EAT WELL FOR LESS - thur bbc1 8pm

[Blondeshavemorefun]

Hope this is a new series

Let’s see if each family does the usual of no no no that’s horrible and their usual brand 😂😂😂

Sometimes I wish theyd show the cheaper convieniant items like frozen chopped onions and peppers which are great in mince sauces. Rather than the blanket prepared is bad and expensive.

They never seem to show ALDI or Lidl apart from on the blind testing on the public. Surely even more could be saved by not stopping at Tesco/Sainsbury's or ASDA?
I also find it irritating that to get the full savings the family would have to shop in 2/3 shops to do a weeks shop. The theme every week is that families are too busy to do that sort of thing!

Graphista, I get your point about not knowing how much you spend but none of them know and most of them get it so wrong.

I couldn't tell you to the penny but I have a very good idea. Mind you I very rarely do top up shops. I dislike shopping so certainly do not go a couple of times a week. I do a big shop around every 6 weeks and then maybe every 10 days to buy fruit and veg.

We hardly every have takeaways as on the whole we can cook nicer food at home.

I think they do that to avoid being accused of advertising. The cost of own brand food is pretty standard across the board with the big 4.

I would like to see them use more stores like homebargains, local butchers, approved foods.

I also find it irritating that to get the full savings the family would have to shop in 2/3 shops to do a weeks shop. The theme every week is that families are too busy to do that sort of thing

But for non perishables, you don't have to go to the same shops and buy the same things every week.

Just keep a list of things that you like or are cheaper at Tesco/Asda/Aldi etc and then rotate round the available supermarkets and buy a couple of items to keep in stock at home. Even better, if you shop online and do this, if you miss a few weeks at any particular shop, they tend to send you money off vouchers to tempt you back to them.

Obviously wouldn't work for someone on a tight budget with no storage and only one supermarket nearby, but none of the people in the programmes are in this situation.

They've all have access to multiple supermarkets, are used to going several times a week anyway, have space to store more than the bare minimum and aren't on such a limited income that they can only buy what they are immediately going to use.

They could also mention using special offers more. There are certain things that are always on offer somewhere, so if you plan ahead and are flexible with brands, you never have to pay full price. Things like toiletries, cleaning and laundry products, tea and coffee, canned tomatoes, pasta sauce, branded cheddar, fizzy drinks and loads more.

I guess it's just easier to use the main supermarkets. The majority of people have at least one fairly close by whereas a lot of people do not have an Aldi, Lidl, Farm Foods etc.

Also I do know quite a few people who will only shop in main supermarkets, often sticking to one even if they have the others nearby and never shop in other food stores.

My parents will only shop in Sainsburys and occasionally Tesco. They have Farm Foods, Iceland, Home Bargains, B&M, Aldi and Lidl all close by (much closer than the Sainsburys is) and yet will not even look in them

There are lots of people who never cook, at all. My inlaws obviously eat, but they never cook - everything is out of a jar or just reheated. Spag bol is the most cooking they do by browning the mince. Then add a jar. They eat frozen chicken/fish with sauces and freezer chips or potatoes. Veg is pre-prepared, frozen.

They simply have no interest in food. They don't eat out, don't watch cookery programmes on telly. Have very plain "British" tastes and are not interested in trying anything new. They also have a very skewed mentality around brands - they're not skint but not terribly well off either and see shopping at Sainsburys and filling your trolley with Lurpak, McVitie's digestives and Kellogg's cerealr proves to anyone who's looking that you can afford to be there. Never ever buy yellow stickers as you wouldn't want the cashier to think you couldn't afford to buy full price. (Same reason as they wouldn't be seen dead in a charity shop).

They wouldn't ever put themselves forward for Eat Well for Less as they're not in the position of having to spend less, and are quite happy as they are. But the parents in law spend as much for the two of them in a week as I do for a family of 5 because I cook from scratch and fill the freezer with reduced to clear bargains.

Fluffycloudland I think they used meat from a local butcher a few times in the first or second series.

I think they did for some ham. They complained it was too thick. I don't think she'd ever bought deli ham and realised you can ask for thin slices.

I loved the last episode.
it was more of a normal family with normal shopping habits and normal budget.
well done them.

