Feed a family nutritionally well for <€132 a week

Mellor

ch750536 wrote: »

Week 1 summary showed 10% of the nutrition coming from 30% of the spend. Basically healthy food is nowhere near as expensive as unhealthy food!

I'm not surprised by that really. But I can't see how you arrived at the 10% nutririon. How did you calculate that?

And whats the nutritional breakdown for the week. That's hugely important.
Foods like kale, spinach and courgettes provide tonnes of vitamins, but leave you short on energy and many others items.
This is where the expense comes from for my shopping. Healthy fresh food will never compete on price with bulk pasta, rice, etc from a food energy survival point of view. But I'm happy to pay the premium to cover much more nutritionally bases.

ch750536 wrote: »

If you honestly have the opinion that after week 1 of trying to do this you find the foods we are eating are not good for us then I have to listen. I thought we were doing really well.

Can you be a bit more specific about what you would remove and what you would add?

I can't be sure how big each unit of everything is. So before I see the macro breakdown but (in my opinion) the diet as a whole is lacking fat and protein. And maybe a little high in sugar, but maybe not.

For your family, they can use meat and/or to increase both of these. It's obviously harder for you. How many grams of protien do you think you get per week (or daily average).

As for what to remove first, 26 packets of crisps is the obvious start. I appreciate that lunches are tricky with kids and packed lunches (I also brought crisp most days growing up, but our house had a poor diet imo). But that's only 10 bags per week. There's 16 more there. Even if the kids have 2 bags each at the weekend, its barely more than half of the total.

Remember these;

ch750536 wrote: »

No, they do not have crisps daily. Please quote where I said that.

ch750536 wrote: »

Thats why they have 2 packs a week. Seriously guys, you need to read what I write & not make things up.

ch750536

Mellor wrote: »

I'm not surprised by that really. But I can't see how you arrived at the 10% nutririon. How did you calculate that?

Hula hoops (for example) are empty, we all know that. Well, almost empty. I visualise cups of good stuff for each food type. This is based on my current knowledge.
Hula hoops vs Mackeral - no contest, I visualise a tiny cup for hula hoops and a much bigger cup full of good things for the mackeral.
Trying to put into words what we all do without thinking I suppose.

Mellor wrote: »

And whats the nutritional breakdown for the week. That's hugely important.
Foods like kale, spinach and courgettes provide tonnes of vitamins, but leave you short on energy and many others items.

Yep, my calories are proportionally lower than the rest of the family, as stated here before. I'm in a position to take a calorie hit as I am currently famine resistant.
That said, I'm proabably more guilty than anyone on the nonsense food, so I carry my share of calories there.
I don't have the time to give the macro breakdown that you ask for, I'm really busy at the moment. I do keep track of everything and will get round to it when I can.
Energy is spot on. We all wake at 8am, kids do sports, all do karate twice a week. We all do bleep tests for fun out the back most days. Kids crash by 8.30pm, I crash by 11pm normally. This is how we have been for a good while. I don't have any weak spots during the day and the kids certainly don't appear to.

Mellor wrote: »

This is where the expense comes from for my shopping. Healthy fresh food will never compete on price with bulk pasta, rice, etc from a food energy survival point of view. But I'm happy to pay the premium to cover much more nutritionally bases.

I agree. Difficult balance with carbs as many have stated here, the diet is already high in carbs, but they are so cheap!
There is the balance. The €20 with the organic farmer did me very well though and competes strongly with supermarket veg on price but destroys them on taste & nutrients.

Mellor wrote: »

I can't be sure how big each unit of everything is. So before I see the macro breakdown but (in my opinion) the diet as a whole is lacking fat and protein. And maybe a little high in sugar, but maybe not.

