I feel guilty and I don't like it, particularly when there's no reason for it.
Tonight the family and I dined well on the staple of many an Irish family of a lazy evening - frozen pizza and garlic bread. Nothing weird in that you might believe. We've done it before and other people do it all the time.
If we ordered it in from the likes of Dominos it would cost roughly €28, however we didn't. We're on an economy drive recently through necessity and Polka reintroduced my other half to the delights of Lidl, so our non-brand name meal tonight, all very tasty and at the very least as good as any other frozen pizza and garlic bread I've had, feeding 4, cost the grand total of just over €5.
There's the problem. Because of the influence of brand culture in our everyday lives we're led to believe that anything that isn't brand is bad. Worse still we're led to believe in the post-Tiger dawn that when it comes to food anything cheap is automatically bad.
Being honest a lot of cheap food (and cheap everything) can be crap. A few trips to Iceland years ago proved that mostly true but these days that need not necessarily be the case and even then it wasn't universally true about everything.
So, tonight, I've fed my family, well and within a tight budget that's necessary and yet part of me feels guilty. Feels that if I were to admit this openly to other people I'd be seen to be shortchanging my children, doing poorly by them. Why is that? :(
Quick call social services, look at you making paupers of your children. Will Timmie see another christmas.
ReplyDeleteI know its true. I fall for the same mindworkings too. I may know that it's all the same but my brain still tells me its way inferior. Yet another example of how the conscious mind can be ever aware but not in the least bit in control. I know who's the boss of me. My subconsience is the most powerful force in the universe.
tbe pizza was lovely, add a salad and it was a perfect dinner...yummy wine too, five euro a bottle!
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of Aldi and Lidl. A few trips to Superquinn, paying 4 times the price for something, and that feeling of guilt for buying cheap stuff will be replaced by a feeling of being ripped off.
ReplyDeleteOne soon overcomes the feeling that because it's cheap, it's therefore crap. It's not true at all. Even their running gear has been reviewed by Runners World and came out with flying colours!
Bought Halloween costumes yesterday at €7.99, so cute!
Chorizo from LIDL is really good! and some of their cheeses though they need a bit of time usually. i find LIDL and ALDI are cheap as long as you can resist the impulse buy!
ReplyDeletetalking of cheap food, bangers and mash can work out quite cheaply too, and add a few frozen peas and it's not too unhealthy either, and one of my favourites...