Eating well doesn’t always have to be expensive – and we’re here to prove it.
Sala Davai, from MoneyTalks, and Maria Bernard, from Heart Foundation, have teamed up this Sorted Money Week to give you some tips to eat well on a budget.
Sorted Money Week is a timely reminder to take control of your personal finance through initiatives in schools, workplaces, and communities – no matter which life stage you’re in.
Sala and Maria have prepared a meal of apricot chicken as an example of how you can eat well on a budget.
The full cost of this meal comes into under $15 for four people (if you proportion the ingredients out to only those you use).
You could make this even cheaper if you already have some of the ingredients on hand.
“I love how today we’re focusing on cooking something that is nutritious, and something that is on a budget. With MoneyTalks, we encourage families to save money by cooking on a budget,” says Sala.
The have many tips to help whānau eat well on a budget, which they often share with the people they work with in their roles.
“I love cans because they store well in the cupboard, they’re cheap, you can get them all times of the year and most importantly they’re really affordable,” says Maria.
Some of their top tips are:
- Buy food that’s seasonal to create great tasting meals and save some money
- Using canned ingredients can be both cheap and nutritious
- Chicken drumsticks are a cheaper cut of meat and a good source of protein
- Buy meat in bulk to help save some money – you can freeze meat you don’t need right away
- Chickpeas are also a cheap source of protein (and fibre)
- Frozen vegetables are a nutritious, affordable option to keep on hand for your meals
You can find the full recipe and step-by-step instructions on The Heart Foundation website.
And as Maria says, just because your meal may be cheap doesn’t mean it can’t be yummy!