Eating Well V's Eating Cheaply??

leiela

I always love reading though other peoples foodplans to see what everyones eating, sometimes it gives me good idea's of food to serve my own family.

However sometimes i admit i cringe when i see some peoples meal plans some of the things people feed thier family make me wonder at what point eating cheaply overrides peoples desires to keep thier family's food healthy.

Personally i have managed to cut my food bill down to £50 a week, i know i could get it lower without any difficulty but i feel to do so, i'd start to sacrifice food quality and the ability to give my family healthy balanced meals.

i see so many meals where people seem so focused on making it cheap, they forget that our family's health is important. Some people who seem to thing throwing tons of veg in makes it healthy, and try and pad out thier meals as far as possible, but neglect to concider protien or good fats. while other just seem to have no concept of nutrition at all and thier meal plans simple come down to how much it costs at the end of the week, and feed thier family junk night after night.

Don't get me wrong im no food saint and junk food still exists but in moderation, but i try to ensure my family get one balanced meal a day at the very very very least, (that doens't include school dinners as i have very little faith in the quality of those) for me this means my evening meal is always a "healthy balanced meal", im learning alot from this site and i do eventually hope to cut my food costs further but right now £50 for a family of 4 is as well as i can do and keep the food healthy.

So ... throwing it out there ...

whats the cheapest you can feed your family for?? while keeping meals healthy and balanced?? and if you can some examples of your healthiest most balanced and cheapest meals.

Pitlanepiglet

leiela wrote: »

So ... throwing it out there ...

whats the cheapest you can feed your family for?? while keeping meals healthy and balanced?? and if you can some examples of your healthiest most balanced and cheapest meals.

Why don't you start

freyasmum

I think that there are many OSers who have no choice but to eat as cheaply as they can, whether it be on a strictly temporary basis or more long term.

Of course, there will always be people for whom money is the bottom line, but I certainly don't think that applies to our OSers. Most of them stretch because they have to - and look at it this way, lots of veg is better than a bag of chips every night, or smiley faces and turkey twizzlers.

It's not that they don't care about their families, but they truly can't afford to be buying the best of stuff all the time.

IMHO

tiff

Well I listed some of my meals on another thread today. We dont have meat every day, we do eat a lot of fruit and veg and make most things from scratch but do sometimes use a tinned curry sauce if its cheap enough. We eat a lot of eggs, beans, cheese and most things are low salt and low fat but fat does exist in some of the things we have. My children also drink or have milk twice a day.

Some people do have to consider their budget over nutritional value. Also its not absolutely necessary to have protein, fat etc in every meal. I mean a common meal years ago was egg and chips. No veg or meat.

I agree with you about school dinners.

leiela

Pitlanepiglet wrote: »

Why don't you start

Okie Dokie...

chilli and Rice.

Brown Rice,

1lb of Extra Lean Steak Mince
Veg - what ever i can find.
Tin of Tomatos
Tomato Puree
Red Lentils (for padding, they have more protien than oats)
Oxo cube or homemade stock if i have it.
Fresh Chillis and some Chilli powder/paste

This costs about £4 because of the lean Steak mince but with the lentils i can make it do 2 meals.. so £2 per meal for a family of 4 isn't bad.


An other one....

Chicken Sag Aloo ...

Chicken (about 800g)
Spinach (i use frozen cause it works well for this)
Potato's
Onion
Peppers (green usually)
herbs / Spices
Milk.

Costs about £5 does 2 meals

Chicken Masala With roasted Squash served with Brown rice

Chicken (800g)
1 Squash
Spinach (fresh)
Curry powder
Tikka paste
Coconut milk
Onion
Peppers

Costs about £5.50 does 2 meals, sometimes 2.5 :P

most people could probabally cut down the chicken in the last 2, we use alot because me and my husband are body builders and we need the protien.

leiela

tiff wrote: »

Some people do have to consider their budget over nutritional value. Also its not absolutely necessary to have protein, fat etc in every meal. I mean a common meal years ago was egg and chips. No veg or meat.

I agree with you about school dinners.

Oh i totally agree its not necessary to have protien and fat in EVERY meal, but they should be in at least 1-2 a day. Some people post meal plans with almost none in for the entire week... Ugh.. and the quality of what they are eating is utter rubbish, don't get me wrong ... eating abit of rubbish a few days before payday is one thing, but eating that way all the time is another.

I know things get tight sometimes and when that happens certain things have to go.. but sometimes i wonder if food quaility should be one of them?? At the very least i think people should try and give your family SOME good quality meals even if you can't afford them all to be as healthy as you'd like...

