Ditch the 'credit crunch' ready meals!
Monday 31 January 2011
The gloomy credit crunch is forcing shoppers to avoid healthier, organic food in favour of cheaper meals – sparking fears that obesity could fast be on the rise.
In a recent Which? Survey, almost a quarter of adults admitted to tightening their purse strings and were less worried about buying good quality food.
And more than half admitted that looking for a bargain was most important, regardless of how unhealthy it was! (Not good by any stretch of the imagination!)
Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum said: “I think it will not be surprising if the recession has a direct effect on obesity.”
However, eating fresh food needn’t be expensive – if you’re savvy about the way you shop and indeed, cook, shunning the ready-meals shouldn’t be a problem!
In this case - Closer Online are confident that a rise in obesity can easily be avoided....
Try these little tricks that will have you hurling the microwavable meals from your freezers in no time!
* Have a positive outlook! Always attempt to make meals from scratchrather than buy processed foods.
* Make double what you need and freeze the extra for lunch the next day! A really savvy idea for cutting costs over consecutive days….
* Find uses for your leftovers! With a couple of key ingredients and a little creativity, you can turn unwanted leftovers into great dishes!
* Plan your meals ahead to avoid costly impulse buys. If you know you don’t have anything in the cupboards at home, you’re more likely to pop into the Chinese on the way home!
* Write a shopping list! By sticking to a list of what you ‘need’, you’ll be less likely to buy extra stuff while you’re walking up and down isles…
* Try to buy food when it’s in season. Check out our Guide to Seasonal Eating for more info!
* Check out the store’s own brands, which are usually cheaper (and sometimes just as good!) as well-known ones.
* Try canned fruit or frozen vegetables, which can be cheaper and just as nutritious as the fresh option.
* Buy starchy foods in bulk as they tend to keep their freshness for a lot longer.
* Buy cheaper cuts of meat, rather than the ‘posh’ variety.
* For your omega 3, try tinned salmon and/or sardines instead of buying fresh.
* Look for the cheapest prices rather than the largest discount! Sometimes the discounts on offer
* Don’t buy food and then waste it! Regularly check the sell-by-dates so you can use the stuff in your fridge before they start growing mould!
*Don’t be nervous about raw ingredients!
Lastly, and probably most importantly….familiarise yourself with cooking! If you have knowledge about how to cook, you will, in turn, have a nose for buying efficiently and cheap!
Happy shopping!