WHAT DID WE HAVE FOR TEA?

[Big Kev]

Lee Anderson, A Conservative MP has claimed there’s no need for food banks in the UK and that people can afford to eat for 30p a day.

A medium potato then...

[PanBiker]

They should make him prove it and reduce his wages to £2.50 a week for a few months. That would shut the moron up!

[Big Kev]

The MP in question appears to be an idiot anyway
https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-ju ... 30p-a-day/

[PanBiker]

The MP in question appears to be an idiot anyway

I have no doubt about that Kev.

[Tripps]

I certainly chose the day's big story. His reference to a 30p meal was plainly ridiculous. A journalist went to Ashfield, and it seems the courses he recommended are not compulsory, but voluntary, and a person interviewed there said it was useful. Politics and political hatred have taken over in this story. There is some merit in what he says. Panbiker has described how got six meals from a pound of stewing steak - I admire and approve of that - and surely so would Lee Anderson.

Food is odd these days, and the delivery culture is beyond my understanding. I saw a TV show last night Secret Spenders where the budget of two people was examined, and savings of £8k per year were made by reducing take away meals from £400 per month to £100 ! They substituted a Sodastream machine for the 16 two litre bottles of Pepsi she drank every week. One of the ladies was well over 20 stones, but that was never mentioned.

[PanBiker]

There is some merit in what he says. Panbiker has described how got six meals from a pound of stewing steak - I admire and approve of that - and surely so would Lee Anderson.

Just because I have the time, I have done some rough costings on my thrifty food production. It's very rough but in the right ball park so to say. The Stewing Beef which became four meals actually works out very roughly at £1.50 for a 250g or so serving. The pies produced from the batch cooking work out at around 0.70p or thereabouts. These prices are just for ingredients and don't take into account the cooking cost or the labour. Fortunately I have plenty of time to devote to the task. Slow cooking the beef, boiling the spuds, blind baking the pie bases and generally constructing and bubbling up the variations.

I have also run the numbers on what I have produced today as I need something quick and easy for an early tea as I am at Blood Donors in Padiham at 18.15.

To this end I cooked up another easy staple, Chicken and pasta with tomato. This is basically a chopped up chicken breast fried up with an onion a tin of chopped chunky tomatoes a few chilli flakes and a couple of stock cubes. While that is cooking I bubble up 100g or so Fusilli pasta and then when cooked add it to the chicken and tomato mixture. Take a portion for lunch chuck a bit of cheese on top and you are done, very tasty. I will have the same but bake it in the oven for an early tea. Expanding with the tomatoes and onion produces enough for three 250G portions at least. Again, rough estimate, cheaper than the beef stew and around the same cost as the pies. 80p per serving. A bit quicker to produce though.

Thankfully, I am not in the same boat as someone with a young family trying to hold down a zero hour contract and keep house and home together. I have lots of spare time to experiment and produce. Of course we did the same when we had a young family but not under the same economic conditions.

The beef stew is stand alone as is the pasta dish, the pies would normally have some further embellishment such as peas and gravy and bit of red cabbage etc to make a meal.

Anyway, best that I can do with a lifetimes experience and its certainly more than 30p

[Big Kev]

I stand corrected on the cost of potatoes. If you have a Tesco Clubcard you can get 1.25kgs of potatoes for 49p.
Now, where's my nearest Tesco and how much will it cost me to get there?

Screenshot_20220513-165507_Clubcard.jpg

[Tripps]

Tesco are getting quite agressive again. They've offered me 1000 Clubcard points for 4 x £5+ shops. With care that could be £10 off £20 shopping, or with the 'deals' they'd be paying me to shop there.

Reminds me of Morrisons CEO Dalton Phillips who said shortly before he was sacked and insulted by Sir Ken for his impudence.-

10 March 2013 Dalton Phillips CEO a few days before release of figures, and future strategy.......
“You have to be careful in how you approach that market because it is not clear the route to profitability for most retailers,” Philips told BBC Radio 4’s You & Yours.
“The genius of the supermarket today is that customers help keep costs down because they drive in their car, in their time, with their insurance, to your store. They pick up the groceries, they put them in the basket, you scan them out, and then they drive it home.

