As I’ve previously said, there are 101 ways that we could look at healthy eating on a budget.
One thing I want to make sure I do is to give guidance which is practical. Healthy eating on a budget seems like such a weird concept, because isn’t being healthy expensive? Well it doesn’t have to be.
Today, I want you to think; ‘veg it up!‘.
Ready, come on then and let’s look at how vegetables can be your go-to best friend with these few tips.
Shop the right isles – In most supermarkets you start off being directed along the fruit and veg isles. It’s a great place to start for health and for your budget. So, straight away we’re thinking ‘veg it up‘!
With this I would add, have a shopping list. I’ll go into that a little more in a moment, but for now, start with a list and imagine yourself heading down the fruit and veg isle.
Vegetables and fruit provide us with a plethora of beneficial nutrients, vitamins and minerals and fibre as well as phytochemicals (plant chemicals) and antioxidants (which remove toxins from our system and protect our cells). As well as supporting the removal of toxins from our body they can also provide immune boosting properties.
Vegetables and some fruit (I’m always reticent about shouting about fruit from the rooftops, because despite the benefits, fruit can contain a lot of sugar). This can be challenging for some people to process, particularly those who have metabolic syndrome, are on the diabetes curve or simply those who have issues balancing their blood sugar. Okay, so now that’s out of the way. Yes, vegetables and fruit are largely low in energy value (or calories), so they can also be a great way for maintaining our health and not piling on unnecessary pounds.
If you’re not sure about what vegetables to buy, or what the benefits of them may be, take a look at my A-Z guides.
Buy seasonally – Now it’s a bit trickier to do this because quite often we can get nearly everything that we want all year round. That doesn’t necessarily mean that we should though. Fresh food tastes best when it’s local (therefore, not having been picked too early, transported for millions of miles or been stored in crates and left in a warehouse for ages).
Obviously, from the ground to the plate is the best way to veg it up. If you have the space to grow a little of your own, that’s brilliant. It’s surprising what you can grow on a balcony or window ledge.
Failing that, buy what’s in season. Strawberries are best around June onwards. That’s when they’ll be cheapest because there’ll be an abundance of them, that’s also when they should have reaped the benefits of the sun and be the tastiest. Of course, we can buy them in November and December but they’re often watery and tasteless and it’s the same for many other products.
These are some things which are seasonally available and abundant (even if they come from overseas).
December – March
This is a good time for some root vegetables and greens. Things like potatoes, celeriac, Jerusalem artichokes, swede, cabbage, kale, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, chicory, beetroot.
Apples and pears.
March – June
Think fresh and crispness. Things like asparagus, carrots, lettuce, leaks, chard, spinach, watercress, radish, samphire.
Rhubarb, cherries.
June– September
We should now be able to taste more of the sun. Beans, broad or runners, celery, courgettes, kohlrabi, all different varieties of salad leaves, radish, sweetcorn, tomatoes, cucumber, aubergine.
Black currents, blueberries, apples, figs, gooseberries, figs, greengages, avocado.
September – December
There’s still a little of that autumnal light infused in our foods. We can benefit from, peppers, onions, cucumber, lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, courgettes, marrow, sweetcorn, chard.
Apples, pears, plumbs, figs, elderberries.
Weigh and pay – You can really benefit from buying loose vegetable and fruit items and weighing them rather than buying things in packets.
One of the reasons is that even though things may appear cheaper when you buy them in packets, ask yourself; ‘are you really going to use all of those tomatoes, peppers, carrots, potatoes or even avocados before they go off?’.
Remember if we throw food away, we’re also throwing money away. So, buy what you really need. If you have a family and you know that you’ll use one packet, but are not sure if you’ll use two, then simply still weigh and pay. Buy a packet and buy the additional items as loose.
Avoid the squidgy – Don’t buy veg or fruit that’s squidgy, squashy or reduced because it’s reached its sell-buy-date. That’s unless you know that you’re going to use it that day, or you’re going to cook it straight away and freeze it. If you’re doing that it may be worth it.
I often do that in the autumn with tomatoes which I cook and freeze in batches to use for all types of other things later on. It doesn’t work with carrots which are going off and need to have chunks cut out of them or courgettes. Leave those well alone.
If you look at the national health guidance for energy take, we’re supposed to consume 1/3 rd of our daily intake from vegetables and fruit. The recommendation may be for 5, but I say 10 is best and the easiest way of doing this is to think about incorporating veg and/or fruit at every meal (that’s breakfast, lunch and dinner)!
Simply having these few tips in mind when you start your food shop, thinking; ‘veg it up!‘ can really help you to make good decisions which will support your health, what your eating and your budget!