No 2 Eat Healthily and in Season

We use lots of seasonable vegetables in our meals. Generally ½ the evening meal will be vegetables. Not a plate full of boiled carrots and peas though, use the carbohydrate and vegetable portions of the meal to make the meat go a long way. Add extra vegetables to a family casserole and serve it in a ramekin with a cobbler topping, or in a pasty or wrap it in a flat bread or crust, fill the plate with some more inexpensive seasonal produce and you’ll not only extend your housekeeping money you’ll improve your health. We borrow culinary styles and techniques, flavour combinations and seasonings from some of the best and most exciting cuisines in the world so the dishes are interesting, fashionable and delicious, they are also affordable. Fresh Produce - the supermarket is rarely the best value place to buy meat and fresh produce. Find a local supplier for these items. I can save $137.00 per year just buying my spuds from my green grocer, not to mention the carrots, onions, apples, mandarins, lettuce, tomatoes, and bananas etc… all of which are cheaper in the green grocer. Those hundreds of dollars will pay for more than a little fuel and time. Meat –Simply compare the price of lean beef mince and boneless chicken breast in your supermarket with the price offered by a wholesale butcher. Is the price on the sticker the only price? Many butchers will give a discount for bulk purchases. A bulk purchase could be anything upwards of 4kgs. Go for quality over quantity. I don’t buy cheap nasty meat to save money. I buy the best we can afford even if it means we have less. Do you know how to cook less expensive cuts of meat? Click on recipes, then click on  beef and lamb and check out the various meat cuts. If you are big meat consumers, consider buying a whole or ½ lamb or ½ a beef from your butcher.  They’ll cut it into its respective portions, including making mince and sausages, along with chops, fillets, steaks and rest. It’s a lot of meat but the price when averaged out is MUCH cheaper than buying a bit each week… My local butcher charges roughly $6.50 per kg for beef and $8.99 per kg for a Lamb (NZ prices). Learn to cook with pulses and legumes, lentils, kidney beans, chickpeas and the like are very cheap and are one of the foods nutritionists recommend we eat more of, because they are an excellent source of protein, iron and fibre and contain no fat. We use instead of or in addition to meat. Pulses have been a staple for peasant cultures for generations and the cuisines that they developed are what we now eat in Restaurants! Those fabulous peasant cuisines – Mexican, Italian, French, Indian/Asian use rice, pasta, pulses, grains, breads or noodles – which are all very cheap, and often high in fibre and low fat with loads of seasonal vegetables and a small amount of good protein, to create really tasty meals. The seasoning gives the dish its identity and is often the least expensive part – a teaspoon of spice only costs about 25 cents. (NZ) Instead of using 8 sausages to feed 4 people, use 3 really good quality butchers sausages, veggies, plump creamy cannellini beans and tinned tomatoes and make a delicious and much healthier cassoulet style meal, a French peasant dish good enough for guests. It’s not just cheap and delicious; it’s a really healthy way to eat. Eat in season- It can be difficult to identify what is in season when you buy produce in the supermarket. At your local fruit and veg shop it’s likely the most plentiful foods are the ones e at the peak of their season and are therefore the cheapest and freshest. Gradual changes to your household food culture are easy to introduce if you plan ahead. Swap beef burgers for bean burgers or bean nachos instead of mince…Its not just cheaper it’s healthier! dg Money saving principal NO. 3 Make a little of something luxurious go a long way