food
having a healthy diet
Balancing your budget can mean making difficult choices when you are on a limited income, but feeding yourself and your family is important.
Good food gives you energy and strength and helps to keep you healthy. It can also help you and your family ward off those autumn and winter colds and flu viruses. We know this becomes more difficult with the onset of the colder weather when heating bills are high, but this is why knowing how to prioritise your income throughout the year is important. A healthy diet does not need to be expensive and there are many low cost options which can be taken to improve your lifestyle and that of your family’s. You can introduce vegetables to children (and adults who turn their noses up at them!) by chopping them up finely and adding them to pasta and soups (ready made or home made). Fruit can be chopped up and added to cereal or stewed in a few minutes and served with yoghurt or custard.
Grow your own
Growing fruit and vegetables is not difficult and can be fun. It certainly can be a cheaper way to get your 5-a-day portions of fruit and vegetables.
You do not need a large garden or plot of land to have fresh fruit and vegetables all year round. You only need a small back yard or a few containers and pots – buckets, old tin dustbins, used cans and even your children’s old wellies will do as planters, but you can also get cheap pots at local stores and hardware shops. So even if you live in the smallest of properties you can take part in something fun, healthy and nutritious - but most of all cheap. You could even swap what you grow with friends who are growing their own.
Or if you have children get them interested too. You’ll be amazed how keen they will be to eat fruit and vegetables that they have grown themselves.
The kinds of vegetables that are easy to grow and look after are potatoes, onions, peas, runner beans, courgettes, cabbage, lettuce and carrots. Easy to grow fruits are raspberries and strawberries - they just need planting in small containers or pots.
Other fruits are more difficult because you need a bit more space, but perhaps your children’s school or local community centre will be happy to plant a couple of fruit trees. Apples and pears are expensive to buy, but cost nothing to pick off a tree!
Try this tasty recipe - packed with flavour and vegetables!
Sunshine Chunky Pasta
- 300g dried pasta twists
- 4 rashers lean unsmoked back bacon
- 200g baby carrots, scrubbed and halved lengthways
- 200g runner beans, trimmed and sliced
- 200g peas
- 200g broccoli, trimmed into small florets
- 3tbsp red pesto sauce
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook for 15 minutes or until the pasta is tender.
Meanwhile, grill the bacon until crisp and cut into small pieces. Place a steamer above a saucepan of boiling water and steam the carrots and runner beans for 10 minutes, then add the peas and broccoli for a further 5 minutes.
Drain the pasta and return it to the saucepan, add the pesto sauce and 2tbsp water and heat through for 2 minutes.
Arrange the carrots around four plates. Mix the remaining vegetables and the bacon with the pasta and spoon onto plates.
Recipe from www.netmums.com/food - visit the website for many more.
Preparation and planning can save you time and money and reduce food waste. By planning your meals for the week or even a fortnight, you can add variety and make use of all the ingredients in your cupboards, fridge and freezer.
Food websites such as www.lovefoodhatewaste.com can even help you decide the correct portions of food for adults and children, which will also help eliminate leftovers and reduce waste. On the site you will also find some fantastic tasty recipes.
A good varied diet of basic fruit and vegetables, balanced with meat, fish, pasta and pulses is beneficial to good health. There are ways to ensure that you and your family eat healthily no matter what your budget is. A great tip is to buy produce when it is in season - that way it will be plentiful, local and at the best available price.
Community food projects
If you would like to grow your own but you simply do not have the room or it is not practical, then there are a number of options run by community food projects which allow you to participate.
The Fresh Ideas Network supports community food projects in the south east, which aim to make healthy, locally sourced and produced food more easily available for all. Its aim is to link projects and people involved in food work at ground level, supporting them by offering information, training and a chance to meet and share ideas. Visit www.freshideas.org.uk to view a project directory with information about a wide range of food projects that run many different activities, from fruit and veg bag schemes to healthy eating cookery courses. There are 15 projects listed for Kent and Medway, so you can check what’s going on in your area. The website also has information about events, conferences, training and resources. Call Chiara on 01273 431710 and Louisa on 01273 431711 to find out more.
Places for support and help
