Possible to have healthy diet on €50 pw???

In aldi you can buy spices for about €1.50 each. Get some in your press. They help to jazz up your food and used correctly you can make several different meals from the same ingredients.

I usually buy porridge for breaky(€2.50) most shops line superquin do three for a tenner for mince, cubed steak, burgers etc. then a few chicken fillets, some fish. At most that should cost €25 if shopped correctly. Spuds, rice and pasta on top if that and these can be bought in big sizes and will keep too.

Gummy Panda wrote: »

:eek: :eek: Cat Person!!

Nom nom delicious cat food!

But seriously I always have to included them in my budget, other wise I end up leaving myself short.

Another thing I do is shop everywhere!
Veg is bought in lidl and a supermarket
meat is bought in butchers and lidl
Fish is bought in lidl, supermarket or the back of some guys van!(fish munger that's only here on a friday morning)
I have to go to a different supermarket to get the catfood
And then just little bits here and there like franks hot sauce, stuff in the health shop.

I've alot of time on my hands so it's not too difficult doing this.

is it worth spending the extra cash and getting 95% lean mince, as opposed to the, say, 80%. is the extra fat really that bad for you?

I do, I'll buy the supervalu 4 for 4 euro sweet potato cut and freeze them, buy lots of Aldi frozen veg 6, offer fruit and veg 6, wholewheat crackers 1, Aldi multigrain rolls, pesto 1, water 2 (10 litres), Shredded wheat 1.50, low far garlic cream cheese 70c.
I buy Quorn so no luck but there is plenty of frozen unprocessed meat in Aldi, and get a big sack of potatoes but limit yourself to two with meat and lots of veg and don't have them everyday its easy to have a jacket potato everyday for dinner or maybe I'm just really Irish.

I splash out on Pumkin seed Ryvita 2, used to get Philadelphia had to settle. Unless you want to live on frozen fried food, pizza and noodles Tesco and Dunnes won't get you far.

70-1.50, cheese/ham to make sambos with and freeze them, cereal bars better to make your own so building up your own cellar of basic dry ingredients that never go off will be helpful

I'm still learning how to cook obv so yeah someone showing you is helpful and also get a lot of small cheap freezer bags and as many little-normal sized lunch boxes. You can freeze lunches and dinners unless you don't have a very big freezer.

I think you could probably eat healthy (and slightly unhealthy- bangers and mash or aldi pizza for 1.50each) for under 30 euro a week..

Dude if you buy a medium sized chicken (1600grams) in aldi for 4.65 and cook it in the oven for 1.5 hours at 190degrees you will have enough meat for 4-5 dinners. If you had one breast with mash potato (2.5kg potato 2.50euro in aldi) (you know how to peel,boil untill soft and mash potatoes right? bit of salt, pepper and butter...lovely!) boil a few frozen peas (2euro for a big bag) and make bisto instant gravy (get that in tesco for 2 quid lasts 5months)...that'd be one filling dinner...

With chicken you need to get stuck in with your hands...pull all that nice cooked meat off the legs and wings and carcass and stick it in a curry... get a pack of curry powder (knowr curry powder 1.20 per pack in tesco) add water in a pot stir on heat.. add chopped onion(bag of 5 onions for about 60cent in aldi), buy a pack of mixed peppers yellow, red green in aldi for 1.75.. chop a half of each colour into small bits (dont eat the seeds of the peppers!!) and fry on a medium heat in a pan and add the remaining chicken, chopped onion and peppers into the curry sauce and simmer (cook on lowest heat for a 30 mins) add a bit of pepper or chili...

buy a big bag of rice...not the uncle bens stuff thats a rip off... boil your loose rice in a pan of water and when its done after about 20 mins put it on a plate with your curry.. you'll get 2-3 dinners from this...

at this point you've got 4-6 dinners from 1 chicken ! amazing....

here's one i made earlier...

