“I’ll just go for the usual please”

A cold, rainy Friday night, cuddled up on the sofa with a great film. The perfect time to pick up the phone and order yourself a Chinese takeaway.

The Chinese chicken curry is that staple item on the menu that we know is going to be a safe option. It’s full of flavour and generally tastes great, whichever takeaway you go to. Maybe you’ll add some chips, throw in some prawn crackers and enjoy a few won-ton's on the side too.

Friday nights are never the night to worry about calories but some of you might just be wondering if there are any lower-calorie options that are just as easy to get your hands on. We decided to test the takeaway against a supermarket ready meal and our own Spicentice recipe.

The takeaway Chinese chicken curry

Generally speaking, we will share a large curry and a large rice container between 2 people. It can be quite difficult to set to portion control when you’ve got leftovers hanging around though.

We took an average calorie count from a couple of different calorie tracking websites including My Fitness Pal which counted a ½ container.

Curry = 336 calories

Egg fried rice = 230 calories

It’s a slippery slope though when you’ve got that bag of prawn crackers and the large array of appetisers to choose from on the menu. Prawn toast, wontons, noodles and the like can soon double or triple your calorie intake with all their fried goodness.

Total = 566 Calories

The Tesco ready meal

The Chinese chicken curry is a firm favourite offered in Tesco and likely in most other big brand supermarkets. These meals come as pre-portioned meals for 1 and this particular version weighs around 450g for the chicken and rice together. It also contains a lot of additives to preserve shelf life and of course, isn’t fresh.

It’s a mediocre alternative to the takeaway if you want a quick microwave dinner but according to our tests, actually comes in higher in calories than a takeaway meal!

Total calories = 615 calories

The ready meal portion is fairly large, but we aren’t convinced we could enjoy a smaller portion and stop ourselves eating the whole lot! It might actually be a tastier AND healthier option to get down to the Chinese if you really can’t resist the urge to indulge, we think you’ll enjoy it more.

The Spicentice Chinese chicken curry

Total calories = 377

Of course, we won!

We developed a recipe that doesn’t use any coconut milk, cream or other high-calorie, high-fat additions. Our recipe uses some key things like garlic and onion, a good amount of chicken stock and a simple but special mix of herbs and spices from our seasoning mix – Add in a smidge of flour to thicken it all up & you’ve got an authentic curry in not much time at all with just under 200 calories to spare.

You could add in some shop-bought prawn crackers or spring rolls without making it a hugely calorific meal – or even add a glass of rum & ginger beer on the side to make to perfect Friday night.

A woman who discovered she was spending more than £100 a week on food has explained how she managed to slash that bill.

The Full Article can be read at the Mirror Newspaper here.

Melita Latham found a way to overcome her fear of the kitchen - and as a result is not only eating better food, but spending more quality time with her partner and helping the environment too.

A woman who discovered she was spending more than £100 a week on food has explained how she managed to slash that bill.

Melita Latham found a way to overcome her fear of the kitchen - and as a result is not only eating better food, but spending more quality time with her partner and helping the environment too.

“Growing up, my mum would always do the cooking but unfortunately I didn’t inherit her culinary skills, so when I moved out I quickly fell into the habit of buying pricey convenience food that was ready made or which I could just throw in the microwave," the 34-year old explained.

And her habit of buying prepared food only got worse when she moved in with her partner Mark two years ago, who also didn't cook.

"When I met Mark, we fell into a routine of ordering the same non-adventurous food from the same takeaways and restaurants – but it was never nutritious and wouldn’t fill us up, so we’d snack throughout the day too."

 

 

Then one day Melita added up just how much she was spending.

“It finally dawned on me just how much money Mark and I were spending every month on food – and actually how much of it was going to waste," she said.

“Because we’d nip to the shops every day, we’d buy more than what we needed and in bigger quantities than necessary, and we’d often end up throwing a lot of it away which was really wasteful."

Adding it all up, Melita worked out she was spending an incredible £118.40 a week on food - despite not eating breakfast most days.

Things had to change, there was just one problem - she still didn't know how to cook.

“I’d always been a bit scared of the kitchen and I just thought because I’d had so many bad experiences, everything I would make would turn out terribly," she said.

But a post on social media was about to change all that - after Melita discovered there were companies that give you step-by-step instructions along with all the spices you need and a shopping list of what to buy.

And by combining Spicentice- the firm she chose - meal kits with fresh, ingredients from the local supermarket, Melita managed to save £32.58 in three days compared with what she had been spending.

And the meal-specific shopping lists that came with the kits meant she could also cut down on waste.

“One of the best things about cooking with Spicentice kits is that they include a full ingredients list on the back of each, so you know exactly how much of everything you need to buy and there’s rarely any waste at all," Melita said.

And that wasn't the only benefit the Essex resident found.

“It’s also much quicker to prepare the ingredients and cook a full meal for us both than it would be to order food and wait for it to be delivered, so we haven’t sacrificed anything timewise either,” Melita said.

Melita, who runs the travel accessories business melitalathamlondon.com, also found it helped with her relationship.

“Mark and I get so excited for dinner now, which is something I never thought would happen," she said.

