Low income restictive diets - can it be done?

Tightwadways

Previously we've made full use of Weezl's talents and managed to live very well on a limited food budget.

Our circumstances have now changed, in that DH has been told he needs to cut his blood sugar level drastically to curb becoming diabetic. I also need to loose weight. Our boys however are another story. One of them can't have any dairy due to excema, and the other has a bottomless pit of an appetite, but yet refuses to eat *any* veg, onions, mushrooms etc, even if incorporated into a pie or meal.

Has/is anyone got over these kind of issues and still been able to keep within a low budget.? (c £50 all in pw, hopefully a lot less?) I'd love to hear ideas/insipration please, as I'm really struggling at the moment. I've just printed off Weezl's batch cooking recipes, but I doubt most of them will be eaten my DS1, and think I may have to substitute all white flour recipes for wholemeal and other changes such as lean meat rather than smart price, bumping the price up.

Psykicpup

I cant help with any recipes but I'm sure someone will be along who can! - while you are waiting why not take a read of this http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1447160/foods_to_lower_blood_sugar.html

MrsB_2

Hi, it's been a VERY long time since I posted, but this is a subject I have a bit of experience with...

My youngest DD was dairy intolerant from birth to about 18 months, but fortunately has now outgrown it.

I used to find that most main meals can be made pretty easily without dairy, but it was sweet treats and puddings we struggled with.

I did try some of the dairy free mixes you could get like the dairy free cheese sauce granules which were OK, but def an acquired taste!! However, they're not exactly cheap. Because she was so little she had to have prescription formula milk, and then we moved her on to rice milk.

Alot of my advice and tips might not be relevant if your son is older, as you'll have the issue of stuff tasting different (you'd never mix up cows milk and rice milk!!)

That said, the solutions we came up with for puds were things like:

Jelly
Meringues (make mini ones and he can have them as pud or instead of a biscuit)
marshmallows
lots of fruit things
and cakes / biscuits which used oil instead of butter / marg.

Why do you need to go to wholemeal flour etc?

Let us know how old the boys are and we may be able to help more.

MrsB

shandyclover

In our family I have a dairy intolerant child, hubby is borderline diabetic. I'm hypoglycemic and have an underactive thyroid, another child with cystic hygroma, which basically means she has a compromised immune system. All the rest have fast metabolisms with huge appetites!

We do manage on a limited budget by buying value/supermarket own brand on things that to us really don't matter i.e. toilet paper, cleaning products, shampoo etc.etc.and buying the healthy option in food that really does matter - wholewheat flour, bread, pasta. Lean meat we buy - just buy less and bulk it out with more sauce etc.
We often buy turkey chunks since they are quite cheap - took a bit of getting used to but marinaded its nice and much better for you. I don't have any kids who are fussy about veg thankfully, but they have friends over often who are - then I just blend the veg till it's unidentifyable and add it to the sauce!
We try and cook from scratch and when I have time I make my own yogurt. We do have a deep freeze and hubby is ace at hunting out bargains so will often stock up on BOGOF and they go into the freezer.
We buy fruit and veg from the wholesale market going with another family and splitting a box of apples, bananas, broccolli etc. whatever is cheap and in season.
Boxed cereals are something we have only on the weekend and for weekdays its value muesli or porridge. Same with jams - we have to buy the expensive no sugar ones so they are a special treat put out on sunday morning.
If you have an ethnic/indian shop anywhere nearby you can often find 'health' foods in there which are half the price they would be in a supermarket.
Snacks like crisps etc is also something usually bought for a picnic or special treat. Cakes and biscuits we make our own and now 2 of my daughters cook them better than I.
It all sounds austere but the kids are never hungary. They know fruit, muesli, milk, wholemeal bread , marmite etc. they can help themselves to at any time. Thankfully they accept it as life and the upside is all of them are slim girls with no weight issues, no cavities, and clearer than most complexions.
OS living with health issues can be tricky, you can't just buy the cheapest thing and you often feel you need every other touted health product which are so dear. For me the solution has been cutting right back to the basics. Since I have the one daughter who can become very ill very fast I try and look at everything foodwise as 'will this build their health or adversely affect it?' When you realise how much sugar is in something - and how sugar supresses the immune system for up to 4 hours, well then suddenly you no longer feel tempted to shell out your hard earned money to buy it.
I forgot to say also when you buy more whole meal products - you actually have to eat less as it fills you up and keeps you full for much longer. Next time you are shopping - compare the protein content of wholewheat pasta and normal pasta - its amazing!

