The cost of a meal

Elowen: I thought that M & S and Waitrose had their own farms, so there was provenance to the meat. Am I wrong?

I am a devoted carnivore - always have been - plonking a plate of kale in front of me would bring on an attack of the vapours!!! I can never work out why celebrated chefs create a fantastic dish, then ruin it by throwing in spinach! They all do it! (Yes, I do leave it out!).

I hardly ever buy chicken breasts. The thighs are much tastier, are much less dry - and are cheaper! I use them in various dishes, and TBH unless it’s something like kebabs, one large one is enough for me and dh - certainly in anything like a stir fry, but then but we do always have a LOT of veg with everything.
We eat considerably less meat than we used to - unless it’s a roast, when we do like to have plenty.

I'm vegetarian and grow most of my own vegetables and some fruit. Hard work but at least it's cheap. I make my own version of soups and stews mostly. I don't make my own bread or Marmite so that takes most of the money plus the milk.

But if you buy organic chicken it has to be bred to organic standards, and that includes much higher welfare.

I do not buy any meat in supermarket. I have not done so for decades. Not since the CJD crisis. I buy from specialist or local butchers, mainly online, whom I have thoroughly checked out

I pay an awful lot for chicken these days ever since I read how badly treated chickens are that end up in most supermarkets. But M&S chickens ( supposedly) have a better life so I’ve been buying them for a year or so.

There's a high probability that Marks & Spencer and other supermarket chicken products come from the same suppliers or even the same factories. Supermarkets often source their own-brand and branded products from the same suppliers, which can lead to the same chicken being sold under different packaging and brand names. For example, the vast majority of chicken sold in UK supermarkets comes from just three suppliers, 2 Sisters, Moy Park, and Avara Foods.

Chicken breasts for example will be trimmed differently depending on the supermarket they are going to, cheaper supermarkets will often sell breasts which do not fit the size the dearer supermarkets require, either too big or too small.

Somebody asked how much lentils do I put in with my mince in spaghetti bolognese. The answer is two tablespoons and it’s the dried red lentils. I also do this with chilli mince and cottage pie. My DH likes his meat but he’s never raised an objection to the lentils. With the added veg it means a 1lb of good quality minced beef is good for 6 portions in our house. If I add even more veg, it will stretch to 8 portions. Hope this helps.

Mt61

Allira

I asked DH to bring a small free-range chicken from Tesco.

The smallest he could find was just under 2kg - over £14! 😯
The price has gone up a lot recently.

It did last three of us for two main meals, some for lunch on a couple of other days with salad then stock for soup.

I am hard pressed to find a decent sized chicken, I remember having roast chicken dinner, when I was a youngster, the chicken was huge! It would do us family of five, two days.

Were they capons, perhaps? Neutered male birds? Always bigger, but you don’t hear about them at all nowadays.

Great tips! I've made a few of the recipes recommended by grans. Whatever people decide is cheap or expensive is relative, surely. I think main meals for one within the £3 to £4 budget would be reasonable for me. That would include cooking oils, herbs and accompaniments. I find good quality meat, eggs and fish increasingly expensive. Yes, you can bulk them out with lentils, pearl barley etc, but not to the extent that you can't taste the main "hero of the dish." I usually freeze leftover portions to save me cooking every day. I also buy yellow sticker items to use the same day.
I wouldn't criticise anyone who can't affort to eat good quality, nutritious food. I don't personally believe it's because they can't cook! There are lots of essential things to buy each week as well as food. Bulk buying saves money and brings down the cost of a meal per portion. Not everyone can do that.

NotSpaghetti

Cooked Long Grain Rice (50%) (Water, Long Grain Rice), Curry Sauce (39%) (Water, Onion, Seasoning (Sugar, Salt, Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Cumin Powder, Coriander Powder, Turmeric Powder, Fenugreek Powder, Black Pepper, Ginger Powder, Cayenne Powder, Flavouring (contains Barley), Garlic Powder, Cumin Seed, Caraway Seed, Onion Powder), Dried Skimmed Milk, Coconut Milk Powder (Coconut Extract, Maltodextrin, Milk Proteins), Tomato Paste, Modified Maize Starch, Rapeseed Oil, Lemon Juice from Concentrate), Cooked Chicken (11%) (Chicken Breast (98%), Salt)

This is Chicken curry with rice from Iceland. Mt61.
11% Chicken (mainly breast).
It's £1.00

That’s really amazing 😳 for a pound?

It will vary a lot here. Especially in winter, I make a lot of thick, multi-veg soups with the likes of lentils or pearl barley - mostly seasonal root veg, so relatively very cheap.

But then we’ll have a free range chicken - mind you I will get at least 3 meals out of it, plus stock from the carcass. Or a fish pie with smoked haddock and small prawns as well as white fish - not so cheap.

An occasional half leg of lamb is pretty expensive, but none of it will be wasted.
Cauliflower cheese is a favourite of dh - U.K. grown cauliflowers are pretty cheap, but a lot,of extra mature Cheddar goes in the sauce. And the jacket potatoes we have with it, won’t break the bank either.

