# What should it cost to feed a family for a week?



## Brendan Burgess (14 Oct 2013)

*What should it cost to feed a family for a week?*
Interesting article by Conor Pope in today's Irish Times.


> One woman ... – [broken link removed], a 31-year-old mother of four – said she fed her children chicken nuggets, hot dogs and burgers because money was so tight.
> 
> “Three  chicken fillets cost €7.50 and they’re not even big,” she said. “It’s  cheaper to buy a packet of 10 chocolate bars for €1 than give them some  healthy snacks. Two punnets of strawberries for a fiver, who can afford  that?”


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## wbbs (14 Oct 2013)

Ray Darcy on TodayFM discussing this at the moment with suggestions.


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## fobs (14 Oct 2013)

We are a family of 4 with 2 kids under 12. We would do most of our shopping in Aldi or Lidl with some bits from supervalu and the butchers. Would spend on average 140 a week including all toiletries and all lunches for work/school.

Have noticed prices creeping up. My husband is a good cook and would cook most meals from scratch. Think there should be more emphasis in schools on preparing meals,meal plans and budgeting. 

We could reduce our costs if we reduced our meat & fish intake if we had to.


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## STEINER (14 Oct 2013)

Interesting and amusing. The original article was much discussed on boards.ie, with many comments on the expensive €7.50 3 chicken fillets and the poor nutritional processed nature of a lot of diets. There are people out there who eat a lot of convenience food and have inherited this trait and pass it on to their offspring.  This is a major cause of obesity here. I think fresh food is not expensive in Ireland, there is plenty of competition between all the supermarkets.  I don't have a family, but for my wife and I, food spending is not a big deal, €50 - €70 a week max.  Its not that difficult to eat well at a reasonable cost.


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## orka (14 Oct 2013)

While it is possible to eat healthily and relatively cheaply, it is difficult to make a change from one diet to another when there are children involved.  A point made in the article that I think is a major stumbling block for a lot of less well off families is that there is no margin in the food budget - you don't have the luxury of trial and error - if you buy or make something new and your kids don't like it, there's no money for something else.  

It's a tough one to change - I agree there really needs to be more education during school so that habits are changed before the next geberation is born - or at least future parents are aware of the issue.


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## manninp2 (14 Oct 2013)

It's a huge, deep rooted cultural issue in my opinion that will take significant effort and time to change.

On the 3 chicken fillets for €7.50. My butcher sells free-range chicken legs incl. thighs for €1 each and he'll skin, bone and dice them for you for no extra charge. Same amount of meat and in my opinion tastes better than dry fillets.


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## Gervan (14 Oct 2013)

We are a family of 4, with 2 adult male children. Similar to fobs shopping practices, and most meals made from basics. 
We spend €400 to €450 in the month on groceries including branded toiletries (no Tesco value, shudder). That includes the occasional bottle of wine, or nice M&S biscuits, so we're not stinting ourselves.


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## fraggle (14 Oct 2013)

10,13 and 2 adults. We spend about 110-120 euro/week including toiletries.
We generally buy good quality ingredients and make our own meals.

We do a lot of shopping around to gather good ingredients.
We have a Tesco, Dunnes, SuperValu, and Lidl within walking distance (my wife walks a lot but perhaps other would not consider doing that much and would need to drive)
We sometimes buy non perishable food in bulk in N.Irl. as they have a wider choice on non processed foods and usually at better prices.

We have moved to a wholefood style diet and have have meat as a treat.
I don't feel hungry.


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## SarahMc (14 Oct 2013)

2 punnets of strawberries for €5. It's Autumn!! Who can afford to eat strawberries in Autumn? (or want to, tasteless)

 Apples and pears are practically being given away now.


