healthy eating too expensive...

Kirri

xanthe wrote: »

You can use celery in stir-fry. Cut them into thin sticks along with carrots, garlic, shredded meat and soy sauce!

Celery goes really well with satay too, I use it in chunks along with some yellow pepper, onion and tofu/Quorn (or chicken if not veggie), which I copied from a dish I used to get from the chinese take away.

I make a sauce from the VegSoc book by grinding peanuts and adding coconut milk and curry paste/sugar/lime/chilli. Probably quite fattening but very nice

jenniewb

lisawin wrote: »

Hi, my partner was recently made redundant, so because he's often home, he usually does the dinner cooking before I get in. Honestly, between my job and Steve looking for work, we don't have much time to prepare meals, so the temptation to get take-aways is always there - but we can't really afford it and we'd like to try to watch our weight.

Does anyone have any tips for eating healthy on a budget? Seems like what we can afford doesn't look very good for you whenever we go to the shops.

If you read back through this thread from the start, there is a wealth of information there and based on eating healthily (weight wise included) 3 pages of it

snowonthebeach

Get yourself a copy of Delia Smith's "One is Fun" (used copies available from Amazon @ £0.01 + £2.75 pp) it's full of easy and nice recipes. It's quite an old publication, but still well worth looking at. Also DS's "Frugal Food", I've got a copy of the original, which has no illustrations, but a new version has recently been published containing photographs, which might help if you're not sure what things should look like.

snowonthebeach

If you decide that you want to be serious about proper home-cooked food, prepared in a non-stressful and relaxing way, may I suggest Nigel Slater's "Appetite" (used copies via Amazon from £6.97 +£2.75 pp). Don't be put off by the size of it, it's a super read. Has store cupboard hints so that you will always be able to conjure up a meal out of what you have to hand.

Gives basic recipes for all manner of meals, for example " a cheap spaghetti supper" (cannot give recipe, copyright etc) then follows it up with clever little twists.

A seriously soothing read containing delicious recipes that are uncomplicated - maybe not even recipes per se, just gorgeous ideas. This is home cooking at its best. No stress.

Being able to nourish yourself from basic ingredients is a key skill that to us older people is 2nd nature. Being able to do this frees you from the power of the food "manufacturers".

Surely you don't want to be dependent on Fray Bentos for the rest of your life?

Good luck & have fun.

kkayleigh

I used to find it hard to buy healthy stuff on a budget but i think i just wasnt that interested in looking. theres a market at the weekend near me and i get fruit and veg there now. I still give the kids chips and stuff sometimes but it used to be all the time and now they have other stuff. baked potatoes are cheap to do and so is pasta and stuff like carrots. my sons a fussy eater so its hard to cook for him but i try and get him to try veg.

zzybee

ever tried stir fried veg with left over bread? we just toss up some onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and any leftover veggies. tear the bread into strips (could do it with toasted bread to make it crunchier) and add it to the stir fry. goes well with ketchup!

Rebekah24

Deffo recommend popping over to the OS board! ace tips!

The marked downs at the end of the day are essential for me! .. or whoopsie's as we call em!

Can easily get enough veggies and bits to do a weekly batch of soup - reduced fennel, carrots, peppers etc - soup 20-30p a serving, make individual portions and freeze

Bagels/bread for under 30p - throw into the freezer. I got 20p bagels last week, enough to do for a brekkie treat at weekends

During the winter my basics are as follows

Soups - made with reduced veg or offers - check out Aldi & offers on veg at supermarket

Fruit - marked down fruit or offers - a lot of citrus as its cheap

Beans etc - throw into soups

Eggs - make spanish omlettes for tea..gorgeous!

Cottage cheese - can take a tub for post gym

Herbal tea's - usually have a cup for lunch and before bed

I keep it pretty simple, mostly eat soups this time of year. It can be done on a budget, just got to hunt out those little yellow stickers! Can even get some nice treats reduced...bits of cheese..or dare I say it the odd cake... :rotfl:

Hope that helps someone

kkayleigh

soups a good one and stir fry too as guess you can use whatever you buy.

Middy

I have been on ww since July and I have noticed my shopping bill has gone down! Not up! I go to Aldi and pick up things on the Super 6 which I can use. I buy a few healthy things in there as well. Their fresh tomato and basil soup is fab and for 89p a bargain!

I tend to buy a lot of tinned and packets of things such as soup, pulses, veg, cooking sauces etc on offer.

Been making my own soups. I can make a veg soup which costs me about 20p a portion.

ali1972

snowonthebeach wrote: »

Get yourself a copy of Delia Smith's "One is Fun" (used copies available from Amazon @ £0.01 + £2.75 pp) it's full of easy and nice recipes. It's quite an old publication, but still well worth looking at. .

I picked this up from Oxfam Books the other week. It's excellent. The portions are bit too man sized for me so I may scale down a little. Great find, though.