Articles
Saving Time and Money Right From the Start
One of the most common excuses Dietitians hear is that people do not eat healthy food because ‘It is too expensive and I don’t have time to cook it’. It’s the oldest excuse in the book, and the easiest one to overcome. Healthy food does not have to be time consuming, and it certainly doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, most of the time a family would spend more money on takeaway, frozen meals, chocolate, crisps and soft drink than they would if they pre-planned a week of nutritious, easy to prepare meals.
So lets take a look at how you can save both time and money, before you even get to the supermarket each week!
Step 1
Pick a quiet night of the week, where you have a spare 30mins to sit down and have a think about a weekly meal plan. It doesn’t have to be 100% detailed, just a rough plan of what you will serve each night for the dinner meal. You can do it as a couple, a family, or even do it yourself in the add breaks of your favorite TV show.
Step 2
Take a piece of paper and write down the days of the week as headings. If you tend to have busy weekends, you may just like to plan Mon-Fri. Some people like to plan for the whole week, while Sun-Thurs suits other better. Decide what suits you.
Step 3
Make your dinner plan! Decide what you want to cook on each of the nights and write it under that days heading. This piece of paper can then be stuck on the fridge, or kept in the kitchen, so all members of the family know what is for dinner each night, and can even help to prepare if they arrive home early.
Don’t stress over this step. You do not have to plan a dish exactly, you may just like to plan what meat you will cook, and what vegetables and carbohydrate will accompany it. It is just a rough plan, and allows you to make a list of the main products you need to buy at the supermarket that week.
Tips: It is wise to include variety in this step. Try and include a variety of meats, such as red meat, chicken, fish and pork and even include a vegetarian night. Do the same with the vegetables. Vary between roasted, steamed or stir fried vegetables, or make salads using a variety of vegetables. Same goes for the carbohydrate. Alternate between potatoes, rice, pasta, noodles, cous cous or breads (such as pita, pizza bases). You may like to theme your days, such as Indian night with chicken and rice, Thai night with beef and noodles or Mexican night with kidney beans and taco shells. Don’t forget your vegetables!
Step 4
Write your shopping list. You know what meats you need, approximately how much and what type of vegetables you want and what staples you need to have in the cupboard. This is your basic list, and you can build on it when you are at the supermarket.
Don’t forget to add things like milk, bread, cereals, fruit, yoghurt etc. Do this by thinking about your day, and the other members of the family’s days. You need to cater for breakfast, school and work snacks, lunches and other daily snacks. Remember, fresh fruit is the best snack of all, so plan to stock up on fresh fruit instead of crisps, chocolates and snack bars.
Step 5
You are at the supermarket, list in hand and ready to shop. The most important thing to remember is to stick to the list. You spent good time planning it, so don’t back out now.
Remember earlier we said that you would ‘build on your list’ at the supermarket? This is where you finalise your meals. The cheapest and quickest way to do this is to find some ‘ready to make’ sauces etc that will go with your meat, vegetable and carbohydrate choices. Walk down the isles of the supermarket dedicated to certain cuisines, such as Indian, Asian and Mexican as there is always a large variety of ‘ready to make’ jars and sachets available. Choose ones that don’t require extra additions such as cream, butter or any extravagant purchases. Every supermarket also has an isle that is dedicated to ‘ready to make’ sachets and jars and you will find a huge variety here. The best part is, the recipe is on the pack for you, so anyone in the family can do it!
As an example, in the Indian section of the supermarket you will find a ‘ready to make’ jar of Rogan Josh curry. All you need to do it dice some chicken, brown it, add some diced capsicum, mushroom and onion, add the sauce and simmer for 15mins. Meanwhile, prepare some rice in the microwave or on the stove top, and there you have it, a healthy meal in less than 30mins!
Note: Some of these ‘ready to make’ jars and sachets can be high in salt. Choose reduced salt, or low sodium varieties when possible, or limit them to three meals a week. You always have a meat and three veg option for the other nights!
Added to site on : Monday, 28 March 2011