9 (UPBEAT 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! (KIDS YELL) ...helping families get their food spend under control. That's the biggest food bill I've ever seen. They're taking over kitchens... (LAUGHS) Oh my God. Ahhhh! What have we done? ...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... 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. Same. # Go, Mummy. Go, Mummy. # You've amazed me. A lot of people say that. ...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. (LAUGHTER) # Da-da! # This week we're with the Guest family from Leicestershire,... (ALL GROAN) My gosh! ...who shop on impulse,... Ooh, salami? Ooh, cheese. Sliced cheese. ...pouncing on pricey extremes from beige convenience food... (GASPS) Dough balls. (GROANS) Come on! ...to fashionable superfoods. Quinoa. Well, there's trendy. Can Gregg and Chris overhaul their diet... (KIDS CHEER) So they're expectin' us to, like, chop everything. ...at the same time as slashing the shopping bill? So, I've got some of your receipts here. God, that's awful. (SNIFFLES) Come here. Come here. Copyright Able 2018 (ELECTRONIC MUSIC) We're in Loughborough with a family who are in a league of their own when it comes to the food spend. (BARKS) ALL: We're the Guest family! (LAUGHTER) (SQUEALS) I first met Paul in a local nightclub. He rolled his sleeves up, like kind of '80s style, and was, like, dancing like this. And I thought, 'Mmm!' (LAUGHS) Both quite strong personalities, but we do get on really well. She'll get her own way, no matter what, so... Oh! Paul and Lisa are parents to 15-year-old Ingrid, 12-year-old Freya and 9-year-old Ulric. Family life is very chaotic. Because of how we work, isn't it? Yeah. I mean, I'm coming in from work or Lisa's going. It is quite busy, really. Lisa works for the council and Paul's on shifts as a firefighter. Always on the go, they make costly choices when it comes to meal times. We tend to buy a lot of convenience foods because of the title ` they're convenient. This is a typical meal that we have. Just feel so shameful. (CHUCKLES) If we look at our favourites, it's, like, breaded chicken,... Mm. chicken Kiev, fish with breadcrumbs. It's a lot of beige quantity. You go, 'What's for dinner?' (GROANS) 'Yeah.' Beige. So beige convenience food is in, but colourful vegetables are out. If you had a few chips but not as many, but vegetables and the chicken Kiev? No! No, I'd rather have chips. Chips and chicken. When it comes to healthy eating, Lisa's confused by the advice. First of all it was five portions of fruit and veg. Now it's seven. I don't think we even sometimes get three. That's a week. (LAUGHS) So it's coming, coming, coming. Oh, brilliant. A recent health scare has made Lisa determined to lose weight and get the whole family eating better. Lisa quite likes looking up all these, like, superfood type things. But it's not really my sorta thing. What is that? And she has no idea what to do with her expensive superfoods. I bought some chia` I don't even know how that's pronounced ` chia seeds or something. They're in the cupboard and I've never used them. Go on. Down it. Brilliant. Good grief. Their food bills are out of control, made worse as impulsive Lisa is easily swayed in the supermarket. Sometimes I go, and if I'm honest I don't really have a clue what I'm going to end up getting. And then I'll browse. I shop with my eyes. (CHUCKLES) Which are bigger than my stomach. (LAUGHS) (UPBEAT MUSIC) Sounds like Gregg and Chris may have trouble in store as they wait and watch for the family's next shop. You come in, you've got the lovely fresh fish counter, loads of good fruit and veg, and it really sets the tone, doesn't it? They're sussing out where impressionable Lisa may be persuaded to spend her hard-earned cash. D'you know what, I would buy fish from you even if it wasn't on my list, cos it looks so lovely. You never intended to buy fish, but here you are thinking, 'I'll have some salmon with soft cheese and spinach.' Even our dynamic duo admit to having their senses tantalised in the supermarket. Does the smell of the bread baking make you wanna buy a roll or a cake? Cos it does me. Yeah. Yeah, a nice thick, crusty white loaf. No, I fancy a chocolate eclair. Do ya? Ooh! Cuppa tea? There's no time to relax, boys. The Guests have arrived. Let's hope Lisa's wandering eyes don't tempt her into items she didn't intend to buy. Oh, Paul, hold on. Juice. Juice, juice, juice. On offer. Oh dear. They'd better watch out, as two suspect new sales assistants are scrutinising their every purchase. Ooh, crisps. What've you found? Buy one, get one free. As impulsive Lisa's drawn to the beige food, Gregg and Chris spy from the safety of the storeroom. What sort of fish are you after? I dunno. Dunno what I fancy. That looks nice. This shopping's gonna take ages. They don't know what they've come in for. (GASPS) Ooh! They've taken the bait at the fish counter. They look nice, the scallops. Can I have three`? Do you want scallops? No? Can I have three, please? Thank you. 'I don't know what I fancy.' 'Ooh, that looks nice.' These are the things you hear just before someone spends too much money. For me, how it's displayed has a huge impact on my purchase. And it's not long before Lisa takes flight, buying whatever catches her eye. Ooh, cheese. Sliced cheese. Ooh, salami? Ooh, doorstep. Ooh, watercress. Uh, ooh, American seasoning. (GASPS) Dough balls. When you start every purchase with the word 'ooh',... (CHUCKLES) ...you're in trouble, aren't ya? 'Ooh, watercress. Ooh, salmon! Ooh!' (GROANS) Come on! Ooh! I'll have a beef tomato. The lack of a shopping list means they're forced to make on-the-spot decisions. Shall we get some potatoes? What do you mean, 'Shall we get some potatoes?' Do you need them or not? Well, shall we get four of those rather than... two of those? But they'll only want the meat ones, cos they don't like all that stuff. 