As one who loves to cook but looks at Good Food as a wish list. I propose a new series on UKTV Food. This series would be fun and accesable to all us poor souls from the hard pressed parents on benefit to the jaded palet of OAPS on pensions to the starving student living on take outs. Good basic cheep nutritious food that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. No fancy oils or balsamics, no foi gras or expensive wines. Just good food for the common man please! You could have challenges such as a chef cooking family meals on an average weekly budget for a week using average ingredients. Best buys in stores, what's in season, how to get your fussy or junk food eaters to eat what is good for them without tears, solo dining and good freezer stuffing. There are people out there who need to know how to cook simple good food for themselves and for their children. This would also be a boost in the arm for the goverments healthy eating initiative. Surely it would not be difficult to get a sponsor for this. What do you think UKTV? Oh, and anybody elses comments would be nice too, thanks.

i think its a fantastic idea mrs shrek

I would love more advice on freezer techniques. What can or can't be frozen, containers and wraps, longevity etc. The amount of waste I could save if I was more certain about freezing. Why not expand to storage generally. Big savings can be made by bulk buying, especially as some major cash and carry chains have opened their doors to non-traders.

Barry

Totally agree with you Mrs Shrek. I would love to see more programmes on TV which teach us how to eat healthly on a tight budget. How to store items is also a very good idea, I'm fed up of throwing stuff out becuase I am not sure how long it will keep for.

Excellent points made here. I must admit I do enjoy watching the Chefs (most of them) but I would never consider making the dishes often because of cost, availibility of ingredients, amounts etc., it would be great to see a proper series on Budget cookery with a twist. It is a topic that has come up many times but no-one seems to do much about it which is a shame. Do the Chefs think it is beneath them I wonder?

I totally agree with everyones comments i have been thinking the same thing for ages, i am fortunate that i can afford expensive ingredients but i am still mindful that many people with children still at home can't i know for sure that we eat better quality food now than when my sons lived at home. Meat and fish are so expensive and for a lot of families an occasional luxery it seems everything they cook on GFL is expensive, free range this, organic that an average free range chicken would barley feed a family of 4. Well i could go on and on.....

I know everyone has been knocking supermarkets,but they are popular because they can cater for all budgets and they also create vaulable employement for all people of all ages, local shops are important to the communites they serve especially if when they support local producers but their prices can be beyond many budgets and I agree when the tv chefs use expensive organic and free range products they should be more sensitve to people on restricted budgets. Ready Steady cook ingredeints are often brought from a supermarket and show you different ways people can use them.

Silvena Rowe is the answer: SHe is after all the Queen of Gourmet Budget. We seems to be coming around this subject evry so often, see link:
[link]
There has been so much demand for more budget and Silvena did do a lot just b4 Xmas. SO more please from me too!

Agree too! SIlvena even had column devoted to the subject of budget cooking in the Guardian...

I would like to see more of SIlvena's great and very inexpesive meal ideas too!!!

her recipes were buget but no more the big bulgarian lady has only been doing very expensive stuff recently

I find the series generally anti-budget anyway! As if its a shame to talk about it, at least Silvena never made it look that way...and I guess guests do what they are asked to do on TV, may be the makers of the programme decide on recipes.

Would be good to have more great food but not the expensive type!!!

Cakefase

Which series? Silvena has been on several recently, but all the recipes she has demonstrated seem to have been high rather than low budget.

Maybe UKTV think that their viewers are mainly middle class latest trend chasers and that doing a series for those below this class would be dumbing down. I don't want to be talked down to by someone who thinks I should be eating salmon and phesant but is (sort of) willing to teach me how to boil an egg. Or by some celebrity chef who is realy trying to promote his or her business, earn a few bob and some times a free holiday by doing a travelogue/cookery show. The shedule of UKTVFood is covered in them! (Although I do admit to being a bit of a Jenny Barnet fan due to her enthusiasm and wit.) So please, a little time for us poor folk, UKTV? And to all those who so far have written encouaging replys, thank you. Maybe if we yell loud enough one of the big bosses might hear, do you think?

Fab idea everyone - I look forward to the chefs rising to the challenge!!

