Hi Cassandra

Hope you are mananging to work us out- we are not THAT alien!

Look here for your roast potato recipe and others.

Certainly it makes sense to do a regular shop for fruit and veg. I only find organic stuff 'spoils' quick and have lept most fruit and veg for a while before it goes off - have you checked the temp in your fridge? On the continent and in Japan - women often shop daily for their fruit and veg to make sure it is at it's freshest. I was shocked to hear how in the states you use irradiation and preservatives etc. They keep trying to bring it in here but on thing about us Brits - we are fairly easy gong but don't muck about with our food too much!

http://www.greatbritishkitchen.co.uk...p?category=Veg

Hello there.. i too am an american living in england and trying to figure out the food differences as well as a lot of others. the laundry thing makes me feel like im playing house using tiny lil washers and dryers.. and i notice women here iron.. omg.. i hadnt EVER ironed before.. i love looking at the argos catalog and there are pages and pages of irons lol..
one thing i have a prob with is things like Crystal light.. i love it and there are like what?? 5 cals per?? i cant find it here and have no idea if there is an equivalent.. there is splenda thank goodness and i make my iced tea with it which tends to gross some out here lol... should have seen my inlaws when they saw me making Sun tea lol...
i like the fact that they use less preservatives here, but i Hate shopping on a daily or two daily basis.. gone are the days of shopping once or twice a month... you can incorporate the shopping with extra exorsize tho if ya can walk to the store for fresh fruit and veggies every day or every other day.. is a way to get the fresh you like, adapt to the way they do it here, and maybe lose a lil weight from the walkin lol.
at least you dont have a mom in law around that bless her tries to be helpful.. she buys me EVERYTHING that she thinks i may be missing from the usa lol... such as jars of hot dogs.. not only are they fattening, but i have never seen a jar of hot dogs in america...and these say.. american style hot dogs on the lable lmao.. she buys me american style cheesecake from asda.. yes, i love it but puhlease lol...so, you have your picky eater, and i have a wonderful loving mother in law that is gonna put 200 pounds on me by xmas lol... but we can perservere...i always take one taste of what she brings then shove it down my hubbys throat lol.. he is 6'5 210 pounds and i dont believe his body make up will ever let him reach chunky much less fat lol
lastly, if your fiance is really that picky , maybe you can just use portion control instead of actually dieting.. with portion control and exorsize, you should still lose weight albiet more slowly which can be good for you.. well, i wish you all the luck in the world..

YOur mum in law sounds a treasure (really!). As for ironing - we don't all do it..... Those that use a tumble drier usually find they don't really need to. Some 'let' their partner do the ironing!

As for shopping - I prefer to shop regularly but itis what I am used to doing. The thought of all that preserative in fruit and veg - ugh! Frankinstein food! The government keep trying to interfere on that front but we won't let them!!!

Our main bugbear I think is the rules from Brussels about how our fruit and veg should look (i.e. certain shapes). I also pees me off that they are only now 'letting' us buy British. The French will, in the main, buy French - although I did buy an Argentinian pear when I was in Paris (had to - the French fruit and veg was as vile as the stuff they import here - soggy apples - yeuch!). For a long time we were unable to buy English stuff - ok the occasional apple.

Aww bless!! I thought I was the only one with such issues and I'm not American lol!! foreigner as well, but not American...

If you are short in money, have u thought about growing your own veg? It is a bit of a pain in the neck, but the rewards are well amazing, and the saving in your account will be amazing as well.
Now, if you don't have the time for that, what about organic veg boxes? Contrary of the general perception that organic food is expensive, I have found a massive saving with this. The husband and I ussually get the big box, which cost us £17, and have loads of vegetables, and since you never know exactly what you are going to get (it depends on the season) it's very exciting to plan the different meals you can cook with them. My last box had:
- carrots (about 10)
- green runner beans (the came in a little box of 500g)
- mushrooms (in a little box as well, 500g)
- 1 cabagge
- 1 lettuce
- tomatoes (about 15)
- 3 leeks
- 5 onions
- 3 garlic
- 3 peppers (1 green, 1 red, 1 yellow)
- a medium size bag of maris potatoes
- 2 cucumbers
- a big bag of spinach
- 1 marrow
And few other stuff that I don't remember now, lol!

