Obesity

[Reynard]

I can fully understand why harassed parents working full time on minimum wage find the solutions open to them are ready meals, KFC, fish 'n' chips. These are households which don't have, possibly don't understand, the magical well-stocked food cupboard. Such a thing is s luxury.

I'm confident my wife and I could eat for a month from our freezers and cupboards. How lucky we are when so many households are not.

Obesity is a significant and increasing problem which is storing up huge long-term health issues. Until we begin to address the many inequalities which exist in our society the possibilities of successfully changing this are very limited.

My food cupboard and freezer is much the same as yours. For me though, there is a practical reason, as I live right out in the boonies, and just going out for a couple of items is a bit pointless. So I have things in like long life milk, bread flour, dried yeast, rice, pasta, canned goods, seasonings etc.

Although it doesn't have to be an expensive exercise to keep good stock in. I've been taking good advantage on clearance offers on the "weird brands" that the supermarket got in last year when things were hard to come by, as well as looking in the green bins in Tesco for damaged goods / end of line / short dated etc. I've been picking up things like flour at 15p a kilo, pasta at 37p a kilo, basmati rice at 66p a kilo etc. I got lucky with job lots of olive oil, leaf tea, Polish sausages and tubes of tomato paste recently as well. It's all about keeping an eye out and thinking ahead.

A lot of what is in my freezer has been picked up on yellow sticker.

If I can't be bothered to cook, I tend to fall back on the time-honoured jacket potato, toasted sandwich or a cheese omelette or something. Take aways don't feature at all, because I'm well outside the delivery radius, and it's a faff to go out and get one.

 

[KnittyNorah]

If I can't be bothered to cook, I tend to fall back on the time-honoured jacket potato, toasted sandwich or a cheese omelette or something.

So do I - and there is nothing in the least bit wrong about eg a potato with a proteinaceous filling and veggies or salad on the side. It is easy, cheap, tasty and nutritious.
Sadly, for many, even scrambled eggs 'classify' as cooking - and are beyond their skillset.

 

[Reynard]

So do I - and there is nothing in the least bit wrong about eg a potato with a proteinaceous filling and veggies or salad on the side. It is easy, cheap, tasty and nutritious.
Sadly, for many, even scrambled eggs 'classify' as cooking - and are beyond their skillset.

A jacket potato with baked beans and cheese is the default, but it's a good vehicle for leftover curry or chilli or tuna as well.

When Delia did her "How to Cook" series about a decade ago, she actually started with how to boil an egg. I remember the indignant outrage, but I reckon you're right, because she did have a point...

 

[KnittyNorah]

They are for me.

Fried, yes. Boiled, yes. Even poached at a pinch. But I can never get scrambled eggs right. They are either a bit uncooked and gloopy or separate and go watery. Not to mention the sticking to the pan business.

I greatly dislike eggs as 'eggs' ie a separate yolk and white - but mixed up altogether, then stirred into hot rice, or trickled into a clear broth, or as an omelette - or as scrambled eggs - they're fine. And the quickest, easiest way of scrambling - AND the one that minimises washing up - is, I am convinced, in the microwave. I wouldn't do them any other way now!

 

[Reynard]

I greatly dislike eggs as 'eggs' ie a separate yolk and white - but mixed up altogether, then stirred into hot rice, or trickled into a clear broth, or as an omelette - or as scrambled eggs - they're fine. And the quickest, easiest way of scrambling - AND the one that minimises washing up - is, I am convinced, in the microwave. I wouldn't do them any other way now!

Aaaaah, egg fried rice is one of my guilty pleasures... Eggs, rice, scallions, salt and pepper - food of the gods, I tell you.

But the secret is to use lard or dripping, NOT oil.

Mind you, I do tend to team it up with lots of steamed veg on the side, usually with chilli, sesame and soy. And (home made) pickled ginger.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Aaaaah, egg fried rice is one of my guilty pleasures... Eggs, rice, scallions, salt and pepper - food of the gods, I tell you.

But the secret is to use lard or dripping, NOT oil.

Mind you, I do tend to team it up with lots of steamed veg on the side, usually with chilli, sesame and soy. And (home made) pickled ginger.

Interesting ... if Lard or Dripping was an ingredient in a ready-meal....

 

[battered]

Is it will power and the corporates food industry that are the factors in this?
My own personal experience is that good food is cheaper than shelf food and easy to follow menus are widely available these websites actually show a price comparison as too how much it costs

ALL food is outrageously cheap now. I buy very little processed food but the other day I bought some ready made flaky pastry, It was 75p. I'm not kidding. 75p. I have made 2 meals from it. I know how to make the stuff, heaven knows I have worked in enough factories manufacturing it to know *precisely* how it works. The butter to put in it costs half of that. I'm going to mess about putting 72 folds in pastry for 75p? Jog on. The same applies to most people, to a greater or lesser degree. I spent an hour earlier chopping vegetables for soup. Who else does this? A tin of the stuff is 35p.

The food industy are very good at providing an easy fix .as they did with the GF shelves appearing ..so the earlier reports about them "corrupting " us in the 50/60s may well be true ..

