Eating healthy is too expensive

[ByLoudSeal]

Big shop just cost £150. I don’t buy organic, and I will go for own brand if the taste/quality is fine. Includes fresh veg, tinned fruit, meat, eggs, milk, bread, a box of cereal, tinned meals, healthy snacks, toilet roll, fabric softener, disinfectant spray and washing up sponges, It won’t even last the full week and is unsustainable

It's not magic and its not a MN invention, it's the normal way to use a chicken.

It's only since the introduction of industrial farming that people have got into the habit of eating larger portions of meat more often.

A few weeks ago I went to a recording of The Kitchen Cabinet (the Radio 4 food panel show) where a male chef known for hearty traditional British food talked about exactly the same process that @Azandme describes. It's very unlikely he got the idea from Mumsnet.

We’re having a healthy month this month and we bought:
Bannanas
Strawberries
Pears
Apples
Chicken fillets
2 bags of Quorn chicken pieces
Fresh cod fish fillets
Fish in butter sauce
Milk
Yogurts
2 boxes of porridge sachets
4 noodle pots (partners work lunches)
5 packets of microwave rice
2 jars of curry sauce
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Onions
A pepper
Salad cheese
Peeled potatoes
Herby potatoes
Mediterranean style vegetables
4 lunchables for our little one

All of that was just under £60 and will feed us for 5 teas (we already have stuff in for my lunches) and breakfasts for the week plus leftover porridge sachets for next week (will just need more milk)

@toofatwontfit what are you making for the 5 teas out of that list? There's only 4 sources of protein and 1 lot of veg!

We had:
Fish, potatoes and salad
Spiced chicken, Mediterranean style vegetables, herby potatoes and rice

We will be having:
2x Quorn curry with rice
Fish in butter sauce with packet mash and tinned vegetables that we already have in

Just quorn and curry sauce??

Join Olio people. I’m a food waste hero on there and the amount of stuff the supermarkets are ready to throw out is huge!!

We go in collect it all, sort it list it and store it till collected.

Best before dated and use by. Use by must leave the same day. Vegetables, fruit, breads, loose bakery, meat, yoghurts, milk, vegan meat, sandwiches.

No tinned goods normally or frozen. Sometimes even hot meals from restaurants / school catering.

very good for stretching a budget and does its but for stopping waste food too.

And onion

we clearly have different opinions on healthy eating!!

I would say a lot of the things on your list can be bought pretty cheaply i.e. if you are buying supermarket brand etc. However, it's quite a lot of food for not even a full week. Lots of snacks and tinned meals which won't do you any good. You need to focus on more wholesome, filling meals, that'll take away some of the reliance on snacks.

You can easily make your own soups - get a hand held blender and whip up a batch of soup for the week and re-heat when you want it. Tons cheaper and healthier - not full of sugar and added crap.

Make your own 'healthy snacks'. Chocolate covered rice cakes can be made for a fraction of the price of buying them pre-made! Granola bars, low-sugar cookies, can all be made cheaply!

I tend to bulk out my meals so that meat goes further. For example with a big box of mince, I'll make a chili con carne and a spag bol. Bulk them out using beans, grated carrots, veggies etc. Goes a long way.

Bake a load of potatoes in the oven and microwave in the week to have with yummy fillings such as baked beans, tuna, egg mayo, salads, coronation chicken etc.

From an olio user thank you for doing it.

I have halved our shopping bill using Olio

Fruit and veg shops are cheaper than you think they’ll be, same with a butchers.

We currently spend about £175 on a family of 6 including teenagers.

I could get it cheaper but there are a few indulgences that I allow because we can afford it now, but money did used to be much tighter in the past.

Cooking on a Bootstrap is a great website for very cheap meal ideas.

Our go to healthy and cheap snacks are carrot or cucumber sticks, the kids also love slices of bell pepper.

As PP have said, bulking out dishes with lentils, beans or a handful of oats or veg goes a long way.
Getting a big joint of meat and making it last a few meals is also handy. Cook a big joint of beef/ham for a Sunday dinner, then use the leftovers for risotto/soup/omlette filling/noodle dishes. Or the famous mumsnet chicken.

For lots of autumn or winter dishes I would crack out the bread machine and have a fresh loaf on the table too, to bulk things out.

Kids love a "bits and bobs" lunch or dinner where I put everything that's close to going out of date out on the table and they can graze at chopped veg, meat, cheese, coleslaw, bread and maybe the odd bowl or two of something left over.

They are also big fans of pasta salads for lunchboxes with different types of pesto and some sweetcorn and cucumber. I'm not sure about other shops, but in Tesco you can get a bag of mini apples for less than £2 and there's maybe a dozen or something in there.

I can easily feed a family for £150 a week using fresh food (but there's nothing wrong with tinned fruit if it's not in syrup)

I never buy chicken breast, always thighs as cheaper and juicier. Buy veg that's local/ in season as that will be cheaper than green beans etc that have been flown in.

I bulk out chilli/curries/pasta sauce with lentils, goes a lot further. I also chop up any random leftover veg I've got and Chuck that in.

I buy the bags of frozen mixed fruit, as I have that on porridge and it's way cheaper than using the fresh.