I manage on £50 per week and thats WITH me and my husband being body builders and needing in the region of 200-300g of pure protien a day EACH (1 chicken breast contains 29g protien)

I would imagine that if i can get my protien in AND still manage to eat well and stick within a budget of £50, people with more normal protien requirements (about 50g is the normal recommended for an adult) could eat amazingly well and still stick to a low budget after all i tend to find it's the meats that cost a fortune.

*Maya*

leiela wrote: »

Oh i totally agree its not necessary to have protien and fat in EVERY meal, but they should be in at least 1-2 a day. Some people post meal plans with almost none in for the entire week... Ugh.. and the quality of what they are eating is utter rubbish.

I know things get tight sometimes and when that happens certain things have to go.. but sometimes i wonder if food quaility should be one of them?? at the very least you should try and give your family SOME good quality meals even if you can't afford them all to be as healthy as you'd like.

I manage on £50 per week and thats WITH me and my husband being body builders and needing in the region of 200-300g of pure protien a day EACH (1 chicken breast contains 29g protien)

I would imagine that if i can get my protien in AND still manage to eat well and stick within a budget of £50, people with more normal protien requirements (about 50g is the normal recommended for an adult) could eat amazingly well and still stick to a low budget after all i tend to find it's the meats that cost a fortune.

Okay.... You are failing to factor in that you now nothing about these peoples' lives. They may have children, they may have jobs, they may be stressed. Well done you on your ability to eat the perfect diet for YOU on YOUR budget but I don't think you should criticise anyone else for having different standards to you.

OrkneyStar

leiela wrote: »

Some people post meal plans with almost none in for the entire week... Ugh.. and the quality of what they are eating is utter rubbish.

I would like an example or two regarding the meal plans you are referring to.
(Just for the record one of our meals next week is fish fingers, beans and smiles!- although these are decent fish fingers and beans can be very healthy! The smiles, well they were lurking in the freezer and need using up! Normally a lot more is home made food, we have meat some days, fish others, poultry others, veggie others, egg based other days- you don't need meat every day or masses of it either imho.Todays dinner was HM butter bean and tomato soup, yes no meat, but for lunch we had lots of meat!).
We don't water down milk as DS is still needing full fat and it would be a faff to have two sorts in the fridge!
I don't think we can pass judgement too hastily as one weeks meal plan does not tell the whole story!

*Maya* wrote: »

Okay.... You are failing to factor in that you now nothing about these peoples' lives. They may have children, they may have jobs, they may be stressed. Well done you on your ability to eat the perfect diet for YOU on YOUR budget but I don't think you should criticise anyone else for having different standards to you.

:T :T Well said Maya.

greenbee

As far as I understand, the best quality food for protein in terms of amino acid balance (remember that there are 25 amino acids that make up proteins) are eggs, quinoa, soay, fish, beans, lentils & meat. Animal protein can contain a lot of saturated fat, whereas vegetable protein usually contains complex carbohydrates.

Even vegetable such as runner beans, peas, broccoli and sweetcorn contain useful amounts of protein.

Vegetable proteins are also less acidic.

I'm not vegetarian, but have been advised by both my GP and nutritionist that excess animal protein should be avoided, and that I should increase plant proteins in my diet. At the moment, I'm trying to have animal protein no more than 3 times a week, and I certainly have more energy when eating predominantly vegetables.

I'm not a body builder, so obviously my requirements differ to yours, but in addition to sitting in my car for a couple of hours a day commuting and sitting around in the office, I do about 3 hours of yoga, a couple of hours of pilates, a couple of hours of weights and 3-4 sessions of cardio a week. I also do a lot of walking, and also kayaking & sailing (although I admit I prefer to do this in a fairly leisurely fashion in good weather!).

leiela

I wasn't trying to get anyones backup.

But i do think that everyone can try and give a few good quality meals to thier familys per week.

Debt, stress and working long hours come and go .. our familys health is ALWAYS IMPORTANT, and i don't think eating well has to be any more expensive than eating badly it just takes alittle more thought and planning.

lka200

I too would like to know what you mean???
I have just read this weeks meal plan thread and cant find anyone who has an unhealthy/poor quality plan
You have to remember that some people are living on a shoestring and sometimes have no choice but to cook some convenience foods that are lurking in their freezers/cupboards and simply cannot afford to buy the most nutritional foods all the time.
Also some people dont have the relevant cooking skills to cook from scratch which is why they come to MSE to learn and improve their skills.
PS and adding veggies to bulk out meals is HEALTHY (5 a day springs to mind:rolleyes: )