Chris is back to help families shop smart
Eat Well for Less? BBC 1, 8pm
LET’S face it, we all spend too much on food, and very few of us can actually say, hand on heart, that we eat as healthily as we should.
Plus, with our purse strings getting ever tighter, Eat Well for Less? is now more relevant than it has ever been.
After eight years at the helm alongside Chris Bavin, Gregg Wallace decided to step down from the show last year.
“I’ve loved working on the series with Chris but now it’s time to hand over the knife and fork to someone else to continue helping people eat well,” he said.
Stepping into the breach is Jordan Banjo, who already teamed up with Chris, as well as Joanna Page and Melanie Sykes on Shop Well for the Planet last year.
Announcing the new role on Instagram he said: “Filling some big shoes of the legend Gregg Wallace but it’s another new chapter and another thing to be excited and grateful for!”
As usual, the programme will meet more families at financial breaking point, and show them how to drastically reduce their food bills while also improving their diet.
This week, its triple trouble for Chris and Jordan as they head to Scotland. Karen and taxi driver Andy live near Glasgow and are parents to five-year-old triplets, Alyssia, Poppy and Caleb.
Two years ago, they were given the devastating news that Caleb had an aggressive brain tumour. Caleb spent a year in chemotherapy and at the end of 2019 the first treatment was complete.
Then Covid hit and in the middle of the pandemic Caleb relapsed. Karen and Andy were told the devastating news that there was nothing that could be done, and Caleb was placed on palliative care.
Caleb is now trialling a new chemotherapy drug that he takes twice a day. With so much going on with Caleb, including the frequent hospital visits, it’s understandable that the family’s cooking and eating routines have fallen by the wayside.
Karen and Andy shop with the intention of cooking meals but then life takes over and they reach for anything that is quick and convenient. Relying on ready meals and quick fixes means lots of the food that
Karen planned to cook ends up in the bin.
Karen is on a mission to get fit so that she can do charity runs and is training most days. She’s started buying protein products, but these come with a hefty price tag.
Meanwhile, Andy is filling up on fizzy drinks, sometimes getting through three litres a day.
Having been hit hard by the pandemic, Karen and Andy urgently need to rein in their spending.
While Karen, Andy and the triplets hit the supermarket, Chris and Jordan take a sneaky peek round their kitchen.
After seeing the reality of what they’ve been buying and spending, Chris and Jordan replace their usual food with different brands disguised in plain packaging.
Chris shows Karen how quick, easy, cheap and safe it is to use leftovers, while Jordan wants to boost Andy’s confidence in the kitchen by talking him through a simple and quick spaghetti and meatball recipe.
Will Chris and Jordan’s tips, tricks save Karen and Andy some much needed cash?