(ENERGETIC MUSIC) Where are we gonna put all this stuff? Get out of the snack aisle! Gregg Wallace and greengrocer Chris Bavin are back for another mission,... Eureka! (CHILDREN SCREAM) ...helping families get their food spend under control. That's the biggest food bill... (WHISTLES) ...I've ever seen. They're taking over kitchens... (LAUGHS) BOY: Oh my God. Aaah. What have we done? (LAUGHS) ...to find out where we can spend less. I think it tastes nice. If that's saving money, then bring it on. They'll be delving into popular food and drink... And this one's better looking than my co-presenter. I need another partner. (LAUGHS) ...and giving the great British public their say. I really don't like this one. With budget-busting recipes,... I love the chips. CHANTS: Go Mummy. Go Mummy. You've amazed me. A lot of people say that. (LAUGHS) ...will Gregg and Chris prove that you can eat well for less? This isn't as simple as saving money. This is about changing a family's diet for the better. (LAUGHS) (CHEERFUL MUSIC) This week, we're with the Parsons,... (LAUGHTER) ...who are creatures of habit... Monday's pizza. Tuesday will be chicken and pasta or chicken and rice, Wednesday's spag bol, Thursday ` whatever we didn't have on Tuesday. ...and whose food spend is sky high. Pizza. They're buying some top-end pizzas here. Big brand. Big brand. In the ultimate test, can Gregg and Chris shake up their mealtimes... Ooh. (CHUCKLES) Risky. (CHUCKLES) ..and bring their shopping habits under control? Ahhh! (LAUGHS) Get rid of that. (UPBEAT MUSIC) We're in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, with the Parsons. ALL: We're the Parsons family! Dad Richard is the sales and marketing manager of a local sports centre. Not too far, Aston. And mum Claire works in recruitment. They have two children ` 6-year-old Aston and Ava, who's 4. Ava is the cheeky one in the family. And I actually say Aston's probably the serious one as well. He's very disciplined, very` likes routine and structure, like his mother. Ava is push the boundaries, cheeky. Like her father. Do you want me to go with it? OK. Yeah. (ALL LAUGH) Like many British families with young children, life is busy. But to help manage their time, Claire and Richard have fallen into a rather unusual mealtime rut. Saturday is fajitas, Sunday is roast or barbecue, Monday will be pizza because the children are at swimming, Tuesday and Thursday we'll have a chicken and pasta, Wednesday will be spaghetti Bolognese, and Friday will be whatever's left in the fridge or freezer. Now that's what I call a routine. And incredibly, it's hardly differed in seven years. And nor has their weekly shop, which falls to Richard and the kids while Claire is busy at home. We hit the same aisle at the same time in the same order, in the same way to deliver the same foods to the same people. Well, you can't get more same-y than that. When it comes to shopping, the Parsons love a brand, and their kitchen's full of them. But that's a very expensive way to shop. We tend to go for the same brands week in, week out. You say 'spag bol', I think 'Dolmio'. You say 'fajitas', I'll think 'Old El Paso'. And if you say 'roast dinner', I'll think 'Aunt Bessies'. It might be on special offer one week but not the next week. We'd still buy it. Despite the rise in online grocery shopping, the majority of us Brits still head to the supermarket to buy our food. All this shopping adds up to over six and a half billion transactions a year. That's a lot of groceries. The Parsons admit they love a brand, and since they're stuck in a strict food cycle, don't change the ones they buy. But when Gregg and Chris arrive at the supermarket, can they make sense of the variety on offer? When you actually start to focus on the brands, you realise how many big brands there are. How do we get into them in the first place? I think there's a lot of cases it's what you had as a child, it's what you know, it's what you trust, and then you just continue buying that into an adult. Do we all just naturally grab for the boxes that we've got to know? If you've never tried the cheaper alternative, you'll never know if it's as good, if not better, than the one you loyally follow every time. Well, you don't have to work with me, you know. Do you know what, I quite like you. But I'd certainly be prepared to find a cheaper alternative. Nah, you'd miss me. Claire's catching up on work and know where Gregg and Chris are. But as Richard and the kids arrive at the supermarket, they're in the dark. Right. We ready for this? Yep. Yes. As the shop gets underway, Gregg and Chris are lurking incognito in the aisles,... Here's the bread. ...keeping a close eye on Richard's shopping habits. Oh. Sneaky. Thank you. You're welcome, Daddy. As the trolley starts to fill up, the boys retreat to a secret hideaway to continue spying to the Parsons. Right. OK. OK, we need sausages. Here's Richard and the kids. We need some stuff for fajitas. That's Saturday's meal. Uh... You want spaghetti Bolognese? That'll be Wednesday, then. Richard's just said, 'I need that for the fajitas. I need the mince for the Bolognese.' So he has specific meals in mind. Pizza. They're buying some top-end pizzas here. Who can find the Pizza Express dough balls? I will, Daddy. Go on, then. They've bought pizzas from this brand, dough balls from this brand. They might as well just go to the restaurant, mightn't they? Aston, here's your favourite coleslaw, darling. That's the top-end coleslaw. Did you have a favourite coleslaw at 6? In a bid to bolster sales, supermarkets and manufacturers often run special offers, enticing us into products which we continue to buy, even when the promotion is ended But the Parsons are so brand loyal... Daddy, here's the ketchup. ...that, like many of us Brits, they fall for it without a second glance at cheaper brands or, perish the thought, a supermarket value range. AVA: Tickle! Tickle! Tickle! Tickle monster! There's a tickle chase fight going on here at the moment. Right, what crisps do you need this week, guys? Shh. They're just outside the door. They're about 2ft away. We need to get some cola for Mummy. They're paying for top-end brands time and time again, aren't they? Ooh, cereals. Good boy. Thank you. Stick them in. Big brand. Big brand. Penne here. Premium brand dry pasta? Oh! Right, you can have some sweets. Bit of pick 'n' mix on the way round, kids. Why not? Let's get three in case Mummy likes them, yeah? God, they've got their money's