bolognaise with pasta:
Get some turkey mince in aldi 450grams about 4euro... very lean no fat just throw it in a pot on the hob and stir and it will cook; you dont even need to add oil.. chop an onion and the rest of your peppers same way you did with your curry throw everything into a pot and add a large jar of dolmio bolognaise sauce...leave simmer for about 30-40mins and stir it up every 5.
buy a big bag of twirley pasta which is only about 1.50...this will last months...boil a handfull of pasta for 25mins similar to rice for curry...strain and plate with scoop of your bolognaise ...you'll get about 3-4 dinners out of this..

it probably works out at 3euro per dinner..

buy some cheap plastic tupperware/lunchboxes in tesco...the cheaper the better...this is for freezing your food... make a bolognaise and eat one today and tomorrow but freeze the remaining..you dont freze pasta or rice you cook that when heating your frozen bolognaise etc. then make something different and eat the frozen bolognaise in about a week...so you wont get pissed off eating the same stuff too often...

9 sausages for 3euro in aldi...

3 sausages under the grill, mash potato, peas, fried onion, bisto instant gravy... rap the remaining 6 sausages in batches of 3 in tinfoil (so they dont all stick together) and freeze them...

all the ingredients for these meals is available in aldi (excluding the dolmio sauce and one or two other things...) and you could do all this for under 30euro a week easily... with all this stuff you will have about 10 dinners, things like rice, pasta, spuds, instant gravy, frozen peas, you wont buy regularly... and this is nice dinners but simple...you can advance on this when you get a better understanding of cooking...

Aldi is your man...im sure lidil is similar... get the bog roll for cheap and a surprisingly tasty bottle of white wine there too for under a 5er...

Argos does cheap but half decent kitchen utensils for 8euro.. so they might help too

can you tell im a student... im almost qualified buy my thrifty cooking is my best skill

get stuck in...you'll enjoy it..

Just to add - the local Asian supermarket is your friend too, here you will find a plethora of cheaply priced cupboard staples such as big bottles of soy sauce, lime juice and sweet chilli sauce which are excellent for jazzing up marinades and sauces.
You'll likely get nuts much cheaper here too. And bunches of fresh herbs. Try a chopped handful of coriander in curries and or mixed with mint and added to lamb mince and spices to make a reasonably cheap "tagine".
You'll also find big bags of rice and noodles on the cheap here too.

My partner and I do our weekly shop between Tesco, Aldi and the Asian supermarket for about €75.00 for the two of us for the week, and includes basics like loo roll, washing tabs and shampoo etc.

And you can get great red wine in Aldi for about €5 a bottle. Their cava is nice too if you fancy something posh. Or their Southern Belle bourbon for €14 a bottle is fantastic. Stick it in a fancy decanter (salvage form a charity shop for around a tenner) and you'll be lauded as the fanciest of your mates!

dazzlemoo wrote: »

Saturated fat is good for cholesterol?
Where have you heard that?!

http://www.truthaboutabs.com/saturated-fat-is-not-evil.html

http://chriskresser.com/new-study-puts-final-nail-in-the-saturated-fat-causes-heart-disease-coffin
Meta-analysis talked about in that article
http://www.ajcn.org/content/early/2010/01/13/ajcn.2009.27725.abstract

http://www.dietdoctor.com/science
Lots of info and links in this one, looks like the comments might have something interesting to say too.

Have to mention Chris Masterjohn
http://blog.cholesterol-and-health.com/2010/01/saturated-fat-is-not-associated-with.html

http://www.drbriffa.com/2010/01/15/two-major-studies-conclude-that-saturated-fat-does-not-cause-heart-disease/

And if you want it in a 3minute youtube video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8WA5wcaHp4&feature=player_embedded

blorg wrote: »

This is misleading; there are contradictory studies on whether it is good or bad (in many areas where a lot of work has been done you will find studies supporting both sides) and the results either way are inconclusive but the consensus is that it is bad and intake should be restricted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturated_fat_and_cardiovascular_disease_controversy

It really shouldn't be restricted, the studies that showed it was bad for you are badly done.