Now, about the fiancee, I have the same issue with my husband. What I'm doing is spicing up the meals. I'm from Latin America, so I'm very ussed to it anyway. A bit of cayen pepper here, some garlic there, and they can transform any dull diet food in something tasty and nice, that you both can eat and enjoy at the same time

sounds like a dumb question but is the fridge cold enough? fruit will turn quickly this time of year as most of it i.e berries and such are going out of season. as for the expense i can see your point of view i used to think things were really expensive until i tried it on face value eating healthy is more expensive but the food you buy goes miles further. good exapmle make up a soup/stew with all your veg and stuff in 1 go in a huge pot then freeze it. i can make the tesco season bag of veg for 99p and a 2.50 bit of meat last me 6 meals. also do you have 24 hour teso near by? if so go at 2-3AM its a pain in the backside but all the price cuts are in but there is no body to buy them so load up.

I put vegetables/tomatoes/avocados/whatever in a brown paper bag in the fridge. Works fine.

Marleen - you are not the only "Spice Girl" , us Brits like it as well, you know - I don't know why, but people have the impression that all British food is bland! Since at least Tudor times we have imbraced spices! Most of us love Indian food too!!!

Yeah I know, what I meant is that the big problem some of us can have with boyfriends/fiances/husband when we are on diet is that their first impression is that the food we are going to eat taste "manky" (as my lovely husband refer it to...) so they won't eat it. That's why I suggest the spices, add to the fact that most of brits like indian food as well.
I think the impression that british food is bland comes from the classic sunday roast dinner, which isn't very spicy at all, and that's the classic international image that everybody sees, not the Vindaloos or the Chicken Tikka Massala. Those dishes some may think that are indian, when they are in fact, british.

a sunday roast is not bland if cooked properly.

im irish and we have the same problem here with fruit and veg, and the reason they go off so quickly is because theyre imported from countries thousands of miles away, they're picked nearly ripe and then left out for days on the supermarket shelf! since its really difficult to tell how old the produce youre buying is in supermarkets, the only other option is to go to markets if there are any, but theyre so much more expensive! its really a vicious cycle!

I put all my veg n the fridge and some fruit (apples, tomatoes etc)

shop around and either buy loose veg or if the packets of veg are cheaper but them, but steer clear from prep'ed veg

Root veg lasts longest. If you have a garden why not try to grow your own? Granted you'll not reap the rewards til nest year now, but still, - tomatoes especiall, - can't get much easier than growing tomatoes!

I am another American that lives in the UK. I have been here over 11 years now and actually have dual citizenship now.

I just wanted to pop in and put some sunshine in the direction of the UK. I like the food here and yes it does take getting used to but if you are planning on making your life in a new country then you have to fasten your seatbelt and get over the the initial bumpy ride and learning curve.

I have never had an issue with my fruit and veg in my fridge. So, as other people said, I would check out your fridge. I also agree not to buy those sald bags. For some reason the salad bags keep really badly and did you know a lot of them have sugar added? Sugar on salad leaves? No thanks! So, just buy the head of lettuce and it will be cheaper anyway.

Now, as far as cost goes. Trust me, I have been there. For the first few years that I lived here we were mega poor (my husband was disabled and I was the only one that worked). Do you have a market in your town? Not a farmers market but just a street market type thing where there is a fruit and veg guy? I found that was a seriously cheaper way to get my fruit and veg and something we don't get to do much in the States. PLUS, it means you are giving back to your local community rather than paying a big supermarket. A lot of those markets have a butchers nearby too and you can get better quality meat for way cheaper than the supermarket too.

Other than that I second the vote for lidls or aldis (there are Aldis in the States..same chain). Just for stuff like bread it is so much cheaper. You can get a loaf of decent brown bread for under 30p!

Chuck out the premade stuff like ceral bars - they aren't that good for you and cost a ton compared to getting stuff and making things.

As far as milk - Green = 2%

The one thing I will never 'get' from over here is not selling eggs in the cold section.