The FastDay Forum

@@Julieathome - thanks but I think I'll pass on the curried oxtail/pink grapefruit! TBH I haven't had oxtail since I was at school (that was a lot of years ago, it was soup and I didn't like it...) It was a 'reduced to clear' impulse buy, £1.20 from £4.80.

I love the blackboard vinyl idea Ebay will be my next stop! I have a 14 year-old fridge/freezer; the freezer door has some rust on it and I was going to paint it with Hammerite (can't afford to replace it until it's actually broken) until I saw the price of the paint so the vinyl could be just the answer for OCD-love a list me!

@Madcatlady - 3 freezers?! I think I have freezer-envy (thinking about how large my spreadsheet could be if I had three freezers!)

Blimey, @madmittens look at your weight just dropping off! That's tres incredible! I need some of your good vibes

As for planning meals, I confess .i do cheat a lot. I ten to use M&S ready meals, particularly the Fuller Longer range. I just love the convenience of them, plus they are really delicious and the FFl range are high in protein to, er, keep you fill for, er longer

However, I am aiming to cook one of the Hairy Dieter's recipes...some time in the future but, to be honest, I like to stay out of the kitchen as long as poss. I don't know if anyone else is like this but I tend to, without thinking, open the fridge and eat a bit of cheese that's looking at me...or a spoon of coleslaw (depending what mood I'm in!)

Naughty Bean

@nursebean thanks for your lovely comment - I can't find a blushing smiley? Good vibes heading your way

I keep hearing about the M&S FFL meals, but my local Marks is in the town centre so a bloomin' nightmare to get to... But hey, I like to cook of an evening - beats the tv. Absolutely detest washing up though! Maybe have a go at a HB recipe, then snaffle some cheese or coleslaw *tomorrow*?

Hi everyone!

I do a plan for the whole week and really need to as I do a weekly online food

I find shopping online great for sticking to a budget. You see the total adding up and I think really carefully about what I need for my planned meals. We use waitrose and get it delivered. Some people, think it's a bit extravagant but I can say hand on heart I'd spend more if I went to our local Morrisons and went round with the trolley. We spend around £120 per week on all meals plus what we call essentials (loo roll, washing powder, cat food etc) . It's a lot for 2 people but we eat really well - lots of fresh fish, vegetables, etc - and this covers our 'packed lunches' for work.

Interesting thread. We freezer dive too; not so much now as the boys tend to eat veggie ready meal stuff as snacks so often I come to do a quick meal before going out and find there's nothing left. I try not to overbuy; my mum has 2 fridges and 3 freezers and they are full to bursting. The cost of the stuff in them makes my eyes water and often it goes off before she uses it. I also have a veg box delivered and we have very little if any waste (the advantage of permanently hungry boys). All this reading about nutrition etc has meant that we are now all very picky about what we eat; hardly eat any ready made stuff any more which is great but possibly more time consuming.

Just thought I'd take this opportunity to "big up" our new food pages...especially the "plan your eating" tool. Go on...check it out!

I hadn't seen that, thanks. One thing I do regularly is make a massive batch of tomato soup. Which I then serve fresh and freeze in batches. Its a very good base for homemade pizza sauce, pasta, the base for bolognaise and chilli con carne and great as a throw it in the slow cooker with some kind of protein and see what comes out.

I can't get into 'food', Carorees. When I click on it, nothing happens. A black strip comes up and I can click on something which takes me to 'food websites we like' but I can't get into 'food' to see the 'planning' section. What's wrong?

I found I had to go back to the 'FastDay' home page and then I could click on 'food' down the bottom and then I could see what you are talking about. Clicking on the yellow strip at the top didn't get me there.