Balancing the Budget
Having received a query (and thank you for that Ann) asking about the amount of fruit and vegetables we should be eating each day, also how many eggs are OK to eat each week, with regards to fruit and veg. a minimum of five different helpings (a helping is around 100g/app. 4oz) - preferably both fruit AND veg throughout the day and as fresh as possible. Not sure, but I think you can include fresh fruit juices, canned fruit, canned beans and canned tomatoes etc. but NOT potatoes - these are classed as carbohydrates If I've got that wrong, somebody please tell me.
A long time ago I was told that as long as you eat fruit and vegetables that are red, green and yellow/orange (think traffic lights) then the balance is right, latterly purple has been added to the superfoods colour chart (blackberries, blueberries etc). As to the query re eggs, I buy half a dozen a week for the two of us , but do use more if I have got the cake-baking urge come over me.
When I was younger, the advice was always to eat a balanced meal - which meant a serving of protein, carbohydrate and vegetables, and for some reason this sounded so to boring meal. In my youth, it has to be said, it was a but then there wasn't such a wide variety of imported fruit and vegetables as today. Nowadays we know the balanced approach makes sense.
One way to balance the food intake is to take a new approach to shopping. Several years ago I hit upon an idea which - when set as a challenge to an adult class at night school - proved successful in every way. All enjoyed doing it and all were thrilled to have saved money.
What it boils down to (if you'll excuse the pun) is to understand that food divides neatly into four categories: meat/fish - dairy foods - fruit and vegetables - and groceries (mainly bread and storecupboard ingredients). The challenge then is to divide your average weekly food budget into four (a quarter for each section) but aim to spend less on each. Depending on how much you start with, the savings may be large, or with a really tight budget, quite small. But savings you will make.
What happens is that instead of buying what we thought we would like to eat, we start looking instead for the cheapest cuts, the seasonal produce, the best buys. Why buy chops when minced lamb is cheaper? A whole chicken is almost always a worthwhile purchase when we realise it can last for several meals (not to mention making stock). We look for low prices rather than the products. This way we noticing that certain foods: lentils, pearl barley, flour, own brand beans.....are very cheap, and there are many items that have been reduced that could be useful. The discovery that it would be cheaper to drink tea for a week rather than coffee, and that althoug porridge oats make a satisfying breakfast for around 6p, this can also make your feel happier (oats, also peppers, contain a chemical that makes you feel good) as well as healthier- well, that's a bonus indeed.
If a lot of your shopping can be done at a town market late on a Saturday afternoon you will find fruit and veg. being almost given away.
We get so used to eating the same favourite foods that we have stopped looking to see what else is on offer. So am throwing out the challenge to you. Cut your budget and try something different. Let me know how you get on.
A long time ago I was told that as long as you eat fruit and vegetables that are red, green and yellow/orange (think traffic lights) then the balance is right, latterly purple has been added to the superfoods colour chart (blackberries, blueberries etc). As to the query re eggs, I buy half a dozen a week for the two of us , but do use more if I have got the cake-baking urge come over me.
When I was younger, the advice was always to eat a balanced meal - which meant a serving of protein, carbohydrate and vegetables, and for some reason this sounded so to boring meal. In my youth, it has to be said, it was a but then there wasn't such a wide variety of imported fruit and vegetables as today. Nowadays we know the balanced approach makes sense.
One way to balance the food intake is to take a new approach to shopping. Several years ago I hit upon an idea which - when set as a challenge to an adult class at night school - proved successful in every way. All enjoyed doing it and all were thrilled to have saved money.
What it boils down to (if you'll excuse the pun) is to understand that food divides neatly into four categories: meat/fish - dairy foods - fruit and vegetables - and groceries (mainly bread and storecupboard ingredients). The challenge then is to divide your average weekly food budget into four (a quarter for each section) but aim to spend less on each. Depending on how much you start with, the savings may be large, or with a really tight budget, quite small. But savings you will make.
What happens is that instead of buying what we thought we would like to eat, we start looking instead for the cheapest cuts, the seasonal produce, the best buys. Why buy chops when minced lamb is cheaper? A whole chicken is almost always a worthwhile purchase when we realise it can last for several meals (not to mention making stock). We look for low prices rather than the products. This way we noticing that certain foods: lentils, pearl barley, flour, own brand beans.....are very cheap, and there are many items that have been reduced that could be useful. The discovery that it would be cheaper to drink tea for a week rather than coffee, and that althoug porridge oats make a satisfying breakfast for around 6p, this can also make your feel happier (oats, also peppers, contain a chemical that makes you feel good) as well as healthier- well, that's a bonus indeed.
If a lot of your shopping can be done at a town market late on a Saturday afternoon you will find fruit and veg. being almost given away.
We get so used to eating the same favourite foods that we have stopped looking to see what else is on offer. So am throwing out the challenge to you. Cut your budget and try something different. Let me know how you get on.
posted by Shirley at 6:22 am
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