Strictly, I'm not a
true vegetarian as I eat fish but, as I do the shopping each week (I
do it online and get it delivered), I have noticed that my part of
the grocery list costs considerably less than my meat eating partner
Adam's portion.
These days we tend to
each cook our own food but use a common theme so we at least have
some of the same ingredients.
The other night Adam
decided he fancied a bolognese so he got out his minced beef to which
he added chopped onions, tinned tomatoes, garlic, oregano and basil.
His meal in total cost around 75p to £1. My bolognese used some of
the chopped onions, the tinned tomatoes, garlic, oregano and basil
but I added some celery, some frozen green beans and frozen sweet
peppers. I've learnt that if you don't have meat you should have
some form of beans, peas or pulses to ensure you have all the
necessary nutrients to remain healthy. My meal cost less than 50p.
For many years I was a
bit dubious about the nutritional value of frozen and tinned
vegetables and fruit but I've now seen so many programmes that
produce compelling evidence to that I'm now a great fan of tinned and
frozen. Another thing I love about these products is that they're
cheaper than buying fresh, plus you don't have rotting fresh veg
hanging around for days which only have to be thrown out. This, in
turn, means that although your fresh vegetables might be in season
and relatively cheap, they're not so cheap if you have to throw half
of them out.
Since 1986 when Adam
and I moved in together I'd been used to doing the cooking for both
him and me and I'm now finding it difficult to judge one portion so,
needless to say, my bolognese sauce lasted for two meals. The next
day Adam had a corned beef hash so he basically used half a can of
corned beef which isn't cheap but me, being frugal, just added a few
kidney beans and half a fresh chilli. Again, I didn't need a whole
tin of kidney beans so they were put in the fridge to use another
day. I had six fresh chillies in a bag costing 50p and as I only
needed half a pepper my meal cost me next to nothing.
I wouldn't want Adam to
give up meat but I think he is now coming round to my arguments and
he isn't averse to having the odd vegetarian meal.
Going back to the
frozen vegetables, I've recently discovered frozen cabbage. My
supermarket introduced it a few months ago and as it was £1 for a
big bag I gave it a whirl and was very pleasantly surprised and,
again, I didn't have a smelly old cabbage mouldering away in my veg
rack so money well spent. Having started my Asda order online today
I've now noticed that they're doing frozen kale. Some of you may
know that this is the latest superfood so, although two ½ lb bags of
fresh works out the same as a 1 lb bag of frozen, I'm mindful that I
may end up wasting some of the fresh so it's bound to work out
cheaper.
When it comes to tinned
vegetables I always have a good stock of sweet corn, peas, kidney
beans, green beans and carrots … oh, and of course baked beans!
The carrots are not as good as fresh but they're fine for sticking in
a casserole.
So, don't dismiss the
frozen veg aisles of your supermarket. You could be pleasantly
surprised by just how cheap and versatile they are.
