Eating Healthy on a Budget: Food Diary #2

Hello all, thank you for you patience! Here is the second half of my food diary for the first week of this series. As a bonus, my flatmate returned from a trip home with a substantial harvest of home-grown plums, three cheers for fresh fruit!
It's been seven days since my shop, what am I left with? On Thursday morning I had two eggs and a banana spare for a pancake breakfast. Otherwise, I am left with just a small amount of lettuce, one remaining potato, the tinned corn, and half the cheese.  This means that none of the produce has gone to waste and that I bought a good amount of food to last the week. I was lucky to be able to get a few free snacks, from the haul of plums, but I have enough odds and ends in the pantry that I could have easily made it work without. I have been a little lacking in appetite this week for a few reasons, and it has been too hot for my morning run, so it would be usual for me to eat a little more than this (I often snack on flourless, sugar-free mug cakes to top up for the day but didn't feel the need this week). The following is the remainder of my food diary, and below is my intention for shopping and blogging this week. Enjoy!

Sunday
Breakfast - Pumpkin pancakes and a banana on the side (recipe!)

Lunch – Lettuce and cucumber salad with lots of olive oil

Snack – Tangelo

Dinner – Quick Spanish stew-like dish of fried chorizo, 1/2 tin of diced tomatoes, 1 diced carrot, 1 tbsp olive oil, topped with grated cheese

Protein: 49g

Monday
Breakfast - Brown rice porridge with a sliced banana and splash of soy milk, 1 plum
Lunch - Lettuce, cucumber and tomato salad with tuna
Snack - 1 plum

Dinner - Spanish tortilla, served with mixed veggies and a handful of grated cheese.

For those unaware, a Spanish tortilla, or Spanish omelette, is a dish similar to a frittata, consisting of just potatoes and egg (and sometimes onion, depending on who you ask!).  It's a really simple dish, full of protein and healthy starches, totally delicious, and very budget-friendly. One tortilla (5 or 6 eggs and one medium potato) makes two serves or four snacks.
Protein: 48g


Tuesday
Breakfast - Smoothie: 1 banana, 1 tbsp cocoa, 1 cup soy milk, 1 plum, 1 tbsp quinoa flakes
Quinoa flakes are another handy to thing have in the pantry, but are definitely on my "luxury items" list!
Lunch - Lettuce, tomato, cucumber salad with tuna and olive oil

#mealprep

Snack - 1 plum
Dinner - Spanish tortilla, served with mixed veggies
Protein: 57g

Recipe, as above

Wednesday
Breakfast - Banana pancakes

Lunch - Lettuce and cucumber salad with tuna (my last tin!)
Snack  - 1 plum
Dinner - Lamb stew with quinoa, left over from earlier in the week
Protein: 56g

 


It's supermarket day today.  I'm aware for my shop that I still have my frozen vegetables and oven fries in the freezer, and I've checked the in-store specials - if you are in NZ and ready to shop today, Countdown is selling size 16 whole fresh chickens for $9, which is a decent price, and I'll be describing how to make the most of a whole chicken in the blog this week.  I will also be posting some recipes, starting later today with no-grain pancakes and continuing with a few more simple baking recipes. If you have any questions or comments, let me know!

Eating Healthy On A Budget: Food Diary #1

So, Auckland suddenly decided to crank out the summer weather and the heat has done a really great job of zapping me of my appetite the last few days. I mean who wants to stand over a hot pan with 27°C sunshine blasting through the window? Being personally cooked is also draining my brain energy a little so the witty and coherent post I wanted to write is going to have to wait until tomorrow, when I will be comfortably and coolly seated at my air-conditioned desk.
The amount of time I’ve spent ducking into the freezer for ice cubes this week has encouraged me to post about how one can efficiently make use of frozen foods so, that shall be tomorrow’s read.  For today, I am going to share my food diary since buying my weekly shop.

This feels a little weird and personal but I think that it’s the best way to show how I do what I do! I’m going to include the approximate amount of protein eaten each day, according to calculations made with MyFitnessPal. Proteins are essential nutrients and seem to be the first thing people panic about when anyone changes their diet (as anyone who’s ever gone vegetarian can attest!). According to the NZ Nutrition Foundation, the minimum RDI of protein for a woman my age is 46g (source) and as you will see I easily achieve that in my day to day diet.  This stuff is important to know because eating less red meat is a great way to save a few dollars, and doing so doesn’t have to negatively impact your health.