worth out of that cup, didn't they? Right, do you wanna choose your water? Yeah. Bottled water. That explains a lot. Obviously the tap doesn't work in their house. (CHUCKLES) But they're not the only ones buying water, as in the UK, the average person drinks nearly 40 litres of it a year. Has Richard bought one bottled water for the children and one bottled water for the adults? Just when Gregg and Chris thought it couldn't get any worse, Richard commits a cardinal sin. Floretted broccoli. No, no, no, no, no, no. They are paying through the nose so they don't have to get a chopping board out of the cupboard. Should we go and say hello to him, introduce ourselves? Yeah, I think so. The trolley's full to bursting, and apart from milk and cheese, every product is from a big brand or premium supermarket range, exactly the same as every other week. You look like you're struggling, Ava, but don't worry, help is at hand. So we'll move them to the back. Richard? Hello, mate. How are ya? You OK? Yeah, I'm very well, thank you. Nice to see you. Good to meet you. We've been watching you. That's a little bit sneaky, isn't it? They didn't tell us about that bit. (BOTH LAUGH) You seem to be very organised. You haven't got a list, have you? No, we never use a list because we kind of tend to have the same foods every week. Time to ring it all through the checkout. (BEEP!) You buy two different types of water? Yeah, those are for the children. They've just kinda got hooked on the little cartoony characters on there. Do they taste different? No, it probably tastes the same. Dry pasta here. Yes. Do you think you can taste the difference between a premium brand and a cheaper alternative? I guess probably yes? The only time we saw someone trying to get value for money was when the kids were filling this to the brim to try and get as much in there as possible. Well done. Do you know how much it all comes to? 21p? 21p? All right, not bad. Dad, would you like to have a guess? I would say it's gotta be around �130? After seven years of buying the same foods, you'd think Richard would know how much he'd spent. Would you like to reveal, Mr Wallace? Wow! 223 quid, mate. (WHISTLES) That's a big shopping bill. I see the saving, though. (LAUGHS) I saved �4.67. Should we take this home? Yeah. Have a chat with your Claire? Yeah, let's get it back. All right. It's gotta be your turn to push the trolley, isn't it? I don't mind. I'm happy to push the trolley. Back at the Parsons' house, Gregg and Chris want to dig deeper into the family's shopping and eating habits to try and help them curb their spending. OK, Claire. So, nice to meet you. As you know, we were watching Richard and the kids shopping. You love a brand. Do you know why? Creature of habits. We just assume that they're better products with better ingredients and therefore better for us. You were very structured in your shopping, and you said that you're buying the same things over and over again. Does that mean you're making the same meals over and over again? Yep. Monday's pizza. Tuesday will be chicken and pasta or chicken and rice, Wednesday's spag bol, Thursday... Wow. This is extreme. Sunday ` in the winter it'll be a roast; in the summer, it'd be a barbecue. Unless we go out for dinner or round friends'. Are you fed up with it or are you happy with it? I think it's fair to say Claire's red up with it. Well, why don't you change some of the dishes during the week? I'm quite bland in my tastes, so whereas Rich would like spicy foods, I tend to like quite plain foods. It's just easy to go with what we know. Are there some foods you really don't like at all? I wouldn't eat fish. I'd eat fish fingers. But cod? Because you eat cod` Yeah, I probably would eat cod. Well, if you eat cod, you'll eat haddock. Yeah. That sounds smelly. It sounds smelly? Yep. (LAUGHS) Who cooks? I do most of the cooking. How long are you allocating to make the meals every night? Normally looking at between 15 minutes and half an hour. You don't like cooking, Claire? No. I'm just not very good at cooking. I've never been very good at cooking. I wouldn't know how to prepare a meal from scratch. I'm sensing a real challenge for Gregg and Chris to change the family's cooking and eating habits. But what about their spending? The boys want to talk money. How much do you think you're spending on food? I think about �150 a week just on food and drink. You are spending just short of �200 a week on average ` �199.95 is your average weekly shop. Wow. OK. That's a serious amount of money. The national average for a family of four is �82.90. A week? A week. Oh. You wanna spend less? Yes. Desperately. We're looking to move house. So this house is officially sold. We're going through the process of trying to find a new house. How much would you like to save a week? Just to save �50 a week, actually... Massive to us. �200-odd pound a month. That's` Yeah, massive. Look, we're here to help, so what we do now is we take away all your foods, we put it in neutral packaging. Some of your beloved brands may be swapped... (CHUCKLES) We're very confident we'll know what's been swapped. We've heard it all before, mate! When you have the same thing every week for seven years... Well, true. True. That's very true. You didn't think that through. You looking forward to it? 100%. You up for it? Oh, definitely. I'm looking forward to it. Well done. You've signed up. Thank you very much. Through a mix of swapping the family's existing brands for cheaper alternatives and new recipes to help them break their rigid food cycle, can Gregg and Chris get the Parsons to eat well for less? This family are unique, in our experience, because I've never seen a family that are so in a rut with how they shop and how they eat. They can tell us what they're going to be eating on Wednesday in two years' time. I like a little bit of familiarity, but there's an enormous world of food out there, and if you eat the same thing all the time, you're missing out. Personally, I think Claire lacks a little bit of confidence in the kitchen. I wanna prove to her that you can cook tasty dishes in under half an hour. Changing their diet's one thing, but ultimately, we've got to save them some money as well. They said they wanna move house. We know that's not cheap. They've given us a target of �50 a week. Do you think that's achievable? Only if they're willing to drop those expensive brands, and that we just don't know. We can't tell. Yeah. It's gonna be really interesting