I love food. I’m always hungry. This has been an ongoing predicament, and I remember being the greediest child known to man. I was the kid at the party who would eat until they were sick, run round at 100mph until I felt better, and then shovel more cake in.
While I am a hungry individual in general, I’m actually quite tight when it comes to buying everyday food. I refuse to do my food shop at Sainsbury’s let alone Waitrose, and I shake my head when I see colleagues coming back into the office with a £7 lunch from Pret. I once saw a woman doing her big food shop at M&S and I don’t think I’ve ever quite recovered from the shock.
I was the kid at the party who would eat until they were sick.
I don’t like spending lots of money on food because there really is no need to. With a bit of imagination and planning, it’s easy to shop cheaply and eat healthily for not very much at all.
It also doesn’t cost more money to eat healthily. I saw a woman in a particularly rough bit of Birmingham whip out bags of Space Raiders for her kids’ breakfast – I felt like telling her IT WOULD BE CHEAPER TO GIVE THEM A BANANA.
I saw a woman in a particularly rough bit of Birmingham whip out bags of Space Raiders for her kids’ breakfast!
Every month when payday comes (my favourite day) I do my big shop online to last me for the month. This always includes my staples – lots of chicken, meat, fish, frozen veg, and sauce-y stuff to make meals with. Then in the week I go to Lidl or Aldi (how I love them) for fruit, veg and any extras. I spend an hour or so on a Sunday cooking up a storm.
This what I did last week:
- Cooked a family-sized chicken. Saved some for dinners and lunches. With the leftovers made a red Thai curry with sweet potato. That’s three weeknight dinners done for about a £5.
- Made a pan of brown rice. Kept it in the fridge to add to meals. £1
- Four cans of tuna and sweetcorn to make 10 delicious tuna burgers. These went with salad for my work lunches and a jar of chutney. £4 for five spectacular lunches.
- Whizzed chickpeas, garlic, olive oil in the blender. Hummus done for multiple snacks. £1.50
- Bought 20 apples, so stewed them and made a large apple crumble. £2
So for the grand total of £12, I ate all this. YUM. So while I may be financially disorganised, I can prep like a boss and keep my demanding belly full. What are your food hacks?
