[blorg]

At 15 stone you would almost certainly have been overweight at that height, certainly with the mention of moobs. Now you are not overweight; this is a good thing. You certainly don't need weight to be fit and healthy; as you mention your running times have improved. Heavy= healthy is an Irish mother thing. If you feel less strong- certainly you can lose muscle mass but has your exercise level also changed? Exercise will build muscle; without you lose it.

As to eating healthily on €50/ week, yes it is entirely possible. You will need to learn to cook for yourself. This is not that difficult, just keep at it and you will get there. I would recommended Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course- it's one book, cheap, and contains about everything you need to know to go from nothing to dinner parties.

I am not a vegetarian but the other thing to consider is that vegetarianism is a huge money saver and in no way incompatible with good health. I haven't been in Ireland for two years and eat a hell of a lot of meat here in Asia (it moves, eat it) but when in Ireland I ate a mostly vegetarian carb rich diet with meat only once or twice a week and was the healthiest and fittest I've ever been (but this was probably more to do with exercise.)

[copeyhagen]

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?

[frag420]

i usually put the mince once cooked into a sieve and run cold water through it to wash of all the fat and then add it to my bolognese or whatever.

[dazzlemoo]

Originally Posted by copeyhagen

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?

It's cheaper to buy the lean steak mince beef in Aldi than it is to buy the fatty one.
I know it's mad but the lean one I buy is €2.89 and the fatty mince is €4.99, which doesn't make sense as usually the lean mince is dearer.
There is very little fat that drains off lean mince, which is better for you and the quality of the meat is better

[matrim]

Might sound a bit odd but could you give your mother money and ask her to cook something you can have in your freezer? Maybe at the same time ask her for lessons on how to cook it. E.g for the next couple of weeks you go over to hers and ask her to show you how to cook it, then bring it home and freeze it. Then when you know how you can do it yourself.

It's much easier to eat cheaply if you can buy and cook in bulk.

[saa]

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.

[dahat]

Just go to Aldi,look around and you will find loads and loads of items priced very reasonable.
Cooking is not as hard as you think,cook simple and you will be fine
Buy a steamer for 20ish euro in Tesco or Argos and you will be fine,do all your veg and spuds in it,no mess,no skill............

[banquet]

Originally Posted by copeyhagen

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?

If in tesco or aldi I buy the 15 % fat mince. However in lidl I think they only have 10 and 20. Will never buy they 20 again after all the grizzle I found in it.

[irish son]

Originally Posted by dazzlemoo

It's cheaper to buy the lean steak mince beef in Aldi than it is to buy the fatty one.
I know it's mad but the lean one I buy is €2.89 and the fatty mince is €4.99, which doesn't make sense as usually the lean mince is dearer.
There is very little fat that drains off lean mince, which is better for you and the quality of the meat is better

I buy 1kg of 20% fat mince for about €3.89 in Aldi, I would imagine the one your getting for €2.89 is 500g or 600g. Also I wouldnt say the leaner mince is better, it depends on a persons goals and diet. Since the OP is struggling for calories and money, Id say the fatter/higher calorie/cheaper mince would be better for him but im far from an expert and would like to know if my thinkings wrong for my own interests.

[Piriz]

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..

[copeyhagen]

I always drain the mince alright, never ehard about rinsing it before, will have to give that a go.

[dazzlemoo]

Originally Posted by irish son

I buy 1kg of 20% fat mince for about €3.89 in Aldi, I would imagine the one your getting for €2.89 is 500g or 600g. Also I wouldnt say the leaner mince is better, it depends on a persons goals and diet. Since the OP is struggling for calories and money, Id say the fatter/higher calorie/cheaper mince would be better for him but im far from an expert and would like to know if my thinkings wrong for my own interests.

The only thing is, the fat from the fatty mince is saturated and when you're frying it, it releases a lot of grease, so that kind of fat wouldn't be good for you.
The lean mince just means you're getting less of the bad fats.
If the OP's looking to increase his calorie intake, he's going to have to eat healthy fats like avocado, oily fish, nuts and seeds.
I was just talking about when it comes to mince, the lean one is better for you generally-i.e cholesterol.

[Orla K]

Originally Posted by dazzlemoo

The only thing is, the fat from the fatty mince is saturated and when you're frying it, it releases a lot of grease, so that kind of fat wouldn't be good for you.
The lean mince just means you're getting less of the bad fats.
If the OP's looking to increase his calorie intake, he's going to have to eat healthy fats like avocado, oily fish, nuts and seeds.
I was just talking about when it comes to mince, the lean one is better for you generally-i.e cholesterol.

Saturated fat isn't bad for you, I'd even say it's good for you it seems to have a positive effect on your cholesterol

[Glitter]

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]

Originally Posted by Orla K

Saturated fat isn't bad for you, I'd even say it's good for you it seems to have a positive effect on your cholesterol

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