Public Health Minister Anna Soubry claims that you can spot poor children by looking at the size of their waistlines. It may have been a sweeping generalisation, but one fact I do know is that 1 in 7 UK children do not eat breakfast in the mornings. I also know that with planning and time you can eat healthily on a budget.
So I wanted to share my top tips for getting great value fruit and vegetables
Aldi do a Super 6 every fortnight. Six vegetables or fruit that are vastly reduced, this last fortnights were:
Just looking at that list you could make a fab soup with the butternut, parsnips and onions. Today I had an avocado feta and chili quesadilla for lunch. You could make a risotto with the mushrooms and onions and who doesn't love new potatoes. My boys adore roasted parsnips and you can also make parsnip crisps too. Butternut, onions, parsnips and the new potatoes could all be roasted to make a great side dish.
Lidl is also a great source of fresh produce. Cherry Tomatoes are only 59p there this week. In most of the major supermarkets you can pick up a casserole pack for a pound, which contains onion, carrots, parsnip and turnip. All you need to is add meat and some stock and you have a delicious meal. The same goes for soup packs. You do not have to be a great cook as they include all you need plus a method on the pack.
With prices like this there really is no excuse not to eat them.
Eat Seasonally. By eating what is in season, you tend to get the best price. Eat the seasons tells you what foods are currently in season
Eat Locally - Seasonal fruit and veg are much less expensive at my local Greengrocer, plus they get to know you and offer you better deals, for example they know that we make banana bread so give me cheap bananas that are turning. A market works out even cheaper, but we do not have one that is convenient.
Yes I will agree that eating healthily on a budget often takes time, planning and means that I have to be prepared, but I want to encourage my children to eat vegetables and I like all sitting down at the table and eating the same meal.
What are your tips for eating healthily on a budget?
making a yoghurt cake for snack/teatime saves money & is probably a little healthier than a lot of snacks out there. I often do this when the kids have friends over.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Planning is the key with me, otherwise it's too easy to snack and graze on the not so healthy foods and snacks (and spend a fortune in the process too).
ReplyDeleteAs you mentioned, you really don't need to be a confident or competent cook to make a basic, healthy meal (I'm proof!) oh, and learn to utilise your freezer.
One of my gripes is that healthy food does seem to cost SO much more. I plan meals because fruit, salad and veg are a big part of our diet and gladly my two love them!!!
ReplyDeleteAldi and Lidl are brilliant for saving money on fresh stuff and food in general. Our local farm shop is great value and much cheaper than anywhere else to buy in season local produce, though know lots of farm shops that are not!!!
Getting creative too with fresh ingredients can bring up some surprising things which are really yummy. Some of my favourites are made up of using bits and pieces of fresh ingredients I have left :-)
Use beans and lentils to bulk out meals either by adding to the dish, or by making a really cheap lentil and veg soup, I just made one tonight easy and quick ish and nutritious, just dried brown lentils as there so cheap, soaked for 15 min to half hour in freshly boiled water, added sliced leek and carrot and couple of garlic cloves simmer till carrots just cooked mix in a stock cube table spoon of tomato ketchup and lots of black pepper. Yum. Then drain what's left add to fried mushrooms, onion and minced beef or other meat,frozen peas tin of baked beans, thicken with gravy granules or flour spread in a baking dish top with sliced potato cook till spuds are cooked. That's tonights tea for me.
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We get a lot of our fruit and veg at the market. I generally find that it's fresher and keeps better than most supermarket produce, and it is much cheaper. I started going there because I wanted my son to learn that there was other places to buy stuff other that the supermarket. It is a great experience and there are often some interesting characters around the place so it's a winner all round really.
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