'They're dissecting every purchase.' Why don't they invest that time in writing a list? This shop would probably take half the amount of time and cost them so much less money. Do you want some sausages? With what? Dunno. This is a haphazard shop, at best. If we could move them up to haphazard, we'll be lucky. Yeah. (LAUGHS) After an hour and a half of roaming the aisles, they still aren't done. Feel like my life is ebbing away with every passing hour. We'll get two of these, eh? Yeah. It's the longest shopping trip I've ever seen. Hang in there, you two. Tell you what, the only positive is the car parking's free. Eventually, the worn-down couple admit defeat. Happy with that? Can we go now? Please? I dunno. Have we actually got everything? I dunno. Probably not, but let's just go. Go, go, go. They're finished! (EXHALES HEAVILY) Hallelujah. Hiya. Hello. You all right? Wheeling their ad hoc purchases to the checkout, Paul and Lisa are in for a surprise. Put those... Put them here. Hello. Paul. How are you? Hiya. Oh my God! (LAUGHTER) Hello. I didn't know it was gonna be you. We've been watching you shop. Oh no. (LAUGHS) You shop in quite an unusual way. (LAUGHS) You're not kidding. Your every shopping purchase begins with this ` Ooh! Ooh! And then, I love it, the last thing you hear is 'Ooh!' - And you turn around and she's gone. - (LAUGHTER) OK, so shall we get this lot rung through and see what we've got? Yep. I can help pack. (BEEP!) Investigative Gregg wants to get to the heart of the problem. Is this your whole week's shop? We'll probably do more. Might have to go back again and get some other bits. Because this is the fruit and veg for seven days. Yep. That's not a great deal of fruit and veg. (CLEARS THROAT) And our grocers aren't impressed by the purchase of prepared vegetables. Are you desperately short of time? Oh yeah. Chopping a carrot? Who has time? Specially if you're spending five hours in here multiple times a week. LAUGHS: I mean, there is no... I reckon you could possibly grow the carrot in the time it took you to shop. Their lack of planning means the Guests go shopping up to five times a week. How much do you think you just spent? Well, we didn't shop as much as normal, so... I'd say 110. You did in fact spend... �153 today. That's awful. I've got stuck in a rut, I guess, you know? Just need a bit of help. (LAUGHS) We're here to help. Yeah. Shall we get this home and have a little chat? Yep. If we must, yep. Come on. Just keep your eye on Lisa in case something else catches her eye on the way out. LAUGHS: Actually, it probably will. If Paul and Lisa can save money on the food shop, there's one family dream they'd love to splash out on. The kids have never been abroad. It would be nice before the children grow up to actually have a family holiday abroad where all of us could go somewhere and it's not kind of, like, 'Let's check out the toilets' as the top highlight of the holiday. Which we do when we go to a campsite. (LAUGHS) 9 Before the Guests have a chance to unpack their shopping, Gregg and Chris rummage through their cupboards and are amazed by what they find. Quinoa. Well, there's trendy. So's this. Look at this. Chai seeds. (SEEDS RATTLE) I just wouldn't expect to find quinoa in the same kitchen as a ready-made chicken Kiev. No. And coconut milk and miso paste with pre-mashed potato. They don't go together, do they? They don't match up. They're both very expensive. And I don't really know the cook that manages to do both ends of the scale. No. Quinoa is a South American grain. And at �4.79 a bag, it's expensive. And the unused chia seeds are a hefty �4. Gregg and Chris need to deliver the Guests a wake-up call. Your kitchen is confusing us slightly. OK. Oh right. There's a lot of health-food stuff in there,... Yeah. ...sort of trendy superfoods. Yeah. That's, like, a recent thing. Things like chia seeds. I bought them, but I don't know what to do with them. You've got superfoods at one end of the scale,... Yep. very expensive; you've got processed foods where you don't do any cooking at all ` very expensive. You are at the very expensive end of both sides of the scale of food buying. Yeah. Yeah. God, that's quite scary. The full extent of their costly habits is difficult to stomach. CHRIS: Do you guys know how much you're spending on food a week? It's gotta be around 200, hasn't it? 230? �200 to �230 a week? Yeah. So I've got some of your receipts here. You are actually spending... �329 a week. Sh... (GREGG LAUGHS) You're jokin'. Really? Oh, that's awful. I always thought, 'How come we've never got any money at the end of the month?' That's awful. I feel like crying. That is unbelievable, truly. I didn't... Which is over �17,000 a year. Oh, that's` that's awful. Mm. It's all right. We're not saying it to make you feel bad. I feel awful. Don't` Don't feel bad. It's all right. God, that's terrible. (SNIFFLES) It's typical that most families don't really know. God, that's awful. (SNIFFLES) You OK? Yeah. It's just a bit of a shock. Yeah. Give me a hug. Come here. Come here. It's OK. We're not here to make you sad. No, I know. But you know how, like, you go out to work full time, (SNIFFLES) and then you think, 'Oh my God.' Cos I've always justified it with, you know, 'I deserve to buy whatever.' PAUL: ...that nice food, yeah, as a treat. God, that's just shocking. I feel a bit annoyed at us, really, cos spending that much money` Not with me, though. No, just generally, how we've been doin' it for so long and not realising that's how much we've been wasting, really, cos it's just like wasting money to me. This family are spending a lot of money. They were shocked. They had no idea they were spending what they were. One of the issues here is Lisa is tryin' to eat healthily, which a lot of