to see if they can tell the difference between the foods we've swapped. I mean, they're both very confident they will. If a family that eats the same things every week for seven years can't tell the difference if we swapped their foods, that proves a point to the whole nation. Massively. With the Parsons out of the house, we've cordoned off most of their kitchen cupboards and made a few changes to what's inside. Oh my goodness. Oh! What is going on here? Ohhh. We're not allowed in anywhere. What will a brand-happy family make of a brandless kitchen? Right. What's in here, then? Oh! Wow. OK. That's actually genuinely quite weird, isn't it? This is going to be a lot harder than I think we first thought. Top left. There's definitely some ingredients in here that we won't know what to do with. I think they must be on a wind-up. They've got dry basil in here. (LAUGHS) What's that? That must be for next door. For the garden? It is very strange seeing the kitchen all unbranded, looking at all the products. I'm still very confident... Me too. ...of at least 90% of those being clear for us to know. Yes. I agree. Famous last words. There you go. Ooh. I will know if this is different. Look, it's white. You'll never know what that is. I definitely will. Oh no you won't. (LAUGHS) I will try all of the food that Gregg and Chris left us. OK, guys, who's up for the challenge? Yay! (PEACEFUL MUSIC) It's day one of the food-swap experiment. As the saying goes ` breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So it's crucial that the Parsons enjoy what's been left for them. So we have the rice cereal here that Ava's going to be trying this morning. And on first impressions, I can't really tell any difference at all. It looks pretty much the same. Here we have the frosted flakes cereal for Aston. But while the kids' cereal has been swapped, we've been sneaky and haven't changed Richard's muesli. Will he spot an old favourite? OK, let's dig in. What do you think, Ava? It's not different. It's not different? It's the same? Mm-hm. Mine tastes exactly the same. If Mummy and Daddy buy that cereal again, I would eat it. So would I. Well, kids, by swapping from leading brands to supermarket own, you've saved Mum and Dad �1.86. Good work. Is yours different? I think mine is different. It just doesn't feel like it's got quite as much of there nuts in there. I thought you knew your brands, Richard. I would say this is cheaper than usual. So the man who was convinced he'd know at least 90% of the swaps has failed to spot that it's actually the muesli he's been buying for over 15 years. Richard goes through a bag a month, so that's over �45 every year he could be saving. Cereal is one of the most popular breakfast choices in the UK, and we munch our way through �1.9b worth of it a year. Gregg and Chris are meeting up with our resident dietician Lucy Jones to find out more about one of our favourite morning meals. So the Parsons kids eat loads of cereal, and they're certainly not alone. I actually would quite like to see what you guys would have as a portion. Don't tell me, Wallace, you wouldn't have all that would you? So, Gregg, your portion is coming in at 92g. Chris, yours... is coming in at 78g. What do you think a recommended portion is? Oh, they reckon you should have something like 20g as a portion? Mm, bit higher than that. 30, 35? It's 30g. So Gregg is actually having more than three times the recommended portion. Whose recommended portion? Oh, Gregg! It was a group of manufacturers that aligned all their recommended portions a few years ago. Your whole breakfast should give you about 400 calories on, like, a 2000-calorie-a-day diet. A 30g portion of cereal with some milk and maybe a piece of fruit and a hot drink is probably going to come up to about 400 calories. Show me 30g. Everyone and I will laugh. Look. No way! Look. Who's having that? (LAUGHS) But portion size aside, Lucy wants to show the boys what lurks within our breakfast bowls. She's brought along some popular cereals to show their added sugar content. OK, so, starting at the highest sugar content, we have the brand leader Frosted Flakes. But in that 30g portion, there's actually 11g of sugar. So it's more than a third sugar. So moving on to our next one, which is the supermarket own brand Multigrain Hoops. That 30g portion actually has 5.7g of sugar, which looks like that. I mean, it's obviously better, but that's still a lot, isn't it? I'm still shocked. Next up, the brand leader rice cereal, with 3g. Getting better, but it's still high. And the supermarket own brand cornflakes containing 2.2g. I reckon I can live with that. Yeah? I can go one better. Finally, a supermarket own brand of wheat biscuits. They only have 1.7g of sugar, which is less than half a teaspoon. Not only do the wheat biscuits contain the least amount of sugar, their portion size is actually larger, giving you two biscuits, or 37.5g. If we look at how much sugar we should be eating a day, for a woman, about 50g, and for a man, 62.5g. And with a Gregg-sized bowl of that, you'd actually be having even more than half of your absolute maximum-recommended sugar. Good grief. It's not all doom and gloom when it comes to breakfast cereals. In fact, all of these breakfast cereals are fortified with vitamins like B vitamins and even iron. Another thing to remember, if you are gonna choose something like wheat biscuits, is they're great for fibre, and actually, that fibre can help to slow down the release of the food and energy into your body and therefore help to keep you fuller through the morning. The Parsons are throwing themselves into the food swaps. Smells pretty similar. I think they look good. They look perfectly edible. That's definitely my usual brand. No doubt about it. Some are proving a hit,... But different to usual,... but it's a good different. ...others aren't going down as well. I don't like it. But Gregg and Chris aren't just swapping brands for cheaper alternatives. They're also determined to help the Parsons change their eating habits. Saturdays normally mean fajitas, but tonight it's all changed, with a brand new meal for the first time in seven years. But how will it go down? So Gregg and Chris have left me with a sausage-and-tomato pasta, which is something I wouldn't normally put together. Normally it'll be chicken with pasta. So it'll be interesting to see how that's received. OK, well, they're a good, meaty sausage, but they're not what we would normally buy. Well, you