You can only write of what you do. If others think that honesty is virtue signalling, then that is their problem, not mine.

Ever since CJD, I have gone for quality, not quantity where meat is concerned and I know we eat a lot less meat per head than the average in the UK. It also means being virtually vegetarian when eating out.

We all make all our decisions in life based on income and what matters to us. It is not a competition it is meant be an open exchange of information and explanation among equals.

Very interesting this lots of lovely tips.

David49

There is an awful lot of virtue signaling in this thread individuals may well be able to afford free range or organic everything but most have to accept what they can afford.
If you can cook your own it’s entirely possible to have a nutritious diet cheaply even at todays prices, there are always going to be some who cannot do that and have to rely on others or ready meals.
There does need to be better provision for those that can’t manage on their own

I agree David49.
It’s actually quite interesting reading what people do though that I can’t do, e.g. I don’t like mince except for making meatballs, or minced chicken and we can’t eat lentils as they have an unpleasant side effect.
Like Kittylester I don’t like too much food sitting in the fridge and by the time I’ve frozen stuff (we only have a small freezer) and got it out to defrost then reheated it, I wonder how much time or electricity I’ve saved.
I buy what we can afford. If it’s ‘organic’ or comes with a ‘I had a nice life’ certificate that’s good, but if it puts it out of my price range, then that’s where it stays.

Really the UK food is very cheap compared to many other countries.

It doesn't mean that everyone has enough money though.

Cooked Long Grain Rice (50%) (Water, Long Grain Rice), Curry Sauce (39%) (Water, Onion, Seasoning (Sugar, Salt, Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Cumin Powder, Coriander Powder, Turmeric Powder, Fenugreek Powder, Black Pepper, Ginger Powder, Cayenne Powder, Flavouring (contains Barley), Garlic Powder, Cumin Seed, Caraway Seed, Onion Powder), Dried Skimmed Milk, Coconut Milk Powder (Coconut Extract, Maltodextrin, Milk Proteins), Tomato Paste, Modified Maize Starch, Rapeseed Oil, Lemon Juice from Concentrate), Cooked Chicken (11%) (Chicken Breast (98%), Salt)

This is Chicken curry with rice from Iceland. Mt61.
11% Chicken (mainly breast).
It's £1.00

The wide range of answers shows how different our life styles are. I don’t eat meat or fish but my meals are costing more month by month. I buy all fruit, salad and veg from our market but our only supermarket is Waitrose.
I buy meat for my cats and dog and although that price has soared it’s still cheaper than good quality pet food.

Georgesgran

Didn’t you post the same comment about Faggots *Mt61?

Ha, I would have done. I still never found out was in them?

David49

There is an awful lot of virtue signaling in this thread individuals may well be able to afford free range or organic everything but most have to accept what they can afford.
If you can cook your own it’s entirely possible to have a nutritious diet cheaply even at todays prices, there are always going to be some who cannot do that and have to rely on others or ready meals.
There does need to be better provision for those that can’t manage on their own

I agree with David49

Allira

I asked DH to bring a small free-range chicken from Tesco.

The smallest he could find was just under 2kg - over £14! 😯
The price has gone up a lot recently.

It did last three of us for two main meals, some for lunch on a couple of other days with salad then stock for soup.

I am hard pressed to find a decent sized chicken, I remember having roast chicken dinner, when I was a youngster, the chicken was huge! It would do us family of five, two days.

Didn’t you post the same comment about Faggots *Mt61?

Debbi58

A friend of mine buys Iceland meals , I believe they are a £1 each. She bulks them out with veg. Iceland deliver free if you soend £45 , I think

Golly what’s in them? Lips & arses? £1 a meal🤣

I lived through WW11 with all its deprivation and then rationing though I can’t recall when it ended.
We lived frugally in our early marriage as most young couples did so I hope I am forgiven for indulging when I like now.
I don’t have many ready meals but I do cook for convenience now e.g. salmon fillets , chicken breast with salad or jacket potato and fillet steak and duck breast on high days and holidays .
I don’t go mad but I do enjoy my meals while I can.

I absolutely feel sorry for families. Especially mothers that can’t cook! The price of food is outrageous.
I batch cook, make large pans of soup, stews & curries. I do use lots of lentils, but have never cooked them in say spag Bol, I will try that 👍🏻

I agree with you David49
(Please don't faint!)

growstuff

Jaxjacky

I just have low sodium growstuff my GP doesn’t know why, I’ve only once needed a saline drip a few years ago. I use lo salt as advised for BP control.

Hmmm! I looked up the causes of low sodium and it seems there are more reasons than I thought. Nevertheless, I don't see that as a good reason to eat ready meals - can't people just add more salt to their food?

It's not a good reason but having a replacement knee then a fracture is!
Thank goodness for ready meals, at least we're not on Smash, tinned peas and a tin of corned beef these days.