later again for me - 1970s. Dad worked for the NHS, steady money - covered the bills - and Mum worked part time at the local primary school initially and when I was a bit older, she started selling paintings which made decent money but not consistent, so some weeks there'd be doughnuts on a Saturday and some weeks not.
We didn't have a regular set of meals like yours Obs, but the range was quite limited. Always a roast on a Sunday lunchtime, beef or pork, occasionally chicken, never lamb that I recall (too expensive). And we always had fish and chips for 'tea' on Saturdays - Dad's weekly treat. It meant that Mum didn't have to cook on Saturdays at all (always just had soup or beans for lunch) and Sunday she put her feet up after lunch and we had sandwiches and biscuits for tea, or now and then she'd make a cake. Weekday meals were plain and cheap.
I did once see Dad eat chilli con carne. He'd just had brain surgery and was sitting in his hospital bed with a gauze bag tied over his head, no idea at all who any of us were except Mum, hiccups but obviously starving after 3 or 4 days nbm, so just shovelling in any food he was offered. He had no recollection of it later and always refused to believe he'd have eaten such a thing under any circumstances I never managed to get him to try pizza. The thing with having no sight, I suppose, he liked food that you could tell what was in it - mix it all up and he was highly suspicious someone would be slipping him carrots
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
We’ve come a long way in this generation, For a special treat such as my birthday or Christmas tea, my mum would make water icing in all the different colours and spread it on cream crackers. Oh how I loved that treat.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
We didn't have Sunday roasts - we had roasts on a Saturday night. Not sure why, especially as it would have been something my Dad would have been used to having. He worked on Saturdays, so perhaps it was a 'treat' more than Sunday would have been, and Sunday might have been leftovers for an easier meal for my Mum to do.
I don't think my parents ever had pizza either. Rice was exotic - wasn't readily available anyway when I was a child
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
There's odd @Songbird-1! I was about to say we were a lot more active then - playing outside, walking to school, not much or no TV for kids, no interactive games sat on a sofa or bed...
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Very VERY rare we have a meat/fish free meal. If we do it would be fried rice or noodles or an egg curry. Or if we are visiting some friends who happen to be vegan! We eat mainly chicken and pork, sometimes beef if I can find it on offer, and also some duck/venison when I can get hold of it. I actually cooked a leg of lamb tonight but that is a once or twice a year treat, fish falls of the back of the boat around here so it can be a 5x a week thing or a not for 3 months thing.
We do eat beans mixed in with things like chili or yesterdays tacos but they are not the main ingredient and tofu? HA it's more expensive than steak so wouldn't get a look in even if it tasted nice. Tinned beans are slightly more expensive than mince or pork and 3x as expensive as the cheapest chicken dried ones are cheaper but they require planning and I often do not plan. I use soya mince but only when tarting up instant noodles (with dried veg and soya chunks)
To the OP I find chickpeas go well in many dishes and have a good texture and are satisfying which I find is often very lacking in vegetarian meals.
Tinned beans are slightly more expensive than mince or pork
How odd. Tinned beans are about the cheapest protein you can get in the UK. Baked beans or chickpeas go for about 15p per 100g and dried beans and lentils cost even less.
We do eat beans mixed in with things like chili or yesterdays tacos but they are not the main ingredient and tofu? HA it's more expensive than steak so wouldn't get a look in even if it tasted nice. Tinned beans are slightly more expensive than mince or pork and 3x as expensive as the cheapest chicken dried ones are cheaper but they require planning and I often do not plan. I use soya mince but only when tarting up instant noodles (with dried veg and soya chunks)
Sorry, but what? Tinned beans are £0.50 for 400g can, chicken breast £2.20 for 400g (fresh), cheapest pork £2 for the same amount (if we talk meat and not extremely fatty parts), beef mince something around £2 too. These are all two portions (assuming you add something to them, like bread, potatoes or rice). Food can't get much cheaper than a can of baked beans (£0.30) with two slices of bread. You just can't get meat for that price. Maybe if you count the cheapest frozen meat, you get closer, but still nowhere near.