certainly know your sausages, Richard, as they have been swapped for ones from your local butcher, although it may surprise you to know that there's no difference in cost. But as a family who usually favour convenience over cost, Richard's going to have to dust the cobwebs off the grater. I'm sure these are a much more cost-effective way of buying carrots. It's just never really crossed my mind to do it before. I could lose a knuckle here. Who does this? By preparing their own carrots, they'll chop 47p off their weekly food bill. That's over �24 a year for something so simple. What will the Parsons make of their first new meal in years? It's not a dinner combination I would have put together. No, I agree. But is it tasty? That's good different, and that's good different. Yeah? A good different? Will they notice that the pasta has been swapped from a premium brand to supermarket own range? I think that the pasta is not the same, but tastes the same. Well, Claire, you and your family polish off half a kilo a week. But this penny-saving penne will pop over �28 a year back into your pockets. Who would eat it if I cooked it again? Me! I really liked the sausage dinner because it was very yummy and scrumptious. It was nice to have a different dinner. Finally. By conjuring up a dish using ingredients we know the family already enjoy, they've been able to add a new meal to their repertoire for the first time in seven years. 1 The Parsons aren't the only ones who love their pasta. In the UK, over 500 million pounds of it is sold every year. But with such a dizzying selection available, the question is, should you be buying dried or fresh pasta? Chris wants to find out, and first up is fresh pasta. OK, so I can see all the ingredients getting mixed together. So what actually is in there? Three things ` semolina, egg and water. Mixing them produces a dough which is then pushed through a large metal plate to shape it. And this factory alone makes enough for around 150,000 meals daily. It literally looks like its raining pasta. These little beauties would now be ready to eat. But as they still have a way to go to get it to the supermarkets and eventually into our homes, it needs to be pasteurised. So what is the pasteurisation process? The pasteuriser is a steam tunnel that injects steam on to the product, bringing it to over 74-degrees. And that kills all the germs and bacteria that can be on the product. The second thing that is does is it creates a sheen and stops the product cracking and drying out prematurely. So if you didn't pasteurise it, how long would fresh pasta last? Two days, max. Next, the pasta is blast-chilled and packed. The package is purged of air and flushed with nitrogen and carbon dioxide, which prevents mould growth without the need for preservatives. So when it's all done ` it's been pasteurised and been packaged, what's the shelf life of fresh pasta? A month. Yeah. Fantastic. As long as you keep it in the chiller, in the fridge. So what are the main differences between a fresh and a dried pasta? Well, I guess the main difference is the cooking time and the convenience. Dried pasta can take 15 minutes plus to cook; whereas fresh pasta ` a minute or two. Fresh pasta might be quicker to cook, but all that convenience comes at a cost. It's nearly double the cost of dried pasta, and to find out more about the dried option, Chris has gone to meet Italian chef Giancarlo Caldesi. As a restaurant and cookery school owner, he's just the man for a crash course in dried pasta. So most people consider fresh to be better than, say, dried. Is that the case with pasta? Not really. I don't think so at all. Actually, dried pasta goes a long way, lasts longer and, as a matter of fact, one of my signature dishes in the restaurant is dried pasta. So if we take a couple of examples here ` we've got fresh pasta with just over a month shelf life. But we've got some dried ones here. We've got just under three years... (LAUGHS) ...left on this one. So what would have happened to the dried pasta, then, to give it an incredibly long shelf life? The dried pasta is the best value because it's partially cooked. So that's the secret. And Giancarlo's happy to divulge all, with the ultimate guide to cooking dried pasta. OK, Chris. With water pre-boiled, salt is added before the pasta even hits the pan. We find that 5g per litre of water of salt is just about right. So is there a rule of thumb or a perfect ratio between the amount of water you use and the amount of pasta you're cooking? A minimum of a litre of water per 100g of pasta. To demonstrate, Giancarlo is cooking one pot with too little water, and the other two will have the right water quantities. He'll overcook one and time the others to perfection. Look, this is bubbling around really beautifully. After cooking the first pot for 14 minutes as the packet states, the pasta's drained added to melting butter and black pepper and sprinkled with cheese. Then follows the pasta with too little water and the pasta that was overcooked by six minutes. Pick one up and taste it. I'm talking about the texture of the pasta, OK? Quite starchy, and it definitely feels overcooked and soggy. Soggy. That's it. Yeah. Yeah. That one. Go on, then. It's certainly better than that one, but it's still a bit soggy. Go to the ultimate test and tell me what you think. That held the flavour. It's held its texture. Yeah, that's lovely. Well, Chris enjoyed the dried pasta, so if you want to save money, perhaps you needn't feel bad opting for it over the fresh stuff. Just make sure you cook it right. (UPBEAT MUSIC) When it comes to cooking, Claire can't stand the heat in the kitchen and often sticks with the safety of convenience food. And as a busy working mum, she doesn't feel she has the time to cook from scratch either. But Gregg wants to help cookaphobe Claire turn things around. He's come to see her for a masterclass in speedy cooking. Wow. I hope you don't mind ` can I ask you ` I don't think you like this room very much, do you? I do, just not the cooking. Anytime I've ever tried to do something, it's gone wrong. Even the rice just all sticks to the bottom of the pan, or I'll burn the chicken. Do you know what the thing is? Just not skilled in that department. Yeah, that's cos you're not doing it. Even a concert pianist isn't good the first time they sit at a piano. (CHUCKLES) And you are short of time, aren't you? You are a busy mum. Yes. I really wanna show you that you can actually make meals ` proper meals ` in less than 25 minutes. Gregg's got a plan up his sleeve. (SNIFFS) Basil. What you've gotta be careful with this is someone doesn't do that. (LAUGHS) But this next one could be tricky, and I don't know how it's going to go down with Claire. Fish. Ooh. (LAUGHS) Risky! (LAUGHS NERVOUSLY) Very. What fish is that? Uh, what do you want it to be? Cod. Cod. OK. Cos you eat fish fingers, right? Yep. So you eat cod. OK. Cool. Aside from fish fingers, fish never makes an appearance in the Parsons' set weekly meals. But Gregg wants to change that, with a cod and tomato salsa made in the time Claire normally allows to cook a pizza. Before we start, let's set the timer. 