Yep, I didn't want this becoming photos of meals so chose not to do that. I get a lot of fat & protein from nuts, seeds, beans etc. I don't have a protein \ fat issue other than the previously stated omega issue (algae in the post) & even then the high amount of seeds \ avocado's etc should be fine.
The kids have at least 1 portion of meat per day, most days 2. Good quality meat is really expensive. They have beef tomorrow at a cost of €2.95 for their lunch! Kids also have nuts each day. They also eat at grans 3 times a week which is also meat but not logged. I always mention when the kids eat out so you know though.

Mellor wrote: »

For your family, they can use meat and/or to increase both of these.

Mentioned above, they get loads of meat. Too much in my opinion.

Mellor wrote: »

It's obviously harder for you. How many grams of protien do you think you get per week (or daily average).

I aim for 700 a week, more if I am particularly active. If I think things are a little low I will eat a large pack of nuts over 2 days (almonds, cashews, walnuts, brazils - as I did today) , perhaps with some vegan sausages which come in at 60% protein. If I am out of these I have hemp protein powder as a last resort.

Mellor wrote: »

As for what to remove first, 26 packets of crisps is the obvious start. I appreciate that lunches are tricky with kids and packed lunches (I also brought crisp most days growing up, but our house had a poor diet imo). But that's only 10 bags per week. There's 16 more there. Even if the kids have 2 bags each at the weekend, its barely more than half of the total.

It might be better if I describe these as 'packeted snacks' where the kids are concerned. We try to get something a little easier on them as all their friends have an easy snack. It's never Tayto's. Never, ever. It's normally something like snack-a-jack's, skips, popcorn, doritos. The lighter end of bad.
In my own summary I stated the same thing as you. I can cut down for me, but a family of 4, all at work or school consuming less than 1 pack per day each. I agree, not best practice but we are all human.
I am aiming to cut them down & I can see the negative impact.

Thanks for the positive input, really appreciated.

Greenmachine

ch750536 wrote: »

Hula hoops (for example) are empty, we all know that. Well, almost empty. I visualise cups of good stuff for each food type. This is based on my current knowledge.
Hula hoops vs Mackeral - no contest, I visualise a tiny cup for hula hoops and a much bigger cup full of good things for the mackeral.
Trying to put into words what we all do without thinking I suppose.


Yep, my calories are proportionally lower than the rest of the family, as stated here before. I'm in a position to take a calorie hit as I am currently famine resistant.
That said, I'm proabably more guilty than anyone on the nonsense food, so I carry my share of calories there.
I don't have the time to give the macro breakdown that you ask for, I'm really busy at the moment. I do keep track of everything and will get round to it when I can.
Energy is spot on. We all wake at 8am, kids do sports, all do karate twice a week. We all do bleep tests for fun out the back most days. Kids crash by 8.30pm, I crash by 11pm normally. This is how we have been for a good while. I don't have any weak spots during the day and the kids certainly don't appear to.


I agree. Difficult balance with carbs as many have stated here, the diet is already high in carbs, but they are so cheap!
There is the balance. The €20 with the organic farmer did me very well though and competes strongly with supermarket veg on price but destroys them on taste & nutrients.

Yep, I didn't want this becoming photos of meals so chose not to do that. I get a lot of fat & protein from nuts, seeds, beans etc. I don't have a protein \ fat issue other than the previously stated omega issue (algae in the post) & even then the high amount of seeds \ avocado's etc should be fine.
The kids have at least 1 portion of meat per day, most days 2. Good quality meat is really expensive. They have beef tomorrow at a cost of €2.95 for their lunch! Kids also have nuts each day. They also eat at grans 3 times a week which is also meat but not logged. I always mention when the kids eat out so you know though.

Mentioned above, they get loads of meat. Too much in my opinion.

I aim for 700 a week, more if I am particularly active. If I think things are a little low I will eat a large pack of nuts over 2 days (almonds, cashews, walnuts, brazils - as I did today) , perhaps with some vegan sausages which come in at 60% protein. If I am out of these I have hemp protein powder as a last resort.