This old chestnut again. The food industry are corrupting us. Listen, I've spent 30+ years in food manufacturing, at all levels, and trust me, nobody is that bloody smart. The best we can ever manage is occasionally selling stuff that people want to buy, even that it a bit of a stretch. We cut out E numbers when people wanted us to, we went low fat, likewise, salt reduction, if today's buzzword is GF then give us a year or two and we *might* get there. But manipulate the market? I should be so lucky.

 

[Reynard]

Interesting ... if Lard or Dripping was an ingredient in a ready-meal....

You'd be bloody crucified...

I got taught this by a Chinese lady I know. It really does make the difference in the taste.

 

[Reynard]

The same applies to most people, to a greater or lesser degree. I spent an hour earlier chopping vegetables for soup. Who else does this? A tin of the stuff is 35p.

35p soup... Thick, gloppy and woefully underseasoned. Forget it. The branded stuff is no better.

I'd much rather spend the time prepping veggies and making my own. What you seem to be conveniently forgetting is that the act of preparing and cooking food can be a pleasure in itself.

 

[Lookrider]

ALL food is outrageously cheap now. I buy very little processed food but the other day I bought some ready made flaky pastry, It was 75p. I'm not kidding. 75p. I have made 2 meals from it. I know how to make the stuff, heaven knows I have worked in enough factories manufacturing it to know *precisely* how it works. The butter to put in it costs half of that. I'm going to mess about putting 72 folds in pastry for 75p? Jog on. The same applies to most people, to a greater or lesser degree. I spent an hour earlier chopping vegetables for soup. Who else does this? A tin of the stuff is 35p.


This old chestnut again. The food industry are corrupting us. Listen, I've spent 30+ years in food manufacturing, at all levels, and trust me, nobody is that bloody smart. The best we can ever manage is occasionally selling stuff that people want to buy, even that it a bit of a stretch. We cut out E numbers when people wanted us to, we went low fat, likewise, salt reduction, if today's buzzword is GF then give us a year or two and we *might* get there. But manipulate the market? I should be so lucky.

Maybe my use of the term corrupting has been misplaced
Its not meant as financially corrupting us but that the food ingredients used in the 50/60s ie sugar salt syrups etc has indeed corrupted us in some form ...the author of that book proves that

I've no idea about puff flake pastry so I guess that's cheaper and easier to just buy .so I will go along with you there

I cannot agree that tinned soup is any where near as good as home made
I also would likely get sick of chopping vegetables for a FULL hour as its usually a couple minutes max to chop a few veggies up fir family pot of soup ...and I'm slow at chopping

A FULL hour is an awful lot of veggies

 

[mistyoptic]

A FULL hour is an awful lot of veggies

That’s about how long I take but to make about six litres which will then be frozen in 2 portion doses. Then it becomes worth the time spent.

oh, and no comparison with the pap that comes in tins IMHO

 

[KnittyNorah]

Aaaaah, egg fried rice is one of my guilty pleasures... Eggs, rice, scallions, salt and pepper - food of the gods, I tell you.

But the secret is to use lard or dripping, NOT oil.

Mind you, I do tend to team it up with lots of steamed veg on the side, usually with chilli, sesame and soy. And (home made) pickled ginger.

No frying needed - just hot, freshly-cooked rice, stirred together with a spoonful of fried/caramelised onions and some chopped cooked veggies - whatever is left over, or some frozen ones from a packet briefly steamed - stir the beaten egg/s into that steaming mass, plop the lid on for a few minutes to keep in the heat, season then serve. Duck eggs add definite extra degree of 'richness' to the dish. Chopped chili peppers, fresh herbs, finely-sliced mushrooms or anything else you particularly fancy can be added instead of/as well as the veggies. No lard, no dripping (I'm vegetarian, or at least try to be ...), no butter, no oil necessary. A squeeze of lemon juice and some black pepper - mmmmmm!

 

[KnittyNorah]

Interesting ... if Lard or Dripping was an ingredient in a ready-meal....

Palm oil very often is in ready meals - not something one sees in home-made food ...

 

[Reynard]

No frying needed - just hot, freshly-cooked rice, stirred together with a spoonful of fried/caramelised ones and some chopped cooked veggies - whatever is left over, or some frozen ones from a packet briefly steamed - stir the beaten egg/s into that steaming mass, plop the lid on for a few minutes to keep in the heat, season then serve. Duck eggs add definite extra degree of 'richness' to the dish. Chopped chili peppers, fresh herbs, finely-sliced mushrooms or anything else you particularly fancy can be added instead of/as well as the veggies. No lard, no dripping (I'm vegetarian, or at least try to be ...), no butter, no oil necessary. A squeeze of lemon juice and some black pepper - mmmmmm!

I've done it that way too, but prefer the authentic Chinese way. There's just something about the flavour and texture that presses all the right buttons.

Have to confess that I do like using lard and dripping when cooking. But, as ever, it's achieving the balance between naughty foods and not so naughty ones. I don't actually eat that much fried / deep-dried food.

 

[winjim]

I promise you, the solution to the obesity epidemic is not 'convince people to spend an hour chopping vegetables in order to replicate a 35p tin of soup'.