How to keep your shopping basket and bank balance looking healthy as prices rocket
WITH LIVING COSTS SOARING, EATING WELL MAY SEEM HARDER THAN EVER. DIETITIAN JULIETTE KELLOW CAN HELP
SERVE PERFECT PORTIONS
Cooking too much can mean super-sized dinners and/or more waste – not great for health or budgets. Use a planner (try lovefoodhatewaste.com) to see how much food you need to buy and cook for your household, then make a shopping list.
Planning helps you budget effectively, limits impulse purchases, and ensures you buy exactly what you need so food nourishes your body, not the bin.
ORGANISE YOUR FRIDGE
Fridges and freezers account for 12% of the average household’s energy bill, says the Energy Saving Trust. The more in your fridge, the more electricity is used to keep it cold, so ditch items that don’t need chilling. Instead, only keep foods in your fridge that will go off and increase the risk of food poisoning if they’re not kept cool such as chicken, fish and leftovers.
BE BRAND AWARE
Economy brands for tinned fruit, veg, beans, bread, pasta and rice can be great value for money and sometimes contain less fat, sugar and/or salt than branded, making them healthier too.
For example, a 22p can of Asda Smart Price Baked Beans contains a teaspoon less sugar and 0.4g less salt than a 90p can of Heinz Baked Beans.
TRY DIY PREP
Chopped fruit and veg, stir-fry mixes and peeled potatoes cost more and are often lower in immune-friendly vitamin C as more of the flesh is exposed to light and air, destroying this vitamin over time. Prepping veg yourself will lessen the losses and save cash.
THAW NATURALLY
Defrosting frozen food in the fridge, not the microwave, saves electricity. Don’t defrost at room temperature, though – it’s harder to keep food below 5⁰C – the point where bacteria start to quickly multiply, increasing the risk of food poisoning.
USE THE LOT
Skins, leaves, stalks and stems make veg go further and add fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to our diet. Leave skins on potatoes, carrots, parsnips, squash and sweet potatoes; steam cauliflower leaves with florets, and add broccoli stems to stir-fries.
MAKE YOUR OWN SARNIES
You’ll save cash and can use lowerfat fillings and fibre-rich wholegrain bread.
A Tesco Tuna and Cucumber Sandwich costs £2 and has 327kcal and 7.4g fat. Make your own using two slices of wholemeal bread, half a can of tuna in brine, a tbsp of light mayo and cucumber slices. That tallies up at 52p, 284kcal and 5.7g fat – a saving of £1.48, 43kcal and 1.7g fat.
BATCH-COOK – THEN FREEZE
You’ll save money by only using your oven or hob once and have dinners in the freezer, reducing the temptation to order expensive, less nutritious takeouts.
USE YOUR MICROWAVE
Shorter cooking times reduce energy costs. The Centre for Sustainable Energy suggests 10 minutes of microwave cooking every day costs under £23 a year, while 30 minutes of cooking on the hob daily costs up to £93 a year (using January 2022 electricity prices, so that will have increased already…).
Microwaving also reduces nutrient losses.
One study found microwaved carrots retained 81% of vitamin C and 63% of betacarotene, while boiled carrots kept just 45% vitamin C and 13% betacarotene.
Skins, leaves, stalks and stems make veg go further and add fibre... Dietician Juliette Kellow
Overcooking may also make food less healthy – mushy veg lose water-soluble vitamins; charred meat can contain cancer-causing chemicals, and soggy pasta has a higher glycaemic index than firm pasta, making it less filling.
GET STEAMING
It cooks food quickly and allows several foods to be cooked together in separate baskets, reducing the number of hob rings you use. Plus, you lose fewer vitamins – steamed broccoli keeps threequarters of its vitamin C and folate (a B vitamin), while boiled broccoli keeps only half its vitamin C and a third of its folate.
BLEND PROTEINS
Replace some of the meat in dishes with canned beans or lentils to cut fat, add fibre, boost your five-a-day and save money.
A 500g pack of Sainsbury’s 20% fat Beef Mince costs £2.10. Use half (freeze the rest for another meal) and add a 400g can of Sainsbury’s Green Lentils, costing 60p. You save 45p, add 12g fibre and lose 49g fat. Even better, cook the lot in one go and freeze half, to save on energy too.
PICK YOUR POTATOES
Swap roast potatoes for boiled or mashed to reduce cooking time, calories and fat.
Trade frozen chips for homemade, skin-on wedges too. They take the same amount of time to cook but cost less and have more fibre.
GO FOR VEG OIL
There’s currently a shortage of cooking oils in the UK and prices may increase, but vegetable oil remains best for budgets and is as good nutritionally as olive oil. It’s made with rapeseed, which contains the fewest saturates of all oils, is rich in heart-friendly monounsaturates, and provides a fifth of daily vitamin E needs in just 1 tbsp.
PRICE-CHECK FRESH V FROZEN OR CANNED
These foods are equally as nutritious as fresh but, surprisingly, not always the cheaper option. For example, a 1kg pack of Asda Frozen Sliced Carrots costs £1.10 whereas the same amount of fresh carrots costs 43p.