I often hear people complaining that eating healthy food is too expensive. I call bullshit on that. I was in Dunnes today and bought a bag of sweet potatoes for 1 euro and a tin of chickpeas for 44c.
Yeah, cheaper chicken cuts are definitely a good option.
but easy to get a chicken for a fiver, potatoes for under €2, carrots and peas - and you have a very tasty healthy dinner for 4 people under a tenner including cooking
chicken is probably the best value high protein item available
Even steak,two for a tenner is a similar price of two burgers with a fraction of the meat content.
€5 for a single portion of protein, of red meat, per meal, per person?
I think that might be a stretch for many people who are trying to eat healthily on a restricted budget.
Who eats steak every day?
I'll have steak maybe once every few months, but anyone thinking it's a daily staple is either a guard at London Tower or an Argentinan guacho.
Aldi sell 4 quarter pounders for 4.49.
https://www.aldi.ie/product/butchers-selection-irish-beef-quarter-pounders-000000000000388097
A decent option; I have had a similar product from Lidl myself recently.
But again, when buying for a family, these can quickly add up in price.
Honestly, what's the point of your post?
Everything adds up eventually.
The discussion is about it not being expensive to eat healthily. If all you eat is top quality caviar then eating healthily is not cheap.
My point is that I broadly agree with the OP, but that it can be difficult for some people to eat affordably and healthily, because both of those terms are highly dependant on each individuals circumstances and responsibilities.
What I'm getting at is that it can be very easy for certain people to dismiss other people who live under such constraints that they do not have to deal with themselves.
Who specifically can eat cheaper with take out and convenience food than using ingredients from shops in Ireland?
If a vegan diet requires 80% of a persons income then I'll take your word for it. I've a niece who's vegan but her gripe is lack of options outside her usual stomping grounds, but I've never heard complain about the cost of meeting her needs herself.
Plenty of good value out there when it comes to healthy food if you shop around. I rarely eat takeaways. The price of chipper fast food has gone through the roof.
That reminds me of a skit on Scrap Saturday on RTÉ radio years ago about the menu in an English greasy spoon cafe where the choices were eggs, eggs, spam and eggs OR spam, spam, eggs and spam...
I'll get me hat. 😁
You are either misremembering or Scrap Saturday were ripping off Monthy Python.
Maybe so, it was definitely on RTÉ radio anyway
Eat from the super six and it’s relatively cheap with root stuff usually cheapest. A head of broccoli, large bag of carrots, net onions, bag of nips, Brussels sprouts, bag of frozen peas prob cost combined around 10 euro in Aldi. That veg for the week for a family 4.
Fruit. Buy whats on offer. If you want pink lady apples it can be dear no doubts but other apples always on sale. Easy peelers oranges can be expensive. But you can buy a large organe often for less than one. Berry’s/grapes etc are relatively expensive. Buying frozen can help cost here if you can find a way to eat them from there.
For a family of four could do very decent meat for 7 dinners for 50 quid I think with out too much efforts. Could shave money off the below easy by buying less lean meats. 1 chickens (7.5 max and cheaper if you want)
2 trays of lean mince (15 euro)
1.5kg ham (left overs for sandwiches or make a chicken and ham volu vent) (8 euro)
4 burgers (8 euro)
Portion of chicken pieces (5 euro)
1kg house keeper cut beef (10 euro)
I farm and I am amazed at how cheap food is still.
That's it ! Thanks
Excellent, and great ideas there for the thrifty-minded. 👍️
I have found the cheaper the meal the more time you spend preparing it.
It's very easy to say just do this or just do that, but you need time and the energy for all the prep.
In our house we cook our meals from scratch but we're lucky we work from home so save on travel time.
I've often looked at the prepared meals and wished I could justify buying them.
Same. Everythng from relative scratch (will use bought curry sauces and the like though). Definately takes a bit of time.
If both parent work from home it gets more tricky and then it’s down to preparedness. Which ain’t easy with kids etc. Premade stuff won’t taste as good and will have deck all meat in them. We pick up the odd lazanya or similar and it’s almost vegetarian I think sometimes. Treats can be relatively healthy aswell. That pizza 3 euro max and is nicer and healthier than anything you can buy.
(The oven ain’t cheap but that’s an investment)
Chicken tenders made from mini fillets and cornflake coating etc.
I appreciate I am taking from a relatively privileged position of only having 1 child and there being a parent at home 5-6 days a week.
Lost…bit early?
You forgot to add in a can of Spam. Cooking is not that hard a slow cooker will have a stew or casserole ready when you arrive home. The same with using an oven timer. Mince is very fast to cook. Taking the skin off chicken legs and thighs reduces the fat content of them. A good sized slice of rib of rib or round beef can be slow cooked.