If you have questions about any of the meals, or would like to see recipes, please let me know and I’ll do my best to answer :)

Eating Healthy On A Budget Part 2: Forty Dollars Worth of Food

I did my weekly shop today, first hitting up Countdown after checking the specials online, and then heading to my local veggie shop on the way back.

Here is how I went at Countdown:

 

$21.88 worth of noms

And in words, for those who prefer:
1 x tin of diced tomatoes: 80c
1 x tin of corn kernels: 89c
4 x tin of tuna (95g): $1 x 4 = $4
1 x soy milk: $2.50
1 x lemon: $1.05
1 x 208g basa fillet: $2.08
1 x lamb leg steak: $4.56
1kg brown rice: $2.50
1 dozen eggs: $3.50
Total: $21.88

I made up a list using the online shopping tool that came to about $19 that looked similar to the above, but included an extra tin of tomatoes and an extra tin of tuna, but no lamb and half the amount of rice.  I scanned the Quick Sale area of the meat and picked out the lamb, and also spotted the 1kg rice on special and an in-store deal on basa fillets.  By swapping out a couple of tins I was able to stay within a reasonable budget and get more variety. Thrilling stuff! But it's in-store decisions like this that are important for frugality and I think it's a good example of how a little research and prep can go a long way. I mean, red meat? On my budget? :)

How I went at the veggie shop:

Eating Healthy on a Budget Part 1: Intro & Basic Shopping Tips

Ok, I'm trying a new thing and I'm not sure how it's going to go!  I've been asked a couple of times, particularly by people who've lived with me, how I'm able to eat healthy food most of the time while on a teeny tiny budget. This is a great question, and I'm never 100% sure how to answer. My guess is that it's been a combination of time, practice and slow-and-steady changes to the way I handle my finances and the kind of foods I eat.  It took me several years to switch from a run of the mill kiwi diet to the Mediterranean-style, produce-focussed diet I currently eat and it takes time, effort, planning and a reasonable amount of cooking knowledge to eat the way I do on the meager student budget I subsist on.

That's the short answer! In order to provide the long answer, I am going to do some write-ups on my weekly shopping and menu, as well as provide some pantry hacks along the way. I am not going to make promises about how often I will write but my intention is to show what I buy week to week, how much I actually spend, and at the very least let you know my meals each day.  I'm no expert, but I can show you what I do. Ideally, I will be sharing some recipes too!

So you can get an idea of what my budgetary situation is like, and how my lifestyle affects my pantry, here are some basic things you should know about me:

• I work sometimes as an extra, but the work available is haphazard at best! My guaranteed income is minimal so, to be brief, I have a budget of $40 a week for food. I know that income is not an appropriate topic for polite conversation, but in this discussion, it's kind of essential. 
• I don't drink alcohol - a major money saver!
• I avoid processed foods as much as possible
• I avoid waste as much as possible (whether it's unrecyclable packaging or perfectly edible leftovers)
• I am gluten free at the moment for health reasons - if you can eat gluten, go for gold, I have no vendetta against this handy protein!
• I am probably addicted to chocolate, having it in my diet is non-negotiable :) 
• I only have to feed myself. I don't have any children or dependents or even a partner to feed which I know makes things a lot easier.

With those facts established, I want to share a couple of top tips for a budget-friendly pantry. Some may be obvious, some... maybe not.

Home Made Baked Beans!

As I wrote in my last post, I am so over prescriptivist diets (further rants to be had on this matter I'm sure!). My personal gastronomic belief system boils down to three core practices:

• read the science yourself 
• experiment with what works best for you 
• eat lots of vegetables in the mean time.   

So, today's recipe might not fit any of those fancy diets out there (oh god I sound out of touch) but I promise it is healthy, easy and inexpensive.  This is a simple recipe to ease me back into blogging but it beats regular old baked beans in both flavour and nutrition and is a great go-to for students. 

Ingredients
Half a chopped onion (50c)
1 can red kidney beans ($1.80)
1 can unflavoured chopped tomatoes (80c)
1 stock cube (20c) dissolved in two tablespoons of hot water
1 tsp paprika (20c)
1 tsp thyme (20c)
1/2 tsp mixed spice (10c)
1/2tsp dried coriander (10c)

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 celsius. 
Put all the ingredients in a small baking tray (a slice tin works well) and stir it up.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until thick and bubbly, stirring occasionally to stop the edges browning.
Makes 4 serves.
Serve with seasonal veggies or a jacket potato.
Cost works out to just under $1 per serve.

I would not recommend putting the oven on just to cook one thing as it's an expensive way to cook!  Now is the time to put in your loaf of bread or pop in a potato to bake.