times means she is eating a different meal to the rest of the family. Yeah, and not only that; buying these faddy superfoods. You don't need to spend a lot of money to have a good, healthy diet. I mean, veg is some of the cheapest food you can buy. In terms of money, what do you think we can save them? I reckon, quite confidently, �50 a week ` very confidently. If they're prepared to make the changes, I think we could go big. There are some big savings here. What do you mean, big? (EXHALES) I think we could get into the region of �100 plus. I know you're getting a bit older and you might want an easy life, but we're here for a reason. We've gotta save this family money. And it's important. I need another partner. (LAUGHS) I need another partner. I've got more chance of wakin' up with a curly perm. (LAUGHS) Let's hope Chris comes out on top. While the Guests had their backs turned, we transformed their kitchen,... ALL: Oh my gosh! ...swapping their usual food with different brands disguised in plain packaging. Come here. Look at this. (LAUGHS) It looks like we're in the world war with all the ration packs. It does, doesn't it? Like, white and black. Salmon. But why have we got tinned salmon instead of the other salmon? I dunno. I don't know. Tinned salmon may be a step too far. Because you can't see the brands, I'm a bit apprehensive, actually. To put their taste buds to the test, not every product has been changed. If it's worth paying for, some items will be more expensive. But most are cheaper. Have you noticed there's no breaded chicken? - KIDS: Nooo! - (PAUL LAUGHS) Hummus? As Lisa wanted the family eating more healthily, we've given them some completely different meals. Well, we've got peppers. Whole. Whole peppers. Spring onions. Spring onions, not cut. Whole carrots. (GASPS) Carrots! So they're expectin' us to, like, chop everything. (EXHALES) I'm at a loss, to be quite honest. It's like we've gone back to a time before convenience. KIDS: Yeah. Would we be so cruel? The food-swap experiment is underway. But we're easing them in gently with a semi-convenient fish-and-chips meal. Oven chips. I can already tell by, um, the look of them,... even the smell, to some degree, they look like our usual type. They may look like a chip off the old block, but those are swapped. A smaller pack and different brand means a saving of �1.10. Cheap as chips. The cod looks naked. I'm not used to seeing naked cod. It's more like the cod had been dressed with a load of breadcrumbs beforehand. They usually spend �12 on packs of battered fish, so we've given them frozen cod and a recipe for a topping of breadcrumbs, parsley, lemon zest and Italian hard cheese. I've never actually used this part of the grater before, so, um, it's a new departure for the grater. It's getting its first outing. Hopefully worth the effort, as our alternative offers a saving of �7.70 per meal and cuts down on fat by over 15g a portion. And this looks really good on top. Dare I say it, quite professional-looking. And it might actually taste nicer. Like, a bit posher. (CHUCKLES) Get you! Lisa makes a side of minty peas, and 25 minutes later dinner is ready. Oh, they look lovely. Really nice. But how will the upscaled fish-and-chip meal go down with the family? What do you think? What is it? Ooh! You'll see. They're getting stuck in. I think the fish is really nice. It's nicer than normal, the regular fish that we have. Yeah, it looks a lot more... Looks like restaurant food. It does. I thought that. It's really nice, though. A hit with the kids. But what about Dad? I think all of it's really good. Mm. The chips, well, they taste like what we normally have, anyway. Mm. I don't think there's anything, really, I would change in that. All of this I would keep, over and above what we normally had. Is that, like, show of hands? Yeah? OTHERS: Yes. Over and above? Brilliant. So we're all keeping this one. Great move, as eating this meal weekly would save the family a whopping �450 a year. That meal went down so well with everybody because it's so similar to what we normally have, but even nicer ` fresher, nutritious, hopefully cheaper. So that is, without a doubt, a winner. The Guests couldn't detect we'd swapped their leading brand chips. But will the great British public be able to pick the nation's favourite frites from a line-up? Our taste-test tour brings us to South Essex. Meet the top chefs of the future who we're asking to rate five different fries without knowing which is which. I've tried the branded ones and the cheap ones, and I think basically they are the same things. I think the branded ones try and look a bit different. They have, like, the skin on and that` I think, maybe. I don't know. We'll see. We certainly will. Undergoing forensic examination are... Morrisons Straight Cut, the cheapest. Asda Homestyle. Tesco Homestyle. McCain, the leading brand. And Aunt Bessie's. Another popular brand but dearer. But which will get a battering? Our tasters think they've spotted a brand. That's more like a McCain's chip. It's definitely McCain's. It reminds me of my mum's home cooking. To me, I think the pink plate is the branded one, and it's got the whole flavour. How about the actual brand leader? Tastes a bit metallic, like eating a spoon. There's no flavour. There's nothing there. I agree, it tastes like plastic or cardboard, the container it's coming from. And the cheaper chip? These are the chips I had at school. (LAUGHS) They are quite soggy. I love them. Got that lumpy texture inside it. Tastes a bit more like a potato. I like the flavour. It's got flavour in it. So which spuds hit the spot? It's a joint one. It's Aunt Bessie's and Tesco's Homestyle. Sharing the glory are the mid-range supermarket option alongside the most expensive brand. In third place, Morrisons, the most economical on offer. And in last