• Healthy eating made convenient

    Posted on January 21st, 2009 Saver Queen 14 comments

    _mg_36751_mg_3047_mg_3377_mg_3643_mg_3609_mg_3105

    My post, “Take the high cost out of low-brow foods” was my most popular blog post yet!

    We all rely on convenience foods now and then, but there are ways to build convenience into your lifestyle without having to pay for it.

    It’s easy to throw money out the window on things like take-out coffee, fast food, and “instant” or frozen meals.  If you don’t plan ahead and get everything you need, it’s easy to find yourself in need of a quick meal.  And if you are exhausted, with little food in the fridge, it’s easy to rely on a take-out window, a box, or even a telephone for dinner.

    Here’s an alternative that can literally save you thousands of dollars each year.

    Set-aside some time.  Pick an afternoon (say, Sunday) where you dedicate a few hours to making a few large meals that will get you through an entire week. 

    Plan ahead.  Think about what your family needs to eat for the week – for all three meals, plus snacks.

    Look at what you’ve got in your fridge, freezer and pantry, and think about what you can make with what you’ve got.  Be creative!

    Don’t just make a single meal; make large batches of food that can freeze or keeps well in the refrigerator.

    Portion out meals in individual tupperware containers so they can be plucked from the freezer or fridge and taken to work or school and are easily re-heated.

    Use the same ingredients in multiple ways – if you are using carrots for the soup, cut some up to take for lunches or snacks; dice one or two and add them to a pasta or chicken salad; shred the rest of the carrots and use them in carrot muffins. By using one ingredient in multiple ways, you will save time.

    Get some help.  If your partner is willing, ask him or her for help.  You might end up enjoying your time together.  If your kids can help, ask them too.  Baking or cooking together can act as bonding time.  If you’re alone, try to enjoy the quiet time.

    Need some examples? Here are a few of my favourite tips:

    Make a large batch of soup and/or chili.  Let it cool and portion out the soups into round tupperware containers and store in the fridge or freezer. Tupperware can be purchased at the Dollarstore. Through the week you have single-portion soups that are easily microwavable or heated up in a saucepan on the stove.  A healthy, instant meal.

    Roast a chicken – you don’t have to eat it right away; in fact you can shred it, use it in chicken salad (see my favourite recipe here) or save a portion of it for roast chicken salad (just add to some leafy greens with a vinaigrette).  As mentioned on this weeks’ Saver Days, 1.14kg chickens are on sale for under $5.  By preparing chicken salad ahead of time, you’ll have a sandwich filling ready all week.  Prepare a quick sandwich for your lunch in minutes – this can be done the night before or in the morning.

    Make a batch of egg salad – this is an alternative to the chicken salad.  By preparing a healthy sandwich filling in advance, you cut down the time needed to prepare lunch significantly.  

    You can also chop veggies for the week and keep them in the fridge or freezer.  I have heard mixed responses to the idea of having cut veggies sit in the fridge, but no matter what, it’s a better alternative than to relying on fast food or going without the veg all together.  If the veggies are already prepared, it’s easy to add them to a quick pasta or stir-fry.

    Prepare cold pasta or potato salad. Pasta salad is a very cheap, easy dish to make. Potato salad takes a little more time, but is another affordable side dish.  Both make excellent partners to the chicken or egg salad.

    Bake some healthy muffins or banana bread. Using up bananas in the freezer to make banana bread or baking muffins perfect for mornings on the go will eliminate your need to pick up take-out breakfasts; they also add to lunches or serve as tasty snacks in the afternoon or evening. Slice the banana bread and wrap each piece, and each muffin, in saran.  If you don’t need the muffins to be carried “to-go” then you can cut-down on this waste by storing it in a container.  Also check out my list of “10 suggestions for breakfast on the go.”

    Whip up a batch of hummus or other healthy snack that will substitute for fast food cravings.

    What is your tip for adding convenience while decreasing costs?

    Uncategorized
     

    14 responses to “Healthy eating made convenient”

    1. an ostrich named sam January 21st, 2009 at 06:22

      Ah saver Queen, I think you read my mind this week. I don’t buy a lot of ready to go foods. However, my DD and her friends when they are here are forever ordering pizzas and such, as they are too lazy to cook or don’t like whats here.

      I think my plan for the week-end should be to make up a few meals and freeze them. Do you know if you can freeze hummus? We wouldn’t eat it all in a week, but if I could freeze it that would be great!

    2. Diana January 21st, 2009 at 07:40

      I keep cut veg in the fridge all week to make my hubby’s lunches. He eats stir frys almost every day and it’s easy to just pop out the containers rather than cutting stuff up every day.

    3. Kate January 21st, 2009 at 10:26

      Definitely the slow cooker, hands down.

