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 article we asked our nutrition expert Mel to give you some of her best tips to eat healthy on a budget, along with some easy recipes that you can keep to feed the entire family. Enjoy.

My Best Tips for Eating Healthy on a Budget

It is fair to say I love food, and I love cooking. But I understand that there are many people who also love to eat well, but cooking is not their forte. For these people it is easier to reach for fast foods and processed foods that only serve to sabotage your health. And if you think you can exercise the calories off, I have bad news for you, you cannot out-exercise a poor diet. The perception is that eating healthy takes too long, it costs more, and you need to be great in the kitchen for the meals to taste great.

Firstly let’s destroy one of these perceptions straight away that healthy food is more expensive?

When you take a closer look at the foods you buy sometimes processed foods are actually a lot more expensive when you breakdown the numbers.

For example check out the price differences below for potatoes.

A serve of potato is one medium potato – or 150g:

• Potatoes per 150g = 50c
• Frozen chips per 150g = 70c
• Potato chips per 150g = $3.75

In this case you are paying almost 8 times the price for a processed potato chip that has little nutritional value versus the fresh potato you could have made your own chips with. Always remember to break down the numbers and carefully consider what is this food really doing for my health? The secret is you need to have a plan and here is how I do it.

Plan your Weekly Meals

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.

Do You Need More Help With Your Nutrition?

I also suggest to grab a copy of our PDF report that shows you how to create a simple step by step nutrition plan by slowly implementing steps one at a time. There may be many things you need to change, but by focusing only on one the chances of succeeding over the long term are increased dramatically increased. This includes over 30 healthy recipes you can follow to help you get your eating on track. You can instantly download a PDF version of this detailed nutrition program by clicking here.

Recipes

Here are a few NEW recipes for you that will not only save you money but time as well!!

Shepherd's Pie with Cauliflower Mash

Ingredients for Mince:

• Olive oil
• 1 onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 500 g mince beef
• 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
• ¼ Beef stock
• 2 carrots grated (optional)

Cauliflower Mash Topping:

• 1 small cauliflower cut into pieces
• 55 g butter
• 30 ml cream
• Dried herbs
• 50 g grated/shredded cheese

Method for Mince:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion and garlic until softened.
2. Add the beef and stir until it is thoroughly cooked and browned.
3. Add the beef stock, chopped tomatoes and grated carrots.
4. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Let the liquid evaporate so the mince thickens.
5. While this is simmering prepare the cauliflower topping.

Method for Cauliflower Topping:

1. Boil the cauliflower until soft, this takes about 8-10 minutes.
2. Drain and allow ALL the steam to escape.
3. Add the butter, herbs and cream.
4. Using a stick blender with a blade attachment, puree until smooth.

To Assemble:

1. Pre heat oven to 180 degrees
2. Place the shepherd's pie mince mix in the bottom of a large casserole dish.
3. Top with the cauliflower mash.
4. Sprinkle on the cheese.
5. Put the casserole dish on a baking try to catch any liquid that may bubble over.
6. Bake at 180C for 30 minutes and / or until the cheese is browned.

Chicken & Cheese Soup

This is a great recipe coming into the colder months, it is also very easy!! To make the soup thicker add extra chicken thigh to the recipe.  This recipe can also be frozen, just don’t add the cheeses & sour cream to the portions that are being frozen, add the sour cream when reheating.

Ingredients:

• 25g butter
• Olive Oil
• 2 Onions, diced
• 1 Red Capsicum, sliced thinly
• Garlic
• 2 tsp Cumin
• 4 Chicken Thighs, diced ( remove the skin )
• 440g can Tomatoes
• 1½ litres of Chicken Stock
• 200g Grated Tasty Cheese
• ½ c Sour Cream
• Salt & Pepper

Method:

• Melt the butter and add the oil; sauté onions for 10 minutes, until pale.
• Add the capsicum, garlic, cumin and cook on low heat for 2 – 3 minutes.
• Add chicken pieces and cook until browned.
• Add the tomatoes and stock.
• Simmer for 15 – 20 minutes.
• Slowly stir in the cheese and then the sour cream and continue to stir for 5 minutes.
• Season with the salt and pepper.
• Can be served with extra cheese if you are being indulgent.

Slow Cooked Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients:

• 600 grams Beef, diced
• Olive Oil
• Garlic
• Onion, diced
• 35g packet of Beef Stroganoff Seasoning
• Mushrooms, sliced
• Broccoli, in chunks
• Sour Cream

Method:

1. Heat olive oil and garlic
2. Saute onion
3. Add diced beef and cook until browned
4. Cook on Low in the slow cooker for 6 – 8 hours, or high 3 – 4 hours
5. With an hour to goo add mushrooms
6. With 30 min to go stir through broccoli
7. With 10 min to go stir through sour cream

All of these recipes are all particularly low in carbohydrates which is perfect for anyone who follows the Keto diet like myself.

Low carbohydrate meals are particular good at the moment to help avoid the sabotaging effects of being home all day due to self-isolation with the Coronavirus lock-downs. As there is more opportunity to snack and eat unhealthy food it is important to not have it readily available. Having an array of better choices as we have shown you in this article could be all you need.

Summary

I hope this article has given you some inspiration and ideas of how you can eat healthy and not ruin your budget. I hope that you are inspired to try these recipes and I know that you and your family will enjoy them.Just like the exercise we have to get a little creating and use some clever thinking to get around this current situation we are in. Eating healthy does not have to be a chore, and it can definitely taste great as many of these recipes have shown you. By Mel Jack.

About The Author

Nick Jack is owner of No Regrets Personal Training and has over 15 years’ experience as a qualified Personal Trainer, Level 2 Rehabilitation trainer, CHEK practitioner, and Level 2 Sports conditioning Coach. Based in Melbourne Australia he specialises in providing solutions to injury and health problems for people of all ages using the latest methods of assessing movement and corrective exercise.

References:

• Precision Nutrition 
• Nutrition & Physical Degeneration - By Weston A Price
• Big Fat Lies - By David Gillespie
• How To Eat, Move & Be Healthy by Paul Chek