Healthy Eating on the Cheap

The following information includes cost cutting tips and recipe ideas from Portsmouth Healthcare NHS Trust. (Based on information provided by Dieticians of Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust July 1996.)

What is Healthy Eating?

To eat healthily we need to eat as wide a variety of foods as possible. Also, cutting down on fatty and sugary foods and eating more starchy, high fibre foods such as potatoes, bread, pasta and cereals can help keep us healthy now and in the future.

The list below can help you to choose a health balanced diet:

• Fruit and Vegetables. Choose a wide variety.
• Bread, cereals and potatoes - eat all types. Choose high fibre kinds whenever you can.
• Meat, fish and alternatives. Choose lower fat varieties whenever you can.
• Fatty and sugary foods. Try not to eat too often.
• Milk and dairy foods. Choose lower fat alternatives if possible.

Health eating doesn't have to break your budget. Use this page to help you make healthy, but cheap choices at meal times. When planning meals try to include foods from as many of the food groups above as possible, but try to limit your intake of fatty and sugary foods.

Healthy But Cheap Meal Ideas

Convenience Foods

• These can be cheap and healthy if you choose carefully.
• The supermarkets own brands are usually cheapest.

Healthy choices include:

Canned Foods

• Canned beans, eg baked, butter, kidney and sweetcorn
• Canned pasta, eg ravioli, spaghetti, macaroni cheese
• Canned tomatoes
• Canned fruit in juice (not syrup)
• Canned fish, eg tuna, pilchards, sardines
• Canned meat, eg corned beef, ham
• Canned puddings, eg low fat custard, low fat rice pudding.

Dried Foods

• Lentils, split peas, pearl barley - use to make cheap and filling soups and stews
• Dried skimmed milk powder - use for custard,
• Custard powder - banana custard
• Stock cubes, gravy powder - to add flavour to food
• Pasta shapes, spaghetti
• Instant mashed potato
• Rice - use for curries, risottos, rice pudding.

If you have a freezer or freezer compartment in your fridge try using:

Frozen Foods

• Frozen vegetables - these are just as nutritious as the fresh variety - cook in as little water as possible to conserve the vitamins
• Fish fingers, fish cakes and frozen fish, eg coley, cod
• Meat - mince, bacon, liver, chicken portions (remove skin)
• Pizza - can often be cooked from frozen. Serve with baked beans, peas or tinned tomatoes
• Fill your freezer with cheap energy foods, eg bread, rolls, pitta bread, English muffins and crumpets.

Markets

Use your local market if you have one. Fruit and vegetables are often cheaper than in the supermarkets or corner shops especially if you choose those that are in season.

Bulk Buying

If you have the storage space it is often cheaper to buy some foods in bulk, eg cans of baked beans, pockets of rice/pasta.

Look for special offers on multibuys.

Long Life Foods

• Until they are opened these do not need to be kept in a fridge
• UHT milk (try semi-skimmed/skimmed)
• Long life puddings, eg yoghurt, fruit puddings, long life main meals, eg cottage ie/other potato or meat based dishes.

Cost Cutting Ideas

Adapting Everyday Recipes

Here are some examples of ways of making meals healthier at no extra cost. These suggestions show you how to cut the fat down and increase the fibre in every day meals.

Making Meat Go Further

Mixing beans with mince and other meat dishes increases fibre, reduces fat and makes the meat go further, eg baked beans in shepherds pie, kidney beans in chilli, baked beans and peas in stews.

Recipes with Mince - for use in shepherds pie, lasagne, meat balls, beefburgers

1. Dry fry mince (no need to add oil or fat) over a low heat.
2. Stir continuously to prevent sticking until browned.
3. Drain off fat or allow to cool so the fat can be skimmed off.
4. Add onions, frozen vegetables, tinned tomatoes, herbs, spices, garlic.

Serve with pasta, rice, potatoes or bread.

