This post is from an article I wrote for 'The Meath Coaster' and, unless you are lucky enough to live on Ireland's North East Coast you won't have gotten your hands on a copy.
It seems to have resonated with alot of people, so I am delighted to add it here as my first post of 2013.
If you enjoy this article more budget tips and 30 minute recipes will follow, so make sure you sign up on the right for email notification when I post more.
Cooking on a budget
The majority of us have had to seriously tighten our belts
over the past few years. I find myself
getting quite emotional when I hear stories of children and adults going about their day hungry
because money just won’t stretch to food after bills are paid.
Cooking on a budget is about being serious about creating nutritious, flavoursome food for yourself and your family.
When you find yourself short on time and money, convenience foods and supermarket price deals
scream at you from the aisles. But, be careful, price deals in supermarkets are designed to trick you
into thinking the deal with the brightest colours or biggest sign is the best one for you to buy. However, this is not always the case, and by spending a few extra moments looking at container
sizes you can find that, in fact, you would be better with a different brand or size because it will offer
better value.
My opinion on convenience meals is that they are handy to have in the freezer for a real emergency,
however, to be honest I can’t remember the last time I had one, other than pizza, in mine.
If you really want to give yourself and your family the food you deserve then cooking your food with
fresh ingredients is the only way to go. Convenience foods are filled with sugar, salt and fat. Don’t be
fooled by ‘low fat’ on a label, because in order to give you ‘low fat’ the manufacturers need to
replace the fat they remove with sugar!
So here are some tips and a few recipes, for setting you and your family up for a healthier, more
nutritious future on a strict budget, so nobody will turn around and say, ‘Mammy I’m hungry,’ when
you have nothing to give.
getting quite emotional when I hear stories of children and adults going about their day hungry
because money just won’t stretch to food after bills are paid.
Cooking on a budget is about being serious about creating nutritious, flavoursome food for yourself and your family.
When you find yourself short on time and money, convenience foods and supermarket price deals
scream at you from the aisles. But, be careful, price deals in supermarkets are designed to trick you
into thinking the deal with the brightest colours or biggest sign is the best one for you to buy. However, this is not always the case, and by spending a few extra moments looking at container
sizes you can find that, in fact, you would be better with a different brand or size because it will offer
better value.
My opinion on convenience meals is that they are handy to have in the freezer for a real emergency,
however, to be honest I can’t remember the last time I had one, other than pizza, in mine.
If you really want to give yourself and your family the food you deserve then cooking your food with
fresh ingredients is the only way to go. Convenience foods are filled with sugar, salt and fat. Don’t be
fooled by ‘low fat’ on a label, because in order to give you ‘low fat’ the manufacturers need to
replace the fat they remove with sugar!
So here are some tips and a few recipes, for setting you and your family up for a healthier, more
nutritious future on a strict budget, so nobody will turn around and say, ‘Mammy I’m hungry,’ when
you have nothing to give.
1. Get ORGANISED – This is No.1 on purpose, the key to doing any of this is to be organised.
2. Do up a recipe list for the week prior to going shopping.
3. Do up a shopping list from your recipe list, after checking your cupboard staples.
4. Get to know what spices/herbs enhance different meats.
5. Check for produce getting close to its sell by date, most supermarkets have these sections now and even if you aren’t going to use the item straight away, freeze it.
6. Become great friends with your freezer, it will pay you back tenfold. Make larger batches of food, and freeze for days when you know you won’t have time to cook.
7. Use all the food in the house. Sounds obvious, but amazingly as a nation, we still discard nearly 30% of all the food we buy in a year. In monetary terms this could add up to an amazing €2,340 per annum for a family of four spending €150 a week on food.
The best meals to
serve when short on time and money are:
·
Prepared stews, tagines and slow roasted items
that can be set on a timer.
·
One dish oven wonders, which can be prepared and
placed in the oven when you get home
and cook while you catch up with family. E.g salmon, roasted vegetables and roasted cubed
potatoes. Squeeze a little lemon over the salmon and wrap it in foil. Use up any vegetables
you have, from peppers and tomatoes to onions and parsnip. Peel and cube potatoes into
little pieces so they cook in the same time as the vegetables. The vegetables and potatoes
can be places on the same baking sheet if there is room. Splash them all with a dash of olive
oil, some balsamic vinegar for flavour and season with salt and pepper. Cook for approx 40
– 50 minutes and you have a great meal with little cleanup to boot! The salmon will probably
only take 20-25 minutes depending on its size or you can substitute chicken here.
and cook while you catch up with family. E.g salmon, roasted vegetables and roasted cubed
potatoes. Squeeze a little lemon over the salmon and wrap it in foil. Use up any vegetables
you have, from peppers and tomatoes to onions and parsnip. Peel and cube potatoes into
little pieces so they cook in the same time as the vegetables. The vegetables and potatoes
can be places on the same baking sheet if there is room. Splash them all with a dash of olive
oil, some balsamic vinegar for flavour and season with salt and pepper. Cook for approx 40
– 50 minutes and you have a great meal with little cleanup to boot! The salmon will probably
only take 20-25 minutes depending on its size or you can substitute chicken here.
·
Stir-frys – you don’t need a jar of black bean
or sweet & sour to complete a stir-fry. A much
cheaper and healthier option is, honey, soy sauce and some fresh ginger.
cheaper and healthier option is, honey, soy sauce and some fresh ginger.
·
Fajitas - Make fresh guacamole to up the
nutrient value of this meal. Avocadoes are a great
source of everything from cholesterol reducing beta-sitosterol to heart healthy vitamin E
and glutathione. Mash up an avocado and add a crushed garlic clove, chopped tomato, half a
small onion, chopped, and some lime juice. Season with salt and pepper and you have your
own guacamole without any fillers and for 1/3 of the price of shop bought.
source of everything from cholesterol reducing beta-sitosterol to heart healthy vitamin E
and glutathione. Mash up an avocado and add a crushed garlic clove, chopped tomato, half a
small onion, chopped, and some lime juice. Season with salt and pepper and you have your
own guacamole without any fillers and for 1/3 of the price of shop bought.
·
Pasta bakes - A great way of getting kids to eat something
like tuna is to add their favourite
pasta shape (preferably wholewheat!) to it, a little white sauce (roux), and some cheese and
baking it in the oven until the cheese melts and starts to brown.
pasta shape (preferably wholewheat!) to it, a little white sauce (roux), and some cheese and
baking it in the oven until the cheese melts and starts to brown.
·
Pies – particularly great for leftovers, in fact
we had one St. Stephens day with a yummy
pastry topping.
pastry topping.
·
Pasta dish with pre-prepared sauce – e.g
marinara or pesto. Making your own pesto or
marinara sauce is much more straight forward than you would guess.
Marinara sauce is so versatile and apart from being able to use it to hide lots of nutritious
vegetables from fussy eaters you can use it as a pasta sauce or as a red sauce base for a
homemade pizza. Both recipes are on my Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/Jillskitchen2012
marinara sauce is much more straight forward than you would guess.
Marinara sauce is so versatile and apart from being able to use it to hide lots of nutritious
vegetables from fussy eaters you can use it as a pasta sauce or as a red sauce base for a
homemade pizza. Both recipes are on my Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/Jillskitchen2012