This is from El Dangeroso thread The definitive guide to saturated fat (or how to stop worrying and love butter)

Cholesterol:

But, doesn't saturated fat raise LDL or cholesterol, the 'bad' cholesterol? Well that's not actually established, most of the trials are short-term (<12 weeks), low-quality and the results are all over the place, some show slight reductions from reducing saturated fat but they are usually poorly controlled, as in they don't take into account what they are replacing the saturated fat with and how that effected cholesterol level. In the longer term trials the association pretty much disappears when other factors are controlled for (like smoking and obesity.).

Saturated fat does consistently and reliably raise HDL cholesterol however, and unless you're crazily out of range, indicative of a serious infection, the higher the better.

There's a crazy amount of info in there and will worth reading.

Thomas Magnum wrote: »

You know what they say, extraordinary claims requires extraordinary evidences. If you're going to go against the established science, you had better have some god damn good evidences to do so. All the Fred Flintstone diet crowd have is some weak sauce from a few cranks.

It was a 5min search and they have links on their articles to studies, if you want to believe that it's just a few cranks well then that's alright with me. I believe the 'established science' is a farce and their evidence is twisted and that's alright with me too.

€50 on food a week? For yourself?:eek:

Jaysus man, I spend €25 a week and eat really well like a king and dont put on weight!

Get eggs, fish, meat, veg, fruit, bread and some treats. Mix it up each week. As others have said, buy yourself a basic cook book too.

You dont need to spend that much on yourself, unless your going to Stupidquinn or something!

Gummy Panda wrote: »

I have a feeling this thread is going to get interesting


*grabs popcorn*

I'm afraid your going to have to put down the popcorn, I've no desire to start into an argument with someone online about stuff where I know they're going to find something to disagree with no matter how little that thing might be and will ignore any good points you make or just keep repeating their previous points.
It's all a bit meh, why bother getting into an argument with someone who's only contribution to boards seems to be to argue. I've figured out when it comes to other people I'm only going to deal with the ones who are willing to listen, even if we don't agree, and a raw vegan on youtube made me start thinking that way. I feel healthier and happier doing my online stuff with this in mind.
I've also learned a new word, illiberal - narrow-minded; prejudiced; bigoted; intolerant. I probably came across it somewhere before but I don't remember

And it'll completely derail the thread. And on that note, in the butchers I can get free fat, I render it(cut up and heat gently) so I have free fat to fry/roast with and now I've gotten some free bones that I'm going to make into a broth but I think that might be too advanced for the op.
The main thing is learn to cook real food and your flying!

If your looking to gain while keeping to a budget why would you be buying lots lean meat?

Whole chickens, Ham Fillets, Bacon Joint, 20% minced beef, stewing beef, pork chops, milk, eggs, butter - Proteins and fats. There is probably a deal every week on some of the above in Lidl/aldi/tesco/dunnes

Aldi super six for cheap fruit & veg or any of the supermarkets for frozen veg.

Potatoes pasta and rice are all dirt cheap too for your carb sources.

Here's what I'd get on a typical week:

Chicken 10 breasts from butchers €10
Tesco Tinned Mackerel 10 tins €6.50
Tinned Tuna 4 tins €3
Spinach + Rocket €3
Carrots €1
Broccoli €1
Cauliflower €1.50
Cherry Tomatoes €1.50
Cucumber €1
Mayonnaise €1 (Will do 2 weeks)
Tesco Honey & Mustard salad dressing €1.50
Eggs 18 (€3) 12 (€2.20)
Cheese 500g €3.20
Milk 2l €2

Total: €39.20 (no doubt you could get some items cheaper either!)

€10 to spare and quite healthy if I do say so myself.

Here's a list of stuff that I get too but take me a few weeks to get through:

Sunflower Oil €2
Peanut Butter 1kg €5.50
Almond Butter 1kg ~€11
Butter 454g €2
Mixed Herbs €1
Season-All seasoning €2.20
Frank's Red Hot Sauce €2.50 (AMAZING, goes one EVERYTHING )

I could be missing out a few things that I have in my stock cupboard but for the most part, €50 will allow you to eat very well!

EDIT: Just remembered you're trying to bulk up. The €10 left over will very easily buy your carbs for the week too (I'm low carb so don't buy em) and possibly extra chicken, mince or pork, whichever you fancy.