Eating healthily for cheap

A regular complaint I've heard is eating healthy is expensive. There are ways to make it a bit easier on the pocket. Here are my top tips!

1) Eat food in season. Bananas are pretty cheap at the moment, for example.

2) Don't be afraid to get to know the reduced sections in your local supermarket. Sometimes the quality of the fruit and vegetables is really good. Things like meat can be frozen.

3) Talking of freezing, making large batches and freeze portions. Cooking from scratch can take time, so doing a few portions at the same time is time efficient and means you can use fresh ingredients rather than expensive convenience foods to cut corners.

4) When serving food, portion out all of it at the same time. It'll stop you from adding extra to your plate, saving both your waistline and your pennies as you'll get more portions!

5) Use meat (or quorn) multibuy offers, and freeze what you don't use within the use by dates.

6) To reduce wastage, get the produce with the longest time before the use by dates. Stores put their freshest produce at the back of the shelf, so be prepared to roll your sleeves up and dive in! With vegetables, you may have to check the crate under the top one.

7) If you are in a small household, think about using more frozen vegetables. They're cheap and it reduces wastage as they last a long time. They also have the same, if not better, nutritional value than fresh veg.

8) TURKEY. Turkey turkey turkey. It's lower fat than chicken and cheaper too. Use it not just at Christmas!

9) Quorn. The frozen quorn mince is cheaper than the quorn in the fridge area.

10) Freeze bread that is about to run out of freshness. It toasts fairly well. Split it up into small portions so it is easy to take out just one breakfast's worth.

11) The cheap supermarket range version of items like tinned sweetcorn, tomatoes or kidney beans are often nutritionally the same. Some items, such as minestrone soups or pasta sauces, can often be lower calorie and fat than the regular range version! Get reading those labels to save pennies and calories.

12) Back to turkey again... don't be afraid to use turkey mince instead of beef mince in your usual recipes. It saves money and calories. Throw in a beef stock cube if you miss the flavour.

13) Look out for the cheap range bags of fruit and veg in supermarkets. It may not be your favourite type of apple, but it is probably less than half the price.

14) Pick your fights. If apples are your favourite snack in the world, buy the variety you love. There is no point in buying something you won't use, no matter how much of a bargain it may be. Cut back where you don't mind the difference, but keep at least one thing that puts a smile on your face.

15) Dried herbs, spices and bottled juices can really liven a meal up and keep for a long time.

16) Soup for lunch! Whether you make your own or buy it tinned, it's cheap and healthy. It's a lot less bloaty than bread too, yay!

17) Imperfect fruit and vegetables can often still be used. Squishy bits or bruises can be cut out, leaving plenty of usable parts. I use overripe bananas in my low fat curry. It's amazing!

18) Reality time. Sometimes you will buy things that are not that good for you. Do not be tempted into buying things because they are a bargain. If you wouldn't buy it in a single/smaller portion for more money, you don't need it. If you would pay that price, buy the single portion and really enjoy it. Do not eat it on the go or while standing up. Sit down. Take your time. Really enjoy it. Taste it thoroughly. A satisfying experience will keep you happier for a longer time. It will save you calories and pennies as it will be repeated less often.

19) Do not treat yourself as a human dustbin and throw away leftover food into yourself when not truly hungry. Can you freeze it? Can you use it in tomorrow's lunch or dinner?

20) Some people like to plan out a week's menu and stick to it. I admire them. It reduces wastage and money spent, and removes temptation by not having unnecessary things in the kitchen.

21) Do not go shopping when hungry. The delicious smell of bread from the bakery will increase this appetite and tempt you into making bad decisions!


Hope that helps! I'll update this as I think of more tips! Feel free to ask questions. :)

My chili recipe

Not all chili recipes have to smell like armpits and farts.

I always have an appetite for my low fat chili recipe.

This makes 4 portions.

Ingredients:
* 400-500g of the leanest beef mince you can afford.
* 1 onion. (I prefer a red onion as it is milder and looks awesome, but white onions can be a lot cheaper. If it is too strong, try running it under cold water when peeled).
* An enormous carrot, or 2-3 little ones.
* 1 or 2 celery sticks.
* 100-200g of mushrooms.
* A pepper. I prefer green as red peppers don't like me.
* A tin of chopped tomatoes. The cheap supermarket range one is fine.
* A tin of kidney beans. The cheap supermarket range one is fine for this too.
* A generous dash of Lea & Perrins.
* A bay leaf or two.
* Dried chili flakes or chili powder. If you can afford fresh chillies, I'd have 2-3 fresh chillies, deseeded.
* Mixed herbs.
* Lime juice. I keep a bottle of lime juice in the fridge, or use the juice of a fresh lime if you've got one or are feeling flush this month.
* Some cherry tomatoes, or another tin of tomatoes if you like it tomato-ey!
* Some tomato puree if you like a thick sauce.
* Whatever else vegetables you have in the fridge.
* 320g of rice per person. Brown rice is tasty.

For a veggie version, swap beef mince for quorn mince and leave out the Lea & Perrins. It has anchovies in.

To cook:
Put rice on in one pan.

Brown mince in another pan. Use a spray oil to save calories if you can.
If using quorn mince, add a little water or put in the tinned tomatoes early. Quorn mince can be quite "thirsty".

Chop up the onion and add.

Chop up the carrots, pepper, celery and add.

Add the tinned tomatoes.

Add the herbs, bay leaves, chili, lea & perrins and lime juice to your taste.
If you're using fresh chillies, I would recommend putting a plastic bag over your hands so it doesn't hurt when you touch sensitive places later, like eyes or genitals.

Stir thoroughly.

Rinse the kidney beans, then add them.

Add in any vegetables you want to use up from the fridge.

Wash and chop mushrooms, then add.

Halve and add cherry tomatoes if you want them.

Add tomato puree to thicken to sauce if you want.

Once the rice is done, serve and enjoy!