place, it's market leader McCain. I think that's really good. It shows that for a cheaper price you can get same quality in a chip. I was quite surprised with the result. I've got a bit more faith in supermarkets now, seeing as their own brands actually come up exactly the same as branded products. There's no fries on you! But potatoes don't count towards your five a day, and one of Gregg and Chris' big challenges is adding vegetables to the Guests' diet in a way that they'll enjoy. The boys are asking dietician Lucy Jones for her advice. One way to do that is to use one of their family-favourite dinners, like pizza, and actually add some really colourful veg on top. But pizza's not a particularly healthy dish, is it? No. If you make it and you don't add any processed meats on and you use lots of different veg and you portion-control your cheese, actually it can be a great meal. The other trick we're gonna try with this is using a base made out of chickpea flour. Chickpeas are high in protein and fibre, so they're gonna help make this meal quite filling and a bit different. Brilliant. And chickpeas count towards one of your five a day, don't they? Yes. Do they? Yeah, you can count beans and pulses such as chickpeas as one of your five a day. Brilliant! I didn't know that. That's clever, isn't it? Fantastic. And it gets better, as our pizza's also 150 calories less than the Guests' shop-bought one. To the chickpea flour Lucy adds garlic, oil, water and a pinch of salt. Good whisking, son. Make a baker outta you. Thank you very much. The batter mix rests for around an hour, then is poured into a heated pan and grilled for five to eight minutes. (CHUCKLES) That's kind of between the texture of an omelette and a pancake. We've got two bases. You guys decorate that one. I'm gonna decorate this one. The contest's on. Lots of onions, Mr Wallace? Lots of red onion, sir, yeah. Shall we just nick all the tomatoes? She doesn't need tomatoes. Stunning. She's chucking it on with a shovel. Well, for me, the more toppings, the more fibre content, cos it's all veg. The pizzas bake for eight to 10 minutes. They smell good, don't they? Smell very good. Then they're ready for tasting. There you are. Sizzling. Absolutely sizzling. (UPBEAT MUSIC) Oh! Oh, that's lovely. It's kinda got the texture between a pizza and a tortilla. Yeah. But it is really nice. I'm very impressed. How does it come out in terms of cost? Absolute bargain. So all of this pizza came in at under �2.50. No way! You're kidding me. �2.47 to be exact. Delicious and cheap. A bit like me and you. I'm delicious. (LAUGHTER) 9 Our tasty twosome are back in Loughborough. And greengrocer Chris is dead set on revamping the Guests' diet. On their own admission, they're not eating enough fruit and veg, their plates are beige and boring, so I'm gonna try and introduce them to a new world of colour, and hopefully that'll excite them. Are you qualified to sell people fruit and veg? (LAUGHS) Well, I'm giving it away, so hopefully even I'll be all right. Chris is making a delivery to brighten the Guests' lives ` or at least their mealtimes. CHRIS: Have you ever seen anything like this before? KIDS: No. No? Chris, this is more than we have in a whole year, so no. He's hoping to get the kids excited with his unusual veg. Drum roll. It's normal beetroot. (TAPS TABLE) (ALL EXCLAIM) Oh, that's pretty. They call this candy beetroot. Oh wow. If you cut this up really thinly and just put some vinegar on it, it's just absolutely beautiful. Wow! But can Chris get them interested in eating a rainbow of food? Every single different colour vegetable offers you something else. So an orange cauliflower or a carrot or sweet potato has something called beta-carotene in it. And when you eat that, your body turns it into Vitamin A, which is really good for your eyesight. Wow. Oh wow! The blues, the blacks and the purples are full of antioxidants that help protect us against cell damage. With leafy greens, OK, so your cabbages your chards, things like that, that's packed with Vitamin K. And you know when you cut yourself,... Yeah. ...and then it clots,... Oh, that's... that's Vitamin K. It helps your body do that. The veg and the food that you're eating, I knew it had impact on your nutritional value and everything like that, but I didn't realise it had impact on health and preventing illness, I guess. So do we think we're gonna get our five a day from now on? Oh, definitely. KIDS: Yes. Let's give it a go. Fireman Paul is happy to go along with the family's beige convenience food because he's not a fan of cooking. He especially dislikes having to feed his mates at work. We, sort of, volunteer to say we'll cook. But when it used to come to my time, it was, 'Oh, I'm not looking forward to doing this at all.' So I tried to step back a bit from doing it. Gregg's visiting the fire station to show Paul you don't have to be a master chef to prepare a delicious, healthy meal. You all right, baldy? (LAUGHTER) I said we'd be blood brothers. He's brought Paul a simple recipe he hopes will give him confidence in the kitchen. D'you not feel very comfortable in here? I don't normally come in here very often, to be fair. (CHUCKLES) You're a bit nervous of cooking, aren't you? Yeah. Right, OK. Don't worry. We're gonna cook something and it's easy and they're gonna love it. We are gonna make a haddock chowder, all right? A chowder is a thick soup. And do you wanna see all that we need to cook it? Yep. Mm, that's my type of cooking. Back at the house, Chris is showing Lisa a Moroccan-spiced vegetable casserole. It is so simple. Doesn't need to be expensive, doesn't need to be time-consuming. doesn't need to be difficult, doesn't need to be fancy. Containing squash, courgette, peppers, carrot, tomatoes, chickpeas and apricots, one serving of this dish will include their whole