I’ve been challenged by the Organic Naturally Different campaign to come up with a meal plan using a collection of organic food that got delivered to my door this week. The idea is to show that while organic food costs more, it’s possible to stretch the ingredients with a bit of clever menu planning so that eating organic should be achievable whatever your budget.
I have mixed feelings about buying organic food. I see it as a luxury that living on a budget doesn’t always allow for. You get what you pay for when it comes to food, so there’s no doubt in my mind that organic versions of most things will quite possibly taste better and be more beneficial to the environment. But we’ve all got to eat!
There are certain things I try and squeeze out of our budget like organic/high welfare/free range eggs, meat and dairy. Anything that involves animals i’m willing to pay more for in the hope that they’ve been treated as nicely as possible in return for giving us food. But i’m going to be completely honest and say that the rest of my shopping basket won’t be.
The benefits of a meal plan
I’m a regular meal planner, I think family cooks need them to survive living on a budget, to take the pain out of deciding what to have for tea and basically just to keep you one step ahead of the hungry mob.
It becomes a fine art coming up with 7 meals that can be quickly rustled up using a mixture of stuff from the store cupboard, freezer as well as fresh produce all on budget.
You might not fancy chicken three nights on the trot after a roast, so popping surplus food in the freezer, clearly labelled, means you can bring it back out in a week or two’s time. It’s especially brilliant having a well stocked freezer if you’re running low on money at the end of the month as you can really cut back your weekly shop and just eat re-invented leftovers.
Leftover roast meat can become a pie filling, risotto, pizza topper, sandwich filling, jacket potato topper etc etc.
Shopping from Ocado
So here’s what was delivered…
I’ve included the price next to each item, along with the non-organic version from the same supermarket so you can see the difference.
Fridge
2 x 4 Waitrose Organic peaches £4.50 (£3.00)
2 x 250g Waitrose Organic white cup mushrooms £2.70 (£1.65)
2 x 5 Waitrose Organic Pink Lady apples £5.40 (£5)
Waitrose whole Organic chicken 1.4kg £13.09 (£4.82)
Duchy from Waitrose Organic Free Range Pork sausages 400g £3.49 (£3)
Country Life Organic semi skimmed British milk 2litres £1.85 (£1.29)
Lye Cross Farm Organic mature cheddar 245g £2.79 (£2.60)
Ocado Organic Brown onions 750g £1.09 (£1.00)
Waitrose Organic Butternut Squash £1.99 (£1.59)
2 x Yeo Valley Organic double cream 227ml £1.90 (£1.15)
Yeo Valley Organic unsalted butter £1.60 (£1.20)
Cupboard
Waitrose Organic carrots 1kg £1.75 (£1.10)
Doves Farm Organic Plain White Flour 1kg £1.19 (£1.10)
Ocado Organic White Potatoes 2kg £3.38 (£2.25)
Stonegate Organic medium free range eggs 6 £2.29 (£1.20)
Waitrose Organic aromatic basmati rice 500g £1.99 (£1.49)
2 x Waitrose organic chopped Italian tomatoes 400g £1.78 (£1.10)
Waitrose Organic fusilli 500g £1.05 (£0.95)
Waitrose Organic garlic 80g £1.05 (£0.87)
Waitrose wholesome Organic couscous 500g £0.99 (£0.68)
Total £54.92 (after £0.95 offer savings taken away)
Non organic comparison at Ocado total: £37.04
Meal Plan
My normal approach with meal planning is to draw up a list of meals we’re going to eat and then shop for the ingredients accordingly. I wasn’t able to choose the food in this delivery, so some of these meals don’t appeal to my children/vegetarian husband so will be consigned to the freezer to re-emerge when we have visitors!
So this menu plan doesn’t reflect what we’ll be eating every day, but what I planned to cook with the ingredients.
