Budget Healthy Eating?
Comments
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UKTigerlily wrote: »Healthiest diet just so happens to be the cheapest diet on the planet too. Wholefoods plantbased.
For me, it'd be too healthy, i'm a junk food Vegan, but you say you want healthy & cheap, nobody is brutalised for our fun, helps the planet etc
Nuts/Seeds/Fruit/Salad/Veg/Potatos & Sweet Potatos/Lentils/Beans/Rice etc etc
Eggs cannot even legally be labelled healthy, they are chickens periods and full of cholesterol and saturated fat, with no fibre. Chicken is extremely unhealthy, and if you looked into it and also saw the chickens going into slaughter, and the state they are in, you'd probably throw up, most do
Why does a perfectly reasonable position on animal welfare/non human animals' rights have to include misogynistic (and scientifically inaccurate) imagery? Human females' menstruation contains things other than just the unfertilised ovum and isn't a disgusting thing in any event.
Same with describing cheese as 'mouldy mammary secretions'. As though breast milk (because it's inherently linking it to human milk production) is something repugnant.
By all means, disagree with the consumption of animal products, but why use that language, when it's perpetuating natural female processes and the female body as something to be reviled?I could dream to wide extremes, I could do or die: I could yawn and be withdrawn and watch the world go by.Yup you are officially Rock n Roll
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Sorry I disagree about the eggs and meat. Eggs are very healthy, p
Our appetite for eggs has been incredibly unhealthy for chickens though!
OP, it’s true that vegan is the cheapest (and imo best) way to eat healthily.
Fresh veg when you can buy loose so you’re not wasting, and frozen veg is fine too and a good way to avoid waste when the cheaper fresh stuff comes in huge packs, like supermarket spinach which is one of my pet hates.
Getting protein from pulses and beans is really economical, dried or tinned are both cheap.
Grains foods like brown rice, pasta, bread, also very cheap.
A big tub of nutritional yeast is full of vital B12 and lasts months.
There are a few bits you’ll need that are a bit pricier such as nuts which are a great way to get a lot of your essential nutrients (and if you’re not a saint you might well want a bit of fake meat or cheese every now and then!) The money you save not buying meat, fish (good fish is crazy expensive!), cheese etc. More than makes up for that though.
Plus, you are doing a huge good for animals and for the planet, win win!
Here’s a handy resource from the BDA about plant based nutrition:
https://www.bda.uk.com/foodfacts/plant-based_diet
If you don’t want to commit to going fully free of animal products, a good way to still make a difference both ethically and to your health and budget, is to follow plant based as ‘everyday’ and add in some meat or fish once or twice a week as a treat. Please at least try to get the highest welfare and most sustainable you can.0 -
trailingspouse wrote: »The vegan diet is very restrictive and lacking in very many nutrients even if you do it well and really know what you're doing.
No it isn’t, please see the link in my post above.0 -
Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »Why does a perfectly reasonable position on animal welfare/non human animals' rights have to include misogynistic (and scientifically inaccurate) imagery? Human females' menstruation contains things other than just the unfertilised ovum and isn't a disgusting thing in any event.
Same with describing cheese as 'mouldy mammary secretions'. As though breast milk (because it's inherently linking it to human milk production) is something repugnant.
By all means, disagree with the consumption of animal products, but why use that language, when it's perpetuating natural female processes and the female body as something to be reviled?
The ‘eggs are chicken periods’ things is a tired trope and not helpful, but let’s be honest here, most people would find cows milk repugnant if they had to suckle it from the cow, or if they were offered the breast milk of say, dogs or monkeys or mice. It’s not sexist to say it’s a bit odd that we’re so used to consuming the breast milk of another species we don’t even question it, we don’t even consume the breast milk of our own species past our early years.0 -
UKTigerlily wrote: »
Eggs cannot even legally be labelled healthy, they are chickens periods and full of cholesterol and saturated fat, with no fibre. Chicken is extremely unhealthy, and if you looked into it and also saw the chickens going into slaughter, and the state they are in, you'd probably throw up, most do
That's a blanket assumption and chicken periods aside (which you've said before and which is basically just a vegan shock tactic) it is possible to source meat and eggs which are more ethically raised and with higher welfare standards if people are prepared to think about where they are buying from and to pay more.All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.
Pedant alert - it's could have, not could of.0 -
That's a blanket assumption and chicken periods aside (which you've said before and which is basically just a vegan shock tactic) it is possible to source meat and eggs which are more ethically raised and with higher welfare standards if people are prepared to think about where they are buying from and to pay more.
Even the most ‘ethically’ reared chickens have a pretty crappy life, the males have no life at all as they are surplus to requirements so are industrially killed shortly after hatching.
Chickens have been selectively bred for so long the impact on their health is devastating. I know you’re a dog person so you’ll know the suffering this has caused in pedigrees, well chickens bred for egg production lay so much their bodies are depleted of vital nutrients and those bred for meat grow so big and so quickly their bodies can’t take the strain, they can barely move and often their legs actually break under the weight so we can have juicy breast cuts: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/24/real-cost-of-roast-chicken-animal-welfare-farms
Slaughter methods are generally the same whatever the label on the packet says about welfare.
https://goo.gl/images/zKx4h10 -
I love these boards, but why do people have to feel they must inject their own agendas into a perfectly reasonable (IMHO) request by the OP for advice of eating well and reducing his/her costs?
