HOW TO EAT HEALTHY FOODS THAT TASTE GREAT ON A TIGHT BUDGET??
With many people losing their job or their business in lock-down due to the Coronavirus many of us are forced to make some big changes in our lifestyle to save money.
One of the first things we look at is the money we spend on food and many people think that eating healthy is too hard and very expensive.
It makes sense for us to see it like that when many processed foods appear to be very cheap, even take away meals from fast food restaurants are very cheap in comparison to a healthy meal. But we know that eating this way will be at the expense to our health.
How can you eat healthy but not spend too much?
The good news is creating healthy delicious dinners doesn’t have to break the bank or taste bland and boring.
In this video I give you some of my best tips to eating healthy on a budget, along with some easy recipes that you can keep to feed the entire family.
I spend some time every weekend planning my meals for the week, I check my work schedule and work backwards from there. I try to plan that most meals can be “cooked once, and eaten twice”. We are all busy, for different reasons, one of the biggest hurdles to cooking normally is time, so if we “cook once, & eat twice” we are not only saving time, but saving money.
Making a Shopping List: Now that I have planned my meals for the week, I make a shopping list and stick to it. You can easily get distracted by products that are on sale, only buy what you really need.
Buy Seasonal Fruit & Veggies: By shopping seasonally not only will you save money, seasonal fruit and veggies will taste better and be healthier for you.
Keep Your Fridge, Freezer & Food Cupboard Organised: Do you know what you have deep in the back of your freezer? Keeping your food storage areas organised will not only save you money but also you will avoid food wastage, which wastes your money. I freeze food in single serve quantities. If you are going to freeze food be sure to go through and periodically clean it out.
Use less Expensive Cuts of Protein and Meat: I love slow cooking, it’s so simple, you put your meal on in the morning and when you get home from work dinner is ready. If I slow cook during the week I will cut up and prep my veggies and protein the night before, saving me time in the morning. The cheaper cuts of meat tend to have more flavour, but they are best when they are cooked slowly.
DON’T WASTE FOOD!
When you practice a few cooking smarts, you don’t only save money, you also won’t waste food.
Make a Meal Plan & a Shopping List: As mentioned earlier this will not only save you time & money, you will also eliminate food wastage.
Shelf Life: Look at the shelf life on products, be sure to use the shorter shelf life products first.
Cook Once, Eat Twice: Be creative. I don’t have a creative bone in me when it comes to art for example, give me a few ingredients and I’ll make you a delicious meal. I especially enjoy cooking once and eating twice. An example of this could be my Slow Cooked Tomato Sauce, I can have a tomato soup one night and the next night put the remainder of the sauce through a bolognaise sauce and make zucchini noodle bolognaise. We covered this in great detail in our article from last year – Planning and preparation is everything
Use Your Freezer: If you have leftovers that you won’t be able to eat before they go off, store them in the freezer in serving sizes that will be required.
Keep Your Fridge, Freezer & Food Cupboard Organised: As mentioned earlier, by doing this you will not only be able to eat on a budget, but you will avoid food wastage, which will waste your money.
Enjoy.
Click below on the link for the full article:
Another great article, “7 SIMPLE MEAL PLANNING TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH DURING THE CORONAVIRUS SELF-ISOLATION”
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