Even fish like smoked Cooley is reaso able as well. On berries most large supermarketd do three for a tenner but frozen berries are an excellent option as well thaw out over night.
Best before are advisory only. Prepared veg or salad leaves do not last becase they are washed. A headof lettuce( about 3-4 different types available ) will easily hold for a week in a green bag in the fridge like these
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/306522133507?_ul=GB&rb_itemId=306522133507&rb_pgeo=GB&ff=11&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5339059258&toolid=10044&customid=CjwKCAjw1N7NBhAoEiwAcPchpyGrKSbEn7FjRcys5oGEiN-BymRzX9WMmZKOwT2TVS5SFNy8EJ-WnhoCYCkQAvD_BwE&gclid=CjwKCAjw1N7NBhAoEiwAcPchpyGrKSbEn7FjRcys5oGEiN-BymRzX9WMmZKOwT2TVS5SFNy8EJ-WnhoCYCkQAvD_BwE&wbraid=Cj8KCQjwsdnNBhDjARIuADmAlzPHyuGDQRw2kg65GBznQMdbJL5KS-Ni0ZTh_aS1CnqBMkJvh3JgGEcDKhoCxLk&gbraid=0AAAAADA7Q_IoYaK_bX-rnxqRkHuLVgGca&adtype=pla&loc_physical_ms=1007850&loc_interest_ms=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22810358134&gbraid=0AAAAADA7Q_IoYaK_bX-rnxqRkHuLVgGca
Discussing healthy eating is more acceptable than having a mild eating disorder, so they frame the discussion around healthy eating. Ask a mental health nurse.
You're pizza's look just delicious.
But I can honestly tell you there's no way I'd ever make pizza again when you can buy one for .49 in Aldi.
I've done all that, made the base, made the sauce, got the toppings and yes it was nice and it filled in an evening.
I think on balance, everyone will find cheaper / healthier / quicker / tastier food but it's all down to money and time and that varies wildly by household.
The fat is good for you, I wouldn't remove it. The type of fats that are bad for you are trans fats and vegetable fats. Real butter and animal fats are good for you. Your body needs them.
Spam?
Never had it, had to google it, a can of Spam is not something on my healthy list……..though all the meats I listed are prob not on some people’s healthy list who see meat is dangerous. I define healthy as “unprocessed”.
Fish is something that is hard to buy cheap. Few people will tolerate a relatively cheap fish like smoked coley due to the smell it leaves in the house after cooking. Not had it in ages due to that. I must get some and cook it in the shed on the gas burner. Boiled it is gloriously tasty dinner.
Agree 100%. I hear "its really expensive" but then you see people with 3 quid 150g Dolmio pasta sauce tubs.
Lets just take Tesco.
2KG of spuds - €3.29
2KG chicken - €6.99
1KG of carrots - €1.39
750g red onions - 69c
400g tomato can - 45c
400g chickpeas - 43c
400g mushrooms - €1.49
Bag of kale - €1.59
900g of frozen broccoli - €1.08
350g blueberries - €2.20
1KG Greek yoghurt - €1.69
340g honey - €1.25
1KG Granola - €2.39
Dry herb jars, curry powders et al are €1.
Loads of food there. Would feed a person for a few days breakfast, lunch and dinner on a budget. For 20 quid ish. When 1 bog standard Dominos pizza costs the same.
Learn how to break down a chicken. Real easy, takes a couple of minutes and you'll save a fortune.
Them 49c things are not pizza.
The ones I make don’t have to be tough. Making the dough the night before takes 15 mins including clean up.
Pizza sauce is just a tin of cheap chopped tomatoes that I hand squeeze for a minute to take out lumps (sometimes I blend but it’s an extra implement to clean). Nothing else added.
Chop a pepper and onion, jar of janoponos.
The biggest reason (aside from taste) is for salt control.
Unhealthy eating isnt always getting take away though. A big part of the need for education of good nutrition is people might grab a processed frozen chicken, some processed ready meals etc throw them in the oven and think thats healthy or even quicker in alot of cases, which we know its not.
Granted these things are better than eating nothing or junk food.
I eat healthy, leans meats, whole foods made from scratch in most cases but I acknowledge I am in the privilidged position of growing up in a home that did that and had that passed to me and have the means and time advantage to cook well and varied meals. I dont however presume thats the case for alot of people.
Here's a really cheap and healthy tip. When buying chocolate just buy the high cocoa content like 85-90% bars in Lidl/Aldi.
Two squares of high cocoa content sates the desire, whereas often sweeter more expensive branded stuff will keep you hooked just on the sugar rush.