25 minutes on a busy day. 25 minutes cod dinner. Ready? OK. Challenge? Ready. BOTH: Let's go. There you go. Two bits of cod, right? Yep. Skin's still on. One, two. Drizzle some olive oil over and rub it all in with your finger. I want you to put salt and pepper on both of those fish, please. Well, that only took two minutes. Right. That goes into the oven for about eight minutes. Cod in the oven at 180 degrees, Claire chops tomatoes, ready for the salsa, and adds vegetable stock to couscous. Cover it with foil so that it stays warm and the liquid gets absorbed by the couscous itself. 10 minutes in, and the fish is ready. That is cooked. Do you know how that's cooked? Quickly just touch it. Go on, Claire. You can do it. It's firm. You've cooked your first bit of fish. Tell me what it is you did. Oil, salt, pepper, oven. (LAUGHS) No time to chat, Gregg. Time's ticking. Claire adds chopped olives, olive oil, lemon juice and fresh basil to the tomatoes to complete her salsa. Let's open up your couscous. Yayyyy! Marvellous. That, my friend, is that. Do you know how long that took you? It was quick. 16 minutes. You did that. Looks good. I'm going in. It's a big bit of fish. That's very nice. Well done me. (CHUCKLES) In that is the foundation of a thousand dishes. Any piece of fish can be cooked like that. That couscous could easily become mashed potato, it could easily become rice. And then a sauce across the top. That's a good, wholesome, healthy meal that tastes nice. I mean, how simple did you find it? That was really really simple. Ridiculously simple. Ridiculously simple, and good value too. Gregg's quick cod meal costs just under �3 per person. It's not just main courses that are getting an overhaul from Gregg and Chris. The family sometimes enjoys a sweet treat, and last year, us Brits got through over 300 million litres of this stuff. It's available in endless flavours and comes in tubs. It is, of course, ice cream. So in the interest of saving money, we've swapped Ava and Aston's branded ice cream for a supermarket value range. But will it satisfy their sweet tooth? Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, Mum, mu, Mum, Mum, Mum. Thank you, Mummy. Thank you, Mummy. Ava, do you like the ice cream? Mm-hm. Does it taste different? I think the ice cream has been swapped, but it is still yummy. It tastes the same. Well, the supermarket value product didn't put the Parsons kids off their pudding, and it's a rather tasty saving too, at �1.11 cheaper than their regular branded tub. Buying one a week, that's nearly �58 saved. But what will the great British public think when we tantalise their taste buds? Our taste tour of Britain is stopping in Hertfordshire to see what a bunch of zookeepers and park volunteers think of one of the nation's favourite flavours ` vanilla. Sometimes the cheaper ones can taste a little bit powdery, can taste a little bit synthetic. I think that's why I always go for the mid-range ice cream. The most expensive ones tend to be better quality, and it can sometimes taste more creamy. Generally, I think more expensive tastes better. Ready to be sampled are... Tescos Everyday Value ` the lowest price at 44p per litre, Morrisons vanilla at 85p, Wall's at �1.11, Carte D'or at �3.87, and at the top of the market, Haagen-Dazs, where you'd need to spend �9 to buy the same amount. That's over 20 times the cost of the value offering. So which ice cream will have animal magnetism? First up, the highest priced. The first taste tastes really expensive, but then the after taste is kind of nothing. That really does taste nice. Brings me back to my youth. That was a long time go. (LAUGHTER) Next ` a popular mid-priced brand. Oh man, that's delicious. It's still not as thick as it could be, though. And finally, a supermarket value offering. This doesn't taste like vanilla, I don't think. I did kind of like it. So which ice cream did the zookeepers feel soared above the others? All right, everyone. I've got the winner right here. And it's... this one! That's the one I think I would normally get, but I actually didn't think it was the nicest. (LAUGHS) Carte D'or came out on top. In second place was the most expensive offering from Haagen-Dazs, third was Morrisons' home brand, Fourth was mid-range brand walls, and in last place, Tesco's value ice cream. I chose my winner as the premium one, but my second choice was actually the value range. And I think the taste was pretty comparable. I know they had different tastes, but I liked them both. The animal lovers made it a victory for the more expensive brands, so perhaps it's worth splashing out for this frozen treat. But I'm afraid the ice cream's all gone, so it's just milk for you, Spiky. 1 As part of their shop, Claire and Richard currently spend over �5 a week on two different bottled waters for the family. But is there anything to be scared of by opting for the obvious cheaper alternative? Gregg's headed to the banks of the River Thames to find out. You've gotta tell me how we go from a murky river to the stuff coming out of my tap. We're at the river intake now. This is the first place where we take all the big stuff out. And you can just see down below there you've got some oil booms ` just trap a little bit of oil ` and then it will go through our fish screens here, which are our first line of defence from fish through to branches, leaves, plastic bags. Those screens will take it out. It's a murky old thing you're starting with here. What's in there I can't see? Right, you've got viruses and bacteria, and you'll have dirt. And that gives it that little bit of discolouration. At this works alone, approximately 60 million litres of water is pumped from the Thames into treatment works and huge reservoirs every single day. Right, Gregg, thinking cap on. Here comes the science