westcoastscot

Hi,
My son is severely allergic to dairy/eggs - he's now 17 and over the years i've adapted pretty much any recipe to suit. The only "special" foods I buy are soya milk, dairy free spread and a "cheese sauce" mix that he has taken a fancy too recently. If you're looking for specific recipes using regular ingredients do ask - or pm me.
I've found the easiest way to eat with a special diet on a low budget is to limit the amount of meat eaten - which means a vegan diet on some days. Our standby vegan dinners are lentil pie with mashed potatoes and veggies, and lots of gravy, roasted veggies and pasta and baked potatoes with beans and falafel.
We all eat the same meals - its healthy for us all to limit our dairy/eggs anyway - I didnt eat eggs for years but do occasionally now I feel "safer" about having them in the house as he's older.
A last note - involve everyone in the house in the cooking - your son with allergies needs to learn to cook particularly, so he has a healthy diet as an adult
WCS

Hermia

I have lactose intolerance and don't find that is has caused me any problems with my food budget. The only special foods I buy are soya milk and 'Pure' spread and I don't find them too expensive especially as I often get them on special offer. Instead of using dairy substitutes I have just changed my eating habits (e.g. I have tomato-based sauces on pasta rather than try and find a fake-cheese sauce). It's all about doing research into finding out what is suitable. My friend is diabetic and when she was first diagnosed she bought all this expensive diabetic food, but she soon learnt that she could use normal food as long as she kept an eye on what was in it.

I think the best thing to do is go to the library and just spend some time flicking through the recipe books, especially those from other countries. Other cultures may rarely use a particular ingredient in their cooking (e.g. Japanese is good if you can't have dairy) or they may use less meat in their dishes etc.

mardatha

I was just thinking today that my money is def not going as far as it used to.. my OH is diabetic and his BS goes haywire on any form of pasta, which we used to practically live on. Also no puddings and not much fruit apart from berries, that makes life hard. I had an awful struggle finding foods he can eat because I'm totally not interested in cooking - but the only way to live cheap is to pore over shopping lists/menus/prices until you're ready to kill. I wish there was a quick fix !!!!

Mankysteve

I must say iam from the school of thought that picky son doesn't like something you cook he can either pick it out or go hungry.

adouglasmhor

Hermia wrote: »

I have lactose intolerance and don't find that is has caused me any problems with my food budget. The only special foods I buy are soya milk and 'Pure' spread and I don't find them too expensive especially as I often get them on special offer. Instead of using dairy substitutes I have just changed my eating habits (e.g. I have tomato-based sauces on pasta rather than try and find a fake-cheese sauce). It's all about doing research into finding out what is suitable. My friend is diabetic and when she was first diagnosed she bought all this expensive diabetic food, but she soon learnt that she could use normal food as long as she kept an eye on what was in it.

I think the best thing to do is go to the library and just spend some time flicking through the recipe books, especially those from other countries. Other cultures may rarely use a particular ingredient in their cooking (e.g. Japanese is good if you can't have dairy) or they may use less meat in their dishes etc.

I am very similar except I can tolerate ewes or goats milk cheese. I use vitalite instead of pure but that’s just my preference. Having a vegan chef as a GF helped me though

There are a lot of good recipe sites on the net, you may need a set of american cup measures for some though.

westcoastscot

adouglasmhor wrote: »

I am very similar except I can tolerate ewes or goats milk cheese. I use vitalite instead of pure but that’s just my preference. Having a vegan chef as a GF helped me though

I'd forgotten that vitalite is vegan now! It's a lot cheaper than Pure also. Unfortunately neither my allergic son nor vegan daughter like it, as it tastes too much like dairy spread - probably a plus point for most people!
WCS

Tightwadways

MrsB wrote: »

Why do you need to go to wholemeal flour etc?

Let us know how old the boys are and we may be able to help more.

MrsB

Its our 4yo who has to be dairy free, I use Pure or own brand vegan equivalent, and he has goats ml and doesn't like soya milk (shame, as I have a soya milk maker!) We all use the vegan marg (if we bother), but only youngest has goats milk. Managed to pick up 7 pints yellow stickered and freezable for less than the cost of 2 pints the other day, so that was good.

It's our 7yo who's skinny as a rake but refusing to eat veg. This means potatoes in most forms as well, and have tried with sauce/gravy. Makes no difference. If I do a roast only the meat and maybe a part of the yorkshire pud will be eaten by him.

I have gone down the route of 'eat that or nothing' ...or 'no afters til its gone' plenty of times with the eldest. It doesn't work for us. He's so skinny I would rather he eat *something* than what I would get into a power struggle over food. Normally the something in question is an apple, as that's one thing he likes in abundance.

Flour - I think wholemeal fills you up more, and is less processed than white. It also metabolises slower, so therefore is better for DH's blood sugar level.
Love the suggestions and help so far, thank you