Organic on a tight budget

[Backtonature]

Does anyone manage to buy organic on a tight budget? I am keen to stop ingesting hormones and pesticides for health benefits but our food budget is limited (£75 a week for 2 adults, a 5 year old and a 2 year old). I have written a list to prioritise what I will change first and see how far down the list I can get with my budget. First is milk which I can buy cheaply from aldi as they now sell 2 pint organic semi skimmed. The second is meat. Do butchers sell organic meat? Or will I have to go somewhere like tesco? What are the cheapest cuts? If anyone has any knowledge on this subject I would be so grateful of your help!

[ChristinaParsons]

I've got 2 chickens which are no longer laying. They are totally organic and free if you want to come and collect? Prob better for stew, might be a bit old for a roast!

[OreosOreosOreos]

I usually have a mixture of old stand-bys and Pinterest inspired ones - I pin stuff when I see it, then before I do a menu plan I'll have a quick look to see what I want to add in.

They're not always a success - DSS has asked me if we can please not have the butternut squash pasta again as he wasn't keen, so it'll just me me and DS using the leftovers up in the freezer! He's pretty adventurous though, so is always up for trying new recipes (unlike DH who likes boring, plain things )! DH works away about 4 nights a month, so I tend to reserve trying out more interesting recipes for those nights!

Lunches I'll usually have a fair idea about what we'll have, but they're less regimented e.g. I'll buy a packet of ham and know it'll do a few days, but which ones might depend on if there's any leftovers which can be reworked for lunch (like pasta for a salad, or extra sausages).

For breakfasts we were having a lot of smoothies in the summer, but the toddler and I are now back to porridge most days, with DSS on cold cereal /toast depending on what he feels like. DH will either have granola or coco pops, or takes one of those porridge pots to work if he's off early. He buys his lunch most days, so that's not included.

I usually have a few things on the plan that are from the freezer, that way if I need to re-jig it nothing fresh is going to waste.

[Backtonature]

oreosoreosoreos your menu sounds amazing. Where do you get your recipes from?

What do you have for lunches, do you meal plan those too?

[OreosOreosOreos]

It's all about the meal planning! When I don't and just toss things in it soon mounts up, and then I find I waste half of it anyway!

To give you an idea, dinners for this week and next:
M - roasted sprouts and mushroom quinoa
T -- chicken risotto and roasted sprouts (chicken was from chicken wings done in slow cooker)
W - pasta with sage and butternut squash sauce
T - scrambled eggs and bacon (mine with salad, everyone else on bagels)
F - pizza (mine and toddlers will be homemade on a wrap base as I try and not eat too much yeast, DSS and DH will be on Chicago town frozen - I pick my battles!
S - chicken soup (homemade from freezer) with bacon cheddar and courgette bread
S - roast chicken with roasted pots, carrots, parsnips, Yorkies and stuffing
M - chicken pasties (made from leftover chicken) and sweetcorn
T - gnocchi and pesto
W - sea bass (in freezer, bought reduced) with pesto, cous cous and broccoli
T - chicken, broccoli and pasta bake (leftover chick from Sunday but will be froz n and then defrosted) - there won't be a huge amount of chicken in it though, it's more of a token gesture!
F - pizza
S - sesame noodles, egg fried rice, chicken cashew and spring rolls (in freezer)
S - Mac and cheese

Not eating too much meat keeps it down, as does us not really drinking much alcohol!

[HopefulAnxiety]

OP I find Waitrose's butcher counter to be really good value considering the quality, and you can just buy as much as you need. Cheaper cuts of meat might be a good idea - even in top-quality free-range animals, offal and cheaper cuts are still cheaper than prime cuts. Farmers Choice (online) is good too - sells free-range frozen meat and has a good range of cheaper cuts eg beef shin, lamb breast, offal etc.

[FishOn]

Want2be very interesting, thanks.

Costco meat is excellent (here in Canada anyway).

[Happyminimalist]

Riverford link here

www.riverford.co.uk/shop/veg-fruit-meat-boxes/meat-veg-boxes/small-combo-plus-box-2-medium-vegbox-original

[Happyminimalist]

Apples are the worst for pesticides. Riverford online for organic fruit/veg/meat. Or grow your own! Also essentials for cheaper wholesale bulk buying of lentils/spices/oats.