bit. What happens here? We add ozone as a gas into the water. That sounds scary. Well, it's not. It's actually a harmless process that helps to kill bacteria. I'd never have got a science O level, would I? (LAUGHS) But there's still a long way to go to make that water drinkable. It has to travel through two sand filters and a carbon filter to remove even more bacteria before finally we end up here. What you've got here are the instruments that measure the amount of chlorine that we put into the water right at the end of the process. How much chlorine are you putting in? About 1.6mg/litre. And if there's any bacteria and viruses left in the water, then that will kill them. Does the chlorine affect the taste of the water? Yes, there will be a little bit of a taste. If I wanted to get rid of it? If you wanted to get rid of it, then the best thing to do is to pour it into a jug and leave it in the fridge for, say, half an hour or so. You won't be able to taste it then. Although the amount of chlorine is reduced before water leaves the treatment plant, a small amount is legally required to be kept in to help fight off any nasties that may be picked up as it travels through the miles of pipes to our homes. But the big question is, how does it taste? We've had to glasses of water in the fridge. One is your water, and the other one is a bottled water that I brought with me. I'm gonna taste them, all right? This is my bottled water. This is yours. And the verdict, Gregg? I do a lot of tasting. There's no discernible difference... That's good to hear. ...at all. They're both cold and wet and refreshing. Like most water. So, to set the record straight, it's a long but perfectly safe process, and it's difficult to taste the difference in the end. But will the family notice that Gregg's swapped their regular bottled water for water from the tap? Who wants some water? Me. Go on, then. Get stuck in. What do you think? It's OK to me. I think that's tap water. To me, water's water, so it doesn't really matter what water tastes like, because it's just the same. You said it, Aston. The question is, will Mum and Dad keep your new water at the end of the experiment? Gregg and Chris are determined to get more variety into the Parsons' diet. After the success of Gregg's cod meal, today, Chris has come to see Richard and the kids. It might be a tall order, but he's determined to push Aston and Ava to broaden their food horizons. No pressure. I've got an idea. Why don't we make a special, special dinner to surprise Mummy and, you know, that other guy, Gregg? Yeah. Right. So, do you guys like tomato sauce? BOTH: Yes. Do you like... potatoes? BOTH: Yes. And you eat fish fingers, don't you? BOTH: Yes. OK, so this isn't the same as the fish in the fish fingers. This is salmon. But I promise it's yummy. That's OK, innit? Is that OK? Are you happy to try that? BOTH: Yes. Yeah? By using a mix of familiar and unfamiliar ingredients and getting the kids hands-on with food, Chris is hoping to not only get them trying different dishes, but also introduce them to some new fish. And this meal, even a 4-year-old can help with. We are going to make super Ava and Aston fish cakes! Yay! So, I need a pan. AVA: A pan? A big saucepan. OK. Big saucepan. Here one is. Perfect. Chris boils water for the potatoes and, ably assisted by Aston,... I'm gonna give you this one. Thank you. ...Richard gets peeling. Have you ever eaten salmon before? BOTH: No. I caught this myself. (CHUCKLES) No, you didn't. I did. No, you didn't. So how did you put it in this packet? No, I didn't catch it. You're right. (LAUGHS) With the shop-bought fish seasoned, the potatoes are left to boil. And the zest of a lemon,... BOTH: It smells nice. ...a few squeezes of tomato ketchup,... Bit more. ...mustard, flat parsley and dill are combined in a bowl. Brilliant. Brilliant. The fish goes under the grill for a few minutes, and the kids start their smashing mashing. Great mashing. I think this is the best potato-mashing I've ever seen. Fish cooked, what will Ava and Aston make of their first taste of salmon? Is it delicious? (GIGGLES) Is it? Yeah. Yes. Yeah? That's brilliant. It seems like Chris' fish gamble is paying off. That was a really good start. Hopefully they'll enjoy it at the end as well. We'll put some potato in. Chris shapes the fish cakes, which are then dipped in flour,... Well done. Pass it down the line. ...egg,... and breadcrumbs. Ughhh! Daddy. Was that fun? Yeah. Did you enjoy that? I enjoyed it. Yeah? After being fried, the fish cakes are ready to dish up. Hey, what's this? They're Aston and Ava's special... ...special fish cakes. Yeahhh! I think they look lovely. So, should we dig in? Mmm. It's a tense moment for Chris. I think the fish cakes are OK. Ava, did you like the fish cakes? I tried it, but I didn't like them. (GIGGLES) That's OK. You can't like everything. It's impossible to like everything. But we're really happy that you tried new foods. So in the future, are you going to try more new foods? Yes. Yes. Cos some you'll like... ...and some we won't like. Well, Chris, it was a valiant effort. But although you got the kids cooking, food-wise, this family could be tough nuts to crack. So for the next meal, the Parsons are playing it safe, with a return to their Monday night routine. So we have pizza once a week after swimming, so this is the quickest meal of the week, when we've got the least time before dinner. This is very obviously a different pizza. The cheese looks more grated than normally. Looks aren't everything. At �4.50 less per pizza, sacrificing appearance could pay off. The kids normally like extra toppings on their cheese-and-tomato pizza. Their ham hasn't been swapped, but Claire's already noticed that something's amiss with the sweetcorn, which means dusting off another kitchen utensil. Normally I just peel off the lid, cos it's more convenient. I'm having to use this for the first time in a long while. Well, Claire, it'll be worth it, as you'll save over �100 a year. Pizza's in the oven. It's time for Claire to test her favourite tipple. Will she realise that her usual brand, which she's been buying for six years, has been swapped for a supermarket range? I know my cola. I'm 100% sure I'll know if this is different. (EXPECTANT MUSIC) I think it's the same. It really isn't. I'm 9... mm, 85% sure this is the same. It's nice. Well, Claire, you're in for a shock later. And as you drink a can a day, buying a multipack of the cheaper alternative will