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## annR (14 Oct 2013)

The argument that obesity is caused by junk food being so cheap doesn't fully wash with me.  What are all the eastern Europeans eating?  They're not fat but I doubt they're spending a fortune on groceries.  I think it's more a cultural / educational issue where people are stuck in habits and don't know how or what to cook to break out of it.  It's hard to figure out a whole new diet that tastes good especially if you are stuck for time and have other pressures in your life.  Convenience food is exactly that - it's so convenient!  Especially when it comes to the snacks.  It is easier to just give a chocolate bar or a bag of crisps to a small child rather than wash / chop up fruit etc.  There are plenty of people feeding their kids junk who could well afford something better for this reason.


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## so-crates (14 Oct 2013)

The point about mobility and its impact on affording a healthy diet is quite interesting. I remember living for a time in a rather deprived area of Dublin and noticing the paucity of anything remotely healthy in the local shop, part of a convenience franchise - it was stocked with what seemed to me an unpalatable array of low quality "convenience" food with a heavy emphasis on stodge, salt and sugar. It also seemed to be the cheapest of processed foods at a premium price. "Fresh" fruit and veg was limited and looked wilted and unappetising, neglected in a corner. It was the first time I realised the luxury I enjoyed of choice in where I spent my money and realised that for some people, especially those with limited means of transport, they would be trapped in a chronic and depressing loop of such sustenance.


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## SarahMc (14 Oct 2013)

Im not sure that point is valid any more socrates. Lidl, and to a lesser extent Aldi have a policy of siting in areas of deprivition, and their fresh fruit and veg is cheap and good quality.


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## Protocol (15 Oct 2013)

SarahMc said:


> Im not sure that point is valid any more socrates. Lidl, and to a lesser extent Aldi have a policy of siting in areas of deprivition



I have never heard of this before.

Any lack of stores in D4 / D6 / etc. is surely down to a lack of sites, or a lack of affordable sites?

Also, I think they have opened in Ranelagh??  And Terenure?


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## so-crates (15 Oct 2013)

SarahMc said:


> Im not sure that point is valid any more socrates. Lidl, and to a lesser extent Aldi have a policy of siting in areas of deprivition, and their fresh fruit and veg is cheap and good quality.



No the point is still valid. The people I was looking at going into the shop truly had a very limited ability to transport themselves and food (the ones that struck me most were little old ladies who clearly had physical limitations with regards to mobility and would not necessarily have had the wherewithal to lift and carry much by way of shopping). Lidl et al have made a difference in Ireland, without a doubt, but I doubt that you can so blithely and emphatically state that they have fixed the problem. Even in large or medium population centres there will be people who struggle over what seems entirely surmountable distances to those of use with the time/money/transport to make them of no issue. What of those living out the country or in small villages? What of those living even a mile away from a Lidl - have you ever carried shopping bags a mile? There may be no public transport to speak of in an area, or none that will facilitate you travelling to a supermarket. For some people, generally poor, walking is a major part of their transport - they can only transport what they can carry so it becomes a trade-off between price, weight, distance and time (Don't forget the additional time it takes to walk a mile over driving it). What of young, generally poor mothers, who have no option but to walk and manage children? They cannot always afford to leave their child alone to go and get shopping. They cannot afford a transport option which will allow them to access shopping even in modest bulk. Lidl and Aldi's policy is not a panacaea - if such a policy exists.


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## aprilgirl99 (15 Oct 2013)

We are a family of 5 with 3 kids under 7, One still in nappies. We shop in Lidl every week and the big shop would normally run between 100 and 110 including nappies wipes etc and we would spend about another 20 during the week on extra bread and milk. 
We eat very well on it. I make almost everything from scratch. An example of what we eat would for dinners would be stews, shepards pie, pork chops with veg and potatoes, meatballs etc. All reasonably healthy meals. We always have a roast chicken or similar on sundays with all the trimmings.  I could cut that bill by reducing the amount of meat we eat if needs be and having one or two veggie days nobodies ever died from eating beans on toast for supper! 
With a bit of planning im pretty sure that you could have a pretty good diet for the same price as  hotdogs chicken nuggets and burgers which are convenience foods so are nt the cheapest. I have never in my life bought 3 chicken breasts for 7.50 buy a full chicken and use the leftovers for sandwiches for supper. I bought a huge chicken in Lidl last week for 5.99 and we had it for dinner on Sunday and Monday. Buy tinned strawberries if u have to have strawberries. A small bit of common sense has to be used. Another sensationalist story i  think.