"We text each other throughout the day to decide which kit we’re going to use and who’s going to pick up the ingredients.

“Normally every evening we’d just order a takeaway, do our separate things until it arrived, then sit on the sofa and eat whilst watching TV – again, not talking.

“Now, we spend quality time with each other nearly every night, whenever we’re cooking.”

Melita's £118.40 weekly food bill

Day 1:

• Breakfast - Cup of tea
• Lunch - £3 - Vegetarian Sushi x 2, Mr Kipling Cherry Bakewell
• Dinner - £25 - Chinese Takeaway

Day 2:

• Breakfast - Cup of tea
• Lunch - £1.70 - Supermarket bought cheese and onion sandwich, Beef crisps
• Dinner - £3 - Sausage and microwave mash with onion gravy

Day 3:

• Breakfast - Cup of tea
• Lunch - £2.70 - Vegetarian Sushi x 2, Beef crisps
• Dinner - £5 - Supermarket bought Spinach & Ricotta Tortellini

Day 4:

• Breakfast - Cup of tea
• Lunch - £3.50 - Crisps, chocolate bar and a bag of mini eggs
• Dinner - £7.80 - Chicken Kiev, Salad, Potato Wedges

Day 5:

• Breakfast - £8 - Full English
• Lunch - £0
• Dinner - £25 - Takeaway pizza, cheesy garlic bread and mozzarella sticks

Day 6:

• Breakfast - Cup of tea
• Lunch - £3.70 - Cheese and tomato Pasta pot, cheese crisps and Kinder Bueno Chocolate Bar
• Dinner - £5 - Takeaway burger and chips

Day 7:

• Breakfast - Cup of tea
• Lunch - £3 - Sausage and cheese baguette
• Dinner - £18 - Chicken pasta and Garlic Bread, Chocolate Pudding in restaurant

 

 

 

 

 

Our fantastic customer Laura was featured in the daily mail recently, showing how you can cut your food bill in the kitchen by almost half by changing the ingredients you use in your cooking. Full article:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/…/Frugal-mother-two-reveals-cut…

A frugal mother of two revealed how she cut her food bill in half 'overnight' while still cooking tasty dinners for her family.  

Laura Light, 33, from Southampton, dishes up mouth-watering meals for herself,  husband and two young daughters every night, costing as little as 78p a head. 
By using store cupboard ingredients and ready mixed spice kits from Spice-n-tice, the busy mum serves up nutritious meals daily in less than 30 minutes.
The thrifty mum told that though it was a 'challenge' to get her family eating fresh and healthy, meals on such a strict budget the meal kits and planning ahead has made it 'easy' for her to prepare high quality meals for less money.

 'When we first started living to a stricter budget, our monthly food bill was the first thing I looked at', Laura said. 

 'Pretty much overnight I managed to reduce it by over half, simply by shopping around and planning the meals in advance.

'With two school age children, keeping that spend down but at the same time making sure my family eat a varied diet, cooked from scratch with lots of fresh vegetables, can be a challenge.

 'The Spicentice recipe kits make it really easy for me. Each comes with a great shopping list and easy to follow recipe.'

Laura's family favourites include chilli con carne, Italian meatball marinara, vegan shepherd's pie and Chinese chicken curry, and she told how the easy meal kits mean each meal takes less than 30 minutes to prepare. 

'They're very quick to make too. The Chinese Chicken curry, including all the prep, takes around 10 minutes. 

'The longest any of the Spicentice kits takes is around 30 minutes, which is nothing when you take into account all the fresh ingredients used and that everything is prepared from scratch.' 

Laura went on to explain that the kits fit into her busy lifestyle, meaning that it's easy to fit meals into everyone's individual schedule.  

She said: 'We often all eat at different time – the kids when they get home from school, me after they're in bed and my husband, who works shifts, when he gets in.

'I tend to prep dinner while Holly and Abigail are at school, cook it for them and heat up for me and Matthew. These kits work perfectly for that too.' 

 

 

 

Laura can cook up the meals for as little as £3.13 for four which works out at just 78p a head with the average price for the meals coming in at around £1.26 per person and says the food is better than 'anything from a takeaway'. 

'It's such an easy dinner to prepare and tastes amazing. It's just as good – if not better – than anything you'd get from a takeaway', she told. 

Laura keeps the costs low by following the shopping list on the Spicentice recipe kits and by making the most of store cupboard ingredients. 

The mum has been living frugally since having her first daughter Holly six years ago. She follows practical money save rules like always shopping with a list and planning meals each week. 

'I also find it's a great way to conceal vegetables for my fussy daughters. The vegan shepherd's pie is packed with them – potatoes, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, celery, onions, tomatoes and garlic – and they absolutely love it. 

'Little do they know just how much healthy stuff is hidden in it! 

She also batch cooks and shops around the supermarkets, discount and online retailers for the best deals.    

Laura continued: 'Before I tried the Spicentice kits I would have told anyone I was cooking up flavoursome meals every night. 

'Now I've used them, I've realised how bland some of our meals were and when I checked the cupboards, I realised I only had one tub of mixed spices.

'Spicentice has definitely played a part in helping me feed my family mouth-watering meals, cooked from scratched and within budget.'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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