five a day. I'm pretty hopeful that they'll enjoy it, but, um, yeah, we'll see. No pressure, Chris (!) Down the road, unconfident Paul is getting tips on handling haddock. We're just gonna cut this into chunks. And you want 'em quite big, otherwise they tend to go to mush in the pan. Don't suppose I can get you to the 'I'm liking this dish' dance, can I? I'll show you how it goes. Look. It's good. (LAUGHS) Too soon, Gregg. Chris' casserole is not only colourful, it costs just �1.70 per serving. How easy is it? And it doesn't really take` It's just shoving things in the pan, that's it. It's simple. This looks different. Smells like curry. It does smell a bit like curry. It looks lovely, doesn't it? But will it get eaten? Oh, this is really nice. I think it's got more flavour than the old food that we used to have, which is quite bland and the same. And it is nice having loads of different colours in there. It makes it a lot more appetizing. I'm so pleased, guys. Well done. You're really tucking in. The chard's really nice and everything else, so, yeah. You can be truthful, love. If you don't like` Yeah, I don't really like the chard. Oh, you don't like the chard? No. (LAUGHTER) Some things they probably will have to have a few more goes at before they like it, but on the whole, an absolute revelation to say, 'Oh my gosh, my children love vegetables!' That's one set of satisfied diners. One to go. Right. There we are. Paul's hoping his chowder will set taste buds alight. Made with my own hands. A first for everything. Yeah, there is. (JAZZY MUSIC) It ain't too bad, actually. It's nice. Surprisingly. Cheers. Well done. Give you nine out of 10 for that. Generous. At the start of the day, I've gotta be honest, I was really nervous. They all lapped it all up and there were nothing left, so I was pretty chuffed that it turned out well, to be honest. I think I'd definitely make that dish again. Now, that's something to celebrate. (LAUGHTER) MAN: Yaaay! 'Fireman Gregg' ` has a certain ring to it. At the Guests', the food swaps and new menu are becoming increasingly ambitious, with a chicken and rice dish. It sounds quite similar to what we normally have, but it's actually different in the sense that we haven't brought it out of a packet. Instead of a jar of sauce, there are spices and ` guess what ` colourful vegetables. The onions we have are normally frozen. And they're pre-done. And instead of spending �4.18 on ready-made sauces, our alternative saves �2.78 per meal or �144 a year. The rice is completely different. It's normally just two minutes in the microwave. By taking away their usual microwave pouches, we've saved a massive �7.89 on the rice for this meal alone. Ooh, that looks nice. After 40 minutes in the oven, the meal is ready. We're kicking out the beige and bringing in the rainbow, because this looks lovely. Really nice. (CHUCKLES) I'm also weirdly getting, like, a swelling of pride. But how will the veg go down with the kids? Oh, that looks nice. What do you think? That looks nice. Did you put the herbs on by scratch? Yeah. Everything. Completely. I hate sun-dried tomatoes. These taste really nice. Are you sure? Mm. You're not just saying that? No, they actually taste really nice. Yeah, it's really nice. Thank you. PAUL: Wasn't swimming in any sauces or, like, fats or things like that. It was light and it tasted really good. So I feel like I've had something good for a change. The meal represents a saving of �10.88 ` over �565 a year. But not only that ` swapping out their jarred sauces means there's no added sugar in this meal. LISA: I want to eat healthy, which I'm trying really hard to do. And so it's just really good that we're all eating the same food, but at the same time, like, it's healthy. And, God, if it's cheaper, then, yeah ` tick, tick, tick. And not a costly superfood in sight. Like many of us, Lisa's been paying a high price in her bid to lose weight. It's been estimated that women starting a new diet add �20 to the weekly food shop. So Gregg and Chris want to find out about slimming down on a budget from dietician Lucy. You can spend an absolute fortune trying to eat healthily, but we don't necessarily believe that you need to. I completely agree. And I think the trouble is a lot of people feel they need to buy specific products that are labelled healthy or have the term 'superfood' written on them. Yeah, I've been in food for nearly 30 years and I've got no idea what a superfood is supposed to be. There is no such thing as a superfood. There are only super diets. It's the balance of all the foods that matter, and for that reason, superfood has no scientific meaning. It's a marketing term. These �2 blueberries and �1.75 goji berries both carry the superfood tag. Any fresh fruit's good, though, isn't it? If you think most of the really good nutrients present in fruit and veg are present in the colour. So if you go for things like really dark plums or even frozen mixed berries, you get that same set of nutrients at a fraction of the cost. For example, you can get five times the amount of those frozen mixed berries for the same price as those goji berries. That's incredible. The other thing to be wary of, and where people get caught out a lot, are products marketed for dieting. (GROANS) Lucy shows the boys diet biscuits, which are only healthier for being smaller. Per 100g, you save yourself 23 calories but pay over five times the price. And she warns non-gym-goers against protein shakes, which can contain as much sugar as this stack of Bourbons. And that's not all. This breakfast cereal is marketed to people trying to lose weight. But actually it's double the price of a supermarket-own cornflakes. What?! For double the price, you get almost double the sugar. In the healthier cereal? The 'healthier' one. You get more fat, and you only save yourself 2 calories