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## itsallwrong (15 Oct 2013)

Totally agree with aprilgirl99.

7 of us under out roof.
We spend around 120 a week on shopping.
A source of constant query with the bank when I fill in a SFS.
I remind them that if you leave out the junk, plan meals and be thrifty, 
shopping money goes a long way.

With all the blah blah about 'cost of living expenses', what is the 
amount anyone agrees on to feed an adult or child per week?


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## Purple (15 Oct 2013)

so-crates said:


> No the point is still valid. The people I was looking at going into the shop truly had a very limited ability to transport themselves and food (the ones that struck me most were little old ladies who clearly had physical limitations with regards to mobility and would not necessarily have had the wherewithal to lift and carry much by way of shopping). Lidl et al have made a difference in Ireland, without a doubt, but I doubt that you can so blithely and emphatically state that they have fixed the problem. Even in large or medium population centres there will be people who struggle over what seems entirely surmountable distances to those of use with the time/money/transport to make them of no issue. What of those living out the country or in small villages? What of those living even a mile away from a Lidl - have you ever carried shopping bags a mile? There may be no public transport to speak of in an area, or none that will facilitate you travelling to a supermarket. For some people, generally poor, walking is a major part of their transport - they can only transport what they can carry so it becomes a trade-off between price, weight, distance and time (Don't forget the additional time it takes to walk a mile over driving it). What of young, generally poor mothers, who have no option but to walk and manage children? They cannot always afford to leave their child alone to go and get shopping. They cannot afford a transport option which will allow them to access shopping even in modest bulk. Lidl and Aldi's policy is not a panacaea - if such a policy exists.



Eehhh, Tesco deliver.


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## Janet (15 Oct 2013)

The UK-based blog [broken link removed] is an excellent resource for anyone looking for budget recipes. Most of them are also fairly simple, making lots of use of tinned and frozen stuff, for example, so that even those not used to cooking might find the confidence to give it a go. I think [broken link removed], in particular, which has a link to a short video on the Guardian website gives a good insight into where she's coming from as well as a really, easy, really delicious dish. I've made it two or three times since I found it a few weeks ago. 

I might think that there's more to food than just price and so prefer to buy lots of my veg, for example, from a couple of the organic farmers at my local farmers' market, which is definitely more expensive than a discount supermarket, but she has a lot of very valid points to make for those situations where you just don't have the luxury of buying anything but the cheapest of the cheap. For example, that a tin of kidney beans might not be as cheap as buying dried but if you don't have enough money to feed the electricity meter for a long time then the tin will cost less because you don't have to soak and then cook the beans for as long before using them. Or when the only way you have to shop is by walking, dragging your toddler along with you.


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## breakonthru (15 Oct 2013)

2 adults, 1 child. 

We pay standing order of €23 a week (99 a month) to local CSA farm (community supported agriculture). For that we get in season veg every week, we get a beef share every two months (equiv. to two meat dinners every week).  We get two litres of unpasteurised / unhomogenised raw milk every day. The veg is grown to organic standards. We know the cows and chickens, employ the farmer to grow the veg and raise the animals. 

I go to the local centra for own-brand non perishables with are competitive with Lidl twice a month. We go to Lidl too and I always go to the meat counter where they have turkey breasts going for €2 euro because the use by date is coming up.

In August in total we spent €212.50 on groceries including the CSA outlay above. We cook meals using the hob and steamer for veg and have enough left over for lunch the following day.