1. Roast chicken, with carrots and quick roasted rosemary potatoes
2. Creamy chicken and mushroom pie
3. Chicken and broccoli cheesy pasta bake
4. Chicken, mushroom and potato tomato based curry with fluffy basmati rice
5. Carrot and butternut squash soup
6. Sausages with couscous with sage and roasted butternut squash
7. Frittata – egg, mushroom and potato with pesto
Sweet stuff
Apple and peach cake – simple fruity traybake
Peach and oat breakfast smoothie
Peach ice cream
Thrifty organic dinner
Here’s the pasta bake I made, which is a fabulous way to make a few ingredients stretch a long way. Just 200g of pasta, a handful of chopped leftover chicken, a small head of broccoli, half a tin of sweetcorn and a simple cheese sauce whizzed up in the Vitamix and boom – you’ve got a very filling kid-friendly meal for four people.
My verdict
Produce
There’s no doubt that the huge organic chicken roasted up a treat and yielded loads of beautiful meat and became the basis for three main meals and also a cheeky salad lunch for me. As well as the meat I simmered the carcass in water and vegetables to make a stock for soups and risottos.
The sausages were meaty and reassuringly high welfare. Bangers are a family favourite that we have every week and these went down well. Any leftovers are rare, but in the event there are a couple they’ll be sliced into sandwiches for packed lunches the next day.
The fruit and vegetables were top quality and had great flavour and texture, as you’d expect from organic. The dried goods i’m not so sure I could see a huge difference in.
Pricing
If i’d done the same shop at Ocado and opted for non-organic own brand versions of the same items i’d have saved a whopping £17.88. When you’re living on a tight budget that money could help towards paying for another term’s karate lessons or a new winter coat.
If you look in detail at the costings, all the organic items are more expensive, but it’s not always by a huge margin so it is always worth checking. When I was looking up the pricing on Ocado’s website they’re really pushing organic options and they’re often on offer.
Has it changed my perception?
Not hugely, but it has reaffirmed my choice of opting for organic meat and dairy not only gives you peace of mind on the welfare front, but reaps rewards in the quality of ingredients.
I’m a big fan of stretching food as far as it’ll go and re-inventing leftovers. I grew up in the home of a talented but thrifty cook so I guess it’s just in the blood! Organic for me is still synonymous with luxury, and i’m not sure if that’s set to change in the current economic climate.
What do YOU think?
Do you put organic products in your shopping trolley? Are there specific things that you’d always buy organic or does the high cost just automatically discount using it at all? I’d love to hear what you think about shopping organic!
Anneli (Delicieux) says
I am with you – Organic is a luxury I would like to have but cannot always afford. I guess I am lucky here in France to be able to grow my own or buy my veggies from local markets where the local producers are all organic. But meat is expensive here…so organic is not a popular option for anyone, it is still very much in the minority. But saying that, I do get my beef from a local farmer who has 100% grass fed cows, all organic and boy oh boy, you can certainly taste the difference. If money was no object, I would buy organic but as it is….I, like you, have to mix it up. xx
Katie Bryson says
It’s interesting to hear what the situation is in France Anneli. It must be great to live in a rural location and be more in touch with produce – both growing it yourself and being close to producers. You can definitely taste the difference – especially with meat! For now organic will remain a luxury in our house!
laura@howtocookgoodfood says
I really don’t know anyone that could afford to shop entirely organic. I like to buy milk, meat but generally free range rather than organic and often fro a good local butcher, eggs. I grow lots of fruit & veg organically at the allotment which helps. I prefer the taste of organic fruit & veg but cannot justify paying the prices for it.
I guess the way I see it is that supporting local farmers and shops can be of just as much benefit to our economy but then as a gardener I do worry about the effects the chemicals & fertilisers are having on eroding the nutrients that are naturally present in the soil so I do desperately want to support and do believe that organic farming is the bast approach. Oh what a dilemma!