Silvena did a spell of budget cooking before Christmas and then what happened I dont know, I am also all for some budget ideas and have Silvena's book with the £20 quid menus, she seem very good at it, agree with Cakefase that may be she and the other guests got told what to cook, so Mrs Shrek, great idea, wait and see...

May be they can get Silvena back in with her budget recipes...

By series, I mean all thats shown on UKTV Food, not anything to do with a particular presenter!
None of it is budget friendly, thats all, agree with Mrs Shrek, middle class mentality...all over all thats shown on GFL right now...

Cakefase

By series, I mean all thats shown on UKTV Food, not anything to do with a particular presenter!
None of it is budget friendly, thats all, agree with Mrs Shrek, middle class mentality...all over all thats shown on GFL right now...

Cakefase

Please I repeat my plea for tips on storage as bulk buying can save you lots.

Barry

PS OK Rosti

Blacksalt

Did I read you right, 20 quid menus? Is that for the week, the day or just one meal? I hope it's not just one meal as families on low income are usualy expected to spread that out at least a few days or more. (The £2 for a family meal plus desert has not been unheard of in my household when times were tough.) May I welcome both you and Silvena to the real world.

Barshedale

That would be great! I heartily agree with you. Also information about getting the best out of suppliers and how to check for good quality before storing.

SIlvena's menus are for four people but that is fancy , entertaining gourmet budget, not your everyday stuff! Some of the dishes are really imaginative for little money too...I fully agree with you about costs of food and mostly the food we get to see cooked for us on GFL which is rather pricey anyway. They just need to start thinking about the likes of us and offer a real budget food! I do think that £2 is abit unrealistic though!

So wait and see if they are reading our comments, I guess!

Meanwhile, Mrs Shrek, why dont you tell us about that £2 dinners incl. desserts...

Hi i,m new to all this, so i hope you will forgive any mistakes. I totally agree that we need a programe on buget cooking,as nice as it is to cook with good quality food ,sometimes you just have to tighten the purse strings.The other day i came across a site called beyond baked beans.It is aimed at students,but there are some quite good ideas.Thanks hudyjudy

Dear blacksalt

In a commercial enviroment, #2.00 for ingrediants would sell at #10.00 menue price. This is average mark up to cover overheads. They buy in bulk but it can be done in a domestic enviroment, if you can shop around or buy in bulk and store correctly. Go to Te**os for buy 1 get 2. Asdas for 4 for the price of 2 etc.

My point is, it can be done in a commercial enviroment via bulk buy, if the public can buy and store in bulk it can be achieved.

Blacksalt

I've got so used to doing my "little miracles" as my husband calls them they come sort of automatic to me now. Shepherds pie, pasta with veg sauce, potatoe bakes, crumbles, sponge puds, bread and butter pudding. All made by buying some things in bulk in bulk, buying the "value" version of others and keeping my eyes open for the end of day bargains. I have kept my family well fed on a megre budget. This Easter instead of turkey I will be buying a big oven buster pork roast on the bone from a friendly butcher for £5.99. This will give four people generous portions for about 3 days. If I was asked for advice I'd say dont be a passive shopper always going for the brand names in the illusion that you are getting superior quality because that isn't always the case. Get to know where the bargains are in your area, be a hunter and shop strategically. Your purse will thank you for it. It used to be that these things were taught at the mothers knee and came as second nature. But with the dynamics of family life changing so much there seems to be a breakdown in communication and a loss of these skills. That is why I believe we need a programme that deals with the everyday in a fun format. Information, questions answered, hints and tips.

Thanks Barshedale for your comments. You hit the nail on the head yet again.


Mrs Shrek

hi everyone i agree with you all the only thing that gets on my nerves with the chefs are half the things they cook i can never find in the supermarkets and if i do find them i cant afford to buy them . i think jamie olivers recipes are very cheap to buy and delicous he is brilliant

I wish I'd joined this earlier. I am so up for a series like this. I watch UKTV Food all the time, wanting to re-create most things, but knowing that deep down the only way that will happen is if I had a big win on the lottery and that spending that amount on one exclusive meal could be justified. Get it sorted - you will have viewers flocking in their millions. I'll certainly tell everyone about it if it happens. Even the folks at work, that aren't foodies would be interested in that.