save you over �13 a month. The dinner ready, how will Aston's replacement coleslaw go down? Did that taste nice? Yup. It is... And that's a yummy saving too, as it's half the price, costing just a pound. And the tub's 16% larger. How about the pizza? Tastes better than our last one. Does it? Yeah. Wow. I like it. I"m glad you're enjoying it. The whole family usually eat pizza together and get through three large pizzas in a sitting. Swapping from a pricey pizza to a value variety will slice �13.50 off the cost of the meal. And the best news is, that's more than a whopping �700 a year. That was really successful. Really successful. SINGS: # The pizza tasted yummy, the coleslaw yummy! # Pizza may be a simple go-to dish for the Parsons, but what other quick meals could they be cooking? Gregg and Chris are catching up with dietician Lucy to whip up a tasty and nutritious dish. Lucy, we need a little help with the lovely Parsons. Like a lot of families, they are very very short on time. What have you got? Actually, I've gone really easy peasy on this one. We're doing a tuna and veg pasta bake. As avid pasta fans, a meal like this would be perfect for the Parsons. First, get your pasta on to boil whilst you prepare the rest of the ingredients. There you are. Pasta's on. Lucy's using dried value pasta, costing just 18p for 300g. Grate your cheese and chop tomatoes and a courgette. The Parsons are actually pretty good with their veg intake, but there are plenty of families who do struggle to get enough in, and a pasta bake is one way that you really can add extra veg. Brilliant. Now what? We need to make our white sauce. Go on, then. So who's the master at making white sauce? I'll make you a roux if you want. Go on, then. Combine butter, flour and milk in a saucepan over a medium heat, stirring constantly until smooth and thickened and tip in half of the cheese. Then add frozen peas to the drained pasta. If you can drain the tuna through the pasta... So that's a good idea, isn't it? Actually draining it through the pasta, because it gets the flavour of the tuna water or oil. Transfer the pasta mix to a dish. Add the courgettes and pour the sauce on top. Do you want to play artiste and arrange them beautifully? Yeah. As we all know, presentation is everything. Well done, Gregg. Cover with the remaining cheese and pop under a hot grill for five minutes. That looks nice. That's pretty good. Mmm, mmm, mmm! I like that! That's very nice. That tastes good, and it was very quick. The big question, is, Lucy, how much did it cost? So the entire dish came in at �2.45. Wow. That's great. I can see a dish like this solving so many problems for so many families across the country. This is brilliant. Do you know what I think is cleverer than this dish? You. Aw, he's a sweet talker, isn't he? For the past few days, there have been plenty of new foods for the Parsons to try. Mummy, can you buy this cereal again? Yeah. But Claire thinks there may be something fishy a seemingly familiar favourite. And she could be right, as their new fish fingers are actually made with pollock. I'm wondering whether these are cod or a different fish, just to test my taste buds. Mummy,... Mm? I like them. Fish fingers were no different, really, in taste, to the normal ones. I think it's good. Mm? Yeah. Whatever these fish fingers are inside them is definitely different. Mum and Dad might be fooled, but Aston's cottoned on. These pollock fish fingers cost �1.65, almost 60% less than the �4 they usually pay for a leading brand. 1 (GENTLE MUSIC) The food swap's nearly over, and change has gone to the top of the menu. With the kids already fed, Claire and Richard are trying out another dish to help break their stringent food cycle ` Asian chicken. But it's not the new flavouring that's the biggest change. I generally can't remember the last time I cooked rice this way. Well, it's certainly a change from popping it in the microwave. And that broccoli needs prepping too. And there's no pre-cut veg in sight. We would normally buy our broccoli in already cut florets, just to cut down on some of the mess. It's easy out of the bag straight into the pot. But if you can live with a little mess, it'll save you �79 a year. I think once the chicken sits on top of that, that's going to be quite a good-looking meal. Hopefully Claire will agree. Yeah, I didn't really know what to expect. Everything's really lovely. Really nice. Even the rice seems to be going down a treat. And it's 51p cheaper for four times the quantity. This could actually fast become one of my favourite meals. So maybe we could have this once a week every week on the same day, then. (LAUGHS) It's another new meal to break their rut, and Claire loves it. What a success. I've really enjoyed the week. It's been fantastic to finally introduce some new foods. It's been nice to try different things, from our normal what we would have the same time at the same week. With the food swaps over, Gregg and Chris are back in Hatfield, about to meet Claire and Richard for the final time. The Parsons told us they wanted to save money and they wanted to change their diet. We gave them some different meals to try, right, and hopefully they've liked them. Do you think they would have embraced the swaps? Do you know what? I don't know. This family was so loyal and so reliant on their brands that they bought. We're really looking forward to finding out all of the swaps, all of the changes and hopefully how much money we've saved. They've been eating the same food for seven years, day in day out. It's a big, big habit to break, isn't it? I'm smiling now, but I really don't know the way this is going to go. We've never faced a challenge like the Parsons before. See that lake? For me or you, it's sink or swim. No pressure, then. It's the moment we've been waiting for. Have Gregg and Chris been able to help the family change their shopping and eating habits for the better? So, back in your kitchen, and what we want to know is generally how you got on. I really enjoyed it ` eating different things, having some variety. Had some lovely new foods. Really enjoyed the Asian chicken, really enjoyed the sausage pasta. In terms of your shopping and eating, you were real creatures of habit, weren't you? You were really reliant on the big brands out of habit. And you were eating the same meals on the same day of the week, week after week after week. How are you feeling about your food now? I'm quite excited. Quite excited to have different