Katie Bryson says
It’s great to be able to grown your own produce and not to have to rely on the supermarket stuff, and it definitely tastes better too. We’ve had to hand our allotment back as we’ve not been able to commit enough time to it, and it seems unfair when there’s a massive waiting list of keen gardeners waiting to get their hands on it. We’re making do with veggie tubs on the patio, but it’s really not the same 🙁
I think most people would love to be able to buy organic produce, but cost is such an issue. I’m sure if more people bought it the cost would come down, so it’s a bit of a catch 22 isn’t it.
Cherished By Me says
Really interesting. I buy organic milk, carrots and chicken. An organic chicken will just about feed my family (3 teens, a tween, another & myself) and there is rarely any leftover. If there is it will be used for a sandwich. I’ve never really looked into buying organic cheese…silly really as I buy the milk and in comparison to non organic there isn’t really anything in it so i may start doing that.
For everything else though it just adds up, plus I have to buy gluten free for one child and that adds a terrible amount to the weekly shopping bill.
Katie Bryson says
It’s funny how you just stop even looking at Organic products because you assume they’re going to be vastly more expensive – it’s certainly worth checking just to see if they’re within reach! But like you say, it all adds up so it’s best to cherry pick a few things and enjoy them 🙂
Mamacok says
I agree. The principles of not wasting food and stretching a meal still apply whatever you buy. I have always said that if you eat everything off a chicken and use the carcass for stock, that is more respectful to the animal than on whether you bought organic or not.
It’s also worth considering the environmental cost / benefit. Organic is good right? But what if it takes more resources to raise organic crops and meat? It’s not cut and dried IMO.
So as far as I’m concerned, buy as local as you can but just use all of it is the best way. What drives me potty is how difficult it is to buy wild meat. I’m fortunate that if I take a Tuesday off work, I can go to my town game auction but how many people have this luxury (and how often do I get the chance?) Wild food is for me the true ‘organic’. So even if game is a bit thin on the ground, (and I’m trying to talk my office mate into passing on some of her shooting hoard to me so I’ve not given up) I’m still foraging.
Katie Bryson says
I’d not considered the resources needed to raise organic crops and meat – I’d be interested to know if this did in fact have environmental consequences.
I’ve got a friend who will only eat wild meat, but they live in the countryside so i’m guessing that’s quite achievable, but now sure how costly. Living with a vegetarian we don’t consume a lot of meat and try and buy as high welfare as possible when we do.
Foraging is so rewarding… there’s not a lot of pickings in West London but we do get good blackberries and elderflowers 🙂
Urvashi says
I’m in agreement with Laura – I’m not sure I could afford to shop organic all the time. I basically buy what I can from my local fruit and veg stall once a week and then top up with fish from our local fishmonger. I’m more keen on the principles of buying from local people as much as possible and as some of the comments above, trying not to waste food. My girls are sick of my talking about wasting food but it really annoys me when I have to put something in the bin because I forgot about it at the back of the fridge so I do try and leave a note on our kitchen board of what is in the fridge. I don’t like the rigidity of meal plans but do plan a menu daily so I can go on autopilot and cook after work when my brain is too tired to think creatively.
Katie Bryson says
Hey Urvashi – shopping local is so important if you can manage it, and i’m totally with you on the waste front. There’s nothing worse than finding a stack of food in the fridge that’s gone off. I try really hard to use leftovers or freeze them to use later.
Serena says
I do think that organic food tastes so much better than conventional crops, the tomatoes don’t even compare. I get a veg box delivered every week which works out cheaper than buying organic food from a supermarket, and it is all grown here in Britain, not shipped from all 4 corners of the Earth.
I always buy organic milk, butter, cheese and eggs because I would rather avoid the anti-biotics and hormones that the cows/chickens are pumped full of, meat-wise I try to buy organic if I can, or at least free range and I am currently looking in to getting a meatbox delivered once or twice a month.
The “dirty dozen” is a good list to refer to when buying organic, as it shows you the crops which are sprayed with and keep hold of the most pesticides.
Katie Bryson says
Thanks for your comments Serena – sounds like you’ve got it pretty sussed. I’m a big fan of stocking the freezer with good quality meat and there are some brilliant box schemes out there.