FOOD
Ah, food, glorious food. This section of the website is devoted to shopping for, cooking with, growing and eating food!
"Waste Not - Want Not"
The old addage goes a long way, don't ever throw food out. Click on this link to find out what to do with the leftover rice that you cooked too much of, or the bread that went stale before you could eat it.
Breakfast Ideas
Boxed Breakfast cereals tend to be high in sugar and low in nutrients, start the day with good solid, old fashioned food to keep them going through the morning till lunch. Brains work better when the body is looked after
Click here to see some of our ideas
Click here to see some of our ideas
Lunchbox Ideas
Avoid buying expensive prepackaged items for your kids lunchboxes. It is easy to make exciting and varied items for their lunches which cost just a fraction of the chips,muesli bars from the supermarket.
Click here to see some of our ideas
Click here to see some of our ideas
How To Shop Carefully for Food and Essentials
Going to the supermarket on a limited budget can be stressful and hard work. By following these tips you may find it easier to cope with.
It is important to provide a healthful and balanced diet for you and your family, especially for children and teenagers. Food prepared and cooked by yourself is cheaper and better for you. Best of all, you know exactly what is in it. You may find it takes a little more time to prepare a meal, but it's worth it.
LISTS AND ALL THAT.....
It is important to provide a healthful and balanced diet for you and your family, especially for children and teenagers. Food prepared and cooked by yourself is cheaper and better for you. Best of all, you know exactly what is in it. You may find it takes a little more time to prepare a meal, but it's worth it.
LISTS AND ALL THAT.....
- Always make a list. This an oldy by a goody.
- Eat before you go. You will be less tempted to go for easier (but more expensive) options if your stomach is full.
- Try to shop without your children. Call from help from friends, or shop while they are at school.
- Take a calculator and add up as you go, don't be afraid of looking like a Nana
- Consider specials carefully. They can always be frozen and used another time. It can be fun putting together combinations you may not have thought of before. Do not however overbuy and blow your budget, or put items on a credit card.
- Buy fresh, unprocessed foods. Concentrate on a healthy balanced diet rather than convenience.
- Buy in bulk wherever possible.
- Buy in season fruit and vegetables - generally cheaper from a fruit and vege shop.Blanch and freeze what you will not use this week. Cheaper than buying prefrozen veges at the supermarket. Look on the internet or get someone to teach you how to bottle fruit, make jams and chutneys when the price is under $1 a kg.
- go to http://www.raewardfresh.co.nz/specials.php and look at the specials before you shop so you go prepared.
- Buy the cheap fruit
- Buy the supermarket own brand cleaners, washing powder, soap, rice, bread etc.
- Use any coupons.
- By eating less meat (which is currently very expensive) you can save money. It is not necessary to eat meat every day. Other protein sources such as dahl, beans, cheeses, eggs and what-not can be cheaper and make for good variety. Try basing your meals around pasta, potatoes and rice.
- Buy food in season, and store, either in the freezer, or in the case of pumpkins - just keep in the garage. Pumpkins will last all winter in a cool place. So get them while they are $1per kg and keep them till you need them.
- Substitute local ingredients in your recipes. If you recipe asks for out of season, imported, expensive ingredients, look around and what you can use in the place of it. For example, pinenuts for pesto etc, are very easily substituted with walnuts you have picked yourself for free.
- Don't buy prepackaged items for your kids lunches, check out some of the ideas we have here.
Find Free Food
Finding free food around your neighbourhood is now easy thanks to an urban foraging map for the greater Christchurch area. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=106549722530845255618.00046e8abe731301e2517 The link will show you where to find apples, mushrooms, walnuts, pears and more.
Learn to fish, get the line out and give it a go, you could catch dinner. Or swap your biscuits for something fresh from a fisherfriend.
Learn to fish, get the line out and give it a go, you could catch dinner. Or swap your biscuits for something fresh from a fisherfriend.
Recipes
There are some great websites, and also Trademe threads on cheap eating and recipes. This part of the messageboard http://www.trademe.co.nz/Community/MessageBoard/Threads.aspx?topic=13
is a good place to start looking.
http://www.destitutegourmet.com/ For extremely good healthy food and ways to stretch your budget. Sophie is a New Zealander who found herself on a very tight budget. Loads of recipies, tips, food buying and budgeting ideas. She has also produced quite a few books which are usually available at your local library.
http://tvnz.co.nz/good-morning The Good morning show on TV1 has a daily chef, usually doing two segments in a show. If you look as Aster's recipes she replaces a lot of fats etc with alternatives to reduce the calorie intake. Also a host of recipes from Simon Holst, who being a vegetarian offers a good range of non meat alternatives.
Other great sources of local, seasonal and cheap food which is delicious is to find old videos of Jamie Oliver - the Food Revolution series.
If you have been watching the current series on Prime - River Cottage everyday where Hugh uses cheaper cuts of meat, has complete vegetable meals and emphasizes fruit - his website is also a good source http://www.rivercottage.net/
is a good place to start looking.
http://www.destitutegourmet.com/ For extremely good healthy food and ways to stretch your budget. Sophie is a New Zealander who found herself on a very tight budget. Loads of recipies, tips, food buying and budgeting ideas. She has also produced quite a few books which are usually available at your local library.
http://tvnz.co.nz/good-morning The Good morning show on TV1 has a daily chef, usually doing two segments in a show. If you look as Aster's recipes she replaces a lot of fats etc with alternatives to reduce the calorie intake. Also a host of recipes from Simon Holst, who being a vegetarian offers a good range of non meat alternatives.
Other great sources of local, seasonal and cheap food which is delicious is to find old videos of Jamie Oliver - the Food Revolution series.
If you have been watching the current series on Prime - River Cottage everyday where Hugh uses cheaper cuts of meat, has complete vegetable meals and emphasizes fruit - his website is also a good source http://www.rivercottage.net/