foods, buy new things, do some cooking. Do different meals on different days of the week! Good for you. Did it play with your mind, not having the labels? And that was the best part of it for us, was actually just enjoy the food without any preconceived ideas of actually what it was. We were very happy that we know what the swaps are. How confident are you? We're 100% confident. I'm 90. You might regret saying that when you find out what you've been eating. First up, it's one Richard's sure of. Who eats the muesli? That's me. I'm a muesli eater. And what did you think of the muesli we gave you? Not great. Bit dry. Not as much nuts, not as much texture to it. Not as flavoursome, so wasn't great. That's a shame. Would you like to see the muesli we gave you? Yeah, yeah, please. We didn't swap it. (SCREAMS, LAUGHS) Brilliant. Get rid of that. I love that! Get rid of it. It's horrible. If you can give that up, that's actually �3.80 a bag. Done. A fantastic start. After more than 15 years, hopefully Richard will now be looking for a cheaper breakfast alternative. Next up ` it's the big one ` Monday night pizza. Pizza? You all love a pizza, don't you? It was definitely swapped. I don't think it was as nice, but for me, that's really a kid's meal, and they wolfed it down. Right. Well, you are right. We did swap it. I would never in a million years have picked that before this. Never ever ever. No. I would have walked past that 100 times out of 100. It is a whopping �4.50 cheaper... per pizza. And you're buying three of these for your Monday night, aren't you? Yep. That is ridiculous. That's �13.50. Yeah. �702 a year. Whoa. Wow. That's mad. That is mad. It is. So, what do we think? Do we wanna keep? Keep. Definitely keeping. Yeah? Brilliant. Fantastic. No option, mate. And with the cheaper dough balls, pizza nights will now cost the Parsons �782.60 less per year. The savings are coming thick and fast. But how about Claire's cola? Remember, she's been drinking her favourite brand for six years. I will know if this is different. Your cola. Yes. How did you get on? First of all, I was sure it was the same, and then I wasn't so sure, and then I was, 'Yep, it's the same.' So, yeah, I just... I think it was the same. We did swap it. (RICHARD LAUGHS) Ooh. What's that? Look at that! In a red tin! (LAUGHS) The one you buy comes in a red tin, doesn't it? Yes. Would you have ever ever ever thought of drinking this? No. No. Were you happy? (LAUGHTER) And enjoying it? Yeah. (LAUGHS) That's got me. That's really got me. So it is a staggering 43p a can cheaper. A can? Cos you buy the cans individually, don't you? Well... So? What do you think? I'm not sure if I can say I'll keep it! I think I have to. Claire enjoys at least a can a day, and just swapping this one drink saves a massive �156 a year. But now prepare to be amazed. You buy a lot of bottled water. Yes. We gave you our bottled water. Yes. What did you think? I thought it was tap water. Yeah, we think you've been very sneaky and you put tap water in our water. Would we do that? Yes. To teach us a lesson, and if you did it, then quite rightly too. Well, actually, we did fill those bottles up with your tap water. Yay! (LAUGHS) (LAUGHS) You will save �5.19 a week. That's ridiculous. Well, it tasted exactly the same, so that's an absolute keeper. That's one for us. Brilliant news. Incredible ` swapping that bottled water for one that's quite literally on tap will shave off almost �270 off their yearly spend. Over the week, the Parsons tried a whole range of different products. And substituting just these six items... You were paying 76p to have somebody do that to your broccoli. ...saves them another �727 a year. It's cheaper. It's a keeper. But will Claire be prepared to keep the fish fingers once she finds out the truth? I was really worried that you'd put a salmon or a different fish into them. But then when I tasted them, they tasted like cod fish fingers. Would you like to see what we gave you? Yes. Can I ask you something first? Have you ever eaten pollock? (CHUCKLES) No. You haven't? No. You probably wouldn't, would you?O Is he joking? Uh... What is pollock? Are you not seeing where they're going with this? No. Brilliant. Carry on. There's your fish fingers. OK. Packed full of Omega-3, which is wonderful. Brilliant. Made of pollock. Not cod. What? (CHUCKLES) Are you joking? No. Oh. They are made` Wait, it was pollock? Pollock is a fish? Sure. Yep. Pollock is a fish. Oh. Check me out. Actually, Claire, pollock is the eighth biggest selling fish in Britain. Cod's third, in case you wondered. Look at the price difference. Wow. Wow. �2.35 a pack. Wow, that's crazy. Wow. That's genuinely crazy. Wow! How much is a pack of fish fingers? GREGG AND RICHARD: �2.35 more than that! (ALL LAUGH) Substituting the fish fingers slashes another �122.20 off the yearly bill and has got the family eating new fish too. A double winner. The food swaps have been a success. But how did the final figures add up? Do you recall what you were spending? About �200 a week, I think. �199.95 on average. And remind us what it was you were trying to save money for? We're in the process of moving home, so any money saved here will go towards helping us with that. God, that's an expensive thing to do. Anything would help, wouldn't it? Yeah. You had a figure in mind that you would like to save. Yeah, we would have been happy with �50 a week as a starting point. That would be massive for us. Yeah. Do you reckon you've done it? Yes. Do you? Yes. I'm not sure. Should I tell you how much you've saved? Please. You've saved �68.09. Wow. That's massive. A week. That's mad. That's a saving of �3540 a year. If we stick to this, over the next 10 years, that's �35,000. The children will still be at secondary school. That's their university fund taken care of. It's fantastic. And we've seen the error of our ways. Genuinely now I will walk past the brands to the cheap alternative first, and it's a life-changing result, and we couldn't be happier with it. Gentlemen, a job well done. That's great. Really good. I was nervous that we might not have any impact at all, but they have embraced so much. They've saved a whack of money, they've got newfound cookery confidence, and they are willing to try new foods. I know. They've done so well to break those deeply loyal habits to move the brands. It's amazing. And if these guys can do it, anyone can do it. That is very true. Very very true. Captions by June Yeow. www.able.co.nz