Healthy Family Food on a Budget

To start the year off I've got some great tips to share for easy ways to feed your family healthy food without breaking the bank. It can sometimes feel like eating healthily is just too expensive, especially when you have lots of hungry mouths to feed, but with a bit of careful planning and the tips and tricks in this post, it's much easier than you might think!

Using some great advice from Organix and some of my own too, I've put together a list of tips for helping you feed your family healthy food without breaking the bank:

12 Easy Ways to Eat Well for Less:

Feed everyone the same - make life easier for yourself and save money at the same time by feeding every one the same meals - most foods can be pureed or chopped for babies and toddlers. Be careful to cook without salt for little ones - you can always add a little salt to your own meal after serving if wanted. Try these baby friendly side dishes that the whole family can eat.

Smaller portions - avoid cooking too much food by weighing dried foods such as rice and pasta before cooking. Serve food on smaller plates for better portion control.

Eat less meat - Good quality organic meat and fish usually cost more so try to make them a treat and add more vegetarian meals  to your family menu. Try my hidden veggie pasta sauce, veggie pizza quesadillas, spanish omelette, carrot & parsnip soup or breaded aubergine slices for easy vegetarian family meals.

Buy seasonal produce - seasonal food is cheaper and usually much tastier too!

Buy dried, tinned and frozen foods as well as fresh - they're often cheaper, last longer and can be just as good for you. Do check the labels to make sure there are no sneaky added extras though, like sugars, salt or chemical preservatives.

Buy in bulk - Dry foods like rice and pasta and tinned foods are usually cheaper to buy in larger quantities. If you club together with friends and family you can sometimes buy direct from brands too, which can really help to save money. Look for local or online organic wholesalers for great deals on bulk organic foods.

Look out for special offers - but only buy food that you'll actually use.  If you can get to the shops near closing time you'll often find some real bargains on fresh fruit and vegetables. If you can't use them immediately, buy foods that freeze well - they'll be perfect for making homemade smoothies and soups.

Plan your meals - You'll end up buying and wasting a lot less food if you know exactly what meals you plan to cook each week. Check your fridge, freezer and cupboards for foods that need using up first so that you can incorporate them into your planning.

Write a shopping list - and stick to it! Try adding up the cost as you go around the supermarket too, it can really help you stick to your budget when you know exactly what the shopping will cost you before you get to the till. I find this a great way to avoid adding those naughty extras to my shopping basket - they soon add up!

Batch cook - Batch cooking is a great way to make your food go further - I find that pasta sauces, vegetable soups and mince based meals like chilli con carne, shepherd's pie, bolognese sauce or homemade burgers freeze particularly well and they're so handy to have in the freezer for nights when you're too tired to cook. Homemade 'ready meals' are much healthier and cheaper than a takeaway too.

Use your leftovers - Once you've served everyone, pop any leftovers in at lunch box for work the next day or freeze until ready to use. Even small portions of foods can be used up - a couple of boiled new potatoes, a handful of steamed veg or a little leftover pasta or rice makes a great addition to a bento lunch for yourself or your children.

Don't forget breakfast - save money on expensive cereals and switch to porridge instead - a big bag of oats goes a very long way and you can make it interesting with different toppings too - my boys love fresh, frozen or dried fruit on theirs. If you're not sure about porridge try overnight oats or baked oats instead.

Do you have any great tips for feeding your family healthy food on a budget? I'd love to hear them! Comment below or use the #NoJunkJourney hashtag on social media to share your top tips!

Grace

Disclosure: This blog post was commissioned by Organix as a part of a series of posts for the No Junk Journey campaign.  I was compensated for my time, however all opinions expressed in this post are my own.