Credit crunch - on a carrot stick - eating through the misery!

So it’s official, we can no longer afford the life of luxury we’ve been used to. Those extravagant Christmas feasts with capons coming out of your ears are long gone, so what do we do now? Sure, we can still eat Turkey rather than nut roast on Christmas day, but how do we survive the economic downturn and still feed the family after this?

Here are some ideas:

Don’t eat too much meat. Simple, I know, but meat and fish are expensive treats and in a climate like this, rather than munch on economy chicken pumped full of water and chemicals, why not substitute mushrooms, or tofu or quorn. Much cheaper, much healthier and not full of junk. Instead of beef mince, try using lentils and borlotti beans, and if you can’t live without hummus (like me) dip carrot sticks rather than bread sticks. And for heaven’s sake buy your fruit and veg from a market (hildreth in Balham has daily fruit and veg stands) – you save money and don’t get produce stuffed full of chemicals.