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## Northie (15 Oct 2013)

The chances are good that most if not all the posters here are mobile enough (whether driving, walking or busing) to get to whatever shop they need and have an interest or at least an ability to cook.

It is certainly the case for my family. Yes we have the use of a car, but most of my shopping these days is picked up on the walk home from the crèche (with a 2, 6 and 8 yr old in tow) and thank god for the buggy because all that shopping is heavy. 

I also see the knock on effect on my kids. They know what is a "treat" in the shops and they know when they see peppers going into the basket there is a good chance there will be a curry this week, carrots and onions its a stew and a whole chicken is a weeks feast, they start fighting over who's getting the left overs for school lunch before we leave the shop.

But we are incredibly lucky. I work part time and on my days off I cook for the freezer so on those manic days a lasagna, casserole etc comes out of the freezer. I learnt at my mothers cooker. I still use the same recipes and techniques I learnt from her years ago. And see the benefits in what we spend on a weekly basis.

However I have a good friend who is well educated and intelligent and has never cooked a chicken in her life, never mind knowing what to do with any of the cheaper cuts of meat but at least she has the money to buy what she needs.

If you combine a complete lack of food knowledge with a shortage of money where do you find a solution, never mind mixing in a child's complete refusal to try something different. 

And to purple who suggests Tesco deliver, that's assuming Tesco is close to you and/or you have either the ability or money to be online!


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## TommyB (15 Oct 2013)

I'm hearing lots of excuses but I think you can put the vast majority of the blame on the person. If the will isn't there then the excuses come out. Food has never been cheaper in human history. People are happy to stuff themselves on sugary processed products. It's unfortunate when they pass their lazy habits on to their kids but that is life.


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## Delboy (15 Oct 2013)

ok, sad I know, but I keep a spreadhseet of all the spending in my household and have done so for a number of years.

2 adults, 2 young children...currently running at close to €300 per month in 2013 for food/toiletries and that includes nappies etc.
It was running at €220 before #2 came along last year.

We cook everything from scratch, all as healthy as possible. Occasional pizza but with home made oven chips. Make enough on Sat to cover Monday, enough on Sunday to cover another dinner mid-week.
Make soups etc from scratch also.

Hit the main supermarkets on a Sat morning with lists made out of what's on special and where. But lots of fruit and fresh veg in lidl/aldi and occasionaly tesco/dunnes, depending on the offers.

Kids eat the same meals as the adults, and there's no exceptions. Ok, you quickly learn what they won't eat under any circumstances i.e. broccoli, and so you don't serve that to them. If they don't eat, they don't get the occasional treats or to watch a small bit of TV that evening.

Both adults work, very busy jobs too. So it's hard to look after all and keep the show on the road, but it's possible especially if you want your kids to eat well. 
No sugary juice drinks, absolutely no fizzy drinks.....I don't understand any parent giving that stuff to a young child or arguing that it's cheaper to give them chocolate bars v's chopped fruit mixed with youghurt for example.

No expert at cooking but know the basics and love to try new recipies from various books. If there's a real will, there's a way


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## aprilgirl99 (15 Oct 2013)

Wow Delboy Im impressed €175 per month with 2 young kids. Thats amazing! Well done you.


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## Purple (15 Oct 2013)

TommyB said:


> I'm hearing lots of excuses but I think you can put the vast majority of the blame on the person. If the will isn't there then the excuses come out. Food has never been cheaper in human history. People are happy to stuff themselves on sugary processed products. It's unfortunate when they pass their lazy habits on to their kids but that is life.





Delboy said:


> ok, sad I know, but I keep a spreadhseet of all the spending in my household and have done so for a number of years.
> 
> 2 adults, 2 young children...currently running at €175 per month in 2013 for food/toiletries and that includes nappies etc.
> It was running at €135 before #2 came along last year.
> ...