I'm wondering about the knives. they all have the garish coloured ones. product placement?

I thought a lovely family. Polite well mannneeee boys

That Lidl yog is fine. I eat it

Yes the valley one is nicer and creamier but Lidl is fine

Do agree it’s annoying they use too many shops for their weekly shop

Maybe they need to use families who shop at Tesco saints Waitrose Lidl Aldi and do a progatnjw per shop

Homemade TOM Sauce is nice and cheap but agree dolmio is lovely - but so is the Lidl TOM noun and garlic sauce. Think 61/65 p

I'm wondering about the knives. they all have the garish coloured ones. product placement?

Yes - this week's had pink, last week's green - I was wondering about that too, whether they are more popular with the public than I'd assumed , or if the producers gave them to the participants

The pink one this week was a Jamie Oliver knife, not sure about last week's green one though

I was thinking today about that white sauce they made using butter, they could make that using flour, oil and milk. It's cheaper, you can mix all the ingredients together cold and it's much easier to make than using butter.

They should do more vegan versions of things, like vegan pancakes and chocolate brownies.

I'm not vegan but I have a milk allergy and vegan versions are easier for me.

but it tastes better with butter...
but agree, yes, would have been good to show other uses of a roux, like making the gravy for the roast chicken.

I use oat milk to make white sauce and usually a dairy free spread. I also don't faff about mixing the spread and flour but just put the flour, spread and milk into a saucepan and keep whisking.

That's the way Delia Smith makes it and its much quicker.

I have just watched the 3 episodes from series 5 (haven't watched any other series as they aren't on iPlayer) and I can't believe how thick these people are?!

Twenty one thousand pounds a year on take aways and snack foods! The cringeworthy couple who laughed at their inability to function as adults and seemed to enjoy being immature and coming across as stupid. And the mother daughter duo who can't cook anything at all?

These people are really wasting money on expensive brands, wasting masses of food and buying take away food daily and then crying and whining on a TV programme that they need to budget better. I'm half gobsmacked and half infuriated.

I don't believe for a second that people simply cannot cook. It is way too easy to get a book or go online and find a recipe which tells you what you need, how much you need and a literal step by step guide on exactly how to do it. It's pure laziness and lack of common sense. How you can raise your children and not pass on the basic life skill of cooking is completely beyond me. Incompetent parenting at its finest

Also fully agree with the PP who was shocked at the amount of MN teenagers who can barely throw together a sandwhich it really isn't hard to spend half an hour in the kitchen putting together a healthy, home cooked meal while teaching your children as you cook. I refuse to believe people don't have the 'time' or skills to do this. It's complete laziness and passive parenting.

fecking I think the last family was fairly typical tbh.
the cooker is daunting if you don't use it beyond heating up and industry makes cooking seem more difficult or time consuming with their adverts of convenience foods.

tbh this series compared to last seem to have less of the big budgets but more 'normal' families. I like that.

@Fluffycloudland77 - when I make white sauce, I don't bother making a roux - I put the butter, flour and milk in a pan, and heat them together, whisking briskly until it thickens. It makes just as good a bechamel as the roux method, and is much easier because you can, as with the oil/flour/milk recipe, just bung it all in together.

I would never teach anyone to make a roux - I'd teach the all in one method - it is so much easier, and if you keep whisking it whilst it heats up and cooks, you never get lumps.

I'm surprised at how own business the kids are to change. It's a big ask for kids who have had the amount of salt and sugar those boys seem to have had from birth to have had their taste buds adapt to home cooked meals so quickly. Maybe they realised they were eating badly and that the family finances were ropey but it was just easier to go along with it. They seemed like good boys. I liked the look of the oat bars. Do they have a recipe website?

That should say 'open to change'

SDT, I make a sauce the same way. Can't be bothered faffing about mixing flour and butter and then gradually adding the milk.

I learned that way years ago as that is the method Delia Smith uses

www.bbc.com/food/recipes/no-bake_fruity_oat_bars_35421

In case you couldn't find it raisedbyguineapigs

Thanks golden I did find it but I will be able to keep track of the recipe more easily from that. It does look really easy!