As food and energy prices continue to rise we’ve been talking to members to hear back on some life changes that they are making to cope with the cost of living crisis.
This news post is the first in the series of Members Helping Members’ giving advice to help others survive the Cost of Living Crisis.
Rather than focus on the 50p or £1 meal challenges we wanted to focus on creating healthy and sustainable meals that anyone with little cooking experience or time could realistically achieve on a day-to-day basis and here’s some of the advice that Gary, a member of Wave Community Bank would like to share:
“My main aim was to make shopping and cooking more sustainable. So after stripping everything back and keeping it to what I can control over the autumn here’s how I’m going to achieve this:
- Changing my shopping habits. My shopping list now contains more beans and pulses and they are fast becoming my go to items. Healthy, natural and packed with nutrition these protein bombs can work on their own as the centrepiece to meals or add bulk to stews and curries. With an onion, tinned tomatoes and some herbs and spices throw in beans or chickpeas and it will provide a filling, healthy and easy-to-make dish in no time.
- With a can of chopped tomatoes you can practically have the foundation of any cooked meal. After doing some research I found that chopped tomatoes on account of them being picked and canned at their optimum nutrition value have a higher source of vitamins than fresh tomatoes. The same goes for frozen fruit and vegetables.
- What I have noticed is how easy it is to get portions of fruit and veg into dishes to cover the 5 a day edict that sustains a healthy lifestyle. One onion, iceberg lettuce, celery stalks and a carrot can easily be made into a salad. You could add an apple and or raisins to boost vitamin intake and the addition of sweet potatoes which are still relatively cheap lifts this salad to a whole other level. I find microwaving a sweet potato or two and adding it to this salad adds not only more nutrition but some healthy carbs leaving you to then choose some protein such as some chicken, pork or if on a budget a can of tuna for a well-balanced, healthy and filling meal.
I don’t want to cut foods out that are staples so I will aim to continue buying bread, milk, pasta, rice and potatoes. I know they are all increasing in price but in my opinion, they are still my best bet at making my meals sustainable and nutritious. A bag of pasta is still 1/6 the price of a pint in a town centre pub and a bag of rice is even cheaper and multiple meals can be made from them. A bag of potatoes comes in anywhere between a pound and £1.50 but again multiple potatoes are in the bag so they can add bulk and nutrition for a lengthy period of time. The absolute key to this strategy of still buying staple foods whilst trying to eat on a budget will be wasted. I am determined to waste nothing! My key steps so far to a waste-free kitchen are below:
- Freeze bread in small portions(2 slices)and take out what you need when you need
- Use milk in breakfasts such as porridge(or overnight oats if your lifestyle is busy)
- Potato skins fried in a little oil, and salt and if you have it soy sauce makes for lovely crispy bacon-like substitutes to offset the softness of mash. The skin of potatoes contains most of the nutritional benefits so throwing it away is not only throwing money away but watching valuable fibre and vitamins sink to the bottom of the bin.
- Use the stems of vegetables. Cauliflower and Broccoli stems contain a lot of good nutrition and are delicious cooked in pasta or rice. I don’t understand why people throw half of the vegetable away when it is perfectly fine and delicious
- Liquid – Any leftover liquids from wine, or beer through to tea or coffee can be kept and added to stews and meat dishes for enhanced richness and depth. See below for logistics.
- Freeze, freeze and freeze – bananas can be chopped up and frozen ready to use for smoothies, herbs can be chopped and put into the freezer and ready to use when needed. Liquid leftovers and herbs can be stored in ice cube trays which you remove and defrost when needed.
- Yoghurts and cheeses last longer than you think! They are basically living bacteria and mould and most people throw these out before they are off. Just smell and be prepared to cut slivers of mould off the cheese. Don’t throw blocks of perfectly good cheese away.
- Alcohol – Don’t waste this; use it in your cooking!”
We would like to continue this conversation with our members and encourage everyone to share their money-saving tips whilst still adopting a healthy lifestyle so if you have any top tips then please comment below or email your article to info@wavecb.org.uk