It might be better if I describe these as 'packeted snacks' where the kids are concerned. We try to get something a little easier on them as all their friends have an easy snack. It's never Tayto's. Never, ever. It's normally something like snack-a-jack's, skips, popcorn, doritos. The lighter end of bad.
In my own summary I stated the same thing as you. I can cut down for me, but a family of 4, all at work or school consuming less than 1 pack per day each. I agree, not best practice but we are all human.
I am aiming to cut them down & I can see the negative impact.

Thanks for the positive input, really appreciated.

What makes you think skip or Doritos are not as bad as tayto. You have not made any mention of the cost of hemp protein powder as far as I can see. From your figure in your blog it appears you are getting less than half the protein you claim to be getting. Show me a link to a vegan sausage that contains 60% protein, or any sausage for that matter.

ch750536

Greenmachine wrote: »

What makes you think skip or Doritos are not as bad as tayto.

Good call. Not sure. I don't have any in the house just now to compare. I'm not saying they are healthy, my own phrase was 'better side of bad'.

Greenmachine wrote: »

You have not made any mention of the cost of hemp protein powder as far as I can see.

I've not had to use it. I only detail prices of consumed items, not purchased items.

Greenmachine wrote: »

From your figure in your blog it appears you are getting less than half the protein you claim to be getting.

As I just stated above ^ I spotted my protein was a little low so had a booster day today. You'll see details of that tomorrow.

Greenmachine wrote: »

Show me a link to a vegan sausage that contains 60% protein, or any sausage for that matter.

Good point. Not sure where I got that figure from
They are 23% protein.

the groutch

ch750536 wrote: »

If you honestly have the opinion that after week 1 of trying to do this you find the foods we are eating are not good for us then I have to listen. I thought we were doing really well.

Can you be a bit more specific about what you would remove and what you would add?

sorry, I might have been a bit too harsh, there is a lot of great healthy stuff there.

one thing I noticed is that there is no eggs and almost no fish involved, I would try incorporate them a bit more.

for yourself it might be worth looking at some of the meat alternatives out there eg. tempeh & seitan.
the Asian markets would be your best bet for those.

ch750536

the groutch wrote: »

sorry, I might have been a bit too harsh, there is a lot of great healthy stuff there.

one thing I noticed is that there is no eggs and almost no fish involved, I would try incorporate them a bit more.

I've tried a million ways with eggs, the kids only like fried eggs. One eats only the yolk, one eats only the white. Efficient if they would share the egg...
Normally there is fish. We just had a chicken kinda week. There will now be salmon this week.

the groutch wrote: »

for yourself it might be worth looking at some of the meat alternatives out there eg. tempeh & seitan.
the Asian markets would be your best bet for those.

So difficult to source even tofu on the west coast. I can get them in Limerick, 1hr away. Not blown away with them either. I will stock the freezer next time I'm in Limerick though.
If anyone knows of a good way to source these it would be greatly appreciated.

the groutch

found this site, not sure how the pricing fits in with your budget though

http://plantgoodness24.ie/categories/27/Meat_amp_Fish_Alternatives/Tofu_Seitan_Tempeh.html/1/nazwa-desc

ch750536

the groutch wrote: »

found this site, not sure how the pricing fits in with your budget though

http://plantgoodness24.ie/categories/27/Meat_amp_Fish_Alternatives/Tofu_Seitan_Tempeh.html/1/nazwa-desc

I tried them a while back, really expensive. Also +€6 for delivery. Because they don't get delivered chilled you have limited shelf life, just didn't work.

I think I need a real store to buy them from.

ch750536

After the pointing out of snacks, we abstained this week (the adults). Very strange complete loss of appetite for the last few days for both of us. I've heard the rumours about packet snacks made to make you hungry, I have to wonder if this is what I am seeing now?

Theres also a bug going round at the moment so it might be that.

Very odd not being hungry though. Is this how 'normal' people are?

Alf Veedersane

ch750536 wrote: »

Very odd not being hungry though. Is this how 'normal' people are?