Chilli

Remove fat as above. Add tinned beans (eg kidney beans or baked beans) and chilli powder. Serve with rice, pasta, bread or potatoes.

Recipes with Chicken

Use thighs or wings for curries and casseroles.

Stews and Casseroles

Cut all fat off meat or remove skin from chicken before cooking. Brown meat in non-stick pan (or add a little water to prevent burning). Add frozen peas, tinned baked beans or sweetcorn to make the meat go further. Serve with potato, pasta or rice.

Cooks Tip: Cook in a large saucepan on top of the stove to save on fuel bills.

Liver

Liver is cheap, nutritious and easy to cook. Try casseroling liver with sliced onions and tinned tomatoes. Serve with mashed potato.

Bacon

Trim visible fat. Dry fry. Serve with pasta, onions, cheap vegetables and tinned sweetcorn or baked beans to make a quick 2 pot meal.

Recipes Using Mashed Potato

Tuna/Corned Beef Hash

Cook and mash potato. Chop up tin of corned beef or tuna and one onion. Mix all ingredients together. Put in ovenproof dish. Cook for 20-30 minutes on gas mark 4/180ºC/350ºF until browned.

Cooks Tip: Serve with baked beans, vegetables, eg canned tomatoes or cheap vegetables (frozen/fresh).

Fish Cakes

Mash tuna or other tinned fish with mashed potato. Mould into round shapes. Grill, bake in the oven or fry using as little oil as possible.

Meals with Rice

Rice is a starchy, filling food. It can be used as the basis for meals such as risotto.

Two Pot Risotto

Boil rice in a large saucepan. In another saucepan fry off bacon, onions, mushrooms, sweetcorn and other vegetables in a little oil. Add pepper, dried herbs and a chicken stock cube. Drain rice. Mix all ingredients together.

Rice pudding - is a quick filling dish to make if you boil it in a saucepan.

Cooks Tip: Add dried fruit or tinned fruit or sliced banana to sweeten rather than sugar.

Meals with Pasta

Pasta is a starchy, filling food. Use it instead of potato or rice, eg spaghetti Bolognese, tuna, onions, canned tomatoes, lasagne, macaroni cheese and pasta shapes.

Cutting the Cost of Cooking

Use these energy saving ideas to cut down your fuel bills:

• Boiling the kettle - only boil as much water as you need. Boiling a whole kettle wastes a lot of electricity.
• Cooking vegetables - use as little water as possible and use boiling water from the kettle (not cold tap water). Cook more than one vegetable together in the saucepan or use a metal sieve or colander as a steamer.
• Toasting bread - a toaster uses less electricity than a grill.
• Use the oven to the full, eg if cooking a stew, also bake jacket potatoes and braise vegetables in water in the oven.
• Pressure cooker - cheaper cuts of meat cook quickly and improve in texture. This saves on fuel bills and shopping bills.
• Microwave/grill - use a microwave or grill instead of frying. This doesn't cost any more and you don't need to use oil or fat.

Cheap Filler Foods

• Bread, potatoes, rice, pasta and cereals are cheap, filling and low in fat. Try to include these at every meal and use for between meal snacks.
• Try to keep sweet biscuits, cakes and sweets to special occasions. When you do want something sweet try fruit buns, scones, fruit, malt loaf, low fat yoghurts or banana custard. Choose these as puddings or between meal snacks.
• High fibre breakfast cereals, eg Weetabix, branflakes, muesli and semi-skimmed milk make a healthy but cheap between meal snack any time of day.
• Sandwiches - make with bread, pitta bread or muffins. Try wholemeal or high fibre white bread.

Suggested fillings:

• tuna and tomato sauce
• tuna and tomato or onion
• cheese spread and cucumber
• peanut butter and cucumber or banana
• grated cheese mixed with grated carrot
• sliced ham, grated cheese and tomato
• corned beef and pickle
• meat/fish paste and tomato

Cooks Tip: Grating cheese makes a little look more - cuts down the fat and the cost.