Well said to both posters. There's no excuse not to feed yourself or your children properly. None. If you can't cook then learn. If you don't live near a shop then get the bus/cycle/ask a friend, neighbour or family member for a lift ones a fortnight/ organise a delivery.
If you don't have a computer (and most people have access to one) then go to your library, or that friend, neighbour or family member and use theirs.
There is loads of good quality cheap meat and if that's too expensive there is plenty of ways to get protein from pulses and eggs etc.
There is no excuse; if you don't feed your family properly then you aren't doing your job as a parent because you just don't care enough.

If you have an elderly relative who isn't eating properly then shame on you. It's your responsibility to look after them, not the states.


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## dereko1969 (15 Oct 2013)

For those saying they can't feed a family please look at this website from a single mother in the UK (who gets significantly less in benefits) that includes lots of very healthy recipes for herself and her son.

[broken link removed]


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## Delboy (15 Oct 2013)

aprilgirl99 said:


> Wow Delboy Im impressed €175 per month with 2 young kids. Thats amazing! Well done you.



Correction and apologies....I misread my own file!!! It's more than €175, closer to €300 per month with the nappies/wipes etc in the mix. I don't separate them out. 
Apologies for any confusion


€175 would be near to impossible as we have meat or fish with every dinner. Love fresh fish.
Buy the meat from a wholesale butchers and fill the freezer up every month so good value but still adds up.


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## BrokeGuy (18 Oct 2013)

2 adults and 2 kids.... we spent €150-€160 per week on food.

(there is another issue here vis a vis "real food" and convenience food in that the price of cooking a chicken for 90 mins and boiling veg for 30 mins isn't factored in so ignoring the laziness of it all there is an additional cost there too)


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## BrokeGuy (18 Oct 2013)

Delboy; honeslty no offence here but there is living and there is surviving... what fun is it for kids to grow up like that?

Yes, there are two who over do but there are those who over-do it the other way too.


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## Bronte (18 Oct 2013)

BrokeGuy said:


> Delboy; honeslty no offence here but there is living and there is surviving... what fun is it for kids to grow up like that?
> 
> .


 
Don't know what planet you're on.  Delboy is doing a great job.  

Delboy, I keep an excel too on my spending, on everything.  Luckily I'm not in a position that I have to budget.  But I'll always be conscious of what I spend.  I was looking at sole the other day, which we love, but it was just an outrageous price so I had plaice instead, also love that.


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## Delboy (18 Oct 2013)

BrokeGuy said:


> Delboy; honeslty no offence here but there is living and there is surviving... what fun is it for kids to grow up like that?
> 
> Yes, there are two who over do but there are those who over-do it the other way too.



we eat the best of fresh food, fresh fish a couple of times a week, I like my steak!!!!!! Where's the surviving in that.....unless you feel that the lack of take aways, chicken nuggets etc is going without!

Made a big pot of carrot/sweet potato soup last night so that'll cover a lunch or 2 over the weekend and some for the freezer also. Took less than 30 mins.


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## AgathaC (19 Oct 2013)

Delboy said:


> Hit the main supermarkets on a Sat morning with lists made out of what's on special and where. But lots of fruit and fresh veg in lidl/aldi and occasionaly tesco/dunnes, depending on the offers.



Just curious,Delboy, do you have all of the main supermarkets near you? I am lucky that I have, but for those who don't it might cost more trying to get around to more than one or two, in order to avail of special offers.


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## DerKaiser (19 Oct 2013)

Purple said:


> Eehhh, Tesco deliver.


Good man Purple. I was reading this thread with growing disbelief. 

I think you do need to be quite resourceful to feed a family of 4 for €300pm but it appears that some people are struggling to do it for twice that, which shows an absolute lack of any resourcefulness.


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## Delboy (19 Oct 2013)

AgathaC said:


> Just curious,Delboy, do you have all of the main supermarkets near you? I am lucky that I have, but for those who don't it might cost more trying to get around to more than one or two, in order to avail of special offers.



