campaign for free range chicken!!!!!!! Please.

[fordfiesta]

Please check out www.chickenout.tv or watch Hugh's chicken run tonight at 2100 channel 4.
you can sign up for his campaign on the above address.... sorry dont know how to do the link.
If you have been watching the program you will know how important it is!
thank you.

oh thanks Piffle - did you meann dried mango powder? never heard of mago

we have tons of spices, dh is curry king (and we have tons of shops up the road and a chinese supermarket for weird stuff)

that looks fab, will try later

I did a little while back order from a local organic veg box scheme - bought the "large" box - for £15 and I still ended up going to the market to top up as it wasn't enough for the week. So I'd never have anything left to make soup.

WOW Ice, your dh is one hungry blokey

piffle how many does that recipe serve?

I really think that if you are used to a meat diet and you are on a tight budget then you should gradually move over to more pulses etc, it is possible to succesfully change eating habits it just takes a period of transition. You can always fill up on toast too and have lots of veggie pasta dishes.

I think we don't really eat that much. Neither of us has a physical job and we tend to eat small amounts in the evening. We have big breakfasts with lots of oats which helps to fill us up and a good beany sort of soup often for lunch which again fills you up and lasts a long time

he is poshwellies - and the DS's are following suit LOL.

lol at wind-bag fest (agree with rest of the post too)

If you need to save money and/or want to cut down on meat-eating, then I would recommend trying soya mince. It costs approx 50p for a 200g bag which produces at least double the quantity when rehydrated. I find it works best for curry or chili.

And use a lot more rice (I use 1 cup of rice between 2 adults)

yes dried mango powder or amchur

this site here has it and I totally recommend them, they do next day delivery and although P+P is steep, if you bulk buy it lasts you months.

I don't generally use recipes but have a basic method:

You can replace the ingredients with anything of a similar consistency!

Sweat onions for 10 mins in butter
(or if like me trying to lose weight a bit of fry-light)
Add anything else very tasty like leeks mushrooms/ peppers/ whatever you like really (sweat for another 10 mins

Add some root veg: butternut squash/ carrots/ potatoes/ swede/ and leave on a very low heat for about 20 mins.

Add any greens (I always keep broccoli end stalks and insides of cabbage/ cauliflower etc.

Add some liquid, until it covers the veggies - I usually use chicken/ vegetable stock or if I haven't got any then some tins of tomatoes, it's up to you how much liquid you use but I blend my soups so you'll quickly get used to how thick you want them.

Blend (hand blender in the pot is the easiest), taste and then add extra flavour if necessary (if it does seem a little bland then bung a stock cube in or some tomatoes, wine and a bit of worcester sauce is a good fail safe addition as well.

If you like to have pieces in you soups then add it then.
Just give it a go!

oh serves 2-3 it says, and I usually double it for 3 good size portions and another good portion or two for leftovers

my mum used to do half mince half soya when we were growing up as we were poor

she was of the generation that could cook though and knew how to make food stretch, maybe people should be taught how to do this now

what we do sometimes for eg fish pie, use less fish and put in more veg

then you can still make the same meals but cheaper

dh loves steak but they cost around £4 each from our farmer so he has them maybe twice a month not twice a week

(whoops , forgot to add that you need to simmer once liquid is in (20-30mins) until your veggies are nice and soft to blend)

I often add a bit of milk or cream for a creamier texture as well.

ta wisteria..... will be doing soup sunday then (box comes on monday)......

We've recently started buying Quorn to pad out meatfree meals-I must say I'm pretty impressed with the Quorn 'chicken' type stir fry pieces,children love it with rice and veg in a risotto type meal..pretty cheap when you do loads of rice to fill them up

TIQ - we have the large fruit and large veg and it's enough for us (but my girls eat at their Dad's every other weekend and on a Tuesday night) so if they were here it wouldn't be enough for us either.

If I were in your situ I'd probably get it and then top up on sacks of potatoes to keep in a dark place.

From what you've said about the quantities yours eat I don't think it is an excessively huge amount for growing lads and a dh but I do use more rice/ pasta etc per quantity etc than you seem to do and we don't have huge appetites - well maybe we do and we're just piggies!!

all these alternatives to chicken are quite funny. i'd love to see my 14 year olds face, if i gave him soya mine, he's picky at the best of times.

i'd rather he got protein through chicken than anything else. i thought eating red meat was bad for you too.

in tesco today, two free range chickens. tiny for £7 each. no organic at all.

but if buy Quorn I'd have to do more supermarket shopping - and I try to avoid buying as much food stuffs at the supermarket as I can

as and aside DH doesn't mind Quorn - I have used it before - but it's one of the few things I haven't been much taken with (that and Tofu.....just didn't "get" that at all - although DH and the DS's enjoyed it - but I refuse to spend ages in the kitchen preparing something I don't like )

agree with you on the tofu front *yak emotion...

Wisterai - how much rice should I be cooking then - I already use a full (large) mug full of dry rice!! (but I eat tiny portions of it).

Poshwellies, tofu is good for stir-fry too (the ready cooked pieces). Not sure how it compares price-wise with Qourn tbh.

YOu can also make your own Glamorgan sausages (they are vegetarian)

now Sausages are one thing I wouldn't DARE mess around with - got to be thick pork sausages in this house or all hell breaks loose, one of our little "luxury" meals (well at £2.99 for the 12 we need I consider it a luxury LOL) did once cook some (very nice) vegetarian sausages - which went down well.......but I was told in no uncertain terms by all 3 of them that if we were having sausages, bacon, eggs, mash etc etc then vegetarian sausages just wouldn't do LOL.

TIQ - it's not should, I'm not trying to change you!! Please don't think that...

I'm just pointing out that we eat more carbs so could be why we get fuller on less, I used half a pack of brown rice last night (2 normal sized mugs full) to feed 3 of us, made a veggie sauce from the left over box veg with tinned tomatoes and butter beans and chucked 4 sausages in to make it a bit more interesting.... we were full .

There's just enough rice left for me to have some cold for my lunch.

I didnt see that that prog last night cos it would have really upset me., Im not turning ablind eye, i knew what it was about as id seen the trailers and a clip on Richard and Judy.

Ive been a vegetarian for 24 yrs for the sols reason of factory farming and the miserable lives these poor animals lead. However, im not a complate saint as DS and DP are both meat eaters and im fine with buying and cooking it. I am only buying free range chicken cos i would be a bit of an hyocrite itherwise not eating it, but buying it. I may as well eat it otherwise! it is more expensive, but i agree with many of you that its best to have decent meat now and again than this cheap meat most days.

After being a veggie for so long im living proof you dont need meat, but DS loves his meat. dP not so bothered so i try and cook a variety of meals, meat fish and veggie.

Xmas i couldnt bear to see those fattened up turkeys. I bought free range turkey and pork which i must admit was miles more expensive, but i felt better for it.

I REALLY suupose it depends on how much of a conscience you have,but i like to think i can still buy meat for my family a few times a week, not spend a fortune and know the animal has had a decent life. Its not about being able to afford free range, even cheap meat is more expensive than a veggie diet.

Made me laugh really - people in the pub were moaning they couldn't afford to pay the extra £2 for a free range bird but were happily quaffing ale!!!!

tofu is nice if you marinate it in something first - soy sauce, garlic, ginger and chilli

then fry it, all the bits stick, yum yum