per bowl. This makes me angry. For me, products marketed as dieting or ways to lose weight are typically not worth spending your money on. Eat proper food and eat it in sensible portions. You said it, Lucy. There are no diet foods on the breakfast menu in Loughborough, but the family's pricey muesli has been swapped for a value brand. It smells like the usual one that we normally have, and I like the raisins and sultanas and things in there. It is, in fact, �1.61 cheaper, a possible saving of �41 a year. Dad's at work. But what will everyone else make of the new brekkie foods? You lot ` breakfast! ULRIC: Yes! What's it like? It's nice. Yeah. Out of 10? The lemon curd's different. I'm afraid the lemon curd's the same. Perhaps you'll have better luck detecting your swapped muesli. Mm, I quite like the muesli. ULRIC: I do. I think it's about the same, don't you think? I think it is the same one. It's nice. It's definitely different. I normally go for the same Swiss branded muesli, cos I know my muesli and I like what I like. And so that one, for me ` I'm gonna probably be proved wrong ` but it actually tasted the same. Yup, you're gonna be proved wrong, Lisa. We've also swapped their butter for a cheaper olive oil spread. That is not butter. INGRID: Maybe it's margarine. Yeah. I'll try it. I'll try it. What d'you think? I think that's margarine. Yeah. Do you prefer the usual brand? Prefer the usual brand. ULRIC: I don't. It's a bit too soft. Everything really tastes exactly the same. I'll be surprised if, like, we could save money on that breakfast, cos that breakfast was really, really nice. Well, Ulric, if you were to keep all your new breakfast foods, it would shave a significant �7.27 off the weekly shopping bill. 9 Over the course of the swaps, the family try out an array of different foods. I have not had black-eyed beans before. It looks really nice, cos what's that? Is that cherries? Cherries, blackberries... What are the small ones? Tell you what, I love these spinach leaves as well. They're really lovely. I mean, from start to finish, this has taken, what, like, seven minutes or so. Nothing. If that's saving money, then bring it on, cos that was fantastic. Paul tests his cooking skills with a brunch of tomato and butter-bean baked eggs. I'm good with that. That is so nice. Doesn't taste like it hasn't got meat in. And busy working mum Lisa is transformed. I actually am enjoying this, because it makes me feel more like a domestic goddess, more like I'm doing the role that I'm` for some reason, I've never fulfilled before. I even wanna go and buy an apron. Splashing out on an apron? This is getting serious. But there's still the unpopular tins of fish to try. But why have we got tinned salmon instead of the other salmon? I don't know. Canned fish will set you back between �3 right down to a bargain 70p. Cooked and ready to eat, this is one convenience food that won't break the bank. But us Brits spend over three times as much on expensive fresh fish than on canned. Chris wants to find out, when it comes to fish, do we have to buy fresh? We're encouraged to eat two portions of fish a week, but fresh fish can be a little bit pricey. I've come to Scotland to find out if there are any alternatives that are cheaper and just as nutritious. Hairnet time, Chris, as this is the UK's only manufacturer of canned fish, supplying shops around the world with British mackerel. Chris is checking out the quality of the fish before it's put in a tin. This fish, usually within two days of being caught it's frozen and in the cold store. A lot of fish you might find at various supermarkets and shops can be eight or 10 days old, and that's still classed as fresh fish. Looking at this, it's obviously a beautiful, fresh fish. Doesn't smell. No, no, no. You can tell the quality of the fish, look at the eyes. Translucency of the eyes, look. So you're telling me that this fish, frozen and then canned, can be just as good for you as a fresh alternative? Completely. I mean, you could not get fresher fish. And this one's better-looking than my co-presenter, I think. (LAUGHS) (UPBEAT MUSIC) Before it can degrade, the mackerel is cooked within three hours of defrosting. So you steam it? That's the cooking process? That's right. And is that the best way to cook it in terms of preserving the nutrients? Yes, definitely. We lost nothing in the nutrients at all from canned to fresh. So you could literally pick this off and eat it as it is now? I could, but if I did I'd be in a lot of trouble. (BOTH LAUGH) Well, we won't do that. Mackerel, sardines, salmon and sprats all hold on to their omega-3 essential oils when they're canned, so can help maintain a healthy heart and brain. But watch out ` tuna is the one fish which loses its omega-3 during the canning process. So Francis' fish is nutritious, but is it tasty? He's prepared some fishy dishes, hoping to reel Chris in once and for all. Looking at some of these meals you've prepared today, they look absolutely amazing. It's hard to believe that it just came from a humble can of mackerel. With the mackerel, we've got this versatility to have it in so many different sauces and so many different products, like curry. There's fish cakes, there's pancakes, with pak choi and, uh, teriyaki. What's this? This is mackerel, rice and pak choi, is it? A few peppers, some leeks. That's pence, isn't it? 80p for the fish. Maybe 20p, 30p for the rice. So you've got a meal for �1.30, �1.40. But it needs to taste premium to impress us. That's delicious. Yeah. I don't even think you could tell that was mackerel, if I didn't know. No, you wouldn't. Get stuck in, Chris. How are the fish cakes? That's amazing. Mm. That'll do for me. And me. (BOTH CHUCKLE) I'm genuinely surprised by what I've seen today. I'd have thought of tinned fish for nothing more than a snack, but it