“When the retailer does all that work for the customer, and essentially doesn’t charge a premium for that, you can end up subsidising your online customer by charging your core customer more. “That is something I philosophically struggle with. Therefore we have got to be careful about how we approach this market. We recognise there is a huge demand for it, but we have got to do it in a way that is right for our customers and our shareholders.”

He was right though. . . .

[Big Kev]

Curry for tea at the Musafir in Earby. Youngest granddaughter's 11th birthday and there were 11 of us eating, a very pleasant evening.

[Stanley]

I can't do better than Ian but would point out that this quotation from the Big Issue article is nonsense....
"We can make a meal for around 30p a day"
What does it mean, one meal for 30p? Or feed for a day on 30p? I have no doubt you could make something for 30p but it would be totally basic and inadequate. As I said when I first replied to David, the man not only talks nonsense he blames the poor for their plight. I am not extravagant but feed well on about £6 a day.
Yesterday I had the last of the chicken with veggies for breakfast and 2 sea bass fillets with veggies for tea.

[Stanley]

I cooked Mutton and chicken and breakfast and tea yesterday were these and veggies. I had to stop myself from eating straight off the perfectly cooked chicken. (In my book that is cooked until it's a lovely golden colour and to some people, grossly overcooked because it falls off the bone.)

[Stanley]

Mutton, chicken and veggies X two for breakfast and tea (and if I tell the truth a snack at midday as well!)

[Stanley]

Three egg omelette with chicken and veggies for breakfast. Mutton, chicken and veggies for tea. Trouble is I cook too well, I had to go back for seconds at tea time. I will never lo0se weight at this rate!

[Stanley]

Mutton chicken and veggies for breakfast and tea. Getting better as each day passes.

[Whyperion]

I stand corrected on the cost of potatoes. If you have a Tesco Clubcard you can get 1.25kgs of potatoes for 49p.
Now, where's my nearest Tesco and how much will it cost me to get there?
Screenshot_20220513-165507_Clubcard.jpg

But will they be in stock, and where do you store them in a small flat ? I tend to get through the 4 baking spuds for 59p ish from Aldi/Sainsburys but the quality of the pack contents is at best , variable.

[Stanley]

Kev, my strict carb diet means no spuds! I had my chicken and veggies. Got a white cabbage and a cauliflower from Chaudrey's and cooked them to extend the weeks cook in the fridge.

[Big Kev]

We occasionally share one baked potato with cheese on it, sometime with a can of tuna. This is at lunchtime so I have the opportunity to burn off the carbs. There's only around 20g of carbs in a potato so I'm happy to eat half, I try and keep under 100g of carbs a day.

[Stanley]

Understood Kev. I probably get more carbs than that from fresh fruit. I can't say so because I've never counted up my intake.

[Big Kev]

Huevos Rancheros at Billy Bob's Diner for breakfast.

[Tripps]

I like the odd BIg Mac - my careful record keeping shows I've had two in the last 18 months. but this is going a bit far. . .

A Big Mac or two every day. . . .

[Stanley]

It wouldn't do for me David.....
I had my chicken and veggies X two for breakfast and tea. I cooked some sausage for a nibble, zero carbs virtually.

[Stanley]

The last of the chicken and veggies X two for breakfast and tea. Good right up to the end!

[Big Kev]

Made a cauldron of chilli at lunchtime, 4 double helping pots in the freezer for the next couple of weeks and a bowl each for lunch. Had the urge for halloumi so it was that with bacon, portabella mushrooms and a fried egg for tea. Cracked open a bottle of Aldi Malbec to wash it down.

[Stanley]

I grilled some sausage to carry me over until the butcher's order arrived. I had previously cooked fresh veggies. So, sausage, cabbage and cauliflower for breakfast and tea.

[Stanley]

Scotch egg and cabbage X two for breakfast and tea. I've cooked a chicken but I saved that for today. I must cook veggies today......