    4. Saver Queen January 21st, 2009 at 11:17

      @Sam – yup, you absolutely can freeze hummus! Just defrost it in the fridge. If you want to make it extra tasty, add a little extra extra-virg olive oil on the top. Another tip to make it really satisfying is to take pitas (even if they are a little stale, this works) and brush with a little olive oil – and a little salt, if you want – and broil until crispy. It’s like a chip. Feels like junk food but it’s much healthier!

    5. Leah January 21st, 2009 at 11:34

      Saverqueen, you never cease to amaze me. These are all simple things, that you wouldn’t think normally think about often. I will start doing some of them for sure. I am big on taking dinner leftovers for lunch the next day, it’s cheap and easy and when you pack up dinner at night I pack my lunch at that time which saves time and money.

    6. Didi January 21st, 2009 at 15:54

      Great post! I work from home so I am pretty lucky in that I do have time to prepare good home cooked meals… but that doesn’t mean I always want to. I usually cook 4-5 times a week and always make extra so that I can have the occasional left-over night when I’ve had a busy day at my home office… I find that if I make a list of what I’m planning to have for dinner each day then the stress is removed from the whole thing and I actually enjoy it. Pre-cutting up veggies is also a great way to cut time.. that and a big pot of home-made meatballs and sauce on Sundays.. usually good for a few meals. ;)

    7. Catherine January 21st, 2009 at 16:06

      SQ – great post ~ love the sharing! Chuckling here as I just finished making a huge pot of ground beef, the trilogy (celery, onion and garlic), 1 sliced leek, 1 sliced zuchinni, tomato paste and sauce ~ in order to make my largest pan of lasagne tomorrow (sometimes with kamut, other times rice lasagne noodles -tomorrow it’s rice). I’ll be adding spinach and Reg. Parm. cheese as a layer and top with a mixture of cheddar and mozzerella cheese. Hubby’s half will have lots of herbs. I should get 10 very large pieces which will do for dinner tomorrow and the rest I can pull out of the freezer whenever. I like to make the sauce the day before so the flavours can ‘marry’.
      Am guessing we’ll have to wear masks to keep our breath under check LOL.

    8. Barbara January 21st, 2009 at 20:57

      Hi SQ, I’ve got to say that I’ve been reading your site (and Gails!) for a couple months now, and love it!! You always have such amazing ideas! In regards to the meal prep, I do exactly what you’re talking about – Sunday afternoon I spend cooking for the week (I’m glad someone else does this too, most people think I’m nuts!) But I must say that I do get tired of the same caseroles and crockpot dishes all the time, it’s really limiting the variety we eat through the week, but we just don’t have the energy to start cooking after being out of the house for 12 hours!! Any suggestions for where to go for different recipes? Thanks again for a great site, and hope you’re settling into your new home now and the employment situation is better!

    9. Saver Queen January 22nd, 2009 at 00:13

      @Catherine – yum, sounds great! What are the rice and kamut noodles like in lasagne? Do you notice a difference from regular noodles? Must be easier to enjoy when you know they are really healthy.

      @Barbara – thanks for the kind words. I honestly don’t know how other people get by if they don’t do any prep on the weekends… whenever I get too busy to do this I always struggle during the week. As to where to go for different recipes – this is a great question, and I might do a whole new post on it. For now I would suggest you visit Canadian Living online or the Food Network online (I love Alton Brown, his recipes are very reliable and easy!)

    10. Kate January 22nd, 2009 at 08:03

      Barbara- if you’re a slow cooking fan, check out The Year of Crockpotting blog: crockpot365.blogspot.com

    11. Dianna January 22nd, 2009 at 14:12

      Thanks for some great topics SQ! I always cook more than I need and fill up my freezer. Thanks for the tip on hummus. I love the stuff but didn’t realize I could freeze it.

      Kate, I also make good use of my crockpot and definitely will check out the Crockpotting blog. Thanks!

    12. Catherine January 22nd, 2009 at 15:45

      SQ~you can’t really tell the difference in the finished lasagne using rice or kamut noodles. Kamut pasta ROCKS!
      I much prefer it but you can’t get it around here – hubby buys it for me at Zehrs in Waterloo or London. It’s really expensive at our local health food store ($4.35)…but I still had $100. leftover in my jars for this week!

    13. Frugal Dreamer January 22nd, 2009 at 16:55

      What great tips!!! :)

      I am stealing your chicken salad recipe ;)

    14. Ginger January 26th, 2009 at 16:02

      Great article!
      I’m currently putting some of these ideas into practice (as you’ve seen already today, hehe).

      All those leftover carrots shall become muffins for breakfast, after I make soup out of them, first! Thank goodness for ziploc bags, eh?

    Leave a reply

Pages

RSS Twitter: saverqueen

Powered by WordPress
Designed by My Mobiles