Nothing to add to the great advice to eat seasonally and reduce the meat/fish portions and up the vegetables and whole grains as much as possible and cook from scratch.The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time. (Abraham Lincoln)0 -
I love these boards, but why do people have to feel they must inject their own agendas into a perfectly reasonable (IMHO) request by the OP for advice of eating well and reducing his/her costs?
Nothing to add to the great advice to eat seasonally and reduce the meat/fish portions and up the vegetables and whole grains as much as possible and cook from scratch.
If you read my first post I recommend vegan (why wouldn’t I?) but acknowledge not everybody wants to do it.
My subsequent posts are just correcting misinformation or responding to other people’s off topic posts!0 -
Why are we giving time to someone who openly admits they have a poor diet? Ignore ignorance when the person doesn’t want to be enlightened.
Anyway.
You can eat heathily on a budget, but it can take planning.
My wife has the same lunch at work every day, on a sunday I make a tomato based pasta sauce with onions, carrots, peppers, courgette, spinach (all frozen), she then has this with brown pasta. She also takes a fruit and sometimes a small bit of cheese. A small tub of nuts would be ideal (I’m allergic so we can’t do that), they’re cheap in lidl.
For breakfast in the week we have porridge with mashed banana.
Here are a few evening meals we have, due to my nut allergy and coeliacs I will alter our meals for a standard diet.
Lasagne, we do a veggie one, we make our own sauces, we add green lentils for ‘meat’ and use slices of butternut squash for the pasta, but you could use pasta. Minced meat is also very cheap, especially turkey mince or frozen mince.
Roast veg and chicken thighs (skin on), we have onions, carrots, parsnips, courgette, sweet potato, peppers and toms. Chicken thighs/legs are very cheap, even free range ones are. Frozen are even cheaper than fresh.
Thai soup (nigella has a nice recipe), chicken, udon noodle, stock, (any veg you have laying around), ginger, chilli, fish sauce. Or a little bit of curry paste. This is ideal when you have a chicken carcass that needs stripping down. It is a very water soup, but yummy.
Veg curry, curry paste (cheating is okay when you can), onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, chic peas, tinned toms, coconut milk/cream, lovely on it’s own but I guess you could put it on a jacket, in a pitta etc.
Chili, meat or no meat, tinned/frozen pinto, black eye and kidney beans, lentils, tumeric, chili powder, cumin, fish sauce, tinned toms, nice with brown ride or tortilla’s.
Spatchcock chicken, rub over a mix of chili, whitewine vinegar and peppers (piri piri essentially) great with a decent salad, or in sandwiches.
Paella, you can just use normal brown rice if it’s cheaper for you, seasoning, stock, paprika and add veggies, you can also add some frozen seafood or some chicken.
Risotto, again, you can use normal rice, butternut squash and goats cheese is a favourite here.
The BBC show eat well for less has some very good recipes, cheap, easy, fairly well balanced.0 -
Plant based foods are certainly the cheapest option. Seasonally works out cheapest.
I eat healthily and cheaply the majority of the time. OH and I budget around £200 a month for all our food and non alcoholic drinks, so £100 each.
I don't think £130 for the OP is too bad for the calories needed.
Oats as you know OP are cheap, so porridge for breakfast. I buy gluten free as I have to and it is still a cheap breakfast. I usually have apple and banana with cinnimon in it. You could add some chia or nuts or seeds to the oats also.
We freeze reduced items a lot. Tortilla wraps, bread, falafel, tofu etc.
Yes you can freeze tofu, just make sure to squeeze out as much water as you can before freezing either as slabs or cut into cubes for ease later. Freezing changes the texture a little but I found I prefer it that way so I nearly always freeze my tofu now.
OH eats meat and buys it when it's reduced or on offers for later to save on money.
Bulk cooking when you get reduced veg etc as a way to have an easy meal you can defrost and cook is a way to stay away from expensive and unhealthy takeaways.
You can bulk cook and freeze rice. However make sure to cool it as fast as possible and get it in the freezer quick. Defrosting it completely before cooking and make sure it is cooked thoroughly. I know most people refrain from freezing rice as it can be a hazard if done wrong but I've not got ill yet. About once every 4 weeks I batch cook aduki onigiri in my multi cooker (using rice setting) for my work lunch to save time and energy costs. It's not recommended to use rice after a month frozen so I never do bigger batches. I think you can cook rice from frozen but I've never done that. Having frozen rice saves buying the microwave rice pouches or the like.
Nuts and seeds are healthy and can be cheap while being nutritious and a good source of healthy fats. They are a way to gain calories needed also in a healthy way to add to meals or eat as snacks.
Houmous is easy, and cheaper, to make yourself rather than buying. Either use can or even cheaper are the dry chickpeas and cook them up yourself. You can freeze in portions for later for meals or more houmous.
Cheap meals:
Home made pizza
Stir fry
Bibimbap
Spaghetti Bolognese (lentils or soya mince is cheap to do this)
Shepherdless pie
Chilli
Curry
Lasagne
Fajitas
Burritos
Soup
Dal
The above I have vegan and GF and they are still cheap.
Even a baked potato and beans every now and then is a cheap quick meal and better than paying for a take out or a meal out.
I could get my part of the budget down but I like to have fresh fruits around to snack on and I do like to have a certain meal that may need an expensive ingredient.I am a vegan woman. My OH is a lovely omni guy0
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