardest is making room for pie.

BerryH

I'm in the same boat budget wise. Do you have a market near you? I buy all my fruit and veg from my local one, and £7 worth fills two carriers bags and keeps two of us going all week.

Mince is a very expensive way to buy meat. Consider buying a roast joint (whatever is on offer) and using leftovers for a couple of days afterwards - lamb or beef for shepherd's/cottage pie, chicken for risotto, and everything in a curry! The meat can be more or less a garnish when you fill the plate with veg and complex carbs.

You can get some very cheap fish if you're papered to go for less popular types like pollock, coley and trout. And you can go without meat and fish altogether for several meals and stock up on massive bags of dried beans and lentils - though even the tins are cheap.

Good luck!

PaulJRaymond

Quorn Mince is really healthy and is often on special. I don't eat meat, but even if I did I would use Quorn for Bolognese or Shepherds Pie it is so low in Fat - especially saturated fat.

doublemum

Not so much for the weight loss but for budgeting, you can bulk mince meals out with porridge oats (oatmeal) and/or red lentils. If you are doing a dish like bolognaise, chilli or shepherds pie where you're going to be reducing the sauce for a while the oats/lentils will virtually disappear but bulk out the meal. You will need to watch the liquid levels as both will obviously be soaking up liquid.

I struggle with the *need* to snack as I work from home. I'm working on it.

conniehv40

Eating after 7 pm seems to be a big problem for me and forgetting to log some foods. At night I eat and really don't care (at the moment) if I log the food. It's guilt. Then I do it the next day and it looks really bad.

i have a problem with this too! I lost a few pounds and that was eating and logging everything that i ate. I gained a few pounds back by eating AFTER I logged! Yesterday, I did really well and logged. Then, at 9pm, ate handfuls of crackers? I think tonight, I will do laundry instead of watching tv!

JesterMFP

I'd definitely recommend growing your own if you have the space and it sounds like you have some experience in it.

Also, not wanting to state the obvious, but are you looking in greengrocers as well as supermarkets? I'm assuming you're in the UK from your mention of £s... I can get punnets of berries much cheaper in my local greengrocer than in the supermarket. Other things are much cheaper too, although not everything so it's worth comparing.

Also, check out this: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/cheap-supermarket-shopping
If you scroll down to the "reduction schedule" - it can be really handy to know when your usual supermarket starts discounting stuff. Even if it has today's date on it, you can freeze it (fruit & veg, meat, fish), or make soups etc to make it last longer.

vara123

Quorn Mince is really healthy and is often on special. I don't eat meat, but even if I did I would use Quorn for Bolognese or Shepherds Pie it is so low in Fat - especially saturated fat.

Yeah, I love my quorn mince too - and a £2 bag of it will make 4 portions - maybe more if you put in lentils or beans too. Buy it up frozen when it's on special - which it ofen is. Even when it's not on special, I find the quorn fillets and 'chicken'/'beef' style strips are better value than the equivalent value brand meats (with of course no worries about high fat proportions, or horses!). I'm not a veggie but I do this simply for the calories being lower and the cost. The supermarket own brand veggie minces are also good - but I prefer the quorn one for taste.

My only recommendation for cooking with quorn (especially quorn mince) is follow the quorn recipes (i.e. the ones on their website). With the strips it's certainly just possible to bung them in a stirfry like you would regular meat - same goes for the 'fillets' which sort of behave like chicken fillets. The problem I have found with the mince is if I treat it like I would do beef mince, and follow my traditional recipes it always comes out a bit disappointing/tasteless/water-y. I tried it the first time and thought 'yuk, I'm sticking with beef'... I gave it another try when it was on special at the supermarket and following the quorn recipe and it turned out very well... I now make it regularly. It contains a lot of chopped veggies which you could use to bulk out the recipe too.

If your family are a fan of spicy food, try making a veggie lentil curry - healthy, bulky and things like canned carrots, cauliflower, green beans and canned potatoes are really good in it!

MrsSWW

My biggest issue still is knowing when to stop eating, I swear if I hadn't weighed and measured everything on my plate I'd never stop. All you can eat restaurants fear a visit from me, I can pack away an extraordinary amount of food and still have room to squeeze in a dessert. *sighs*

My best advice to you is to head to Aldi or Lidl, try some tinned fruits (Aldi do BIG tubs in fruit juice, so cheap!) and veg too. I'm with BerryH on the value of a roasting joint, and if you've still got some left over after a couple of days slice it and put it in the freezer for sandwiches or a quick dinner, that's what I'll be doing this evening with my pork joint :flowerforyou:

SunOfMan

I've found that turkey is usually quite cheap and I love it! I sometimes use minced turkey for chilli, diced turkey for curry or chow mein and marinade turkey fillets in some kind of sauce.

I also use chicken thighs instead of breast which is much cheaper. If you have the time just take out the bone, peel off the skin, trim the fatty bits and the fillets of meat are great (I actually prefer thigh meat to breast meat anyway).