[Want2bSupermum]

I asked DH last night about organic meat and he said it was shocking that of all places Walmart has started to get picky about their produce. They are starting to go after middle class consumers and keep asking him about antibiotic free and organic meat. He does currently sell into them here in the US but also into the UK (Asda). It's finished products only and quite frankly I don't like the flavour profile they went with. It is a pulled pork BBQ dish and ribs. They got the price down on the ribs by using older product. Nothing wrong with the product but its odd sizes that have been frozen for 4-9 months because being prepared as most foodservice customers won't buy odd sizes as they want to cut the rack in half and have two equal halves.

[Drladybird]

Tips to include pulses in existing dishes- you could add chickpeas to curry, red lentils to soup, borlotti beans to bolognese, kidney beans or black beans to chilli (which you probably already do) etc. etc. This might mean that you'd need less meat?

Alternatively, you could try new recipes and introduce them as new, tasty and different to your normal fare such as lentil lasagne.

[Backtonature]

I will have a look at Costco thanks!

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

That's quite interesting about Costco having high standards. I have noticed that their meat is really good.

[Backtonature]

drladybird I would be interested in how to add pulses to food without no one noticing! If you could give me some tips that would be great.

[Backtonature]

That was supposed to say waitrose and aldi!

[Backtonature]

Oreosoreosoreos I am impressed you only spend £75 a week in wait rose. I spend that in also. Can I ask your secret?

[Drladybird]

Why not eat less meat and try more vegetarian dishes? I'm happy to suggest recipes that use less expensive ingredients such as pulses (e.g. lentil lasagne or you could use meat substitutes such as soya mince/ quorn?

We get a veggie box which I think works out cheaper than getting organic veg from supermarkets or individually from markets. We organise our weekly meals accordingly. Lidl have some organic lines (carrots, bananas and onions in our local store).

[Want2bSupermum]

You know some seafood such as lobster from the east coast here is flown around the world. DH and I have a giggle about it and how crazy it is.

[Holstein]

want2B- sorry- airmiles was a joke, about me shipping meat from US!

[987flowers]

Oh it's interesting to see the difference between the USA and uk. I always buy British and look for the red tractor.

[OreosOreosOreos]

I average about £75 a week, for me, DH, DSS (12) and DS (2), and buy mainly organic produce.

We don't eat a huge amount of meat, but we have a huge freezer which helps as I can stock up on things when on offer (or reduced).

I mainly shop at Waitrose, as I find their organic range the most reasonable price-wise, but I also find Whole Foods quite good for meat offers.

I meal plan, which I think makes a big difference, and batch cook to make use of the freezer - I mainly make things from scratch, but I'll freeze prepped things to make my life easier.

Things like cheese I tend to buy when on offer - quite often sainsburys or Tesco do offers and I'll buy 4-6 blocks which will last us for a couple of months.

[Want2bSupermum]

holdstein Yes they have different rules in the US but quite a few of the big corporate farming groups in the EU follow the US rules but don't say so on their packaging. If you want the US rules, which are stricter than the red tractor, your best option it to buy your meat from Costco because their antibiotic free labelling requirements are similar to the USDA rules but go much further with regards to animal welfare and environment standards.

Also airmiles??? Only samples to the best customers who have huge contracts have anything flown and once they made an exception and flew in meat for a US President. A particular cut was requested for a dinner and DH didn't have any in storage. Someone from the office happened to be flying over on holiday to NYC and DH had them bring in the meat with a certificate which was then picked up by DH at the airport before being driven by DH into Manhattan so I don't know if the airmiles in that instance counts! If in the EU and going to the UK it is moved primarily by truck with the water bit by ship. The meat is shell frozen (ie kept at about -2 C) if going from an EU country to the UK which is considered fresh which greatly reduces the environmental impact as frozen has much higher CO2 emissions.

[Sadik]

Essential's info on setting up a buying group and the same thing from Suma

[Sadik]

Not helpful for meat and milk, but if you can get together with others and form a buying co-op or similar then you can bulk buy from Suma or Essential at wholesale prices. I reckon by doing that you can get the basics (I buy things like oats / dried fruit / pulses / baked beans / tinned toms) as organic for the same price as non-organic from the supermarket.

[Backtonature]

I will have a look on the ethical living section thank you :)

[Backtonature]

Yes there is a farm shop at the other side of town, I think it may be more of a "lifestyle" shop though rather than an actual farm if that makes sense? I think they grow a few veggies that they sell but the rest seems to be very expensive pre made items with a few local items. It might be worth a look though to see what the local items are.