I have a superquinn close by but thats only for the basics. Aldi/Lidl/Tesco/Dunnes a 20 mins walk away and all 4 of those again in the opposite direction within a 7-10 minute drive.
So yes, I have the options available to make the choices.

I don't consider myself tight and as a family we're lucky to both have good jobs and are'nt stuck for cash right now. So I'm not scrimping and feeding all badly because of money. I just can't abide waste or throwing away money.

We're also lucky in that I love to cook and would think nothing of spending a couple of hours prepping and cooking with the radio on in the background. The OH is'nt mad on cooking so I do the vast majority of it.

But I think people can make more of their money. All the supermarket brochures are falling out of the papers these days, or are available online. You can base your meals around the meat/fish thats on offer and I don't think thats denying your family good food....
i.e. local superquinn had whole salmon for €15 each a few weeks ago. I bought 2 and had them cut up into steaks there (even took the tail end as the meat in there can be oven cooked, scooped out and made into sandwich filler- I grew up by the sea!). There was about 8 steaks from each salmon for €30....buy them separately and your paying €3-4 each or close to twice what I paid for the 2 fish. Thats bsaic common sense to me


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## Delboy (19 Oct 2013)

cashier said:


> Uo
> 
> Sounds lovely Delboy
> I love fresh homemade soup, you kids are lucky to have a dad who takes such an interest in their diet. We need more dad's like you to instill good eating habits onto their offspring




Turns out the offspring were'nt mad on the soup even though it tastes sweet....the ginger and garlic I added in might be fine for adults but sensitive little mouths can pick it up and they don't like it!
Lesson learned


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## AgathaC (19 Oct 2013)

Delboy said:


> I have a superquinn close by but thats only for the basics. Aldi/Lidl/Tesco/Dunnes a 20 mins walk away and all 4 of those again in the opposite direction within a 7-10 minute drive.
> So yes, I have the options available to make the choices.
> 
> I don't consider myself tight and as a family we're lucky to both have good jobs and are'nt stuck for cash right now. So I'm not scrimping and feeding all badly because of money. I just can't abide waste or throwing away money.



Yes, I am lucky to have all of those near me too. You sound like you are doing a great job, I certainly didn't read any implication in your posts that you were scrimping or anything like it.


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## annR (19 Oct 2013)

Well  I ended up bedridden with my slipped discs again a few weeks ago and decided it would be a good time to order from Tesco online . ..  .could I get to place my order?  No.  I spent ages shopping  . .the website just kept failing when I got to the end of the check out process.  I'll never try that again.  

BrokeGuy >>Delboy; honeslty no offence here but there is living and there is surviving... what fun is it for kids to grow up like that?<<

I don't know what you mean either.  What is it you think the kids are missing out on?   Mine hate fizzy drinks, won't touch em.  They have chips+nuggets etc when we eat out (couple of times a month).  They love their sausages and pizza (occasional).  I bake like a lunatic so we always have cakes and desserts.  I make rice pudding.  To be honest with all of that they have enough sugar in their diets without adding sweets to it (they get one sweet sometimes and never ask for more). Like everyone I struggle to produce healthy meals that they like but I don't consider relying on processed stuff as an option.  If they don't eat it they just don't eat it - no consequences or punishment - that's where I probably differ from a lot of people.


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## Delboy (19 Oct 2013)

annR...tried the online shopping a few months ago because there was an offer on! Got mostly washing powder,nappies etc on to get to the amount to avail of the promotion at the time, but the few bits of fresh food we ordered turned out to be terrible quality and the OH actually went back with them.
Will never try that again

Fair play to you for baking a lot. Have never tried it but luckily my OH, who's not mad on cooking, likes to bake and will make tarts, buns, cakes etc. All nice stuff, but it takes sooo long that even I'd be happier to spend the few quid and buy it from the shops!
Don't have the patience for that


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