Healthy Food.....thats easy and not expensive ?

Question

Does anyone have any advice on a healthy days diet?
I struggle to give up bread totally - but have swapped from white thick to granary - is this a good swap ?

I dont have much time to be cooking breakfasts and lunch.

Most diets i look at include seeds and nuts - but there so expensive and how do you include them in your day any way ?

I'd like an easy to stick to healthy diet - please anyone ?

Answer 1

First of all, you don't need a lot of seeds and nuts, a couple of spoonfuls a day of two or three types are all you need for good health.

Your bread swap depends on your body's reaction to wheat, some people are better off not eating wheat at all, or very little, as it doesn't agree with their digestion. See how you feel over a few weeks. But generally, with bread, less is more.

A good breakfast you can cook in advance is porridge, try using either soya milk (Tescos do a very cheap brand own brand) or water instead of milk. I cook mine in the microwave and it's ready in under 5 minutes. You can add raisins and other dried fruit, linseeds and sunflower seeds (a spoonful of each), honey is also nice, and if you feel like it, occasionally mixed nuts or a banana. (I like to put the banana in before cooking it, so that it cooks with the porridge. Nice that way.) You can also add milk, cream (if you're feeling really decadent) or soya milk to your cooked porridge.

For lunch you could use pulses, they are very healthy - buy them dried (chickpeas, aduki beans, black-eyed peas, etc.), soak them and cook them as per instructions (I cook mine with a couple of cloves of chopped garlic, a bay leaf, and sometimes a slice of lemon. Chickpeas are delicious cooked with a little mint). When they're cooked put them in a container and take them out as you need them, say a spoonful for a salad or a soup, or you could whizz them to make something like hummous, or a dip, also delicious with pesto, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, olives, sundried tomatoes and feta cheese, which takes less than 5 minutes to put together. You could whizz this mixture and put it in a wrap, or a sandwich ... it's yum.

The easiest way to handle the lunch issue to be organised. Get yourself one of those lettuce storage containers (Tupperware do a good one) and a lettuce spinner for washing and drying the leaves quickly - just put the spinner under your tap and throw in the loose leaves while the water is running, shake them around in the water, lift the basket out and empty the dirty water, and repeat once, or twice if the leaves are really dirty. You can store lettuce for a couple of days, iceberg lettuce is inclined to become a bit brown rather quickly, but other types last for a bit longer. But by leaves you can try raw (baby) spinach leaves (which have to be washed if they come in a plastic bag, food producers put chemicals in there to make the stuff last longer, and you should wash them at least twice to get rid of this as it's not very good for you, so a lettuce spinner is very handy for the job), several different types of lettuce, even herbs you can grow in pots on your windowsill or balcony.

Now isn't really the time to be planting herbs, but it's something to consider in the spring. All you do is plant the seeds in good soil in pots, water and cover with a transparent plastic bag, and when they are tiny little plants remove the the plastic (after about 2 weeks) and water as required. The plants will be big enough to cut with a scissors in about a month, and they just grow back. I have a big pot of rocket and another of flat-leaf parsley and another of coriander out the back this way, very handy for the kitchen. I find the herbs in the supermarkets to be overpriced.

Quick salad lunch: leaves of choice (lettuce, etc.), cherry tomatoes, chopped spring onions, tinned tuna or smoked mackerel in oil or soft mozzarella cheese or feta cheese, a handful of olives, any fresh herbs you have handy, a spoonful of pesto, some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. You can put everything except your fish, meat, cheese, oil and vinegar together in a sealed container in advance, bring a tin opener and your oil and vinegar mixed in a small bottle, and put the last bits in when you're ready to eat, it takes less than 2 minutes.

Good luck! And have fun experimenting.

Answer 2

The best way to eat a healthy diet is to include all the food groups but just make sure that what you are eating is fresh food and not processed readymade or canned food. Diets are useless - you should try not to eat too much fat, sugar and salt and these are usually found in the processed food. Also - obviously - just eat chocolate as a treat.

Answer 3

Seeds and nuts are not expensive in small amounts or in cereals with low fat milk. Skipping breakfast usually reacts in the opposite of dieting because it kick starts your metabolism so don't skip it :) have fruit too

Answer 4

i eat weight watchers bread and cos i have a busy life myself i do fruit salads store them in the fridge for breakfast i also make pasta with peppers, cucumber, sweetcorn and low fat mayo mixed together with tuna for lunch this can last a couple of days stored in the fridge, also prepare your lunch the night before this will only take 10 mins or so but is worth it. also breakfast bars are great i eat anything with 5grams or less fat in it and have lost tons of weight.

Answer 5

IF YOU WANT TO EAT HEALTHY AND INEXPENSIVELY, GO TO LOCAL FARMERS MARKETS. BUY WHAT EVER IS IN SEASON. YOU WILL BE HELPING YOURSELF AND THE FARMERS. AND LOOK FOR SALES IN THE PAPER FOR FRUIT, GRAINS, AND NUTS. BE CREATIVE IN YOUR COOKING AND LOOK UP RECIPES ON LINE THAT ARE FAST AND EASY FOR YOU. OR PREPARE YOUR MEALS THE NIGHT BEFORE. I PREPARE MY HUSBANDS SALAD THE NIGHT BEFORE, AND THEN IT IS EASIER THE NEXT DAY. JUST GRAB AND GO. AND I INCLUDE ALMONDS OR GRANOLA BARS IN HIS LUNCH. HES TRYING TO BE HEALTHY. IT IS GOOD TO AVOID WHITE BREAD WHICH HAS ALOT OF SUGARS AND UNHEALTHY THINGS IN IT. JUST KEEP UP WITH WHAT EVER WORKS FOR YOU. EATING A FRUIT IN THE MORNING IS GOOD AND FAST. A SALAD AND A SANDWHICH FOR LUNCH. OR YOUR BIGGER MEAL. THEN FOR DINNER, NO CARBS, BUT MORE CHICKEN, FISH, AND VEGETABLES. NOT TO MUCH RED MEAT. HOPE IT HELPED.

Answer 6

Yeah it figures that healthy food is more expensive - so the poor can stay unhealthy.

Answer 7

oats, cereals, vegetables, honey ,fruits

Answer 8

fruits and vegetables