Welcome to my new Meet the Reader series, where I hope to interview some of you about particular aspects of your frugal life and how you save money. To kick off I spoke to Miki Knight, who is one of the moderators on my Facebook group, My Second Hand & Frugal Life. She follows the Keto diet, and shares many of her tips about how to do the Keto diet on a budget with the group. She is also an avid gardener, growing much of the food that she and husband Steve eat.
Firstly, a bit about you.
My name is Miki, I live in Dorset and I’m in my 50’s. I’m married with four granddaughters. I have an allotment and grow a lot of low carb fruit such as berries, as well as low carb veg.
What exactly is the Keto diet?
The Keto diet is a low carb, moderate protein and high fat diet. It was first developed to treat epilepsy in children in 1924. In recent years it has become more mainstream as a way to lose weight, put type 2 diabetes in remission and help with inflammation.
With Keto, carbs should be kept to below 20g a day. The idea is that you eat enough fat to keep you full. There are macro calculators online to find the levels of protein and fat you should eat for your weight and goals. Carbs, however, remain at 20g or lower for everyone.
What made you decide to try it and what health benefits have you noticed?
I decided to try Keto because I’d started looking into ways to help type 2 diabetes and to lose weight. Low carb seemed to be the way to go. Once I started Keto, I quickly realised that my chronic pain seemed to lessen, which was a bonus I wasn’t expecting.
How long have you been eating this way and do you intend to do it for the foreseeable future?
I have been eating this way for four years come this April and it’s something I intend to continue through my life now. I mostly do fairly strict Keto, but I do switch to a low carb diet on special occasions like Christmas. This means more carbs than my usual 20g daily and I’m not so restricted with ingredients.
The sorts of foods that are normally cheap – like bread, pasta and potatoes – are too high in carbs for the keto diet. Is it possible to do the Keto diet on a budget? What would be your best hints and tips for doing this?
Keto can be more expensive than a traditional diet as you can’t have the cheaper fillers such as pasta and rice. However, the fattier cuts of meat you might normally avoid are quite inexpensive, which is ideal for Keto. For example, 20 percent beef mince is half the price of lean mince. Belly pork and chicken thighs are also good budget options.
Foods like steak and salmon are more expensive, but you don’t have to have eat those often. There are much cheaper meats and fish. Add in your green veg for carbs, which is quite affordable, then fats such as beef dripping – again very cheap – and you can put together a budget Keto meal easily.
On Keto you really shouldn’t be snacking and, if done correctly with high fats in your meals, you really won’t want to. You will find that your appetite and hunger reduce quite rapidly. If you do want a snack, though, then a boiled egg is a perfect and budget friendly.
With a bit of planning and thought, it is more than possible to do the Keto diet on a budget.
Can you give a few of your favourite Keto recipes for those of us just starting out?
Mmmm, there are so many recipes! My advice would always be to Google whatever you fancy and put Keto in front of it. For example, Keto pizza, Keto curry, Keto cottage pie – whatever appeals. I assure you that many, many recipes will pop up.
One of my fave Keto recipes is fathead pizza.
For the base:
100g of ground almonds
150g of mozzarella ripped up
2 tablespoons of cream cheese
1 egg
Microwave the mozzarella and cream cheese together for 90 seconds, so that they are sticky and melted. Mix the cheeses into the ground almonds, then add an egg to form a dough. Shape straight onto a greased baking tray and bake for 10 mins, flip it and add whatever low carb toppings you like.
Toppings:
I spread mine with tomato puree and herbs, then I add things like cooked chicken, mushrooms, shallots, etc, top with grated cheese then put the pizza back in the oven for 8 minutes.
I know you cook pretty much all of your food from scratch. How do you save time in the kitchen?
I save time in the kitchen by cooking more portions than I need in one go. For example, I’ll cook a large enough Keto cottage pie (topped with mashed cauliflower) to make six portions, then freeze some for another day.
I often hard boil eight eggs at a time then keep them in the fridge in their shells to peel when I want one. They keep for a week like this. Other times, I’ll make a frittata to slice and keep in the fridge for when I want something to grab and go.
If I’m cooking chicken thighs for my dinner, I’ll cook a load at once and keep them for other meals.
Where are the best places to buy staples for a Keto or low carb diet?
I shop in Lidl for my basics. Meat, fish, fats, dairy and low carb veg is all that’s needed. If you stick with this type of eating long term then you may want to try some low carb baking and make things like bread, pies and wraps. Then you’ll need ingredients such as coconut flour, ground almonds, nuts, etc. The cheapest place I’ve found for these is Grape Tree and I buy in bulk. It’s a nationwide company and also online. They do a rewards card in store so I often get money off my shop there. If using online it’s free delivery if you spend over £35.
Buying ready made foods such as low carb bread online is a very expensive way to do it, so I avoid that.
How do you manage events such as gatherings with family and friends, eating at restaurants, holidays, etc?
Managing social events, eating out and holidays can be tricky on the Keto diet. Eating in restaurants isn’t too bad as I tend to go for chicken or steak and a salad. I struggle to eat in an Indian restaurant, but I have done it in the past. I tend to go for dry foods such as tandoori or tikka with salad.
Family gatherings are fine for me because they all know how I eat. They will either cater for me or I’ll bring my own side dish such as cauliflower mash if I’m going for a roast dinner. If the family is doing curry night, I’ll have the curry without the rice. I take my own coconut wraps and cauli rice, so that’s fairly easy.
On holiday, it’s often easy to have green salads and meats or fish, or there’ll be a buffet in the hotel and I can choose what suits me. If I fancy a drink, there are lots of spirits that are carb free, such as gin, whiskey or vodka. I generally have those with sparking water and a slice of lime. However, I rarely drink as it goes straight to my head! Without carbs it’s very difficult to drink much alcohol and the hangovers are pure evil.
Generally, I don’t find it difficult any more to adapt.
Is there anything else you think it would be helpful for readers to know about doing the keto diet on a budget?
My best advice for anybody starting out with a Keto way of eating is to research, research then research some more before starting. Diet Doctor is a great resource for information.
To keep it on a budget, I’d say keep it simple. Cheaper cuts of meat, tinned fish, animal fats, dairy, eggs and vegetables are all fairly normal things for the average shopper and not too expensive. Stay away from fancy ingredients – they aren’t necessary. Certainly for the first 12 months, stick to fairly basic, unprocessed food. Go to a market if you have one to pick up cheap veg, and look out for yellow sticker meat in supermarkets and freeze it. If possible try and grow some of your own food, as it will reduce your shopping bill.
If you can buy reduced cream, make your own butter. It’s very simple to do and there are loads of online tutorials. Butter also freezes well, as does cheese. I often freeze ends of cheeses to make a cheese sauce at a later date.
Keep your chicken carcasses and bones and freeze them, then use them to make a bone broth. Not only is this great for a Keto diet, it’s excellent for good gut health.
Freeze your cauli leaves and broccoli stems – they make a great low carb soup. You can put your broccoli stems into a food processor and turn it into broccoli rice, which is fabulous with a curry. You can also make cauli rice. Both are easy to do, and you just fry in butter.
I don’t waste anything in my house – everything gets used. Even egg shells get composted and I use the egg boxes to grow my veg in!
Many thanks to Miki for such an interesting glimpse into how she eats a Keto diet on a budget. I hope you found these tips helpful. If you want more, pop over to my Facebook group, My Second Hand & Frugal Life.
Izzy says
A really insightful and interesting article. Thank you for sharing.
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
Thanks for reading