ladylisa

One key thing is to try and hold on to what is a normal portion size and what is acceptable and unacceptable to eat on a regular basis, because after a while those lines can get blurred and then you will find yourself eating more and more off your dinner plate and not think anything of it.

I have a wheat intollerance and I found there is much more choice in the UK. And overall UK food has less additives and preservatives, just see how long milk will stay in your fridge here vs UK.

newbieloubie

I really miss quality ready meals - like the kind of thing you would get from Marks or the Tesco Finest range.

Rockgurl

So do I! That's the worst thing about living here! God I miss Waitrose's Chicken Tikka Marsala!

NC Penguin

If you shop at your local farmers market, you can generally buy fresher, better quality fresh produce than what it is found in the grocery store.

Also, local farms may offer farm tours periodically or once a year and that's a good way to see your produce (veg and meat) at the source.

I'm currently keeping my eye on heirloom turkeys that are being raised for Thanksgiving. I get sent pictures of them every so often by the farmer (I'm on their mailing list).


NC Penguin

honeymommy

Vegetarian baked beans were sold in Albertsons and Ralphs by the Falbrook Mall.
A good readymade vegetable lazagna in Ralphs (Son's favorite food, even though he hated veggies.. LOL )

Just as a comparison USA to UK. Since moving back to the UK we have all put on weight. I find the fresh groceries, especially salad items to be of low quality. If I buy a lettuce it must be eaten that day or it goes sludgey! Meat from supermarkets is just nasty and even looks processed. I buy from a small village butcher now.
Ready made meals are popular here, and theres a huge variety.. BUT... They are full of additives and even if labelled low fat they are high in sugars. The ones that seem to offer good nutrition are served in such small amounts that you have to buy two per person to feel full and reach your required callorie intake for the day.
Cooking from scratch with natural ingredients is much cheaper for us (a family of 6). But the quality of the products here in the UK I feel is definately inferior to the products we had in the US.

I used to be called a saladaholic when we lived in California. Here in the UK I seem to have gone onto pasta with various dressings. Not good for the waistline.

Fish n chips and curry are also great fattening, heart attack foods!!! LOL

Ray

I can supply a nice fresh squirrel.... good for baking...
low in Cholesterol .......

dan_alford

WARNING: This dish may contain lead pellets

TruBrit

hey honeymommy, yeah FRESH food/meats goes off quickly coz it's not sprayed liberally with additives hence the reason the lettuce goes sludgey, however it will keep a couple if days if stored correctly. i always put on a few lbs when i go home due to the del curries and fish 'n chips...lol enjoy

Lesley1020

I couldn't agree more...it takes us the longest time to do grocery shopping these days after we go through the ten million items on each ingredients label!!!

You know I don't ever remember seeing corn syrup in anything in the UK.. but it's scarily in EVERYTHING here.. I guess it just came under a different name, glucose syrup perhaps?

Just found out too all the different names MSG is being disguised under too - scary - and its even in infant formula - scariER! I am going to have my mum send me baby formula over from there..

Interestingly, when I was ill earlier this year, and couldn't work for a little while, my doctor put me on this programme called WIC (Woman, Infants and Children), which is for pregnant and nursing women and basically they give you vouchers to buy milk, cereal, juice etc.. I wasn't going to take it because I knew I would be back at work soon.. but they mailed me one month's vouchers anyways. Their ideas on "healthy eating" astounded me. The vouchers were very restrictive as to what brands you could and could not get and banned in TN vouchers was anything that said "100% natural" or "organic" - very healthy huh!!!!

cinnabar

Low-chol baked squirrel? That's nearly as bad as tofu.

You want some finger-lickin' fried squirrel if you know what's good for you:

chicken-fried squirrel recipe

dan_alford

Have you tried wild oats at poplar/mendenhall? They have lots of health foods and organics, including baby food.

Kate2112

Maybe I am just a terrible snob and english people are just the same..
what do you think?[/QUOTE]


I agree with you.

Healthy food is easy to buy and make. You won't put on tons of weight unless you shovel in more food and worse food. You do have to make an effort to eat healthily but no more so than you would in the UK. Did you do your own grocery shopping in the UK? The range of milk products is growing by the second.

You might have noticed that McDonald's UK, Burger King , Subway, Pizza Hut aren't going bankrupt anytime soon. People in the UK & US choose through laziness or ignorance not to eat healthily. This is not unique to either of these countries.
Fish and Chips, Curries, Pie and mash, Sticky Toffee pudding with custard and most prepared meals aren't exactly health foods either. Everything in moderation

I do miss English food but thats mainly nostalgia. Eating out here is way better than the UK for food quality and price. That might be because Seattle has great dining out but DC and all the other cities I have visited in the US were much the same.

TruBrit

disagree with you on that. one thing houston does have are some excellent restaurants however the prices reflect that especially if one adds on wine etc....equally the uk food standard is excellent if you shop at the right places and eat at the finer restaurants. uk pub food varies but sadly you don't even have that choice here....it's either the crap fast foods or the finer restaurants which with kids can run pretty high. when we were in blighty recently my usc hubs commented how much cheaper it was to eat out in the uk and we do eat out a lot on both sides of the pond.

honeymommy

Oh I know it's because there's no additives, but even so a day is not long at all for sludgey lettuce. If I buy from a good grocery shop and pay more it lasts about 2 days. Supermarket 1 day, but better eaten same day. All stored correctly in salad fridge at correct temperature.

Had a curry last night by the way, all home made with yummy fresh spices, nan bread and popadoms. mango chutney and lime pickle on the side.
Could only eat a little though as had to have my gall bladder removed on Thursday... Ya think it's the poor UK diet gave me gallstones...

TruBrit

hey i'm hank marvin for a curry

sorry to hear about your op last week ...yeah it might have been a bit premature to eat a curry however it sounded delicious...keep drinking loads of still aqua, good for you... take care honeymummy