Healthy meals on a small budget

Hello! Another week, another meal plan! I never got round to publishing last week’s plan, but as ever I have been looking at cooking healthy meals on a small budget.

What I generally find is that the usual way that most people reduce their grocery budget is to up the carbs: more rice, pasta and potatoes to fill everyone up alongside smaller amounts of protein. This is a good way to eat cheaply. We also tend to have cupboards full of these things and it’s good to use them up when you don’t want to spend much at the shops.

However, because I eat a lowish carb diet for health reasons, this approach doesn’t work for me at the moment. I eat lots of fruit and vegetables as well, which some may consider expensive. However, there are ways to get your five a day on a budget, as I explained in this post. 

Where you shop is also important if you want healthy meals on a small budget. It makes a big difference to me when I shop at Aldi or Lidl. When I briefly shopped online during the first wave of the pandemic, we were spending so much more on our food – £25-30 more I estimate.

I am going to try to avoid online shopping going forward, although I don’t love queuing! However, I don’t want to spend more food than necessary, so if I need to queue then I will.

So, I want healthy meals on a small budget and here is the plan for this coming week.

Healthy meals on a small budget

Saturday

I picked up a huge back of pork loin fillets during my last trip to Lidl. There were eight in the pack, so I froze them in twos. The freezer saves us a lot of money as large packs tend to be better value.

I will fry these up with some chopped apple from the garden, kale (again, home grown from the veggie patch), peas and some spuds for Mr S.

Sunday

 I also bought a pack of beef bits in Lidl. It looks as if it will be pretty chewy, but as I am planning to sling it in the slow cooker it will be tender and tasty enough. 

I will add lots of vegetables, tinned tomatoes, herbs, stock, mustard and a large splodge of Worcester sauce. Creamy mash with this and maybe some broccoli.

Monday

I found a stray Simply Cook halloumi salad mix that had been pushed to the back of the larder, so I will use this up with a large salad, the very last of our home grown tomatoes and some olives for tea. If I am really hungry, I will chuck a couple of hard boiled eggs on top too.

I often buy the fake halloumi when I see it and it tastes exactly the same as the real stuff. However, this time I got the genuine stuff in Lidl. I cook it on my George Foreman grill and it’s perfect.

Tuesday

Another Simply Cook recipe tonight: Balinese chicken, which looks creamy and spicy. I might go crazy and have some brown rice with this along with Mr S.  If I want to keep my carbs down, I will roll up a piece of Lo-Dough bread instead of the rice though.

If you want to try a Simply Cook box for free, you can do so using my referral code here. (This is a limited time offer and I will also receive a free box if you sign up).

Wednesday

I always think that smoked mackerel is a good, tasty source of protein when you are aiming for healthy meals on a small budget. We will have the Lidl lemon and herb one, which is really nice!

Lots of good omega 3 oils and a super easy meal with some salad.

Thursday

Since I seem to have a lot of salad ingredients in the fridge, I will use up the rest of it tonight with a tuna and hard boiled egg salad.

Only me for dinner, so this will be something easy and healthy.

Friday

I popped into the Tesco Express next to my favourite charity shop last week, just as they were putting the yellow stickers on. There were some reduced price sausages, so I grabbed those, along with a few other bits. 

The sausages went straight into the freezer, so we will have these tonight, along with whatever veg looks like it needs eating. 

Do you manage to make healthy meals on a small budget? What are you planning this week?

I am joining in with Katy Kicker’s meal planning linky. Check out her meal plan this week too. You can see more of my favourite food ideas and recipes here.