can make an excellent main meal. It's nutritionally sound, incredible value, and versatile. This must be something our family can try. As the Guest family regularly spend �9 a meal on fresh salmon, we've swapped it for canned to put in a new dish with couscous. I have never cooked couscous before, and I don't even know what it's supposed to look like. It just seems a bit too easy, just pouring water on it, then it's cooked. We haven't made it hard. Just add lemon juice and a drop of oil. But is it the usual one? This oil is not my typical extra-virgin olive oil. I'm gonna go for a glug. Glug. Ooh. I've read that olive oil's supposed to be better for you, so I'd like to know what kind of oil it is. Oh, busted! We've given you rapeseed oil to cook with, which is �6.51 cheaper than your usual olive oil. After chopping some fresh ingredients,... I hope it doesn't taste garden-y. ...it's time to add the main event. I've never considered tinned salmon on a par with fresh salmon. Only because, in my mind, the word fresh means that it's better for you. Not true. And it's a saving of �4.38. Boiled eggs top the dish off. But Lisa has reservations. I'll be interested to see their reactions. I don't know what you're gonna think of this. And this is all made by me. Oh my gosh. That looks awesome. No, seriously. That looks so nice. D'you think? GIRLS: Yeah. And the swapped fish? That salmon is really nice. Really? Mm. The salmon that's used in this is actually tinned. Wow. So, like, it looks a bit like tuna, but when you actually eat it` ...it's got more flavour to it. I'm actually a tinned salmon convert, I think. Definitely. That's converted me. The savings are racking up. So that was another success? Definitely. Yeah. Yeah. But Lisa was suspicious of the rapeseed oil we gave her. She usually cooks with an �8 bottle of extra-virgin olive oil thinking it's the healthy option. Gregg's checking in with dietician Lucy to find out whether that's true. Lucy, oils. I know which ones I prefer for cooking. I think I know which ones are healthier. I wanna find out from you which ones really are healthy. There is a lot of people spending a lot of money on very expensive oils. And sometimes that might be unnecessary. So why don't we start with olive oil? Now, I would never cook with extra-virgin ` ever, ever, ever. It just makes things taste bad. But I would use it for salad dressing. From a health point of view, you're making exactly the right choices, which is interesting, cos you're doing it from a taste perspective. But actually, extra-virgin olive oil contains really protective nutrients for our health. and it's got these special, colourful nutrients called polyphenols. But they can start to degrade under high heat, and that can actually make it not a great choice in cooking. Instead, Lucy recommends cooking with rapeseed oil. And this bottle costs just �1.49. Every single oil has something called a smoke point, where it will begin to smoke. And at that point, the composition of the oil changes, and what was healthy nutrients when it was cold we think can become quite harmful when it reaches its smoke point. To demonstrate, Lucy heats an extra-virgin olive oil alongside the rapeseed oil. So as we can see, the olive oil has a much darker, greener colour, and that's those nutrients that I was talking about that we want to have if we're having an extra-virgin olive oil. Now, what we should start to see as they heat up is that actually the colour difference decreases. And when it smokes, with oil, anything that might be good in it becomes bad in it? Potentially, yes. The olive oil's smoking straight away. Look at the colour! The colours have changed! This is exactly it. You can see the colour is rapidly being lost from the olive oil, and you can see that smoke coming up. Oh! And actually, the rapeseed oil looks exactly the same. And it's not smoking. That's incredible, Lucy. So I think this has been a really good way of showing why we shouldn't be using extra-virgin olive oil to cook with. It's just not stable enough once you reach high temperatures. So save your money and go for the rapeseed oil when you're cooking under high temperatures. I think you've proved that, Lucy. Well done. She's done it again. 9 With the food swaps drawing to a close, the Guest family need to decide whether to return to their beige convenience food. I wouldn't really go back on most of the stuff that we were eating before. INGRID: Our outlook on food has changed. Because you can see that healthy isn't necessarily, like, not going to taste as nice. ULRIC: I never really eat vegetables, so it's, like, a really big difference for me. They're actually quite nice when you mix them with different food. It has been so life-changing. It's not as difficult as I thought it would be. It's really healthy, which makes me feel so much better about the family eating better, me eating better. Yeah, it will change the way that we eat from now on, definitely. Daddy! That's certainly good for you, but time to find out whether it's also cost-effective. Gregg and Chris are back in Loughborough. They've talked big on savings, but now can they deliver? Getting this family cooking from scratch and changing their whole approach to food is a big ask. It was trying to get them to change their diet, cook more, save money, eat more veg. (GROANS) It is a tall order when you think about it. Do you think we've done too much? I think we might've been a little bit ambitious, yeah. LISA: I can't see how we've saved loads of money. PAUL: No. From what we've had. No. I don't know if we've saved anything at all, really. What will help me sustain it more is knowing, 'Gosh, I'm gonna save, like, 30 quid a week.' I mean, even �20 a week's better than nothing. Yeah, 80 quid a month. That's quite a bit. Yes. The boys are hoping for bigger than that. Time to find