Skandi, is that price for imported tinned beans? Can you get local versions cheaper, or is that just not a thing there? I haven’t bought mince or sausages for many years, we’ve found the vegetarian alternatives perfectly acceptable for things like shepherds pie, or toad in the hole. So interesting hearing about memories of food, I was born near the start of the 50s, and so much rings a bell. Apart from the cooked evening meals, as it was bread and jam for tea on weekdays. If mum had enough money, there would be Stork margarine, if money was even tighter than usual, it would be Echo margarine! Terrible diet by today’s standards, and we all ended up with loads of fillings. We only had sweets twice a week, once on Friday, when my dad got paid and would bring us all a bar of chocolate from the works canteen, and then on Sunday afternoon, when we all shared a big bag of boiled sweets while watching a John Wayne film on the telly.
A can of Heinz baked beans is about 1€50 here so over a £. Butter beans, black eyed peas, black kidney beans are just not seen except in some ethnic shops. Haricot, flageolet, moguette (Vendée cannellini), kidney beans, brown lentils and chick peas are easy to find in tins but prices vary hugely between the brands. I have to go to an ethic shop for split red lentils and the kinds of pulses used in Indian dahls.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
@ergates the lack of food back then may have caused tooth decay but you rarely saw a fat person. If there’s was a fat child at school they got the Mickey took out of them. I don’t remember any at primary and junior school. Now it’s normal, and tooth decay is still the same. i think @Skandi and her family would be very healthy.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
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We didn't have a regular set of meals like yours Obs, but the range was quite limited. Always a roast on a Sunday lunchtime, beef or pork, occasionally chicken, never lamb that I recall (too expensive). And we always had fish and chips for 'tea' on Saturdays - Dad's weekly treat. It meant that Mum didn't have to cook on Saturdays at all (always just had soup or beans for lunch) and Sunday she put her feet up after lunch and we had sandwiches and biscuits for tea, or now and then she'd make a cake. Weekday meals were plain and cheap.
I did once see Dad eat chilli con carne. He'd just had brain surgery and was sitting in his hospital bed with a gauze bag tied over his head, no idea at all who any of us were except Mum, hiccups but obviously starving after 3 or 4 days nbm, so just shovelling in any food he was offered. He had no recollection of it later and always refused to believe he'd have eaten such a thing under any circumstances
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
For a special treat such as my birthday or Christmas tea, my mum would make water icing in all the different colours and spread it on cream crackers. Oh how I loved that treat.
He worked on Saturdays, so perhaps it was a 'treat' more than Sunday would have been, and Sunday might have been leftovers for an easier meal for my Mum to do.
I don't think my parents ever had pizza either. Rice was exotic - wasn't readily available anyway when I was a child
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
How odd. Tinned beans are about the cheapest protein you can get in the UK. Baked beans or chickpeas go for about 15p per 100g and dried beans and lentils cost even less.
These are all two portions (assuming you add something to them, like bread, potatoes or rice).
Food can't get much cheaper than a can of baked beans (£0.30) with two slices of bread. You just can't get meat for that price.
Maybe if you count the cheapest frozen meat, you get closer, but still nowhere near.
I haven’t bought mince or sausages for many years, we’ve found the vegetarian alternatives perfectly acceptable for things like shepherds pie, or toad in the hole.
So interesting hearing about memories of food, I was born near the start of the 50s, and so much rings a bell. Apart from the cooked evening meals, as it was bread and jam for tea on weekdays. If mum had enough money, there would be Stork margarine, if money was even tighter than usual, it would be Echo margarine!
Terrible diet by today’s standards, and we all ended up with loads of fillings. We only had sweets twice a week, once on Friday, when my dad got paid and would bring us all a bar of chocolate from the works canteen, and then on Sunday afternoon, when we all shared a big bag of boiled sweets while watching a John Wayne film on the telly.
Now it’s normal, and tooth decay is still the same.
i think @Skandi and her family would be very healthy.