healthy eating too expensive...

LeeSouthEast

Batch cooking is your friend. When I do this I buy the biggest cheapest packets I can find! Serves 8? So much the better!

paulwf

A lot of veg can be purchased frozen for you to portion up as you wish e.g. sweetcorn, spinach, broad beans, green beans, sliced peppers...in fact you could probably get nearly any veg frozen. Most fresh veg will also last for a week if stored correctly.

If you open a jar of sauce it should last 5 days in the fridge so only using some of it shouldn't be a problem. Try and use ingredients you can use for several different things, e.g. a jar of passata can be used in loads of dishes.

Try and cook from scratch as then you can make the portion sizes you want, plus using ready made pasta sauces and adding tinned mushrooms isn't particularly healthy. If you cook from scratch then use the suggestions others have given you'll save money and eat a lot healthier.

Vaila

i think the answer here is for you to plan your meals, this doesnt have to be rigid, just say mon you use half a jar of pasta sauce and use it to make a chilli on a baked potato, then you put the rest in the fridge and use the remainder on wed with pasta. also as it costs more to buy smaller portioned tins, sauces etc just freeze what you dont use. a great saving ive made is by buying frozen veg, as you only take out what you use, but they now have a great range of frozen rice, chips,fish, meat etc....to me i think the answer to your question is obvious......freeze

jenniewb

I live alone, I am very strapped for cash and I eat very healthily. I may be a lucky case though, I am able to shop daily and pick up reduced price bargains. I am also not into junk food, (past eating disorder glitches still there!)

I buy in bulk but not often. Frozen vegetables works out cheaper for me and takes far less time to prepare though depending on the season you can get low priced stuff straight from the shelves or if you do have the time (I don't) shopping at markets at the end of the day. Same goes with fruit. Eat seasonally, fruit isn't too expensive.

Meat? frozen white fish is good, low in fat/fat free and easy to stock up on. 1 source of protein for 50p-£1 in most supermarkets. Butchers meat can also be good if you shop at the right time of the day and seems to me to taste better- less watery but this is in comparison to the added water basics range.

Carbohydrates, pasta, rice, potatos, porrodge. Not expensive.

Soups can be made with tins of chopped tomatos and herbs and seasoning, chuck in some precooked veg, lentils or beans and if you like the stuff, some oil and you have a healthy and filling meal.

Drink? water.

Yes it may sound dull- but its do-able and I have been eating like this for years. I get compliments for my skin and its far easier to maintain a healthy weight if you eat healthily.

I have to be honest, I don't buy that junk food is the only option, not just because I can get away without paying for it- even if I cannot get hold of reduced priced foods but in addition, I think so much of it is just sensory overload- too much sugar, too many additives and it just blows you away. The taste alone I'd imagine can become addictive and then your just eating for fun, not because you need to eat. Thats when the trouble starts and you gain weight or have health problems because you cannot afford the foods which have the nutrients in which are required for good health. I always wonder if its maybe not being able to deal with a sugar addiction that makes people think healthy eating is too expensive (yes it can be if your supplimenting it with junk food with high amounts of sugar in) but leave out the junk and it is affordable.

And in addition more filling.

aurongrande_2

lynzpower wrote: »

but why not buy a pack of 4 pies then you will only make one for yourself and save the others for a later date?

Because I can never find any decent ones. I look high an low, and even some of the store assistants don't understand why they don't have any of the smaller ones in Tescos. So until my local Tescos sells the smaller single pies, then it's Fray Bentos.

aurongrande_2

lilac_lady wrote: »

Your best friend is your freezer. I freeze most things freezable from garlic cloves, pasta sauces, pesto, anything that's been opened and not used up.

There's always somethings that can't freeze so I have it for 2/3 days running. I hate waste and very rarely dump food.

I hate wasting things as well.

aurongrande_2

DCFC79 wrote: »

It is doable, just cook a large portion of say chicken curry, sweet and sour with chicken or chilli and then divvy it up into suitable containers for freezing, you could also have canned soup as an option with a crusty roll or yu could even make your own soup and rolls/bread,

you even do a lasgane and add meat or keep it as veg

yuck, I'm not keen on soups and stews.

aurongrande_2

jenniewb wrote: »

I have to be honest, I don't buy that junk food is the only option, not just because I can get away without paying for it- even if I cannot get hold of reduced priced foods but in addition, I think so much of it is just sensory overload- too much sugar, too many additives and it just blows you away. The taste alone I'd imagine can become addictive and then your just eating for fun, not because you need to eat. Thats when the trouble starts and you gain weight or have health problems because you cannot afford the foods which have the nutrients in which are required for good health. I always wonder if its maybe not being able to deal with a sugar addiction that makes people think healthy eating is too expensive (yes it can be if your supplimenting it with junk food with high amounts of sugar in) but leave out the junk and it is affordable.

And in addition more filling.

That's probably because I wasn't sure what sort of food is actually freezable. I've not been living on my own for all that long, and up until then, it was my parents who did the shopping, so I simply ate what they put on the plate.

Now that I live alone, I'm just trying to find out my best options.

lynzpower

aurongrande wrote: »

Because I can never find any decent ones. I look high an low, and even some of the store assistants don't understand why they don't have any of the smaller ones in Tescos. So until my local Tescos sells the smaller single pies, then it's Fray Bentos.

Why not just make your own?

Packet of stewing beef is about £2
HM pastry is possible otherwise £1 or less for a pastry
carrots 20p
mushrooms 20p
potato 20p
onions 20p
frozen peas 20p

this will make at least 8 pies for 3.00 37p each, you can easily forgo the pastry and have it as a casserole, freezes really well and is good with just bread, a jacket pot or other veg?

heres alist of other pies http://uktv.co.uk/food/homepage/sid/6053

bevvy

This post is titled.......
healthy eating too expensive....
since when was fray and bentos pies healthy or jars or pasta/curry sauce, etc
Why not make your own curry, pasta sauce, etc in big batches and then freeze into individual portions, healthy, cheap and convienient (just take a portion out the freezer when needed)
I make pasta sauce from tin of chopped tomoatoes, onion, garlic, peppers and pinch of mixed herbs, so easy and cheap and much healthier than jars as you know what exactly what is in it.