out what impact the new food choices will have on the family's shopping bill. ALL: Hello! CHRIS: How are you? How did you get on with the swaps? Have you enjoyed 'em? Yeah. Yeah. Very surprising. Surprisingly. I didn't think they'd be as good as they were, you know, how it turned out. So what were you expecting? Er, I dunno, just probably rubbish, really. I think it was cos when you think of cheap foods... ...you just don't think it's gonna be very good quality and it's gonna fall to bits and it's not gonna taste very nice. Nearly every single meal we've had` ...we haven't noticed it. Yeah, it's not like it's been obvious. Well, would you like to see what you have been eating? Yeah, we would, actually. Very much. Really would. Tell me about your frozen chips. All of us said the same ` that it's exactly the same as we normally have. Looked the same, smelt the same. Oh, go on, you're gonna tell me it's not! Oh damn you! They weren't the same. It's them. Oh, OK. One-nil to the boys. �1.10 a bag cheaper. �1.10? Good, in't it? Yeah. (CHUCKLES) Yeah, it's brilliant. And that wasn't the only swap they failed to detect. Muesli? I think it was the same. Tasted the same, looked the same. Yeah, yeah. Hm, I quite like the muesli. ULRIC: I do. I think it's about the same, don't you think? FREYA: I think it is the same one. Well, we did, in fact, swap it. Oh! I would never have gone near it. D'you think it's cheaper? Yes, I do. It is, indeed. �1.61. That's a lot. That is a lot. Gosh. So I'm assuming you're gonna keep this. Yes, keeping that one. It's amazing, isn't it? I know. Strong start. Swapping these two items they couldn't even tell were different will save the family nearly �100 a year. Your cooking oil. You spotted that we'd changed it. This is what we changed it to. Oh! Oh, right, OK. Rapeseed oil. OK. This cooks at a higher temperature than olive oil. Oh. It's also got less saturated fat than olive oil. No way. Have a look at this. Go on. PAUL: Flippin' heck! (LAUGHS) That is a lot of money. That's unbelievable. Are you gonna keep this? Yes. Yeah. Definitely. Keeping that one. That's another �78 slashed from the annual shopping bill. So how did you get on with the tinned salmon we gave you? Well, I think what was interesting was that once it's all mixed in there, you can't tell any different. It tastes like salmon. That salmon is really nice. Really? Mm. Do you think it will be cheaper? BOTH: Yes. Hugely cheaper. Hugely cheaper. (GASPS) Wow. That is. Gosh. Keep that. Keep it? Now, that's a canny choice. Adding a few tins of fish to their diet could save over �240 a year. We asked you to cook your own rice, didn't we? How did you get on with that? So easy. Is it? Yeah, I wish I'd done it sooner. You know we swapped it, cos it wasn't in a microwave pouch. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it is just a smidgeon cheaper. (GASPS) (LAUGHS) I thought it was gonna be 89p. No! �7.89. This saving is one meal's worth of rice in comparison to the five pouches. We keep it? Yeah. Buying rice in bulk could save the family an astonishing �400 a year. And they didn't actually find it any less convenient. Look at that. Wow. We blew the Guests away with the savings available. 64 pence a tub! Tomato sauce. PAUL: It was fine. (GASPS) 1.76? Yeah, we'll keep that. Well, look, if you bought these instead of fresh,... Yeah. ...you'd save �1.30. Gosh! Doesn't matter about the price. We're keepin' it, no matter what, with that one. And they decided to keep almost every single item. Well, it is a touch cheaper. (LISA GASPS) �7.70. That just goes the show the price you're paying for convenience. Yeah. But one product was dismissed out of hand. What about this spread you had on your toast? We didn't like it. No. It's not gonna make the cut, I'm afraid. Right. Sorry, spread. All that's left is to tot up their new shopping bill. Cautious Gregg predicted a �50 saving, while eager Chris aimed high with 100-plus. But who will be nearer the mark? We wanted to save you money, obviously, but we also wanted to add variety to your diet and we wanted you to cook more and eat healthily. So we have saved you money,... Yeah. ...um, I just hope you're not disappointed by the amount of money we saved you, that's all. What do you think you've saved? 30? Yeah, probably around about. Shall we push it to 35? No, I'd say 30. Yeah, let's say 30. OK. When we first met you, you were spending �329 a week. Oh, don't tell me again. That's awful. Unfortunately, we've not managed to save you �30 a week, so I'm sorry about that. That's fair enough. We have, in fact, managed to save you... �133 a week,... (UPBEAT MUSIC) How? (LAUGHS) It's just... ...which is nearly �7000 a year. A bit more than 30, then. (CHUCKLES) Saving that money for about five or six months, you would've saved enough money for a lovely week's holiday somewhere in Europe. (STAMMERS) I... Yeah. It's the first time, I think, you have been speechless throughout this whole process. That's incr` Isn't that amazing? Mm. We've always said, 'Ooh, one day. One day you can do the holiday.' Now it doesn't feel real that it's almost within our grasp. The kids, it'd be something completely new to them. Yeah. They would really, really enjoy that. So, yeah, job well done, I think. It was the best thing we ever did, invite them in, isn't it? Mm. Happy? Yeah, really, really happy, thank you. Promise me you won't go back to your bad ways. No! Definitely not. No? Definitely? Yeah. Give it there. Brilliant. Well done. Cheers. Thanks very much. (LAUGHTER) I'm not as young as him. Or as good-looking. (LAUGHTER) Hey, how was that? That was amazing, wasn't it? We saved them a whack of money and they're doin' more cookin' and they're eating more veg. That's a brilliant job. It meant so much to them. I mean, they were speechless. I half wish I could have that effect on you.