We don't normally snack, to be honest. There are times we think we might like one but that's usually on a day herself hasn't bought any after a few days of bringing home a treat.

Nothing crazy...A bar perhaps. But we don't miss anything that isn't going to be there

Mellor

I snack constantly, everyday. My days eating is usually 3 meals and 3 snacks.

ch750536

It's very odd and certainly the longest I have gone without ever wanting food in my adult life. Today I had a smoothie for breakfast, some nuts for lunch. I'm not hungry at all even with 2 training sessions today.

I'm drinking enough, maybe 5 pints today. Just no real want of food. Baffling.

ch750536

Learnt something new yesterday.

tldr;

However, you should note that organic in Europe is very different to organic in Ireland. In Europe, pesticide free hydroponics is classed as organic.

How come I never heard of that before.

indigo twist

ch750536 wrote: »

Learnt something new yesterday.

tldr;

"However, you should note that organic in Europe is very different to organic in Ireland. In Europe, pesticide free hydroponics is classed as organic."

How come I never heard of that before.

Usually when someone is linking to a quote to back up something, they'd ideally link to a reputable independent source, not to their own blog ...

papu

indigo twist wrote: »

Usually when someone is linking to a quote to back up something, they'd ideally link to a reputable independent source, not to their own blog ...

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32007R0834&from=EN
Regulations are here ,

(d)

in addition, fertilisers and soil conditioners may only be used if they have been authorised for use in organic production under Article 16;

wheres the problem? It's still pesticide free , and it's still governed under the same guidelines as all the other organic crops?

ch750536

So, this came about from talking to the local organic farmer. Summary of the conversation is, while he is impressed at the price of Lidl for their organic food, if he was to produce it the same here in Ireland (or UK) he would not be allowed to call it organic.

This is due to the definition of organic in the Netherlands being different to the definition of organic in Ireland.

However, this does not affect the import of these goods as being labelled organic.

Maybe he was wrong, in which case I can tell him the good news.

Penny Tration

I'm sure you won't take this as constructive criticism, but I'd suggest you all eat more nutritious, filling food than popcorn or crisps.

In the last 19 days, your family have eaten 46 packs of crisps/popcorn, and that's not counting the biscuits.

That's a huge amount!

Can i suggest that you give crisps/popcorn as a treat, not an every day thing. They're present almost each of those 19 days. Never mind that they're nutritionally void, the amount of salt in them has to be bad!

Rice cakes with peanut butter may be a better alternative

ch750536

green_screen wrote: »

I'm sure you won't take this as constructive criticism

I don't take it as criticism at all, you kindly pointed something factual out and offered an alternative, I really appreciate the positive approach, thanks.

green_screen wrote: »

but I'd suggest you all eat more nutritious, filling food than popcorn or crisps.

In the last 19 days, your family have eaten 46 packs of crisps/popcorn, and that's not counting the biscuits.

That's a huge amount!

Can i suggest that you give crisps/popcorn as a treat, not an every day thing. They're present almost each of those 19 days. Never mind that they're nutritionally void, the amount of salt in them has to be bad!

Rice cakes with peanut butter may be a better alternative

If you're looking at the blog always look at the last week as this is a learning experience. In the last week there have been 11 'packet snacks' for all four of us, less than 0.4 packs per person per day.

Sad reality is that if I gave the kids rice cakes for lunch they simply wouldn't eat them. The kids are the only ones who eat popcorn, doritos etc (for the last week) and this is 1 pack each in their school lunch.

I started a thread in parenting asking what others put in their lunches and it looked to me like balance was always a good thing. If the school lunch becomes too negative they wont touch it. If it has something in that I know they will eat then at least they will open their lunch box.

In the past we omitted the snacks but it really backfired. We never give them crisps.

I do appreciate the advice though, it just has to be something more fun than rice cakes for them.

ETA : Got me thinking, maybe I do this -http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=dailytip&dbid=76