Cookery blog: 30.3.09
Tightening your belt – Frugal Family Food
Whoever thought the credit crunch could actually be good for us but with household budgets under pressure clever mums are using their shopping know how to save money and improve the health of their families.
Popular perception is that healthy eating is expensive?
True, If you eat blueberries from Chile at just under 4a punnett or asparagus at 3 a bunch then yes, it is.
But with some savvy shopping, cheeky choices and having a few frugal recipes up our sleeves it can all be a lot lighter on the purse strings.
Eat fresh fruit and vegetables when they are in season, they will be so much cheaper and much tastier. Support your local market and look out for the best deals as produce in season is almost always cheaper. (Check out Aylesbury, Berkhamsted, Tring which all have regular markets)
If you still want to buy exotic fruits, they are often on promotion, so be patient! Alternatively try tinned fruit (in juice) or frozen fruit, which are great for making your own smoothies or fruit salads at a fraction of the cost of bottled and packaged ones.
Shopping every day is easy, however, with a bit of planning you can save big money. Visit your food shop on a Thursday evening as many items are reduced to make way for new stock for the weekend. Then you can top up shop with an eye on the pennies.
Use frozen or tinned foods instead of fresh which is not only a lot cheaper but much more convenient. Frozen & tinned fish is regularly used by restaurants because it is far cheaper than fresh. See if you can tell the difference at home.
Get into the habit of diluting fruit juice with tap water, it will not only halve your consumption of juice and calories, but will help your teeth out too. If you like a glass of wine at the weekend, add sparkling water, again it halves the calories and instantly cuts down your alcohol consumption.
So now that we have all of this cheap food, what shall we do with it? If you can chop an onion you are well on your way, if you can't, then its high time that you learnt, it could save you a packet.
Make soup – Quick recipe is 1x stock cube + 0.5 pint water + chopped mixed veg (anything!)
Put it all in a pan and simmer it for 20 minutes. Add some extras to make it interesting and you have got a healthy meal for 4 for under a pound. Invest in a small flask and take it to work instead of buying expensive ready-made sandwiches
Bulk out on vegetables. – cut down on the portion size of your piece of meat or chicken and eat more vegetables or potatoes. Officially a serving of meat is only the size of a deck of cards, you don't need any more than this nutritionally, but you do need more vegetables!
Instead of an expensive piece of meat for a roast, buy stewing steak or lamb shoulder which are far cheaper but needs long slow cooking.
Make the mince go further by bulking out a bolognaise sauce with mushrooms, carrots, peppers and courgettes. Add tinned beans (kidney, cannelini) which will reduce fat and increase fibre. If you are cooking for kids who don't like bits of veg, cook some separately, liquidise with the pasta sauce and then make your bolognaise, they won't even know! Cook extra and then make a lasagne too for the freezer.
Base your meals on starchy foods like rice and pasta. Dishes like risotto and pasta bakes are great for creating cheap tasty meals and hide the fact that you may have only used two chicken breasts instead of four to feed your family.
It's probably not a good idea to change everything overnight, as you may have mutiny in the family, so try something different each week and gradually bring the bills down and you never know you may also be able to actually tighten your belt by a notch or two!
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Weather for Tring
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
